I am new to hunting, and I have been doing as much research on hunting as possible, but my question is about scent and whitetail. Because I am new at this, I only have one pair of boots, they are also my work boots, which spend a lot of time around cattle. I use scent killer on my boots, but they still smell a lot like manure and cattle. Our season opened on Sept. 15th, and I have to walk about 3/4 of a mile to my stand. I am wondering if my boots will alert the deer, and if so what can I do to prevent this? BTW, I have a doe and fawn pair that are constantly circling and sniffing around my stand every morning (before first light) for about 20 minutes before the doe snorts and then they both walk over to alfalfa field. Thanks in advance for the insight.
If they are acting funny to the scent maybe go get another pair of boots and just use them strickly for hunting. i too have a spot where cattle are close to my spot so I think the deer are just used to it but if it is foreign to them I would get a new pair. JMO
If it were me, I would definitely buy some new boots for hunting only. I would say that it's not the cattle smells that are alerting the deer, it's everything else. Gas/diesel, foot odor from working in them, oil, etc. Sent from my pocket computer using Tapatalk
^^^agreed. I step in every pile I can find on the way to my stands Sent from my pocket computer using Tapatalk
Deer are smart, if their are no cattle in this area and they smell cow manure. They know something is wrong. Work boots are filled with your oil and scent. You could soak them in a bathtube of bleach and wouldn't fix the issue. Get new boots. I picked up a pair of Redhead 16" boots for $170. I love these because I can tuck my scent lok inside the boot. They also made of silent hide...
Not true. For years I hunted both a dairy farm and a horse farm. While hunting the dairy farm I'd spend a lot of time in the barn talking to the farmer while he was milking his cows. In the process my boots got saturated with cow "scent". Then I'd go hunt the horse farm, where there wasn't a cow for miles and the deer paid little to no attention to my tracks. It also worked as a cover scent while I was in my tree. I could smell my boots while up there. Had a lot of deer go by un-alarmed.
This could go both ways. A couple years ago, I just chucked up the money to buy a pair of boots strictly for hunting. I don't try to introduce foreign scent to the hunting area though.
Love cow manure for a cover scent.. My lease is in the middle of 3800 acres of a working cattle farm... I step in it every chance I get.. Even if the cattle can not get into the woods.. The wind from the fields, stray cattle that eventually do get loose, everywhere smells of manure.. I use it to my advantage !!
Thanks for the insight, as soon as I get some extra cash, I do plan on buying a good pair of hunting boots (this should also help keep my feet warm, since my regular boots have no insulation). I won't stress as much about my cattle smelling boots or clothes, now I just gotta master getting into my tree stand in the dark with out sounding like a bull in a china shop
It would only make sense if you hunted by/near a pasture with cattle in it.. Did not think we needed to explain that far..
I too think it isn't the cattle smell the deer are not good with, it is the human odors that exist from wearing a pair of boots to work in and normal everyday odors that aren't normal to deer. If you can find you some new boots, but if the money isn't available, see if you can at least find some boot slippers that would cover over your existing boot. These are cheap, and disposable and can usually be found in wal-mart in the shoe area, or even Lowes in the contractor area. I would put these over my boots when I walked in to my stand. First spray them well with scent killer or even some doe or buck urine. This will help eliminate some of the transfer of your smells to the ground/vegetation. Once in the stand I would take them off and spray my boots hard again with scent killer to prevent detection through the wind/air. It is worth a shot.
