HUMAN SCENT AND THE MOON / TONIGHTS HUNT

[dan]

Today I got to watch my hunting partner arrow a white buck... Cool as heck! But, there was also some good observations made that I would like to reflect upon.
1st, Moon time was at 3:57 & all 3 bucks that I seen all afternoon went past within 15-20 minutes of that time.
2nd, the 1st buck to show was a 2 1/2 year old 8 pointer who came out of a brushy area and caught my scent from about 300 yards away. He stopped and sniffed the wind and stood there looking in my direction for several minutes then turned around and went back the way he had come... A few minutes later, a 1 1/2 year old buck came across a grassy crp field and walked under me to feed... Seen both these bucks a couple weeks ago and this one fed right across my ground scent last time... This time he got directly down wind of me at 10 yards with me being only about 17 feet up and down hill from him. One time he lifted his head to smell the air, and then just went back to feeding. I flipped out a few milkweed seeds and they came within inches of hitting him as they drifted in the wind... After 10 minutes of feeding he headed down the trail to exactly where the other buck winded me, again, no reaction. This is exactly what I mean when I talk about how some bucks have different reactions to the same thing (scent in this case) If a guy was sprayed down with pixie dust he would of believed that he had masked his odor...
Another key point is, the 1st buck was coming East to west with a North wind, the second 1st came West to East, then tuned and walked a few hundred yards south before turning East again. The 3rd buck walked directly South with a North wind until he received the death penalty for doing so... Point being, there was no real specific movments in relation to the wind direction.

[backstraps]

Awesome observations! thanks for the info, and you are correct about the spray. I have a buddy believes it is his saving grace!!


Congrats to your hunting partner! Any pics?

[spiker2930]

The 2.5 year buck I saw cruising last night was traveling with the wind at his back but he didn't come by me till 6:19 pm. That was my only sighting for the day and I was in stand by 1:30

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[Edcyclopedia]

Nice deatails Dan.

Mr. 2 1/2 might be a little more seasoned though...
And his attention to detail is certainly a little more keen - IMO

Had a spike in front of me last night make me wonder if he will make it through the season for some of the same reasons you stated.

I relate 1 1/2 year olds as kind of knowing what to look for but not quite fully understanding the meaning of potential death just yet.
- Could he have been kicked away from Momma recently...?
- Another factor I believe, was he was born from a younger Doe with that same 1 1/2 year old mentality or shall I say a less than savvy Doe (age really doesn't matter).
In other words Doe's (or any deer) with more of a sixth sense, seem to have a higher sense of fear/survival, nomad style of life, etc...
They tend to pass this key detail on better/sooner than the less Savvy animals... Even predator (human) tolerance levels...

Certainly many variables to consider...

[jlh42581]

Of the deer I saw this week, two walked with the wind and one quartered into it and then walked with it.

[Stanley]

Good stuff. Love to hear about encounters and buck reactions.

[BowtechHunting]

I agree Dan. I'm still in limbo about how whitetails tollerate scent. Anyways, my brother and I were hunting one morning, while we both were standing by the tree gathering our things, and a spike came strolling towards 30,20,10,5 and finally he stopped less than 5 yards away, while we stood motionless, looked at us bobbed his head down then up again looked at us again and went about his Sunday morning walk. It was the closest we have ever gotten to a live whitetail. It was awesome! I say that because he obviously knew we we're there, but he just didn't seem to mind.

And like you said earlier, I have had deer from 200yds pick me out snort and never be seen again. So, I guess some deer are just tollerable and laid back, and don't mind a little human scent.

[Stevew77]

First Dan these moon times, what's the hour difference for me in sc vs there?

Second, I believe a button or 1.5 are the dumbest deer in the woods when it comes to scent and human tolerance

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[Stevew77]

Also, all the mature deer I have see are always cutting the wind with the exception of during the rut and trailing a doe

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