Examining deer’s excellent sense of smell

Published 8:00 am Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Archery season for deer has been under way for several weeks, the one-week primitive weapons season began last Saturday, Oct. 10 and the firearms season will begin this Saturday, Oct. 17. Hunters are already executing their strategy for bagging that big buck this season. That strategy better include dealing with the deer’s excellent sense of smell or your hunt likely will end in failure.

You may fool a deer’s eyesight with camouflage and you may be able to be quiet enough for the deer’s ears not to detect you but overcoming the deer’s sense of smell takes some doing. It is usually the deer’s nose that will find you out. Of all a deer’s senses, it is his sense of smell that he relies on most to detect things that should not be in his territory. A deer will often freeze when seeing a movement and will often raise his white flag when he hears a strange noise but let some strange scent hit his nostrils and the deer will be long gone.

Numerous things hunters take into the woods will give them away to a wary buck. The hunter’s worst enemy when it comes to smell is himself. Sweat, deodorants, lotions, shampoos and other human scents will be easily detected by a deer. Some of these human scents can be removed by simply taking a bath prior to the hunt with a scent free soap. It goes without saying that you should not use any scented products on your body prior to going into the woods. Old Spice cologne is probably not natural to the deer’s sense of smell.

I remember one specific instance several years ago when I presented several deer with a strange smell to their noses and they hightailed it away. It was a very cold December morning and I decided to take a thermos of coffee with me to my stand that morning. I was thinking that if by mid-morning I had not seen a deer, I could warm up with a hot cup of coffee.

Just as the sun began to provide the first hint of dawn, it felt like the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees and it was already below freezing that morning. The temptation to pour a cup of coffee overcame me, and I decided I could take a quick sip of coffee without jeopardizing my chances to get a deer.

I poured me a couple swallows of coffee and as I raised the cup to drink, I saw five deer standing not 15 feet from my stand and all five had their noses pointed upward. I don’t know if they had ever smelled fresh coffee or not but they did not like the smell of coffee that morning and all I saw was five white flags as they disappeared into the woods. I never saw another deer that morning. I guess the smell of fresh coffee lingered for a while.

Hunters who use the wind to their advantage can avoid detection even if they are not scent proof. I remember another instant several years ago when hunting on a very windy day. In fact, the wind was blowing so hard I had decided to leave my stand early and was walking back to my vehicle.

I was walking in a cleared field along a stand of dense pine trees. The wind was blowing out from the pine trees and as I approached a small gap in the pines I looked over into the pines and within eight feet of me was a six-point buck that saw me about the same time I saw him. We were both startled but he made the first move and retreated into the pines before I could even think about raising my gun. The wind was not in the deer’s favor that day but he still escaped.

Absolutely the best way to compensate for your human scent is by placing yourself downwind from the deer. A sure fire way to be detected by the deer’s nose is to get upwind of the deer with a slight breeze blowing.

The most important aspect of avoiding detection from wind blown scent is your tree stand placement. Know the layout of the property you’re hunting and know from what direction the prevailing winds blow. Be able to adjust your hunting location to wind coming from any direction. Also be aware that bottoms that are one favorite hunting location can actually be a bad location from the standpoint of the wind. Low spots and pockets sometimes will concentrate your scent due to a lack of airflow and can be a dead giveaway location.

There are a number of special sprays that can be used to neutralize scents on a hunter’s outer clothing. These sprays should be evenly sprayed on hunter’s clothes, hat, boots, gloves and other garments. Most can also be sprayed directly onto the skin to give further protection but always read the directions before using these sprays.

In addition to neutralizing scents, there are a group of scents referred to as cover scents. These are scents natural to the woods and include scents like fox urine, apple, acorn and pine. The latter three (definitely not the first one) can be placed directly on your boots and clothes. These cover scents are effective in covering your human scent, just make sure they are natural to the area you’re hunting.

Sometimes the deer will even detect you when you’ve used all the precautions but they will catch your scent every time if you have not done anything to mask your human scent and the wind blows your scent in their direction.

It’s better to wash with scent free soap, smell like a pine tree and let the wind blow in your face than to miss a chance at a good trophy deer. Increase your chances of not being detected by the deer’s excellent sense of smell and follow some of the above tips for a more productive deer hunt this fall. Good hunting and see you next week.



Outdoor columnist Bobby Peoples can be reached via e-mail at brpeoples@windstream.net