Getting deer familiar with your scent?? Use you scent to your advantage.

[daniel mcfaul]

I was just thinking the other day about this and wanted to see if anyone else has and or tried this idea and if it would work?
What Im talking about is getting the deer familiar with your scent rather than trying to mask your scent with fancy non scented soaps, shampoos, deodorants ect. or worrying about the wind direction.
What I was thinking is taking a work shirt that I wore all day doing construction and on my way home swing by my soon to be hunting location and placing my scented t-shirt up on a branch or ground 20-30 yards or so from my stand or blind ect. and let the deer come buy get a wiff.
Now im sure the deer at first would be a little weary about the smell but after a few days or week or two of this they would hopefully soon come to realize that this scent is non threatening and continue about their daily business such as visiting their salt lick, feeder ect.
Now with the deer use to your scent you could still use your fancy unscented soaps, and or deodorant and be mindful of the wind direction and all but really none of that will matter as much because if they were to smell you it would be a normal non threatening scent and they would not run away.
So if you go the old route you have a 50/50 chance they might catch your scent depending on the wind and if your scent killer works or not, however if you get them use to your scent its 100% due to the fact even if they would smell ya no big deal.
So has anyone ever tried this? Would this work? Wouldnt take much effort, lots of people have to check on their trail camera weekly so at this time just bring a stinky shirt and leave it there till the following visit.

 

[Native Hunter]

I tried that on my wife and it doesn't work...…………………………………………………….......

Seriously, I've not done what you are talking about, but I know for a fact that deer get "conditioned" to the individual scent of a person who is around all the time farming or doing habitat work. After a while they see that person as less threatening than an unfamiliar person, but in a free range situation they will still retain a certain amount of caution - even with a human they have become familiar with.

And, my trail cameras have proven that my deer have patterned me. Lots of times they are just laying back in the bushes watching everything I'm doing and within an hour after I leave they will be there checking out the latest habitat work. They know that when I leave for the day, I'm gone for the day, so no danger in coming on out. To your point, if they get a faint whiff of my scent during hunting season, it is probably no cause for alarm. However, if they figure out I'm standing behind a bush about 50 feet away, that's a different story...

Welcome to the forum.

 

[daniel mcfaul]

I tried that on my wife and it doesn't work...…………………………………………………….......

Seriously, I've not done what you are talking about, but I know for a fact that deer get "conditioned" to the individual scent of a person who is around all the time farming or doing habitat work. After a while they see that person as less threatening than an unfamiliar person, but in a free range situation they will still retain a certain amount of caution - even with a human they have become familiar with.

And, my trail cameras have proven that my deer have patterned me. Lots of times they are just laying back in the bushes watching everything I'm doing and within an hour after I leave they will be there checking out the latest habitat work. They know that when I leave for the day, I'm gone for the day, so no danger in coming on out. To your point, if they get a faint whiff of my scent during hunting season, it is probably no cause for alarm. However, if they figure out I'm standing behind a bush about 50 feet away, that's a different story...

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for your thoughts. Hey it couldnt hurt to give it a try. This will be my first year hunting archery so any little help I can get, right?

 

[Native Hunter]

Thanks for your thoughts. Hey it couldnt hurt to give it a try. This will be my first year hunting archery so any little help I can get, right?

Absolutely, and there is benefit if it fails - nothing builds character better than loud snorts and white flags flying off into the woods.

 

[Zeek]

I would be leery of that. It could condition them to think there's always a human around and avoid the area. I hunt within 50 yards of my home. If they smell me no big deal, but if they smell me and don't see or hear me, they get gone. I've had deer feeding on tree tops within bow range of me while running a saw. In the summer they hardly look at me while I mow or walk to my truck. This time of year, they will run off at any sight or sound of me. But hey you'll never know if you don't try. Good luck.

 

[Drycreek]

My deer are like Native’s. I’m sure they smell me all the time when the wind is right, but they know the difference between 150 yards and 150 feet. I’m on my home place lots, trapping hogs (or attempting to) just checking things, mowing, food plotting, etc., but if I get in my blind the wind has to be right, or they blow out. They may stop and stare when I’m on my tractor or my buggy, but let me be on foot and it’s a different ball game.

 

[Deadeye]

I know of a guy that used to do that with his dirty socks. Hung them in a tree near where he planned to hunt.

He claimed that it worked. He said he was able to shoot many deer out of that stand and they never seemed alerted to his smell.

I thought of it myself, but the 12 hr rd trip pretty much discourages that.

If I was closer say 1-2 hrs and I could exchange them every couple of weeks I’d try it.

 

[j-bird]

My opinion is that it's going to take much longer than a few weeks for the deer to associate that smell as a non-threatening one. What you are going to do is teach the deer how you are accessing your stand. Deer can react less to certain smells but that is a behavior that takes place over time....AND they will still react when that smell is NOT where it "belongs".

I am VERY active on my place and I know the deer know my scent. However they expect it in certain places and NOT in others. I still try to stay as scent free as is realistic, scent killing showers, scent control clothes, I still take low impact routes to stands and I still hunt the wind. I do this simply because not all the deer I see in hunting season are deer that come from my place. Scent is the deer's primary defense tool....it's not to be messed with!

 

[OkieKubota]

My 2 cents...deer have a nose that is so much more advanced than what we have I think they can actually tell if you are present or it is just your shirt. Remember, the longer your shirt hangs the less odorous it gets but the longer you sit an area the more odor is produced...not less. I think your gonna spook deer at the get go doing this and then I think you are gonna spook any silly deer that keep hanging around in the area that has no reason to have this scent in it 24/7 as soon as you are actually present... the only time I have used human scent in any of the areas I have hunted to my advantage is to hang a dirty sock in an area I didn’t want deer to pass through so they would possibly move down a different trail that I am actually on.

1 thing I have done to my advantage is when I have a stand that is more open than I like I have made a dummy and placed it in the stand and left it year around so the deer would get used to that camo blob up there. I have also done the same thing in areas of the property I am hunting that I think someone might trespass on...seeing blaze orange in a tree will send them sneaking right back out...

 

[George]

The goal is less stink not more so I wouldn't add stink. Conditioning deer to your presence working on the farm is not the same as just stinking up the woods.

Contaminating a hunting spot will not help your chances hunting,

G

 

[jsasker007]

One way to find out---try it. I always thought about a cheap scarecrow type dummy sitting in my stand year round so the deer are used to seeing someone in my stand---then take the dummy down and replace the dummy with myself sitting there(switch out one dummy for another). That would be a visual in the exact same place year round. Of course I haven't done it yet but it sounds good.

 

[Randy Lahey]

Here's your sign.

 

[Deadeye]

Here's your sign.

New Member, 4 Posts and everyone of them is putting down other hunters.
Not impressed.

 

[cutman]

New Member, 4 Posts and everyone of them is putting down other hunters.
Not impressed.

Yeah. See ya.

 

[Drycreek]

Yeah. See ya.

And.......so long !