Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Can you train wild deer to get "used to" your scent before the hunting season

+2
−0

United States (and more, specifically, NY state -- though that shouldn't matter at all) here.


I am brand new to hunting, and in a few weeks I will be going out into the woods and hunting public land for the first time. Just to be clear, I have taken the NYS Hunter's Safety course and have purchased my hunting license and I have my tags. I am doing everything by the book.

I have read from several credible source now that:

  • Deer are very keen to the smells of different areas of the forest
  • Hence, unless you attempt to manage your scent (minding the wind direction as you stalk, experimenting with various scent blockers, etc.) once they smell you, they will realize that "something is wrong", meaning, they have detected a smell in that area of the woods that ordinarily is not there -- and they "bump" or run away

So this gave me an idea, and I wanted to share it here in the form of a question to see if any experienced/skilled hunters think its a viable idea or sheer rubbish!

I should also say that this idea would also be used in addition to the common, popular forms of scent management (making sure I am downwind of them, using scent blocker, etc.).

The idea

What if I went into the woods to my "spots" (the general areas where I plan to hunt) and carefully placed a few old, dirty shirts with my scent on them down on the ground and left them there for the next 3 - 4 weeks.

Disclaimer: DEC states in their manual that it is unlawful to use public land as "storage" and that any hunting accessories such as stands, mineral blocks, trail cams or other hunting equipment must be removed within a certain number of days of the close of the season. I would absolutely remember where I put these shirts and remove them in keeping with state law at the end of the season. I am one of the biggest critics of litterbugs and would never be one myself!

So the thinking here is:

  1. Deer get used to my smell radiating through sections of the forest where I intend to hunt
  2. If, while on a hunt, my scent management fails and my scent "leaks" into the air, I would think they might not spook as easily as if they would if they were totally foreign to that smell being there

Is this a crazy idea or valid?

I'm thinking it's either a great idea and will work wonders, or, its the polar opposite and will instead drive all the deer out of my "spots" for the entirety of the season :-/

Any thoughts/comments/concerns/input here?

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/24092. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+0
−0

This is not going to be effective.

You and your 3 week old shirt are going to smell different. The shirt smells like you, but it ages, when the deer smell the live you, they will know that that person who left his shirt is back.

Also you may be surprised on opening day, how many other hunters think your spot is their spot.

If you wait until after opening day, the deer will all be alerted to hunters in the woods, and be wary of any people.

Additionally, deer know the day before hunting season starts and change their behavior

deer respond to hunting pressure the day before the season opens (and not before). Source

History
Why does this post require moderator attention?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »