I wanted to post this thread to gain some knowledge from those of you who are versed in or have studied the olfactory system of whitetails. I thought this would be a good thread with all of the snow on the ground in most of our areas. I also wanted to post the question as to wether or not there are variances on the way whitetails use thier sense of smell. Guys from up north who experience alot of snow, please weigh in on this. Does a deer pick up ground scent better when there is snow on the ground? I don't hunt alot in the late season and if I do there is usually not snow on the ground like there is this year. Also, in my experience working with K9 narcotic units, I know that drug sniffing dogs used to track dope loads coming through the mountains on the southern border have variances in how they track the narcotics. Some dogs follow air born scent and some follow ground disturbance and scent left on leaves, ground, and branches. I know that all of them use both to some extent, but a dog usually relies heavily on one or the other requiring the handlers to often use specific tactics for a certain dog. Does this variance in how dogs use thier sense of smell exist in the whitetail world? Is this why one deer may come through on the trail a hunter used to enter the woods and never spook while another deer might? Is this also why we sometimes get away with a deer getting downwind of us? (Maybe that is a deer that would mostly que in on scent left on a trail as opposed to air-born scent) You guys who have knowledge of this please weigh in.
no expert here but funny you compare to dogs, cause that what i do a lot. when hunting upland birds i notice that the dogs have a bit more trouble smelling the birds. either their nose is burried deep or sniffing the surrounding brush searching. i would "think" a deer's sniffer relys less on the snow itself and more airborn scent or surrounding brush that human scent may have gotten on. IMO
Very interesting question. I'm curious if anybody has a definitive answer on this subject. I've noticed deer, on my property anyway, check tall foliage more often than just nose to the ground. Compared to both of those methods I've witnessed deer scent checking the wind more than anything.
yeah this is an interesting questions..because alot of my gear late season dont really acommidate for cold weather...like my boots. I dont use rubber boots late season, because theres more insulation in my rockys. Even my bibs are not scentlok... What kind of factor do you think this has..i guess its me being less careful about my scent control..maybe laziness?
I'd be interested to hear more on this. Especially from guys that have dogs and also whether they are trained or not to track game.
The colder and more snow we get, the less I am concearned about my own scent. I wear about 8 different layers on my top. I dont think to much BO gets through that much fabric.
