Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Masking your smell

whatthehellisstaydownwind??????

I hear a lot about it, especially on horn porn TV, must be a midwest/flatland/swamp thing, cause it ain't happening in hillbilly land.

I always rub down with a handful of green pine needles

2Dogs,

I hunt flat bottomland and there is no such thing as down wind on our place, either. That's because the deer can come from anywhere. Very aggravating at times. That's why I hunt every chance I get, "wrong" wind or not.

I have no doubt people can reduce their scent. I just don't think you can reduce it enough to matter, when it pertains to deer. Humans are arrogant and we think, what we do makes a difference. I want someone to explain to me, how if a deer's nose is better than a dogs nose, and a dog can find dope wrapped and sealed in plastic, I SAID SEALED IN PLASTIC, and submerged in a gas tank, I SAID SUBMERGED IN A GAS TANK, how in the hell can you take a shower and spray down with manmade chemicals and expect the deer not to smell you. Oh i understand your scent will be reduced. To us, we'll smell like nothing. Hundreds of times, i've had deer downwind of me and they didn't smell me, both bucks and doe. I basically don't do any type of scent reduction. My scent plume was not making it to the deer's nose, thats due to thermals. They rise in the mornings, and fall in the evening. We camp for 2-3 days at a time, and we can't take a shower if we wanted to. Everbody will say, nothing is 100%, but i want to give myself an extra second or two. How do you know, your doing that? Your scent may not be making it to the deer. I'm not trying to change what works for someone. Do what you want to do. But when a tracking dog can trail up a dead deer that has been dead for 2-3 days after a rain, man i'm sorry but taking a shower, and spraying on scent killer, to me, just sounds silly.

Still not buying a deers nose is better than a hound. Possibly on some scents. I'm betting all smells aren't the same. Like sights/colors are different, as well as sounds. Why can't scents be as well. Dogs have all sizes of ears but can hear high pitch sounds waaaaay better than humans for example.

2dogs, i'm no biologist. The only way we know anything about deer, is what we've read on studys on deer biology and behaviour. If they say a dog has 220 million receptors on his nose and they say a deer has 297 million, then to me that proves it. All we can do is believe the scientist. That's how we know deer can't see colors, like turkeys can. The rods in the eyes, tell us this. Believe it or not, thats up to you. I'd rather believe someone who has devoted their life to the study of deer biology.

I know you can't stay downwind, Im just saying that is the only way for deer to not smell you. cover up scents do not work and if they did every drug dealer would be buying it up to hide the scent from dogs.

Are all scent receptors the same from one species to another? A hound may be better at smelling a human, a deer better at smelling an acorn.

Was thinking the same.

Can a hog, which can smell a truffle buried in the ground and root it out, smell a human better than a bloodhound or hound that may be able to detect a human or dead body underwater or with an old trail?

Is a deer better than those? Equal? Or is a deer's very keen sense of smell put on jackhammer alert when we take our non-woodsy stinkin' selves into their homes?

Good topic.

To be honest, i have no idea. Good question. I would think a scent receptor, is a scent receptor, how that animal reacts to that smell, is very different. When a dog smells a human, he don't freak out, but a deer does. Instincts take over, at that point, due to thousands of years of being hunted.

I believe in masking, but I know you can't cover human scent 100% so hunting the wind is still a vital factor in seeing more mature deer.

I use a product called Deer Dander for my rubber boots the most, for my cloths I store them in a charcoal sack with wooded flavor dryer sheets. A deer cannot reason, and doesn't know the difference between a human and a dog, all it knows is something doesn't smell right and gets out of town. So too me, scent free products are silly except for soaps, but anything that can replicate the woods albeit smoke, leafs, animals will give you a better chance than trusting water and baking soda....

It's all about parts-per-million of scent. Think about it.... let's put "ability to smell" on two scales; one scale would be a human scale and the other is a deer's scale. Let's take two people as examples.

Human #1: has been working outside in hot weather sweating all day in cotton clothes.
Human #2: has just taken a shower with non-scent soap and put on clothes washed in non-scent soap and hung out to dry before donning.

Most all of you would agree that smelling human #1 would not be difficult to the human nose, right?

Human #2 would be very difficult for the human nose to smell.

That's all on a human nose smell "scale".

Why would this example not apply to a deer's ability to smell... just on a different scale.

It's all about parts-per-million of scent molecules. Can you overcome your smell whether it be gasoline, laundry detergent, bacon, etc... well, not entirely but a hunter can do A LOT to lessen his/her molecules of scent.

I don't think we as hunters can totally overcome a deer's nose but we can make it much more difficult for a deer's nose to pick up our scent.

I do what I can and I think I make a difference with my efforts HOWEVER, I still hunt the wind.

Dirt

Bucktrot, i see what your saying, but this is where i think hunters dont understand how good a deer's nose is. I agree with the parts per million way of thinking, however, taking a shower and using scent sprays, doesn't reduce the ppm enough for me to justify the extra money, time, and effort, but i'm glad it works for you. If you could do these things, and forget about the wind direction, it would be worth it. When i say i hunt the wind, scent control hunters say that the wind swirls too much to do this, if thats the case why do they try and hunt the wind, if they have reduced their scent enough to keep a deer from detecting them.We try and rationalize everything we do, by the human way of thinking, mother nature on the other hand, doesn't play by the same rules.

the wind is the only way to get pasted a deers nose and stepping in a fresh pile of cow manure is a must .

So you sayin' the guy that smells like he's been working on a chain gang in July , wearing the same clothes for days has the same chances of not being sniffed out as the guy that showers in unscented soap,keeps his clothing scent free as possible, yada, yada ,yada?

IMO, when a deer smells either one, he's gone. Simple as that. I don't think the deer is going to stand there, thinking, wow he smells a lot less than that last guy i smelled.

Guys, y'all are totally missing my point. I am saying that a deer's nose, just like everything on this Earth, has its limits. Can a deer smell a nat fart? I'd bet probably not. Can it smell an elephant fart? Probably so! But seriously!! Just as humans can smell a sweaty sock but can't smell a freshly wasted sock with no detergent scents. I do believe that a deer can smell both but as one is strongly detectible, the other (clean sock) is barely detectable or not detectable at all.

It is all about parts per million of scent molecules. If you do everything possible to eliminate your scent, you "may" can get away without being detected in the "outer limitations" of a deer's nose.

I do realize how good a deer's nose is and I do hunt the wind and yes, deer downwind still blow at me but I think because I don't walk in gasoline or hunt in clothes that I cook bacon in, I am not detected as much as I would be if I just didn't care. I used to wear Scent-Lok head gear but I don't wear any Scent-Lok at all now but I do what I can to lessen my scent.

The same "scale" applies... a human can smell this but can't smell that. A deer's nose is much much more acute but the same scale applies; a deer's nose is just on a hugely more acute scale!!!

NOPE!! I am saying that the stinking chain gang guy, because he has a MUCH higher producing "ppm" of scent will be easy for a deer to smell. The guy that "does what he can to eliminate his scent" may.... may be able to get away without being detected by a deer's nose. Even a deer's nose has its limits on smelling a scent with X ppm. Put that ability on a scale.

I'm just saying that if you reduce your ppm, when it comes to the deer ability to smell you in a way that would fall into the deer's outer limitations, you may get away with it. Maybe! Just maybe. The same scales exists.