How Important is Scent?
 

I hear so much about scent. I think sound is more important. Recently, I spent about 20 minutes at a feeder setting up a new trail cam. It smelled new (like plastic) and I walked all over around the feeder. Exactly 2 hours and 16 minutes later, there were deer in the pictures.
A few days later while in my tree stand, I was watching a doe. I moved my head slightly (see was looking away). Just the sound of my neck rubbing on my jacket caused her to whip her head around and look at me. Later she whipped her head up again. a few minutes later a car came creeping down a road about 150 yeard off.
Thoughts anyone??

Scent isn't that big of a deal if you play the wind. But any advantage you can employ while in the field will help. You don't always know which way the animal is going to approach and more often than not, the mature deer tend to approach from down-wind. In that case, anything you can do to reduce your scent will help. You'll never, I repeat NEVER, be able to eliminate all of your scent. But you can do what you can to reduce it.

I saw a study one time that tested what factors cause scent to linger in a certain area. They showed that human scent will linger in a wet environment more than in a dry one. So the day you were at the feeder might have been dry and your scent went away before the deer arrived. Maybe not, you'll never really know what's going on until you can speak deer and ask them. All humans can do is make educated guesses based on research and trends.

I'd say movement, noise, and scent are the most important things to pay attention to when hunting. That's just my $0.02 though.

Thank you for saving me some typing! I saw the post earlier, but was lazy. LOL!

Scent carries better in humid conditions because the scent molecules ride on the water molecules. Also, it can be dry and the scent can still carry. How, by riding on dust molecules if they're present.

I'd think the wind wasn't in the direction of the deer when it encountered your camera.

However, I've done pre-season major cutting in the brush to create trails for the deer, then went back the next day to finish up and had large deer kwap right on the trail. I know it was a buck. Go figure.

iSnipe

I agree with that. Best part of hunting for me is still hunting into the wind.

after hunting for over 40 years and collecting data from previous hunts i will say that scent is what makes them move away from the hunter . i always check the wind now before a hunt and use 1 of my 3 stands so that i have the wind in my favor .

ya think a dog smells bad when its wet..hmans are even worse in the woods to the deer...

imagine you are a giant salt shaker, every step you take you drop scent(human skin cells)..

the deer were probably watchin you put the cam up lol..did ya send em copies lol

if you were in your livin room, and a deer walked by and put up a camera in the hallway , wouldnt ya go see wth it was doin over there?lol snap got your pic lol

so when your goin out.... act like and do what it would take to get by you in your own livin room..

or like me..take 2 guys in with a bow under a sheet, like 1 big arse dude, drop one of ya off to bow hunt and the other keeps goin...the deer think ya left, maybe lol

"or like me..take 2 guys in with a bow under a sheet, like 1 big arse dude, drop one of ya off to bow hunt and the other keeps goin...the deer think ya left, maybe lol"

Now that's funny!

this started out as a joke between me and my bff..it started as 4 wheelers ..goin to your blind in the mornin, the deer know when ya leave? so take 2 wheelers and 1 keeps goin..ended up bein somewhat true..so we tried this with the sheet...go out, get set up as a pair..leave me(hahaha) in a chair with my gear on... as he left
..no sooner did he turn the corner and a deer head pops out..now she is a good 40-45 yards so i cant shoot, but she came out on the area and grazed, walkin further and further from me..8(...so next year its how we will do it again. this tie i know where to sit..lol..yeah right!!!

I do the exact same thing. I have several stands and blinds set-up in different spots so I'll always have somewhere to hunt with good wind.

Dude, did you just type bff??? Please tell me you meant to type something else.... :happy0157: