In a way you may be right depending on the experience of the deer and how old your pee is. This was a good response from another forum that makes sense.





got that question over on the deer forum on the Christian Outdoor Fellowship of America (COFA, of which I am co-founder).


Here was my answer:

Again, as a person who has either done a lot af personal research on whitetails and elk, or who has read a lot of research papers on those animals, let me set it straight.

Urine is different in different species, due to the chemicals found in what they eat. Thus, those animals (such as predators and humans) that eat meat, have a lot more protein in their urine, than those animals that are primarily vegetarion ("grazers" like elk, "browsers" like whitetails).

It has been found that a deer's sense of smell is about 1000 times better than that of a human.

Urine breaks down within hours into ammonia and other substances, due to bacterial action and being exposed to air.

Part of the answer to the question lies in the amount of scent (human urine) left behind, and how long it has been there, the less urine left, and the longer it has been there, the less it smells like human urine, and the more it smells like ammonia (which is non-threatening).

So - deer and elk can tell the difference between the urine of something that has recently eaten meat, and somehting that has not eaten meat.

Deer use their eyes ther ears and their nose to detect danger. But, unlike the other tow senses, when a deer smells danger - the response goes directly to a part of the brain that often causes an immediate respone- rather than a response to further investigate - so that it can verify that what it sees, hears or smells is dangerous.

The question then arises - Does high protein urine alarm deer and elk?

The answer to that lies in the fact that deer and elk routinely come across urine of predators, thus it may cause them to become "aware" of the fact that a meat eater was in the area. But, it may not cause them to become alarmed, if no other predator-related scents (such as dander, perspiration oils and odors, feces, or breath odors) are associated are detected.


In a study of how whitetails react to buck urine, doe urine, pre-estrus urine, estrus urine, post estrus urine and human urine, the most positive responses were to human urine. I suspect this was a "curiosity" response.

If a deer needs to be aware of everything in its home range - in order to survive - then it has to learn about everything in that home range, which means it probably investigates "new" or "unfamiliar" things (like human scents) - in order to learn. And - as long as there is not a sight or sound to further alarm the deer - it may not spook.