Originally Posted by
moridgerunner
It is the old whitetail bucks and does that will change your success rate by catching your scent downwind of your stand. They can figure out how far you are from them by scent dispersion. They may move in slowly looking for you, and if they catch you moving they will probably leave just as quietly. Now that they know your hiding place they will use the wind to scent check your stand area and see if you are there. If you hear deer snorting at you from a long way off downwind from you this is probably what has happened. The younger deer are slower to figure it out. Scent free or smelly they will find you. The ONLY thing that i feel truly helps is rubber boots for the walk in to the stand.
I try and Buy a New Pair of Rubber Hunting Boots every 2 Years. I buy Good ones like Rocky, LaCross or Cabela's Brand that's probably made by one of them other companies anyway.
I keep the Boots in My Garage in there own Rubber Tote. I also hose them off and scrub them with a Brush each time I get back from Hunting when the weathers not below freezing, if there's snow on the ground when Hunting that's usually good enough for the clean. I wear My Sneakers to the Hunt, change into My Boots at the Hunting Spot and spray them with either fox. coon or deer urine then go off Hunting. The Deer still find My Tracks and sniff them and these are only the ones I can see from My Stand, some Snort and Leave, others probably are just interested in the Scent I put on them but the Adult Deer just know that you've been through here, I've even had them smell My Tracks and leave after a foot of snow has fallen over them. I've also had other Deer not know I went through there so go figure, Im not 100% convinced that Rubber Boots are that Scent Free, and YES I have also NOT Put anything on My Boots but Washed them with Clean Well Water and still get the same results. I wear Rubber Boots to keep My Feet Dry Mostly, Im sure thy keep Scent to a Minimum and the Deer cant tell how Old the Scent is and Confuses them but Im not 100% Convinced they work as good as everyone thinks.
I 100% Agree with you about if an Adult Deer spots you one time from your Stand that they'll Scent Check that spot from downwind from now on to see if your there. Also say you take a Deer from your Stand and other Deer are there in the Group when you take that Deer. The Deer that Run away will remember that Spot and do the same thing and teach other Deer to avoid that spot. Eventually the Deer will skirt your Stand Spot and you'll wonder what happened, that's what happened. And also the Deer that never knew you were there befor (the ones that you done see) that have winded you from downwind will also do this.
That's why your Best Chance in a Stand to take a Deer is the First time in it, after that your sightings go down and down.