How long will scent linger?

[Stanley]

I mirror Stanley - rubber boots, walk thru short vegetation, don't touch anything you don't have to (some guys just have to touch stuff on the sides of the trail), etc. My first couple of years doing this resulted in few to no deer spooking off my scent, from fawns to a very large 8 pt I couldn't shoot cause a buddy was walking around 400 yards behind it.

This past year I had a doe scent me in ankle high grass and a spike scent me in pine needles - same rubber boots, etc. The only diff is that I didn't apply Evercalm to my boots this year.

Either the deer were more sensitive or I was leaving more scent - mighta stepped in something? Anyhoo - it has helped me to understand how we burn our spots and need clean entrance and exit routes.

I have deer get alarmed on wet ground way more often than on dry ground. Wet ankle high grass is almost a sure thing putting a buck on alarm. Knee high grass is a bust every time wet or dry.

[Dewey]

I mirror Stanley - rubber boots, walk thru short vegetation, don't touch anything you don't have to (some guys just have to touch stuff on the sides of the trail), etc. My first couple of years doing this resulted in few to no deer spooking off my scent, from fawns to a very large 8 pt I couldn't shoot cause a buddy was walking around 400 yards behind it.

This past year I had a doe scent me in ankle high grass and a spike scent me in pine needles - same rubber boots, etc. The only diff is that I didn't apply Evercalm to my boots this year.

Either the deer were more sensitive or I was leaving more scent - mighta stepped in something? Anyhoo - it has helped me to understand how we burn our spots and need clean entrance and exit routes.

I have deer get alarmed on wet ground way more often than on dry ground. Wet ankle high grass is almost a sure thing putting a buck on alarm. Knee high grass is a bust every time wet or dry.

I agree. The thought that rain washes away your scent is completely wrong. I walked in more than once in heavy pounding rain thru thigh deep water wearing hip boots over rain gear head to toe. More often than not I still get busted if they cross my walk in path. This is even after heavy rain for quite some time after I was already on stand. I never agreed on the "free hunt" washing your scent away after a rain. If anything I think rain increases your scent for quite some time.

[headgear]

Where ever you go deer smell you where there. Period. Reactions are what differs. I can tell you deer react much different to your scent walking down a hiking trail than they do in a bedding area. And each deer has a different tolerance.

You really have to factor pressure into how a deer reacts to scent, if you don't you are missing a large part of the puzzle. What works in one locations doesn't mean that it is a universal fix.

[Edcyclopedia]

My dog will sometimes revisit the coach cushion, numerous times, after I fart and she sneezes and twists her head for up to 1 hour and 16 minutes.

Deer sniff something like 7-times better = 532 minutes if the conditions are perfect...

[PK_]

[Jackson Marsh]

I think you might be right. If a young buck survives a year or two he quickly learns that smelling humans and then having something negative happen (gun shot, burn of a bullet or broadhead ).....he'll remember forever. Just like a trained dog.

[ODH]

I agree with most all of what's been said. Scent will linger in a bothersome fashion for 3+ days depending on weather conditions. You need to know how deer react to your scent in the areas you hunt. To solve the mystery put out a trail cam on a well traveled (by deer) spot. I'll assume you're not in the midwest otherwise you wouldn't be asking the question. I'm sure you'll find the pics in the 5 days days which follow placement will be well different if you first place the cam on say August 1 vs placing first placing it on say Nov 1, meaning the first time you enter the area and leave your scent. Further, the results will be well different if you place it near a food source vs in/beside a bedding area. That's how I sorted it out.

[Rich M]

I had put out a couple of cameras and had the deer stop going by it - got 6 total pics off it over 2 months of soaking.

Always figured it was the IR red "blink". It was in a pinch with trails X-ing right there. Cam was placed on a pine tree at edge of dirt rd and I didn't much up the area much. Walked down rd, hung cam, continued out.

[mheichelbech]

The other thing I have noticed is they don't have to be right on top of where you walked to catch your scent...can be 10-30 feet away..or more.

[Dhurtubise]

Maybe I just stink more than most, but if I go and check cameras at the wrong time of year, deer show up and look wary for the next 24 hours and dissapear for 6-8 days afrerwards. I no longer check cameras on scrapes before I hunt them. You an really mess them up with very poor timing.

[Bigb]

I think the one thing I've learned about scent is that every deer and every instance is different. Biggest buck I saw this year crossed my trail twice through a cut corn field one morning and didnt even bat an eye. I had a picture of that same 6.5 year old crossing my tracks on a trail camera October 27th and he didnt care then. I also had a nice mature 9 point hit my tracks and do a 180 and trot away.

One of my best spots that has a solid entry/exit is only about 60 yards away from where we park and we have more mature bucks and does cross the trail we walk in to other areas and they could care less, not sure if they are used to the smell or because its bare dirt where we walk down.

One thing we did this year (I do hunt private) is purchase a real nice pull behind mower for the four wheeler. We keep trails maintained and around Labor day we cut for the last time that keeps the grass low and cut close to as many stand spots as we can. Deer are used to it and it really limits scent.

I think this year was the first time I really made sure to do my best to limit scent in and out of the stand. I'm not sure what posts it was but Stanley really said some convincing things that made me really try to watch my entrances and exits. Pants were always tucked into boots, I really sprayed down my boots, raked leaves for the last 30 yards to stand. My boots are aired outside at night and sprayed down during the day and during transport they are in a boot bad. Things like that seem to really help.
I may be a bit crazy and my tactics don't work but this was by far the best year deer hunting I've ever had. Saw countless big, mature bucks but had my sights set on one that I wound up missing but passed on more bucks than I have in my life.

[Divergent]

I had a camera placed on a trail this year for several months. Every precaution was taken during placement. The deer seemed to wind something for the first week. After that things calmed down but every rain seemed to re-introduce the scent because I captured the reactions with my cam. I think humidity is the biggest factor.

[pewpewpew]

I used to check cams in the same spot, swap cards and leave every week. I went from seeing deer everyday, to nothing after 3 weeks. I now leave my cams out for at least 3 weeks at a time, and don't get much on camera within 5 days of setting up. So I tend to say 5 days.