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Human Scent

J_P

J_P

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This will be my first actual thread post. I started bow hunting later in life and have been at it for the past 9 years or so (and love it!!). Along the way I have gotten a lot of data from podcasts, magazines, forums, etc and always find it interesting to hear different points of view based on people’s experience.

I want to throw out a couple hypotheticals and get your opinions and thoughts. I know there are a bunch of different variables that play into getting winded but am trying to establish some more understanding of how long it takes for a person’s scent to dissipate enough to not cause alarm. This is not an actual hunting setup so don’t give me the “I’d never set up like that” line..that’s not what I’m asking. There is also a lot of leeway here based on your individual setups and scent control regimens too so if you feel a certain way because you do A,B, and C that would be great to know too.
  1. If you were sitting in a hang on stand 20 ft up on a field edge mid-day with minimal humidity and had a constant 10 mph wind blowing directly out into a flat picked cornfield. How far out directly downwind do you think deer (3.5+ yr old) would have to be not to spook?
  2. The same question with the wind going the opposite direction into the mature hardwood stand (flat)?

Appreciate any responses!
 
I would think if the deer was directly downwind in that situation they are going to pickup your scent if they are within a couple hundred yards. Maybe beyond 300 or 400 you may be okay. In the timber maybe a little less.
 
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sep0667 said:
I would think if the deer was directly downwind in that situation they are going to pickup your scent if they are within a couple hundred yards. Maybe beyond 300 or 400 you may be okay. In the timber maybe a little less.
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My "guess" was somewhere around the 200 yds range for field and maybe the timber would knock it down 50 or so but maybe I'm not giving them enough credit!
 
My experience has been farther than you’d think. Have had them smell me from at least a few hundreds yards away, and I doubt through the woods would be much different. Definitely some variables though, biggest of which is thermals.
 
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I've seen them pick me off 200+ yards away in the timber and further in an open field. I'm sure there have been plenty of times its been thick and I cant see very far and I'm getting picked off out of site also. I do believe diligent scent control helps reduce that range but not eliminate it by any means. I get picked off much less than I used to and their reaction tends to be more of a slow turn "i think something is up and I'll go a different way" reaction versus the running away like their hair is on fire reactions I got more frequently in my younger days.

Where you hunt matters too. I used to have a honey hole just off a subdivision and I'd get a way with a lot more there. Deer would frequently be down wind, get nervous but after not seeing anything would continue on. I have to believe its because they frequently smelled human scent in that area and as long as nobody was right there to scare them they were okay with it.
 
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Agreed with farther than you think. Every area is different, but in many areas deer smell people on a near daily basis. They take that smell, location, strength, etc into account and decide how much danger it poses and how to react.

I like to think that taking scent control very seriously (showers, ozone treatments, etc, etc.) will decrease that distance and perception of danger. But in the end, their nose is even better than German shepherd. How much do you think you can actually get away with? Wind direction is always king.
 
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A lot to consider here. I think that when most guys say they got away with a bad wind they got lucky and 1. The thermals helped the. Out and they don’t really know the wind in that area or 2. the deer were not on alert for some reason (rut crazy, etc)

I know I have had deer get me at several hundred yards when hunting over food late in the year. I don’t think the timber or open field matters much
 
Depends, giant doe with 3 fawns unlimited range, probably walk into the field snorting. 6 pt buck during the rut, prolly end up at the base of the tree smelling your sticks. When I figure it out exactly, I'll sell it to everyone!

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Hunting the wind is overrated…I never pay attention to it and have 0 issues killing big mature bucks! Now, with that said different areas/deer are different. If the deer in your area don’t see your “scent” as alarming it’s a non issue. I had this theory and then upon reading one of Roger Rothhaar’s books he explained it very well as leaving residual scent all year long so they would learn to not see your scent as alarming. I believe it’s 100% true! I’m a pre rut hunter and that’s when I kill my big mature home bodies. I’ve only hunted the rut 1 year in the last 12 that I wasn’t already tagged out and didn’t have a mature deer on camera or seen on the hoof that year. I’ve taken 3 over 187” in that time span and the hunts were on 3 different farms but eerily similar in that all 3 bucks at 1 pt watched me climb into and out of my stand, I was within 10 yards of all 3 while walking in and I hunted all 3 with different winds for several days straight while seeing them almost daily and they would be downwind/upwind/crosswind and they all 3 resulted in the same fate. In fact I do try to make sure the wind is downwind where I can shoot because once you rattle they will head downwind and you better be able to shoot there…..


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???? What. You killed 3 190 class deer, while ignoring wind direction, and walked in within 10 yards of all three prior to the kills. Am I misunderstanding or…
 
Windlooker said:
???? What. You killed 3 190 class deer, while ignoring wind direction, and walked in within 10 yards of all three prior to the kills. Am I misunderstanding or…
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You are correct….the 197” in 2015 I saw 7/11 sits and had him at 8 yards twice while on stand. In fact he followed my path in to behind my tree both times. He watched me climb halfway down and back up 2 times and never spooked….other 2 very similar stories on different farms in different counties. If they don’t see you as a “threat”, they turn inside out. These 3 bucks were there all summer and I’d check the main camera they were on multiple times daily with no scent prevention at all. They’d be in front of camera sometimes 5-10 min after I left with no issue. Guys gave it backwards….they want to “eliminate” scent when hanging cameras, stands, etc but leaving residual scent is a good thing. I will say does are completely different and all three of these particular bucks were 6.5, 6.5, 7.5…..


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Windlooker said:
???? What. You killed 3 190 class deer, while ignoring wind direction, and walked in within 10 yards of all three prior to the kills. Am I misunderstanding or…
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I’ve also killed several that were 160” plus that were old mature deer with similar stories….I literally never let wind dictate a stand unless I can’t shoot downwind of it


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Windlooker said:
???? What. You killed 3 190 class deer, while ignoring wind direction, and walked in within 10 yards of all three prior to the kills. Am I misunderstanding or…
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Here’s a good one for you…I have killed 2 in wet leaves where I’ve pissed from my stand just minutes prior. I have a buddy hunted with me for years from out of state…we were sitting in blind over corn. Bucks in field down wind…I said watch this I’m going to get down and piss and at least 1 of them will come check it out….boom 5 min after pissing the buck was kidding in same spot I did and made a scrape. People overthink and use way to many gimmicks


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I get the male hormone thing in piss, and the non threat thing ie tractors, farm trucks, etc but…… idk. I punt, lol.
 
jkratz5 said:
Must be on a game farm!
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What kind of smartass comment is that? Never been on a game farm in my life…are there even any in Iowa? Because you don’t believe something doesn’t make it false….there’s actually some members in this site that can attest to my experiences if they do choose to chime in…


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