Deer keep smelling me and leaving
#11
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ponce de Leon Florida USA
Posts: 10,079

If the wind isn't right you will be better off staying at the house. All you are going to do is ruin the good stand spot you have. It sounds like the deer already have you figured out. Back out for at least a week.
#13

possibly your stand is near their bedding area,its hard to walk threw their living room and the deer not know it.don't really use all the scent stuff and shower before,i only use vanilla spray and most important the wind,i'll only hunt a stand two or three time a week.i go undetective more than being detective.good luck
#14
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ohio
Posts: 7,876

You need to step your scent free approach up a few notch's. Barring that, use youR stink to drive them too you. Guys have hung some clothes in the right place and used that to bring the deer to them. I personal haven't knowingly used this approach, but it's worth a shot. Sounds like you are very close to chasing the deer out of there for the season. Lay off, regroup, and best of luck. You'll be better next year if you learn something from this. You already know a lot more about the deer than you did before.
You have seen all the talk about scent-lok around here. Couldn't think of a better testing ground than this.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SCENT-LOK DESIGNER GUY. WANT TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE AND SUPPLY THIS GUY WITH SOME STUFF? IF IT WORKS YOU COULD GET SOME MAYOR KUDO'S AROUND HERE AND WHAT WOULD IT COST YOU?
I WOULD ENJOY IT (for more reasons than one) AND NOT WAIT YOU GUYS OUT FOR THE STUFF TO GO ON SALE, THEN REDUCED, THEN MARKED DOWN.
I meant to be loud,
You have seen all the talk about scent-lok around here. Couldn't think of a better testing ground than this.
WHAT DO YOU THINK SCENT-LOK DESIGNER GUY. WANT TO TAKE THE CHALLENGE AND SUPPLY THIS GUY WITH SOME STUFF? IF IT WORKS YOU COULD GET SOME MAYOR KUDO'S AROUND HERE AND WHAT WOULD IT COST YOU?


I meant to be loud,

#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Waller Texas
Posts: 113

I don't think anybody mentioned bad breath. Not being ugly or anything, but ive been bustedafter eating dried sausage or jerky. When you breath, you emit a smell. Since you have tried everything else, why not try a baking soda rinse after brushing your teeth? In addition, if you have been busted more than once, the deer are probably being very cautious when moving through this area. I hunt a stand in Texas and deer seem to know that something is out of place at times. They usually are looking for movement to put with the smell. Some are really nervous about it and will stomp and blow. I have seen them do this to rabbits, coons and other critters they can't see, but sense are there. They are looking to get the unkown to move so they can ID it. I don't pull the triggervery often, so I guess they figure Im not a threat, and tolerate my bumping around, squeaky chair, old dude smellsand such.
#16

I've been hunting this area now for about 2 solid weeks.
#17

You've got to find a different spot for each wind scenerio. I have spot's I litterally know B&C class bucks live in, but don't even try hunting them because the winds are too unstable to try (that's why they are there). Set some different stands for different winds, or get winded. Those are you're choices!
#19
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 19

Nope (to the boots question). I've been wearing leather boots that I've had for 10 years. I never use them for anything else and I keep them covered in mud and scent killer. If I'm not hunting/scouting in them, I keep them in a paper bag in my truck.
Thanks for all the responses. My next hunt on Sat evening I moved to a different treestand that me and a friend use. It's about 3 miles away and is in a really good location. We hunt it a few times a month. I got in the stand about 2.5 hours before sunset.
I do all the same stuff that I usually do and used baking soda toothpaste. I also climbed this tree as far as I could possibly go, probably about 30 feet.
About 30 minutes before dark I hear breathing from behind me (downwind from me... of course). I hear 24 or so distinct breaths. I'm not sure if this is inhale or exhale or sniffs or whatever. I'm new (this year) to deerhunting but I'm pretty sure this is a deer. I don't move and the deer moves to a different spot but same level of sound and does the same thing.
5 minutes later I hear the same thing and closer (ie the sound is louder) with some twigs cracking before the breathing started.
10 minutes or so go by and we are now at sunset. I can hear breathing from what sounds like right below my stand. It's more of a snort now butthe deerdoes it at least 12 times. After this point the deer leaves and I don't hear anything else. (I say this is right below me but I'm pretty sure if I
I didn't move the entire time because I know the deer was looking for me. I had some doe urine up ahead on a tree as that was the direction I had planned for the deer to come. I'm guessing the deer circled to approach the clearing from downwind and that is how the deer smelled me.
I've talked with some friends and they've never heard the breathing thing, just 10 to 12 snorts when the deer finds them. This is a deer, right? And this is from him smelling me, also, right?
I'm gonna give the second area completely up to my buddy who usually hunts it. My thought right now is to leave the first area alone for a week and then move my stand to a different location along the same deer path and then use raccoon urine as a cover scent for the tree and surrounding bushes. I will then only hunt it with the wind in the right direction. Thanks again for all the advice.
Thanks for all the responses. My next hunt on Sat evening I moved to a different treestand that me and a friend use. It's about 3 miles away and is in a really good location. We hunt it a few times a month. I got in the stand about 2.5 hours before sunset.
I do all the same stuff that I usually do and used baking soda toothpaste. I also climbed this tree as far as I could possibly go, probably about 30 feet.
About 30 minutes before dark I hear breathing from behind me (downwind from me... of course). I hear 24 or so distinct breaths. I'm not sure if this is inhale or exhale or sniffs or whatever. I'm new (this year) to deerhunting but I'm pretty sure this is a deer. I don't move and the deer moves to a different spot but same level of sound and does the same thing.
5 minutes later I hear the same thing and closer (ie the sound is louder) with some twigs cracking before the breathing started.
10 minutes or so go by and we are now at sunset. I can hear breathing from what sounds like right below my stand. It's more of a snort now butthe deerdoes it at least 12 times. After this point the deer leaves and I don't hear anything else. (I say this is right below me but I'm pretty sure if I
I didn't move the entire time because I know the deer was looking for me. I had some doe urine up ahead on a tree as that was the direction I had planned for the deer to come. I'm guessing the deer circled to approach the clearing from downwind and that is how the deer smelled me.
I've talked with some friends and they've never heard the breathing thing, just 10 to 12 snorts when the deer finds them. This is a deer, right? And this is from him smelling me, also, right?
I'm gonna give the second area completely up to my buddy who usually hunts it. My thought right now is to leave the first area alone for a week and then move my stand to a different location along the same deer path and then use raccoon urine as a cover scent for the tree and surrounding bushes. I will then only hunt it with the wind in the right direction. Thanks again for all the advice.
#20
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 27

I have a stand that is just perfect. A funnel between two bedding areas about 100 yards in the woods from a soy bean field that the deer feed in. The funnel leads to thick standing hardwoods and ground brush that ultimately lead to the field. The thick hardswoods and brush are in the middle of open, clear woods.It is like a super highway for deer.
Coupleproblems. My only access to this whole piece of woods is through this area which is close to the bedding areas.I jump deer almost everytimeI walk in.However, it is the only way into the woods/stand. So anytimeI want to scout or hunt this piece we walk through this area. The wind swirlsso hunting the wind is difficult. Thetrees are not very condusive to hanging stands or using a climber,so the stand we use is kind of low and not covered very well.
Make a long story short, after a couple weeks of scouting, putting the stand upand the first few days of huntingI basically fouled this spot up. The deer sign went from constant to almost nothing. It took almost3 weeks for the sign to return and thenI started to see deer again. So now I limit myself to hunting thispiece of woodsto two or three times a week and will only hunt that particular stand when the wind is predictable.
Coupleproblems. My only access to this whole piece of woods is through this area which is close to the bedding areas.I jump deer almost everytimeI walk in.However, it is the only way into the woods/stand. So anytimeI want to scout or hunt this piece we walk through this area. The wind swirlsso hunting the wind is difficult. Thetrees are not very condusive to hanging stands or using a climber,so the stand we use is kind of low and not covered very well.
Make a long story short, after a couple weeks of scouting, putting the stand upand the first few days of huntingI basically fouled this spot up. The deer sign went from constant to almost nothing. It took almost3 weeks for the sign to return and thenI started to see deer again. So now I limit myself to hunting thispiece of woodsto two or three times a week and will only hunt that particular stand when the wind is predictable.