The history of deer scents is rich and colorful, mainly because for a long time, hunters have stunk. And when it comes to deer, stinking matters. Hunters must therefore understand how deer smell and how we shouldn’t.
Let’s start by taking a minute to consider how deer smell. A deer’s sense of smell is 100 times better than a human’s sense of smell. Think about that the next time you sprinkle skunk scent in the woods. Even if you’re not successful on the hunt, you’re at least getting some measure of revenge.
But you would think with that level of sensitivity, deer would get tired of always being downwind. Maybe that’s what they are talking about when they grunt. It could be their way of asking other deer, “Was that you?”
Deer can further enhance their sense of smell by licking their noses. Considering the other body parts deer lick, I’m guessing they have no sense of taste.
Weather can also affect a deer’s sense of smell. For instance, deer have trouble picking up a hunter’s scent in heavy rain, at least partly because we’re usually in the truck with the doors closed and the windows rolled up.
There must be exceptions to odor-sensitive deer, such as those with allergies. Think about it. If they have sinus trouble, they can’t smell. And they live amongst ragweed and leaf mold. Maybe these are the ones getting shot.
As hunters combat odor tipping off their presence, they have developed a number of ways to deal with the smells they give off. For instance, some of them bathe.
A more advanced technique involves stand placement. Ideally, you want to be downwind of the deer and upwind of hunters wearing buck lure.
Other hunters try to hide their scents by using suits that absorb these odors. On a hot day, you can hear their pockets softly gagging.
These suits work because the fabric is laced with carbon, which also happens to be the basic component of all life forms. So, theoretically, if you sit in a stand long enough your suit could evolve into a higher life form, such as a sports coat or pajamas.
Some hunters store their clothes outside to avoid picking up human odors. If worn previously with other scents, most members of the household will endorse this strategy.
Making the trip in your skivvies, the sprint from the house to the clothes shed can be exhilarating on a cold fall morning. But you might want to unscrew the motion-detector lights if you have neighbors close by who object to streakers in the wee hours. Trust me on this one.
Perhaps the most common approach to dealing with human odor is with commercial deer scents. Every hunter seems to have a different strategy with scents. Mine is to avoid the ones that smell bad.
Scents come in many varieties and each has a different purpose. Some are designed to make a buck get mad. With a sense of smell 100 times better than a human’s, having hunters sprinkling this stuff all over his territory probably riles a buck plenty.
Some scents are designed to smell like a deer’s favorite foods. These work mostly on deer with the munchies.
Cover scents attempt to overpower the various smells a hunter generates. Some hunters have to use a lot. In fact, deer are often intimidated by what smells like a 400-pound skunk.
Each of these scents has its own advantage. For instance, one benefit of using doe pee is that when nature calls, it smells like you already answered.
I’ve always wondered how they collect this stuff. Without even knowing the details, I’m sure of two things. One, somebody has a job worse than mine. Two, getting this stuff prepackaged is well worth $6.95 a bottle.
Practically every deer hunter uses scents like these. This means that the week before deer season opens, Walmart probably handles more animal waste than the San Diego Zoo.
For myself, when it comes to scents, I like to cover all the bases. So I use an attractor, a cover scent, and a food scent. Unfortunately, it seems like the deer want to come in, can’t find me and just go away hungry.
In summary, odors are something we have to deal with and scents seem to do the trick. Still, you have to wonder about a buck fooled by scents. Basically, in his moment of truth, he discovers somebody lied.
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