Entry Exit Strategies
Tracking dogs were extensively studied by the Germans dating back to WWI. Dogs track by one of two methods. Commonly a dogs tracking method is described as ground disturbance or trailing/human odor. Two tests were set up. In one test a wooden wheel with wooden feet attached and no human odor was rolled over vegetation. In the other test a chair lift type apparatus was used to transport a human over an area without touching the ground. The Germans discovered that most dogs were successful at one method but not the other. They could find the quarry by tracking the ground disturbance but could not find the quarry by tracking only the human odor, or vise versa. Todays police dogs are normally trained to track with a combination of methods. Urban environments with pavement and concrete dictate that dogs need to have the ability to trail human odor but in areas with vegetation the dogs are trained to take advantage of that additional odor.
The track life (how much time can pass before the dog is unable to detect ground disturbance or human odor) is impacted by many things. Temperature, moisture, wind, sunlight, vegetation to name a few. We can personally observe this when we cut our lawn. The odor of the freshly cut grass lasts for a period of time and then goes away as the grass begins to repair its-self. The amount of odor from lush green grass is different than that of a brown dried out lawn. The biggest thing that can extend track life is if something gets left behind. This item that gets left behind becomes a continual source of odor for a much longer period of time. This can be as obvious as dropping a glove but also includes skin contact, clothing / boot contact, sweat, blood / other fluids (ie. dogs trained to track wounded deer). If something gets left behind the life of the track can extend for days or weeks, depending on the item.
I would assume deer naturally track by one of the two methods or a combination of both. Every one knows that thinking about your entry and exit is an important consideration. The question is now; do you want the life of that track to be several hours or several days?
As with other types of scent reduction it becomes a cost benefit determination. You may not plan on hunting that location in the near future. You may even plan on pushing in deeper at which point the additional odor in your previous location may even help with that strategy. But if you are limited with the amount of areas you choose to hunt, then reducing contact odor and taking a hard look at your entry / exit is probably a good idea.
Tracking dogs were extensively studied by the Germans dating back to WWI. Dogs track by one of two methods. Commonly a dogs tracking method is described as ground disturbance or trailing/human odor. Two tests were set up. In one test a wooden wheel with wooden feet attached and no human odor was rolled over vegetation. In the other test a chair lift type apparatus was used to transport a human over an area without touching the ground. The Germans discovered that most dogs were successful at one method but not the other. They could find the quarry by tracking the ground disturbance but could not find the quarry by tracking only the human odor, or vise versa. Todays police dogs are normally trained to track with a combination of methods. Urban environments with pavement and concrete dictate that dogs need to have the ability to trail human odor but in areas with vegetation the dogs are trained to take advantage of that additional odor.
The track life (how much time can pass before the dog is unable to detect ground disturbance or human odor) is impacted by many things. Temperature, moisture, wind, sunlight, vegetation to name a few. We can personally observe this when we cut our lawn. The odor of the freshly cut grass lasts for a period of time and then goes away as the grass begins to repair its-self. The amount of odor from lush green grass is different than that of a brown dried out lawn. The biggest thing that can extend track life is if something gets left behind. This item that gets left behind becomes a continual source of odor for a much longer period of time. This can be as obvious as dropping a glove but also includes skin contact, clothing / boot contact, sweat, blood / other fluids (ie. dogs trained to track wounded deer). If something gets left behind the life of the track can extend for days or weeks, depending on the item.
I would assume deer naturally track by one of the two methods or a combination of both. Every one knows that thinking about your entry and exit is an important consideration. The question is now; do you want the life of that track to be several hours or several days?
As with other types of scent reduction it becomes a cost benefit determination. You may not plan on hunting that location in the near future. You may even plan on pushing in deeper at which point the additional odor in your previous location may even help with that strategy. But if you are limited with the amount of areas you choose to hunt, then reducing contact odor and taking a hard look at your entry / exit is probably a good idea.
