Picture evidence of our impact long after we leave the woods

[GCTerpfan]

I shot a doe Saturday morning just before 9:00 am, after the shot I climbed down and crossed the logging road next to my stand. Below are pictures of a buck that crossed my trail 57 hours later. There was still enough residual odor to spook him. Everytime I think about getting lazy with my approach to a stand, I'll hopefully remember these pics.

 

[NATHAN]

Yes indeed.

 

[Crawdaddy4]

Good observation. I tend to get lazy with my access routes to areas where I plan on making subsequent hunts.

 

[redsquirrel]

I shot a doe Saturday morning just before 9:00 am, after the shot I climbed down and crossed the logging road next to my stand. Below are pictures of a buck that crossed my trail 57 hours later. There was still enough residual odor to spook him. Everytime I think about getting lazy with my approach to a stand, I'll hopefully remember these pics.

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Were you wearing rubber boots?

 

[GCTerpfan]

Were you wearing rubber boots?

No, leather.

 

[redsquirrel]

No, leather.

So every situation is different but here is an example of the opposite. I have extreme confidence in my scent reduction system. I had this buck walk under me and around my tree for 5 minutes and I have it all on video. One screen shot is of him licking my rappel rope and the other is him standing next to my bow that I had already lowered so I could get home to a haunted house with the kids. Good thing he wasn't a shooter for me that day!

 

[DB4x4]

So every situation is different but here is an example of the opposite. I have extreme confidence in my scent reduction system. I had this buck walk under me and around my tree for 5 minutes and I have it all on video. One screen shot is of him licking my rappel rope and the other is him standing next to my bow that I had already lowered so I could get home to a haunted house with the kids. Good thing he wasn't a shooter for me that day!

Rappel rope licking branch?
Is this the next, dare I say.... Game Chan... Sorry, can't do it.

 

[GCTerpfan]

So every situation is different but here is an example of the opposite. I have extreme confidence in my scent reduction system. I had this buck walk under me and around my tree for 5 minutes and I have it all on video. One screen shot is of him licking my rappel rope and the other is him standing next to my bow that I had already lowered so I could get home to a haunted house with the kids. Good thing he wasn't a shooter for me that day!

Yeah, agreed. I too have had noticeable and positive results with making efforts to reduce my scent, especially with deer that cross my trail. I typically make those efforts when hunting my property, its small (60 ish acres) with really poor access. I didn't this time as it was my last hunt for the year. It just surprised me a little to see this strong of a negative reaction 2.5 days later.

 

[HuumanCreed]

Yeah, agreed. I too have had noticeable and positive results with making efforts to reduce my scent, especially with deer that cross my trail. I typically make those efforts when hunting my property, its small (60 ish acres) with really poor access. I didn't this time as it was my last hunt for the year. It just surprised me a little to see this strong of a negative reaction 2.5 days later.

More evidence is needed, was it Tacos Tuesday or Wiener Schnitzel Wednesday the day before you hunted? You might of defiled the whole area for years with your scent.

 

[redsquirrel]

Yeah, agreed. I too have had noticeable and positive results with making efforts to reduce my scent, especially with deer that cross my trail. I typically make those efforts when hunting my property, its small (60 ish acres) with really poor access. I didn't this time as it was my last hunt for the year. It just surprised me a little to see this strong of a negative reaction 2.5 days later.

Everyone can hunt how they want when they want to. I saw your post and thought it was a good opportunity to bring up my extremely opposite reaction

 

[Allegheny Tom]

Everyone can hunt how they want when they want to. I saw your post and thought it was a good opportunity to bring up my extremely opposite reaction

I can 2nd your comment.
I've had zero busts (of severe intensity) from ground odor for several years now.
Yesterday was another example. Had a 1.5 year old buck follow my access trail for at least 50 yards to the base of my tree, at which time he stood there smelling where I'd just taken a leak within 15 min. earlier.
A couple hours later, I had an adult doe standing in the same spot with zero concern that the boogie man was 15 feet above her.
She was under me for many minutes and then she finally worked her way down wind. My milkweed floaters drifted no more than 7 feet directly over her head. I knew it as a matter of time until she got a stronger whiff of me, which she did. But the extent of her alarm was to nervously look around for a few minutes and then just walk away. I guess you could classify that as an odor bust, but it was about as mild a bust as I could hope for.
Last week I had a mature 10 point walk down the same access road as I walked 15 minutes earlier. I wheezed him off of that road and into the cover I was in but he just wouldn't commit enough for a shot. Once again, he showed no awareness that he walked where a human just walked.
I killed a doe last week that was standing exactly where I entered the stand. She was as calm as could be.
I used to worry (and get busted) by deer cutting my trail to the point that it effected where I would even consider setting a stand. Not any more.
Clean body, clean boots, and don't touch anything along the access route and busts are a thing of the past. It's so rewarding when you fool them.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

I can 2nd your comment.
I've had zero busts (of severe intensity) from ground odor for several years now.
Yesterday was another example. Had a 1.5 year old buck follow my access trail for at least 50 yards to the base of my tree, at which time he stood there smelling where I'd just taken a leak within 15 min. earlier.
A couple hours later, I had an adult doe standing in the same spot with zero concern that the boogie man was 15 feet above her.
She was under me for many minutes and then she finally worked her way down wind. My milkweed floaters drifted no more than 7 feet directly over her head. I knew it as a matter of time until she got a stronger whiff of me, which she did. But the extent of her alarm was to nervously look around for a few minutes and then just walk away. I guess you could classify that as an odor bust, but it was about as mild a bust as I could hope for.
Last week I had a mature 10 point walk down the same access road as I walked 15 minutes earlier. I wheezed him off of that road and into the cover I was in but he just wouldn't commit enough for a shot. Once again, he showed no awareness that he walked where a human just walked.
I killed a doe last week that was standing exactly where I entered the stand. She was as calm as could be.
I used to worry (and get busted) by deer cutting my trail to the point that it effected where I would even consider setting a stand. Not any more.
Clean body, clean boots, and don't touch anything along the access route and busts are a thing of the past. It's so rewarding when you fool them.

"But you can't fool a bucks nose no matter what you do" says about 9 bazillion hunters that have killed deer in the last decade! Lol.

 

[MattMan81]

I will say it's all location driven. Deer in a high population can't run away every time they smell human scent or foot traffic. I would just say he knows it doesn't belong there. Smaller property where maybe someone walks it occasionally and farmers go in and out I think they get a little more tolerant.
Could be he just saw a sasquatch too.

 

[87v6bird]

I think this just shows that each deer is different. Some are going to freak out and others won't. I'm confident the rappel rope mentioned above had a good amount of human scent on it (unless rubber gloves are being used during the rappel).

 

[CooterBrown]

Had a doe cross my entry path and never even flinch yesterday evening. I was wearing rubber boots

 

[GeoFish]

I think this just shows that each deer is different. Some are going to freak out and others won't. I'm confident the rappel rope mentioned above had a good amount of human scent on it (unless rubber gloves are being used during the rappel).

I agree with that. A deer that has been bumped several times this week ( by a coyote, cougar, back packer, lookie loo or hunter) is going to react different then a deer who has had no interaction with preditors for a while.
Yes we have cougars in KY.

 

[Dope on a Rope]

I think this just shows that each deer is different. Some are going to freak out and others won't. I'm confident the rappel rope mentioned above had a good amount of human scent on it (unless rubber gloves are being used during the rappel).

Thunderbird, firebird, skylark, eagle, falcon? I can’t handle the secrecy!

 

[brydan]

I think this just shows that each deer is different. Some are going to freak out and others won't. I'm confident the rappel rope mentioned above had a good amount of human scent on it (unless rubber gloves are being used during the rappel).

Yep, they’re wild animals making unpredictable decisions based on perceived danger. We’re no different really. If we get a faint whiff of a skunk we instinctively know it’s not an immediate danger. If we get a huge blast of it we’re on high alert looking around trying to locate where it’s coming from. Same smell, different reaction.

When I hunted on a lease i saw all kinds of deer behavior that I’ve never seen or very rarely seen on public. Low pressure vs high pressure deer. Amazing how much more confidence I had in my scent control on LP deer compared to HP

 

[Dmathews87]

Yep, they’re wild animals making unpredictable decisions based on perceived danger. We’re no different really. If we get a faint whiff of a skunk we instinctively know it’s not an immediate danger. If we get a huge blast of it we’re on high alert looking around trying to locate where it’s coming from. Same smell, different reaction.

When I hunted on a lease i saw all kinds of deer behavior that I’ve never seen or very rarely seen on public. Low pressure vs high pressure deer. Amazing how much more confidence I had in my scent control on LP deer compared to HP

i think the low pressure vs high pressure sums it up very well. I recently joined a small lease this year and its wild what some of these deer tolerate. Goes back to the perceived threat. Of course they smell us, they smell everything, but that doesn't always mean they interpret it as danger.

 

[GCTerpfan]

Ok, I’ve got to add a correction here. I showed these pics to my Dad and he said. “Oh, I came over and hunted your spot that morning and shot a practice arrow into the road when I got down.” The scent the deer was reacting to was 7 hours old not 57 hours.