Scent Vs. Noise

[firstcoueswas80]

there he is, a monster 120" 1,000 yards away. as you close the distance down to a mere 400 yards, you think to yourself, can he hear me? can he smell me? so which is more important here from 300-400 yards, is it better to be quiet or to not have any stench?

[WHT_MTNMAN]

Without thinking it through very much my gut reaction is smell. As a human we smell like.....well like a human, but our sound may be harder to distinguish from other animals. my .02 cents worth

[Guest Ernesto C]

I think both are very important and depending on the situation both work together making one lethal combination in some ocasions,but I voted scent for the same reasons WHT_MTNMAN is saying,I know a deer can smell us 400 yards away eseally if the wind is right so very important to wear some cover scent and above all watch the wind direction

 

Thanks,happy and safe hinting every body

 

Ernesto C.

[recurveman]

Critters know when it is human scent. They might not know what made a twig snap or a rock fall. I'm not a big fan of cover scents. I think that is just a bunch of crap for the most part anyways. If I'm sitting downwind of a BBQ with steaks grilling and a fresh pile of dog crap..........I can still smell both smells. I'm just bummed that the dog didn't do it someplace else. If I can smell both smells I'm sure that deer can too.

 

Either way it is important for them not to have a clue that you are there. The more variables you can put in your favor the better.

 

Later,

 

recurveman

[azcouesandelk]

This is a very difficult poll question. Because both being quiet and not smelling is important. You can have no smell and be noisy and spook the deer or be absolutely silent and have the wind to your back and it would still spook the deer. In my mind you need both but great question. I chose noise because I personally think that being quiet is just as important.

[az4life]

You know that each day, and situation will dictate the ultimate "most important" item. All things being equal (like that will happen) I would say Scent is more imortant.

Cha Ching... Another .02 in the kitty...

[firstcoueswas80]

the reason i asked this is because it is a good question. myself, i am not a very quiet hiker(people 6'2 275 tend to be a bit clumsy) but my dad and i always put on cover scent, and when possible run cow poop on our boots and cedar trees on our clothes. i know sometimes that noise can work in your favor ie. jumping deer from their beds or from a canyon gettin a quick shot.

casey

[coues addict]

Casey

In my opinion this is not a hard question! Deer can spot you, they can hear you , and they may not be sure of what they saw or heard, but if they smell you it is game over!!!!!!!!!. They totally trust their sense of smell. The sooner a young hunter learns to always hunt into the wind the better off he or she will be. I have had deer see me or hear me and walk right by when I got caught in the open and not even bolt, but the moment they get down wind its, See Ya , and they are gone! So in my opinion it is definitely their sense of smell over their sense of anything else. I know that their are always exceptions to every rule, but if you play the odds 9 times out of 10 if the deer smells you your Busted

Just my opinion Coues Addict

[.270]

sound only travels so far, stink goes forever. but you best be cognizant (aware) of both. cover scents, activated charcoal clothes and boots, scent eliminator are all just a buncha junk that eastern dudes use cuz they seen jackie bushman use it. there is no way anything like that will do a dang bit of good after you sweat up a lather. it's a fallacy. the only thing that works is to keep the wind in your favor. if you're hunting in a way that requires real stealth, i.e. bowhunting or tracking, etc., you best keep the wind in a way that don't bust ya. all that scent killer crap is just like camo. camo is worthless if they ever see you move. the trick is to use it to conceal yourself when you're not moving and move when they ain't lookin'. cracks me up to see guys sneaking on a deer on the side of the road, all camo'd out, thinking it can't see em. don't get to where you rely on all the stuff on the commercials, because none of it will cover up bad hunting. be as quiet, nonstinky and sneaky as you can be. sometime while tracking a buck, if i think i'm getting close, i'll purposely get the wind in his favor, so he'll spook and i can get a shot when he gets up. sometimes, not always. depends on the situation. there's a circle with 360 degrees around every animal. about 320 of those degrees is an area you can keep your scent away from em in. learn how to use it. you miss a lot of bucks that you never see because they wind ya first. Lark.

[Treestandmanonvacation]

I agree w/ 270 that it is important to keep the wind in your favor. I always bathe in the wildlife research soap and have still had animals scent me.

[.270]

just read first coues' last post again. bet them deer are thinkin', "dang, them guys smell like a cow crapped on em and then they fell in a cedar bush". hey first coues' does your mom make you guys change outside? now that's funny, i don't care who ya are..... Lark.

[CouesSlayer]

Definitely scent! Scent is way different than noise because animals can distinguish smell. Why isn't sight up there? Because if they see you they'll circle you until they wind you, and from that point on they'll know you, just my opinion.

[TAM]

I once heard a humans sense of smell compared to a dog's in the following way. If a guy comes home from work and his wife is making potato soup the guy can smell potato soup. If a dog were to be there while the soup was cooking the dog would be able to smell potatoes, carrots, celary, onions, salt, pepper, herbs, seasoning, bacon, etc. I'm sure a deer's sense of smell is similar to a dogs in that they can smell all of the individual smells within their surroundings. I'm all for taking measures to control your scent, but the only way to be sure a deer doesn't smell you is to stay down wind!

[azpackhorse]

I think that scent is for sure the most important of the two....dang TAM, you made me hungry with that potato soup thing! Unless you are archery hunting and you are within 300-400 yards, take your pack off, lay on the ground with your rifle on you pack and hose em!