Stinkin' guns! Can the deer smell them?

[ScottsGT]

Started thinging about some conversations and personal experiences I've had hunting. Let me give you some background here, I've been hunting going on my 3rd season this year. Never killed anything yet, and have only seen a few small does and fawns. But Damn, did I ever enjoy just watching them. Anyhow, I have friends that have told me that they have the same experiences, except when they go armed with a camera, they see all kinds of deer.
No gun, see deer.
Got gun, no deer.
Last weekend I was cleaning my shotgun and was enjoying the smell of the Hoppies 9 and the gun lube, etc.. When I realized, if I'm enjoying the smell, what about the wildlife?
I've been taking all the precautions before hunting, no aftershave, baking soda deodorant, unscented and no UV laundry detergent, storing my hunting clothes away from my everyday clothes, scent killer spray, not pumping gas the same day I hunt,....You get the picture.
Are they smelling the gun cleaners and lubes??
Crazy idea? Maybe. But think about it.

 

[P95Carry]

Hoppes#9 and after shave etc are .... of course ..... ''potentially'' bad news but ..... I have to confess to NOT going to huge lengths re scent elimination etc .... too damn lazy!

I do tho quite simply choose a spot where I know, on the given day .... I am for sure downwind of where i want to see and shoot.

I have had I think more probs thru careless noise than ever any scent ''giveaways''.

Just my thinkin.

 

[Art Eatman]

If the wind is blowing from you toward the deer, I don't think it matters very much what de-scenting you've done. You can't do enough to fool Bambi. Whatever aroma there is is different from what he's used to, and his survival instinct says, "Different is bad, and I'm leaving!" You pick out your "sitting and looking" spot accordingly.

If you can imitate a stump or large rock for a long time, you can sit out in the middle of the wide open and not be noticed. "Motion is bad, and I'm leaving!"

Ya gotta learn to think like a stump.

(It's easier for some than others. )

Art

 

[sm]

Smoking covers the smell of gun solvents

Being a poor boy and all, I didn't have the monies to buy all the stuff one was "supposed" to have to hunt. Of course not one to clean often...well one dealie covered.

I went out armed with a camera , I make like a stump, real well...but ya know , and this is just me, I think it is "attitude" and staying downwind. I noticed I could light up and sit there like a stump and a buck a 3 doe kept playing within 35 yds of me.

I did the exact same thing the next day , I was sipping coffee, having a smoke and took a picture with a Model 70 in '06, iron sights...37steps...great, dropped a fresh cup of coffee, my smoke...and buck.

I still contend deer ( game in general) get calendars with reviews ofthe newest scents, and what-nots, along with seasons...tips them off on newest stuff...

just a theory...

 

[Johnpl]

I once went out bird hunting after changing the oil in my truck (with about a half quart of oil on my clothes) and while sitting down taking a break in the woods, had three deer walk by at about 30 feet. I smelled like a refinery.

I know guys that de-scent like crazy, even chewing special gum to de-scent their breath, and I know guys that smoke and eat while on stand. Both types get deer, but like the posts above, they are quiet and still. That seems to be the most important factor, along with staying down-wind.

 

[Joe Demko]

I know guys who hunt out of big treestands with metal buckets of burning charcoal at their feet. They eat, smoke, fart, burn charcoal, etc. all day long and still get deer. The scent thing seems less important than not being seen.

Perhaps you should seek out and view 'HM GOVERNMENT, PUBLIC SERVICE FILM NO. 42 PARA 6. "HOW NOT TO BE SEEN"'. It's available on the web.

 

[JeepDriver]

To tell you the truth I haven't cleaned my hunting shot gun in just under 3 years I have to use a shot gun so I chose a rifled barreled Mossy 500 with w parkerized finish. After I sighted it in (15 rounds) I cleaned it. But I've fired 2 shots in 2001 and 1 shot in 2002. I shopuld pull it out and check it is still shooting alright but I haven't touched it since last November after I droped a 115lb Doe.

So if cleaning my gun means no Deer, then I aint gonna bother cleaning it! If anything I'll run a bore snake through it

 

[Keith]

They'll smell you regardless.

You should always hunt upwind. If you hunt from a stand, have several in mind and use them according to which way the wind is blowing that day. If you live in hilly country, always hunt from the heights because scent rises.

Keith

 

[SkaerE]

now take this for a grain of salt but i read "somewhere" (thats why you shouldnt pay much attention to this ) that the sense of smell gets less effective with the drop in temperature. read that on a really cold day a deer doenst have much a much better sense of smell than you or i do.

dont know if its true, but they do seem to be bothered less later in the year than in early bow season (70-80 degrees bow vs. 0-20 degrees rifle season)

 

[Art Eatman]

SkaerE, you may well be right, but a buck that's seriously in rut will pretty much ignore anything but Lil Sweetie. They can get really stoopid.

A lot like teenagers, that way...

, Art

 

[ARperson]

You should always hunt upwind.

Okay, I'd like some clarification and opinions because this is not the first time I've come across this statement.

I have always thought it worked this way:

Upwind of something meant the wind was blowing from you to the something (thus, said something can catch your scent on the wind).

Downwind of something meant the wind was blowing from the something to you (thus, said something cannot catch your scent).

I know to hunt from a position in which the wind is blowing from the target towards me, but would you consider that upwind or downwind?

 

[P95Carry]

AR person .... it is I think general to describe, relative to the target.

Thus if I am in my stand downwind]/i] of the deer it means I am getting the wind that has already passed it .. in other words, were I good enough in an olfactory sense .. I'd smell the deer!! Conversly if i am upwind of the deer ..... my odor will be carried to him.

Similarly regarding ''windward'' and ''leeward'' ...... On the windward side I would be upwind of the deer ......... in the leeward situation I am beyond.

 

[Redlg155]

Will it spook them? Depends on whether the deer associate that smell with danger. You could go up smelling like moon pies and RC cola and not alarm deer so long as they don't associate it with danger. I've gone up a tree many a day smelling like bacon and eggs.

I used to hunt with an old gent who routinely took a pee at the bottom of his stand before going up. And yep...more often than not he got a deer.

Good Shooting
Red

 

[Keith]

"Hunting upwind" means hunting with the wind in your face - blowing from the animal to you.

Deer DO respond to smells and they'll respond to them from great distances. If you're careless about it you may still get your deer, but you'll never see the ones you lost.
If you hunt from a tree, it may not matter because scent tends to rise.

Scent and sound are the two things which are most likely to spook animals. And also the two things which are most easily controlled by the hunter.

Just be quiet and keep an eye on the wind. Simply move slowly into the wind, or if you're hunting from a stand, pick one that takes advantage of the wind direction that day.

Keith

 

[grampster]

The absolute best way to see the largest buck deer in the woods is to carefully lay your firearm on the ground, preferably about 10 feet away.
Unbutton your coat and remove it, slip off your suspenders and pull your woolies, waffle weaves and boxers carefully down around your ankles, grasp a medium sized sappling with both hands, lean back and grunt and sigh with the relief that washes over you.

At that moment the largest buck deer in the woods is guaranteed to stroll within 15 feet of you, stop, present a perfect side sillouette, look at you with disgust and derision written all over his face, then walk slowly away into the pines.

grampster

 

[ScottsGT]

Grampster,
You sound experienced with this method !!

 

[Art Eatman]

Grampster, that's actually the time you should have your rifle quite handy. For many hunters, that time is the quietest of all during their quest.

There could be some danger, however, from some other hunter; "I thought I heard a buck snort!"

, Art

 

[lycanthrope]

FP-10 smells like cinnamon. It may be less adversive to critters.

 

[Onslaught]

I've given this a lot of thought as well, and a few things occurred to me...
MOST places that are "hunting land" still have homes around them. There are still roads and cars and such. If deer can smell that well, then they are smelling tide, bounty, old spice, and cheetos 9 months out of the year with no harm coming to them. Now, I suppose if you hunt in Montana on 10,000 acres of undeveloped land... well MAYBE there's a deer that isn't used to smelling humans. But for most of us, these are the same deer that were grazing in your grandparents' back yard 2 months ago.

I'm going to have to agree as well that sound and motion would be more important than scent.

 

[Keith]

I'm going to have to agree as well that sound and motion would be more important than scent.

You'll never know because you'll never see the deer you spooked!

You'll probably see the younger deer, but you won't see many of those older animals who have learned the lesson.
Deer do learn and remember things. Once they've gone through a hunting season or two, they know very well that humans are bad news. And that sense of smell is much better than you or I can imagine - they know if it's coming from the treeline just ahead (danger), or from the housing complex a 1/4 mile beyond that (no danger). And they'll act accordingly.

I'm from Michigan and I know how it is to hunt in the woods where you can't see very far.
Here, where I live now, I can see and observe deer at great distances. I've watched them spook from a hunters scent more times than I can remember. I've watched them walk a half-circle around a hunter who never knew they were even there - and the deer couldn't have known the hunter was there if it didn't smell him.
And these are Sitka blacktails under very light hunting pressure - they are nowhere near as smart and cagey as an experienced Michigan whitetail!

You'd be well advised to take wind direction and scent into account! You'll get far more deer, and far bigger deer if you do!

Keith

 

[C.R.Sam]

Ya gotta learn to think like a stump. ...Art

Always worked for me.
Whether hunting or being hunted.

Sam

 

[Jeremae]

Grampster...

I arrived at my lease near Nacadoches(sp) very late one season about 8-10 years back (had to deal with a crisis (someone else's lack of planning and foresight) when I had planned to leave 2 days early) at about 2am and was dog tired so decided to skip opening daybreak. At about 8:45 finally drug myself up out of my vehicle and was enthroned and envolved when a 12 point buck who scored 168 must have seen my trusty 308 in the car and lazily strolled right through the middle of camp and strutted right up to the latrine.

Unfortunatly for him, I had recieved a Cimmaron replica of the Colt peacemaker for my birthday that year and in my best John Wayne imitation had buckled it on just in case I ran into Richard Boone on the way to the latrine.

45 long colt at 20 feet is more than enough gun for east Texas whitetails....

 

[grampster]

The grampster methodology of attracting Boone and Crockett bucks is once again proven by Jeremae. heh. Not supposed to have a firearm nearby though. Recoil can be a bit messy in the end.

grampster