Do deer get used to human scent?

[Basiiczxx]

In my opinion, Deer know specific humans just like they call tell eachother apart based on scent. The single hiker who goes by everyday might not put them on alert but when they smell the stinky fellow who murders their friends from high in trees they go on alert. I have no facts to back this other than seeing deer while training on bases and then hunting those same deer with very different results.

 

[Tapeworm]

In my opinion, Deer know specific humans just like they call tell eachother apart based on scent. The single hiker who goes by everyday might not put them on alert but when they smell the stinky fellow who murders their friends from high in trees they go on alert. I have no facts to back this other than seeing deer while training on bases and then hunting those same deer with very different results.

I’ve found that if human activity is where deer expect it, then they don’t spook or don’t spook bad.

Once the activity is different then they pick up on it pretty quickly and react more.


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[John Eberhart]

Only on TV where they hunt in zoo like conditions with zero competition and bucks are allowed to pass by them until they are old enough to entertain the audience.

 

[ThumbsMcGee]

Only on TV where they hunt in zoo like conditions with zero competition and bucks are allowed to pass by them until they are old enough to entertain the audience.

Good thing is, is I don’t think many people watch those hunting tv shows anymore. It’s like cable news, we know we’re being lied to so we find other sources. What’s awesome is all those who produce on YouTube (including yourself) giving us average folks the real deal.


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[Basiiczxx]

I’ve found that if human activity is where deer expect it, then they don’t spook or don’t spook bad.

Once the activity is different then they pick up on it pretty quickly and react more.


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This is probably the more logical answer. It’s a unique situation in bases. The deer just watch you run around through the woods shooting fake bullets at each other but havnt had the same luck trying to shoot real bullets or arrows

 

[Mr Price]

Every human has a different smell. Just like deer, dogs and any animal. That is how they can distinguish what deer or critter has been in the area. If a deer smells a human that they never smelt before, most likely it will run.

 

[Tapeworm]

This is probably the more logical answer. It’s a unique situation in bases. The deer just watch you run around through the woods shooting fake bullets at each other but havnt had the same luck trying to shoot real bullets or arrows

I read about a guy that watched a bedded buck.

He watched hikers chatting and walking & also joggers which were running all on the hiking trail, while the buck was bedded just off the trail.

He watched some hunters quietly slipping down the trail & the buck snuck off.

Another time he saw the buck there, he went and walked and talked out loud to himself & buck stayed put.

He then went down the trail quietly while carrying a stick like a rifle in both hands in front of his body & buck snuck out of bed.

I have spots where I now act like an average hiker and talk to myself with wind blowing into bedding cuz they expect it & have killed multiple deer from these spots.


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[bj139]

In my opinion if you're hunting a property that has people living on the edge of it, the deer are absolutely used to human scent. The only problem with that though, is in my experience, suburban deer are excellent at knowing where that human scent is supposed to be. For example every day I walk from my garage to my house, about 15' away is a wood line and I've had deer stand on the edge of it and watch me walk to my house. They know where I belong. I take one step into the woods and they would bolt. The only way i know of to take advantage of this I guess is to set up as close as you legally can in your area to where people usually are.

I walk by the geese in the park and they keep a distance, maybe 10 yards. One day, I put on my camo jacket not thinking about this and the distance became 100 yards. I don't think they like people dressed in camo. If I was carrying a big black stick they probably would have taken off. Maybe @always89y has a great idea. I'm going to the thrift store and try to find some Hawaiian camo. Maybe I can find the scentlock version.

 

[PEEJAY]

They just know......