Elk and response to human scent?

[oldboar]

Hi everyone,

 

I got into a "spirited" discussion with my hunting buddy during my archery elk season about pushing into a herd of elk regardless of our scent blowing into them. I would back out and come in from a different direction (this usually mean't climbing a mountain:).

 

I can't bring myself to just barge in....regardless of wind direction.

 

I've hunted the wind my whole life, and simply can't understand a mature bull actuallly smelling you....and allowing you to put an arrow in his chest from 30 yards.

 

Tell me your opinions. Are elk that much different than deer? I'm a primarily a whitetail deer hunter from the midwest originally.

 

I did kill a nice bull....and, no he didn't smell my sweaty stench after hiking 8 miles that morning:)

 

Thanks much!

 

Jim

[jmall]

I just spent 13 days elk hunting , killing a nice bull on the next to the last day of the hunt. I spent a good amount of time washing my clothes in scent free detergent, using scent free soap, taking a shower every morning. I also used every kind of scent killer known to man . I hung my clothes out in the fresh air a good ways from camp. Even with doing all of this there were several times I was busted after a shift in the wind. There is no question that elk have a great sense of smell. That being said, there are times when you can work with the wind if it happens to be blowing parallel to the animal you are after. If you are lucky it will blow by without them detecting you. More often than not you are wasting your time hunting with the wind at your back.

[Xman2000]

There is no question elk use there nose as there first line of defense.Even with all the sent masking products out there an elks nose is 100 times better than a dogs and a monster bull has learned once he winds you to high tail it.I have played the wind to my favor while scouting for elk for a friend and have been with in 10 feet of a mature bull he had no idea I was there he knows his eyes can deceive him some times but his nose never does once the wind changed even with sent shield clothes, masking spray and even rubbing an elk sent gland on me ( that we got from a hunting buddy's elk the day before) . He knew something was off and he bolted with out even seeing me and I couldn't believe even with his ears moving in all directions and his huge neck moving to see every corner of the woods I was hiding in , it was his nose that he trusted!He would sent that air every other step very cool indeed .Some times I found its better to let your friends think what they want and let them learn the hard way when you let them win the heated discussion and do it your way and have an elk hagging in camp and he does not that will be the I told you so moment and then you still have a friend that maybe will listen to and your knowledge in the woods.

[cbryant11]

i have found that evan if elk think they see you they may stare and bark or if they hear you moving they will hang around trying to figure out what you are but when they smell you its game over and they dont stick around....

[ultramag]

You can fool the eyes you can fool the ears you will never fool the nose. They will bust out of there. Its foolish to try to think you can get close with the wind wrong.

[ScottAdams]

You guys are gonna think I'm lying but we killed the bull pictured below in unit 27 this year. We had about 5 cows walk by us downwind at 40 yards that never knew we were there crouching in the ferns. The bull was behind them and got to 37 yards before my hunter busted him. I don't think the bull however ever made it completely downwind. We were using a cover scent and it worked like a charm.

 

 

[Coach]

I was watching a large herd a few hundred yards off just before the archery hunt. The wind was wrong, but I figured there were always people in this area, as there is road construction going on just a quarter mile away. I felt the breeze blow over my neck and down the hill toward them. Sure enough, within 30 seconds or so some of them started getting real nervous and within just a couple of minutes, the entire herd grouped up and moved off into a secluded area surrounded by trees looking in all directions.

 

There was no doubt they could tell by my scent that I was there and they weren't going to hang around.

[recurveman]

oldboar - here is my take on scent. I also grew up in the midwest hunting WT's. They are much more sensitive to scent than elk. It isn't even close. A WT deer won't walk across your scent trail and an elk normally doen't care. I've seen elk walk through my scent more than once. I've seen them stop, smell me, and know that I'm a bad thing and get spooky but in the end they walked through it. I've also seen them run like mad the other direction. An midwest WT hits your scent and is gone. They don't ask why. They don't care and they won't be seen again for awhile. That is just how it works.

 

Now as far as busting into them. Sometimes it is OK to go at them agressively and not worry about your scent as much. I've seen times when you could have walked up to them with a spear and just stabbed them. They can get super, super stupid. If they get to concentrating on another bull or fighting or thining about that someone special then things can happen. As a rule though I wouldn't expect it to work very often. Normally if you get upwind you are going to bust them and have to chase them some more and try again. I told my buddy it is the "1/2 mile penalty". Basically they go about a half a mile and settle down again. So you have to chase them for that long and you better be in a better position.

 

Now my favorite. This scent control/clothing/cover scent stuff. I put it all in one package because they are selling something to a hunter and making really good money from it too. No matter what you do they are going to smell you PERIOD. If my dogs can smell a bird from 20-50 yards away I'm sure that a human (after walking a mile or two and sweating the whole way) will put off enough odor for an elk to smell. Oh and the cover up scents........If I cook a pizza and let out some super strong gas.....ya know what you are going to smell? Yep you are going to smell a pizza and the scent bomb I just laid on ya. I'm sure that an elk/deer/ dog can smell more than one thing. All the cover up stuff does is create another smell for them.

 

So that is my take on scent. Don't let them smell you because you WILL smell no matter what you do.

 

Later,

 

recurveman