I used to train a couple of dogs for competitions where they had so many minutes to find x number of birds. The olfactory senses on these animals are mind boggling.

I would guess the whitetail to be at least or near equal to that of a dog. There are many documented cases where a dog followed a missing person's trail days after it was made only to find the individual. Look at the drug smugglers. They hide their wares in everything from coffee grounds to fish. Talk about cover scent! Yet a trained dog will have no problem distinguishing the presence of a drug. I would not at all be surprised if they wrapped the "goods" in scentlok clothing. Now that would be an interesting study wouldn't it.

I saw an add recently for 'Elimitrax' stating that two trained Bloodhounds could trail a rubber booted person but they could not trail a person wearing their product. Now we know nothing of the controls set up on this "independent" experiment. Atmospheric conditions can play a huge role in ground scent. Do I believe the results of their experiment? Sorry, I am a doubting Thomas. When it comes to making money off of a product that can't be quantified I get skeptical in a hurry. Is it better than rubber boots? I don't doubt that. But even then ground scent is only part of the equation.

We are stone blind when it comes to the olfactory universe. We smell just good enough with our nose to get ourselves in trouble. We add "reason" to our olfactory knowledge and believe we are thinking like a deer! That cracks me up. The deers sense of smell is not a sense that operates alone, independent of the other four. Though not strictly correct that is the world WE live in. A deer's olfactory unit is intricately woven into all five of their senses at a level we have trouble grasping.

Imagine yourself as being deaf. You are about to walk across a train track when look up and notice a train is coming. As the train goes barreling past you can't hear it. You can feel the wind and vibration it is causing and see the effects of its momentum. But until you identified it by sight, you had no clue to it's presence. Now add being blind to the same scenario and see how it further complicates the issue. Now you don't even know the train track is there. (As we all know a deer doesn't need to hear or see you to know your there). That gives you and idea of the handicap we deal with when it comes to a deer's nose.

Of course our ace in the hole is our brain. Half of the time I wonder if mine is working, especially on those rare days when I hear one snort that turns into a multitude of snorts and I know I have just been had. [:@]