What scent for a mock scrape?
10-04-2009, 10:18 PM
#14
Fork Horn
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Eagleville Missouri
Posts: 338
Even I can smell the difference between different animals pee, so it isn't all the same. The thing is, I know deer know I've been there by many different smells I probably left behind, and they know when I was there, so answering the call of nature as I pass by will not upset them any more and is, well, natural.
I also can tell if feces left by any animal is fresh or old by sight and smell, so of coarse deer can tell too. Many predators including us will check out scrapes and answer the call on or near them and the deer can tell if it was yeasterday or ten minutes ago, which may be cause for alarm. If the smell is old news there is no reason to vary from everyday activities like sniffing for does and freshening the scrape by raking fresh earth over old scent so that they can detect the new scent that will be left by the next visitor. They are not going to scatter and run just because you took a leak there, they may even be curious like they are with any new sights or smells. They live with humans, and bears, wolves, and coyotes smells all around them all the time. Knowing fresh scent from old is what keeps them safe, not bolting from every predator smell there is.
One blind I built in place took a couple hours every day for a week. Hauling in lumber and supplies and clearing shooting lanes and of coarse answering the call multiple times on site made them curious and I found fresh tracks and feces every day where they had been checking out the new blind. They pawed the ground where I had peed.
I was amazed that they would approach the site so soon, but my dad said that they are too curious for their own good sometimes, and too preoccupied with does. That was 25 years ago and I stopped worrying about it then. It is leaving FRESH scent on your way to your stand that you must be careful about.
I also can tell if feces left by any animal is fresh or old by sight and smell, so of coarse deer can tell too. Many predators including us will check out scrapes and answer the call on or near them and the deer can tell if it was yeasterday or ten minutes ago, which may be cause for alarm. If the smell is old news there is no reason to vary from everyday activities like sniffing for does and freshening the scrape by raking fresh earth over old scent so that they can detect the new scent that will be left by the next visitor. They are not going to scatter and run just because you took a leak there, they may even be curious like they are with any new sights or smells. They live with humans, and bears, wolves, and coyotes smells all around them all the time. Knowing fresh scent from old is what keeps them safe, not bolting from every predator smell there is.
One blind I built in place took a couple hours every day for a week. Hauling in lumber and supplies and clearing shooting lanes and of coarse answering the call multiple times on site made them curious and I found fresh tracks and feces every day where they had been checking out the new blind. They pawed the ground where I had peed.
I was amazed that they would approach the site so soon, but my dad said that they are too curious for their own good sometimes, and too preoccupied with does. That was 25 years ago and I stopped worrying about it then. It is leaving FRESH scent on your way to your stand that you must be careful about.
