Scent control

Share your deer hunting knowledge, give tips on how to hunt deer. Ask any questions you may have about deer hunting.
Forum rules
Please stick to deer hunting tips and tactics in this forum.
Message
Author
Carpdaddy
Site Admin
Posts: 9469
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Scent control

#31 Post by Carpdaddy »

Yes on the dog!
I remember meeting some guys years ago who would spray skunk scent on their boots when they got out of the truck to hunt. Always worried bout those folks, sorry if your one of them. :| I did once hunt with a guy that used coon urine, I let him hit my boots a few times when I was young, learned my lesson sitting in a tree smelling that stuff! Note to the wise; never ride home with a feller that uses this method of scent control! :o

User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: Scent control

#32 Post by Shadowhntr »

I hunted with a guy that for a while would rub deer urine all over himself. I told him he was crazy every time.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Captainkirk
Site Admin
Posts: 12787
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2014 8:19 pm

Re: Scent control

#33 Post by Captainkirk »

Shadowhntr wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:25 am I hunted with a guy that for a while would rub deer urine all over himself. I told him he was crazy every time.
Ummm...that could get a guy killed. Seriously.
Watched a YT vid once where a rutting buck treed a guy who did that and darn near uprooted the tree trying to pulverize him.
Aim small, miss small!

User avatar
Elkman
Site Admin
Posts: 1407
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:11 pm

Re: Scent control

#34 Post by Elkman »

Shadowhntr wrote: Mon Aug 20, 2018 10:25 am I hunted with a guy that for a while would rub deer urine all over himself. I told him he was crazy every time.
I use cow Elk urine. It can be very effective at times.
My wife hates it when I get home. :mrgreen:

I had a good sized Bull talking to me one morning at dawn. He was on the opposite side of a big draw from me. There was a gated road down below me. I dropped down to it and hustled along it till I got to the other side where I figured the Bull was at.
It was a warm morning and about a 2 mile trek around to the Bull. I was sweating pretty good and very concerned about my scent. I sat down for a rest and to cool down and listen for the Bull. He would only answer to my calls when I was up high on the opposite ridge. I sat there for maybe 15 minutes loosing hope that I would even hear him again. I was sure that I had now wasted my morning. Well, maybe not wasted, but I was on my way to a much better spot when I got him to talk to me in the first place. Now no sign of him. :( .
So I decided to continue on up towards where I thought the Bull was at. I took out my bottle of Cow in estrus spray and sprayed my self down mainly my hat, boots and lower legs. I made sure I sprayed the soles of my hunting boots really good. 😜
I went around to the top of the ridge to a trail that followed the top of the ridge. I did some cow calling and then went up a little further. Nothing? I came to a fork in the trail and decided to stay to the right. I hadn't gone 30 yards when I heard a snort type sound down below me in line with the trail that I had just came up. I stepped off the trail that I had taken, about 3 steps. Got an arrow ready and waited to see what was making the noise.
I was expecting a Moose to be coming up the trail since I had run into a couple at different times on that same trail in the past. It wasn't long before I could see dark hoofs coming up the tail. But what was it?🤔
The next thing I saw where large antlers and a nose in front of the hoofs. What the heck? Oh yeah! It's a large Bull Elk.👍 Heck yeah, game on, let's do this! I looked things over real quick and figured he would just stay straight at the fork and that would give me a good shot from where I ended up. My heart was pounding! He was at 25 yards and closing. Then he stops, lifts his head looks up and looks around like he is expecting to see something. Then what does he do? He lowers his head back down with his nose right at the ground. Oh! :shock: he's following my scent. He turns and comes up the trail I was on. There was a little jog in the trail where I had stepped off of it. So when I had stepped off the trail I was actually straight up from him. Now he is at about 15 yards, still walking, nose to the ground. His breath was kicking up dust as he was tracking the cow scent I had left behind from my boots. HE WAS ON A MISSION! All the sudden at about 10 yards or less, facing straight at me, he stops. He still has his nose to the ground like a hound dog. I am thinking how is he not picking up any of my scent mixed in with this cow in heat scent? He is now stopped, like a statue. He then rolls his eyes up and they open real large. :shock: He looks mad! It seemed like he was like that for at least a full minute. The gig is up? He finally lifts his head up and he can tell something is not right🤔.
Now he starts to get nervous and turn back down the trail. Stops at 15 yard quartering away. Perfect!? NO shot! DARN.😔 I have too many branches in the way. He then turns back down the way he came never to be heard from again. WOW! That was awesome! I was disappointed but fulfilled at the same time. To look him right in the eyes, a 1000 lb Bull at 10 yards with a 4 1/2 foot spread, how do you describe such a feeling? There are not too many things I know of that do. Except maybe jumping from an airplane, but that is another story!
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

User avatar
Graps
Posts: 6696
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:39 pm

Re: Scent control

#35 Post by Graps »

:shock: :o Yep, them is the kind of experiences that make an exciting day. ;)
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

Carpdaddy
Site Admin
Posts: 9469
Joined: Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:36 pm

Re: Scent control

#36 Post by Carpdaddy »

Sounds like that bull had romance on the brain and you with your new perfume was the intended target. He just didn’t expect the cow he was tracking to be sooo ugly! :o 😜

User avatar
Graps
Posts: 6696
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:39 pm

Re: Scent control

#37 Post by Graps »

:lol: :lol: :lol: :shock:
"Maybe the truly handicapped people are the ones that don't need God as much." ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

User avatar
Elkman
Site Admin
Posts: 1407
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:11 pm

Re: Scent control

#38 Post by Elkman »

That's for sure!
Even though it looked like he was looking at me, I'm not sure if he saw me or finally caught my scent. He definitely figured out that something was not right. Sometimes it's like they have the ability to just know you're there.
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

User avatar
Shadowhntr
Posts: 4614
Joined: Wed Feb 10, 2016 4:47 pm

Re: Scent control

#39 Post by Shadowhntr »

Yep.....you is crazy too...😂

Honestly that type of thing is pretty much the same thing I've had happen years ago trying that or with others I know who did/do...only with whitetails not elk. Those that do not spook and choose to investigate come straight at you either from winding or tracking. Then when they get bow range close they catch on and whirl and run, never offering a good shot. I personally dont like rattling for much the same reason. Sure it works at times, but far too many get buggered when it doesn't work out, esp for my limited animals. If I had tons of private hunting grounds I might be tempted to play once in a while. Whitetails have a nasty habit of circling out of bow range or often even out of sight, and most hunters dont even realize they are getting busted by a lot of nice bucks because most nice bucks leave without a sound.
That's not the half of it with pouring urine on ones self.....IT STINKS AND ITS GROSS!!! 🤣🤣🤣 Unless you change all your apperal at the truck....you gotta get in that thing!🤮😂
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

User avatar
Elkman
Site Admin
Posts: 1407
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 10:11 pm

Re: Scent control

#40 Post by Elkman »

Shadowhntr wrote: Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:04 am Whitetails have a nasty habit of circling out of bow range or often even out of sight, and most hunters dont even realize they are getting busted
More often than not a mature Bull will circle also and you take that into consideration when you finally get to setup on one. If they don't see what they are looking for, they will try and catch the scent of the Elk they are thinking is in the area.
Another thing some guys will do if they come across a wallow, is spread some of the naturally scented dirt on their boots or pants. During the rut, chasing Elk up and down the mountains in September it can get pretty warm. The mountains and small draws move your scent, at times, all over the place. Some sort of cover scent can make the difference in pursuit of a harvest. Most of the time now I rely on scent removal sprays, and if I use a cover scent I will use natural things like sagebrush or pine straight from the source. If I do use the urines, it gets put on the felt pads and hung off a tree limb. I have matured some and gotten a little wiser. If I do come up on a wallow I still can't resist kicking it around a little bit. ;)
Calling Elk - Awesome! !€

Post Reply

Return to “Deer hunting tips and tactics”