tatonka

Contrary to popular belief, deer will not spook from smelling human urine. I have an old fencepost behind my house that the deer rake up every fall and they make scrapes under a nearby tree.Just for the fun of it, I peed in the scrape one afternoon a couple of years ago. The next morning the scrape and been torn up. I covered it over with some leaves and peed in it again...same result the next morning. For what it's worth, I can look out my window and see the post and the tree where the scrape is (they are about 300 yards behind my house. I've lived in this house 16 years and have never seen a buck there during daylight hours during the rut. I've seen a few during January when it's cold and they are bunched up, but I've never seen one visiting the scrape or rub.

I don't know if a buck would spook from smelling day old footprints or not....I've never had a way to test it. What I'm saying is that if you are out hunting and a deer passes downwind from you, you can bet your bottom dollar that they will not need to see or hear you before they head for the hills if they get a whiff of you. A young deer may hang around for a bit, but an old buck will vanish. Also, an old buck will rarely snort and blow and bound off......they'll just turn around and sneak away. If you hear a deer snorting and blowing after scenting you, it's usually a doe.

Good Hunting!