I always tuck my coverall legs into my boots before all the water crossings.
Non-breathable rubber boots stink. I'm willing to bet that your coveralls picked up your foot funk stench after you tucked them into your boot. Next time maybe just try rolling them up over your boot, rather than tucking them in.
It's also quite possible that she picked up some horse scent in a place where she doesn't normally smell it. Having grown up in and around farmland I can say that you rarely see deer co-habitating with livestock. But you would think that would have all washed away crossing the water + streams.
There is also the possibility that it was not your boots, but another part of your hunting outift that is dropping scent on your trail. It could be almost any piece of gear you own, but gloves, facemasks, and hats would probably be the first/biggest offenders.
And then, if that that wasn't enough, she very well could have sensed a disturbance in a familiar habitat - crushed grass, disturbed leaves, broken branches.
Here's my extreme scent-control regimen. I've yet to have a deer visibly scent-bust me.
- All hunting clothes stored in IRIS weathertight storage bins (same damn thing as scentlok scentote, but $30 cheaper).
- Never wear hunting clothes in vehicle or in home (except socks and or extreme cold baselayers).
- Always change at location, outside vehicle
- Only wear rubber boots. WIpe or spray down before going afield
- Wipe bow and other gear that has had skin contact down with scent free wipes (wildlife research field wipes)
- Spray pack down with scent-reducing spray
- Keep scent-lok baseslayers in seperate scentlok airtight bag
- Allow legs of pants to go over my rubber boots. If i have to cross standing water I just hike or roll them up (if not zippered).
- Scentlok garments regenerated every 30-40 hours in dryer on high-heat of use. Only use scentlok brand reactivation detergent.
- Non-scentlok garments are washed using arm+hammer perfume + dye free detergent. Either air dried outside or in the dryer without the use of a dryer sheet. If, like I do, you live in a household where someone must use perfumed detergent + dryer sheets then I will run a full load of towels with scent-free detergent in the wash machine first, then into the dryer without sheets. Time consuming, but worth it.