Deer sense of smell

If deer live in a rural area can they tell if a different person is in the woods that don't belong? Dogs can identify people by their smell.

Do they smell in the same "range" as do we, only better, or can they smell things that we can't? I know that some animals, and especially insects can see UV light that we can't see. Are there things that STINK about us that we can't even notice? Maybe our receptors can't pick up those smells (molecules) at all.

Do deer learn to associate the smell of store bought scent killers with humans?

Would a diesel soaked rag be the BEST cover scent if hunting around farm land? Can deer tell when someone strange, other than the farmer that lives there are on the property?

We smell something and can tell that is fish, onions, pizza, do deer smell humans, or specific humans, or danger and not danger?

It is always best to hunt the wind.

What does this mean?
If the wind is due north. How much does my scent spread? What is the "CONE" of scent? How far does it travel? How does temp, moisture, variation of wind direction, sunrise, sunset, mid day, woods, greenfield, affect scent distribution?

I would really like to have the $, time to do these tests. I bet knowing these answers would change how we hunt.

i'm sorry...i was looking at your avatar. Did you type something?

Here you go gman:


Michelle Jenneke



Good questions, BB.

I think urban deer operate off the scent level of their "danger" reaching a certain level or intensity. A doe from Dallas county will blow at someone 1000 yards away where as a urban deer will only run/ spook 90% of the time from sight or predators. A translocated doe from south Alabama would have a heart attack in a subdivision

Over the years, the deer in my backyard hardly pay any attention to me unless I walk toward them. Have stood there eating corn while I was cutting the grass. We're Bro's now....

ScoutLook App gives you the scent "cone" for your prevailing wind. I think the wind thing is crap. Spray down, sit still, and wait for deer is my way to hunt. There is no such thing as a prevailing wind in Alabama, IMHO. Our terrain is too rolling to have a constant wind direction. Not to mention being caught between the gulf and the Atlantic, our wind is not ever from one direction during a days hunt for me anyway.

My opinion and $1.75 will buy you a Coke.

I have to agree that the wi.d is ever changing here at my farm too. No way I can make an all day sit in the same place. I am not 100% on the wind having to b perfect. Bigest deer I have shot came from down wind n never knew I was there till I stopped him n shot. But I have had deer blow at me n some run and some stay... So idk I just try n play the wind best I can and hope one shows up

Lots of questions...

From what we know about the number, type and density of scent receptors in a deer's nose, a deer's sense of smell is as good if not better than a bloodhound's. Deer can certainly identify the differences in scent between different people. However, how they react to scent is very situational/spatial. By that, I mean deer learn where human scent (or an individual's scent) is a threat and where it is not a threat. When human scent is encountered over and over again in a particular location, and no threat is ever encountered in that location, deer will accept the human scent in that location without alerting. However, the same scent (even the same person's scent) in a new area will produce an alert response. It's all a learned response.

The biggest mistake hunters make is thinking about scent from a human perspective. We probably have the worst sense of smell of any mammal on the planet. We have lost much of our sense of smell over time, as our brain and verbal communication development has become a more critical aspect of our survival and social interactions. Our noses are so weak that our sense of smell is easily overwhelmed. This is not the case with deer. You CANNOT over-power a deer's ability to smell something by "covering it up" with a more powerful smell. A drug-sniffing dog can smell drugs suspended inside an encased tank filled with gasoline. A deer can smell human underneath even the most powerfull cover scent. For this reason, the idea of "cover scents" is totally bogus. THEY DO NOT WORK.

The "CONE" of your scent is going to be determined by many factors, including the wind speed, habitat, time of day, and most importantly, the terrain. Hilly terrain has a major impact on wind patterns, as the terrain deflects the wind and causes large-scale vertical and horizontal eddies.

The properties of moving air (wind) are basically the same as moving water. Water flowing down a stream is deflected by objects it encounters and friction with the stream bank. The same is true of air flowing over the ground. Not only does the ground and trees produce friction than can produce vertical eddies, hills and valleys can "turn" the wind and produce extremely large eddies (hundreds of feet thick vertically and horizontally).

And that doesn't even begin to touch on the subject of thermals--air currents driven by differences in air temperature. In hilly terrain, thermals can overpower light winds by a considerable margin, with warmer air rising up hillsides and cooler air sinking and running down valleys like water.

Normally, in flat terrain, open habitat, and a steady moderate breeze, you can expect a 90 degree scent cone (45 degrees left and right of directly downwind). However, add in the turbulent effect of air traveling through a forest, and in wooded terrain, expect your scent cone to expand to at least 180 degrees (90 degrees either side of directly downwind). The combination of terrain and thermals in hilly wooded terrain can produce a 360 degree scent cone over a 3-4 hour treestand sit.