Question for the Predator Guys
- Thread starter Yoteguy902
- Start date
Strange how my dog can still smell a grouse after getting sprayed in the face by a skunk.
That's pretty much my opinion of "scent free" clothing and sprays.
Maybe if the grouse got sprayed by the skunk, your dog would walk right by it...
Strange how my dog can still smell a grouse after getting sprayed in the face by a skunk.
That's pretty much my opinion of "scent free" clothing and sprays.
Good example.
If you spend much time with dogs, especially hunting with them, you begin to understand how impossible it is for us to comprehend how astonishingly good their noses are, and how useless it is to spend much time and money to try to fool them.
bearkilr
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Maybe if the grouse got sprayed by the skunk, your dog would walk right by it...
Had a big, smart bear coming in to a bait years ago. He got spooked once and was very cautious, circling and coming in down wind. I hung a dead skunk from the tree stand as "cover" scent. It didn't work, I saw him about 50 yards behind the bait raising his head sniffing, turning and disappearing.
I doubt it was the skunk scent that sent him away. My point was simply that animals with a great sense of smell can differentiate between scents.
Maybe I should've lathered up with the dead skunk's scent gland, but that was beyond what I was willing to endure. As it was, the smell was pretty rank.
Maybe if the grouse got sprayed by the skunk, your dog would walk right by it...
What you don't seem to understand is that, to a dog, it would smell like a grouse that got sprayed by a skunk. If they are paying attention, you can't fool a good nose.
Had a big, smart bear coming in to a bait years ago. He got spooked once and was very cautious, circling and coming in down wind. I hung a dead skunk from the tree stand as "cover" scent. It didn't work, I saw him about 50 yards behind the bait raising his head sniffing, turning and disappearing.
I doubt it was the skunk scent that sent him away. My point was simply that animals with a great sense of smell can differentiate between scents.
Maybe I should've lathered up with the dead skunk's scent gland, but that was beyond what I was willing to endure. As it was, the smell was pretty rank.
I agree that you can do everything humanly possible and still get busted... but I have countless stories of big game animals taken having come in down wind... if you watch their behaviour as they approach, you can tell when they catch a little whiff of something... they stop, hesitate, test the wind, nose lick, shift head positions, do the "shift and bob", flinch, false start... and each new whiff intensifies the behaviour... and even so, if the whiff is faint enough, they may cautiously approach anyway... I have arrowed a number of animals (under 20 yards) after these episodes... in my opinion, if I had not done my utmost in scent control, I would not have taken these animals... that is my firm belief... scent control efforts gave me the margin I need in those situations to be successful... but I still get busted at times. I had a very unique an interesting episode with a coyote during this years turkey hunt.
bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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I'm all for people spending money on hunting equipment, it keeps the industry strong. If you think it helps, then by all means use it. I've always considered scent proof clothing and "earth" cover scent sprays to rank up there with the little rubber thingy that slips over the barrel to improve accuracy.
A perfect description of how superstitions are perpetuated. Keep up the "effort" if you wish. It's your effort to waste after all. Even if you do "still get busted at times"..... which you seem to think proves nothing.
I think it proves they absolutely did smell you, even with the "utmost in scent control". Superstitions are always someone's "firm belief", whether they are hunters or hockey players or bingo players with their collection of charms, that something gives them "the margin I need in those situations to be successful".
Anyone who has hunted for many decades will have stories exactly like yours even if they have done nothing but manage their scent plume, kept quiet, and remained very still at crucial times (even without cammo). Hunting does not require gimmicks as much as skill. Every decent hunter has experiences where he could have tapped the game with a stick. All good hunters know that, at times, animals make mistakes - they get lazy - they get distracted - make bad judgments - just like humans. And it is those times that hunters get good chances. But if a deer, or coyote, or bear (any animal with a good nose) is paying attention and making good decisions, you don't fool their noses. They all trust their noses more than their eyes or ears (and hunters know that is true by observing as you describe) because they know their noses are more reliable than the others. But the smell of humans is NOT nearly as scary for most of them as many hunters think. Most game smells humans almost every day. So sometimes they make bad decisions about what human odor means, and a situation develops that makes a human think something he did was the cause of the results he got. So he tries to repeat what he did, and a superstition is born.
Remember the year Punch Imlach who was coaching the Leafs refused to change or clean his hat that had been peed on by his cat. The Leafs won the day it happened, and he wore the hat pee stains and all for the rest of the playoffs. I'm old enough to remember when the Leafs were good.
It is a shame if someone doesn't respect his own skill (and you sound reasonably skilled) enough to understand that the superstitious gimmicks are just not necessary. Maybe you should give yourself more credit, and dump the scent garbage. You might find you're better than you thought.
Wow... you have a nice day.
I knew that your mind was made up... as is mine...
At the very least, my hunting partners appreciate my "scent control" efforts... I wonder how your partners feel about your strategy???
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bearkilr
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Nowhere, ......just past the middle
I just chew this
That way the coyotes don't smell the coffee and fresh honey-dipped I had for breakfast.
Next time, save yourself some cash and just pick up a handful of dirt to chew on. Cheaper and better for you!
What camo? I will admit that I have an old white sheet that I painted some black and brown "branches" on when 'yote hunting. No special gimmicks but I do set up in areas where I can be noticed the least anytime I can. I hunt in regular clothes and am pretty successful. The camo clothes I own are next-to-skin stuff because it went on sale.
