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Residual Ground Scent

SaskGuy

SaskGuy

Active Member
How long do you guys think any scent left behind on the ground or vegetation stays there???

The reason I ask is b/c I haven't seen the big buck I was keeping tabs on for a couple weeks. Curiosity simply got the best of me and on Sat. a.m I went to where he had been exiting the timber and set my trail cam up. I tried to be as scent free as possible but had to do some twisting of branches on some pines and ripping some tall brome grass from the ground. All weekend I second guessed my decision b/c I worried that with the wet and cool conditions we're having the scent may linger to long. Any guesses on how long it'll linger and still be an alarm to them?
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I am not really sure. I know I hang trail cams all the time and get pictures the same day, so I don't think it will linger around terribly long, or spook him out of the area. However, rule number 1 for me is, If I know a big buck is coming out in a certain spot, and I have seen him personally. I will not put a camera there, because I noticed they can change the patterns of the deer as far using the same trails the camera is on. Some deer doesn't get alarmed by them, but it seems like the bigger bucks do. I usually hang my cam in the general area the big buck might walk by, but not in the immediate area I plan on killing him in. Every deer is different, maybe he won't care maybe he will. But I don't think it is wise to put the camera where you expect to kill him at. Goodluck
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I usually hang my cam in the general area the big buck might walk by, but not in the immediate area I plan on killing him

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I didn't hang it where I intend to kill him, where he exits the timmber I cannot get a stand b/c of predominant winds. My stand is about 250 yards away, over a ridge adjacent to the alflalfa. Where I hung the cam is the only place I've ever seen him exit the timber and right now I don't want to use up the only 3 days a yr I get off chasing a buck that has vacated the area, that is why the cam went up. I hope I didn't $%#@ up/
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I have seen this question raised many times and am often curious as to the answer. I remember reading on one of the scent websites one time that it will linger for a few hours and that is it. However, that is just taking the word of what I have read.
 
The scent will definately be gone the next rain but I don't think that it lingers too long. If your cams are over a salt lick or scrape, the bucks are not afraid at all. We have gotten about 50 pictures of a 180 class deer at probably 5 different days. He sticks around for at least 10 pictures each setting. They really don't care.

HunterMan
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I have watched many deer walk the same trails that i used. With there nose to the ground and never get spooked. I do not think it last very long.
 
A lot of factors can affect how long scent lasts. Temperature and humidty are the main ones. Humidity can make it last longer, dry weather can deplete it faster. I have seen where a bloodhound can trail a person after three days and I believe a whitetail's nose is as good as a bloodhound. I do not believe the key for hunter is how long the scent lasts, but how accustomed the deer are to smelling it, along with how fresh it is. Deer that are around people all the time will not be spooked as easily. Deer that do not encounter people very much would react differently to 2-hour old scent that deer that live around a lot of human activity. I think under ideal conditions, deer can still smell your scent after even 3-4 days, but they would not be spooked by it because they know how old it is.
 
The buck I shot last fall stuck his nose in my boot prints in the snow and literally followed them all the way to be base of my tree. Probably curiosity more than anything else, but curiosity will get you killed.
 
I think the best way to look at this is in-comparison to a tracking dog. If you find out how long a dog can track a human (days I think) after they've been there, and compare the scientific data comparing the power of a whitetails nose compared to a dog's, and you would have an estimation. I believe a whitetails nose is roughly 2/3 as powerful as a dog's? Anyone able to verify any of this?
 
I think that the best answer to this question is more of an educated guess than anything. As far as a dog's nose compared to a deer's I have no idea, but everything I have seen comparing a dog's nose to a human's says that a dog's nose is anywhere from 40 to 400x's more sensitive. That's a pretty wide range. I went through police K9 training and was told that you really wanted to start a track as soon as you could- an hour could be pushing it. Although as stated before conditions play a huge role. The drier it is the faster the scent will go away, the more moisture (not rain) the longer it sticks around. I always figured that a dog's nose was similar to a deer from how I had seen both scent people from downwind. I should point out the dog's I had experience with were German Shepherds, and their tracking abilities aren't in the same class as a bloodhound who can follow scent that could be days old. Assuming that deer smell similar to patrol dogs I would guess that a deer could smell were you had been for potentionally several hours, but more likely much less than that.
 
Couple of days tops.

It also depends on what your wearing if you are pretty consious (rubber boots) probably not that long, but if you wear normal boots that smell bad (BO), sweaty, have not been washed or cleaned for awhile it can linger for several days and spook deer. Seen it several times when someone else who hunted a stand a couple of days before I did, was not wearing rubber boots and the deer pegged there entry and exit trails. They did not hit my trail with the rubber boots but many times I will see them peg a spot your clothing brushed against a twig and they will lick it and actually still the twig in there mouth the get a better smell.

I would also agree with the other poster who said it depends on how common human scent is. I have deer in my backyard all the time and the dog is running back doing his thing and they do not seem bothered by the ground scent, but if you get in a tree and the wind is wrong they will peg you and high tail it out of there. In that case its probably more of a scent intensity thing rather than the precense of human scent.
 
Years ago I worked with a fellow who trapped fox. He said it was rare to have any activity on a new set within 3 days,
One has to believe that deer can smell as well or better than a fox.
My opinion is the residual scent kills more hunts that actually getting winded. That is why the common wisdom prevails that the first time is the best time.
 
I actually believe Fox's have better sniffer's than deer.

I've had deer catch my scent on the ground with rubber boots, sprayed down with spray, several hours after getting into the stand. I believe deer can smell things touched by a human hand (oils), for days, even weeks after contact.

I personally think a deer's nose is so far-beyond our concept of "smell", that we can't even understand it as a sense goes. I try to explain to people that it's like our eye-sight. When we look around, we can gather an unbelieveable amount of information, incredible detail, colors, etc... Imagine having the same capacity with you're nose, and that is what a whitetail is able to do everytime it takes a wiff. This is why I have my own thoughts on "scent elimination", and how the hunting industry in-general is nothing more than a product driven infomercial that has very little scientific data to support any of the claims. I use my experience to support my claims, and I've tried everything. If there was any sure way to beat a whitetails nose, there would be a whole heck of a lot more world class bucks hitting the ground every year!
 
Lone wolf I cannot beleive you actually said that. I guess you must not be sponsored!!!!!!!!!!! You are telling the truth instead of what you are paid to say!
 
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