Deer nose vs skunk odor

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courtgreene

courtgreene

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So, last night on the way back home from hunting (public land = ALL my hunting gear in the back of the truck, you leave nothing) the guy in front of me hit a skunk. This sent nasty smelling skunk chunks into all sorts of crevices under my truck. It's just a small ranger, but it has a surprisingly high number of aforementioned crevices, and while it's starting to air out, it's not great to be near. That said, If my hunting clothes/tree stand have just a hint of skunk smell, where I can stand it but am aware of it, do you think that would run off deer or be somewhat of a natural cover scent?

I'm sure I'll end up washing the clothes, but the tree stand is a little more difficult to wash... also, even if I wash it, there's no guaranty it will come out. What do you think?
 
It won't run deer off, my dad used it around his blind for years and years. He shot a lot of deer from that blind, many of them would walk right by it!

DM
 
they sell a two part synthetic skunk scent as a cover scent. Dr. Deer says skunk scent is the only cover scent he believes in. I doubt it would spook them but I am guessing they can still smell you + skunk
 
Thanks. I guess I won't worry about it, and I will be hunting again as soon as it gets to the point where I can stand it.
 
Park over grass, not sure what that does but learned it from some old timers, something about parking over grass makes the smell go away faster.
 
Green grass has chlorophyll...which will help eliminate odors (in time and with enough exposure).

Not sure I'd count on it to remove a heavy dose of skunk odor though.
 
Way back when i was young it was THE thing to use for cover scent. It will cover your odor but ive had deer react bad to it too. Keep in mind that deer know just like every other animal that skunks are something to stay away from. Anymore when bow hunting i stick to odor eliminating product vs cover scent. Another BIG disadvantage to it is you have to smell it all day yourself.
 
Lloyd Smale wrote:

Way back when i was young it was THE thing to use for cover scent. It will cover your odor but ive had deer react bad to it too. Keep in mind that deer know just like every other animal that skunks are something to stay away from. Anymore when bow hunting i stick to odor eliminating product vs cover scent. Another BIG disadvantage to it is you have to smell it all day yourself
Click to expand...

Smart man!

I've been a traditional bowhunter for over 40 years and learned early on...that there is no such thing as a "cover scent" when hunting either Deer or Hogs.

Both have an olfactory system capable of picking out several Parts Per Million of scent. YES, actually differentiating scent particles. "Cover Scents" are a waste of time and money IMO.

SCENT ELIMINATION (reduction) products on the other hand, are worthwhile...along with getting (and staying) CLEAN...will aid you more than anything else.

The bottom line is this:

Any animal that has a fear of humans, will react (in some way) to the intensity (amount and freshness) of the odor. IF there is a significant amount of odor present, the animal associates that with a human nearby (or having recently passed). IF there is little odor present, the animal will most often make the opposite conclusion.

Scent "CONTROL" is much more important than trying to "cover" it up!

It goes without saying...that you should always use the wind (or thermals) to your advantage, so I'll throw that in there before someone dismisses all of the scent control verbiage.
 
Quite right, and I will second that advice on scent control. The other thing I was taught was if you use a lure, it has to be "correct", for deer may not associate the odor itself with danger, but will associate an out-of-place odor as suspicious.

So using a sex lure a month after the rut has stopped might make a buck suspicious, and may make does move away instead of ignoring it. "Golden corn" scent when the farms for several miles in any direction are all planted with soybeans, or "apple" when there are only corn and soybean fields may work against a hunter.

LD
 
I can not believe a cover scent would work to mask human odor. My belief is based on anecdotal evidence, in that several years ago I had a Pointer who thought it was his primary mission to kill skunks. He was often sprayed in the face and mouth. Minutes after being sprayed he would be back to work often making finds while still wet with the skunk spray.
 
birdshot8's said:
I can not believe a cover scent would work to mask human odor. My belief is based on anecdotal evidence, in that several years ago I had a Pointer who thought it was his primary mission to kill skunks. He was often sprayed in the face and mouth. Minutes after being sprayed he would be back to work often making finds while still wet with the skunk spray.
Click to expand...
That'd happen exactly twice (first time I'd figure it was a fluke event) before I wouldn't take that dumb dog hunting anymore. Just nasty.

Theoretically it could overload an animal's sense of smell and thus blind them to other smells. It obviously didn't work with your dog, but that's not to say it wouldn't for other animals.
 
The truck is aired out, It doesn't smell anymore. As for the tree stand, I can stand it, so I'll hunt in it. But not until next week. Schedules and such.
 
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