Dog vs deer scenting ability

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


EastCoast
Posts: 18
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2016 12:25 am
Status: Offline

Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby EastCoast » Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:40 am

I have a little anecdote I thought was kinda cool involving animals abilityl to smell. I took my dog for a walk the other day out on a snow packed trail. It's a trail that once I hit the end I turn around and walk the same path back. About halfway back, my dog ran 50 yds off the trail up a hill to investigate a chipmunk.

I walked passed him on the trail and continued on another 100yds or so, he was so involved with digging for the rodent he didn't notice me. I waited for a few minutes but I finally had to vibrate his collar so he would come look for me. I hit vibrate on his collar and he started looking around for me. When he couldn't locate me I watched him run down the hill to my trail to check for my scent. As soon as he hit the trail he took one quick sniff of my tracks and immediately took a 90 degree left turn and ran down the trail to where I was waiting for him.

What I found interesting was that 20 minutes before I had walked down that same path in the opposite direction and yet the dog was able to immediately identify the fact that i had passed through again heading back. Again this was on packed snow and I was wearing rubber boots so my scent was pretty minimal. Imagine how much more a mature buck is able to identify with his nose being that he's depending on his for survival.


User avatar
PK_
500 Club
Posts: 6894
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
Location: Just Off
Status: Offline

Re: Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:44 pm

I enjoyed this story.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
User avatar
ghoasthunter
500 Club
Posts: 2211
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:09 am
Location: New jersey
Status: Offline

Re: Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:07 pm

PK_ wrote:I enjoyed this story.

a deers nose is amazing i love watching them sniff out acorns squirrels buried
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS
User avatar
Native13
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Dec 09, 2017 11:54 am
Location: The Mitten
Status: Offline

Re: Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby Native13 » Fri Apr 06, 2018 1:37 am

Thanks for sharing!
I have a 1 yr old German shepherd and watching her use her nose has amazed me and really made me realize how well a deer can probably smell. I've witnessed similar scenarios to yours as well.
User avatar
Ragingun
Posts: 344
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2017 12:03 am
Status: Offline

Re: Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby Ragingun » Fri Apr 06, 2018 4:43 am

I train hunting dogs. A good dog is amazing to watch. They have amazing noses and to watch them LEARN how to use it is very exciting. What I've found in all my observations is this, in nearly every case it's not how good the dogs nose is but it's ability to "think" and at the same time use it's experience to figure out what is happening. Some dogs simply follow a scent trail and may get to the end of it only to be stumped and this can happen with a seasoned dog as well as a rookie. It's the dogs that think at the end of the trail to figure out what is going on. Some people might relate this to "bird drive" or "prey drive" but it's more than that.

One of the best memories I have is of my now 13 year old golden. The best dog I've ever seen for a hunting dog and I've been around national hunting champs. My pro trainer and I were always amazed at how he could mark and pick up on scent. One particular time a few family members and myself were done with a pheasant drive through a small section of cattails. As we stood at the end in the stubble field my dog suddenly went back into the cattails like he forgot something. He got on a bird within the first few feet. What amazed me is that the wind was blowing the opposite direction since we pushed into the wind and were standing on the upwind side but he somehow knew the bird was there. There was fresh snow cover the cattails so as he followed this bird both the bird and the dog would cause the snow to drop as they bumped the base of the cattails. As we watched you would see the bird move and my dog would pick his head up above the cattails, watch, listen, then the bird would stop and he would "think" of the best approach and then put his head down and sneak over towards the birds position. They only worked a 10 by 10 yard area and this went on for 5 minutes. My dog would actually stop, listen and then move to cut off the birds line of travel. He was using his nose along with his brain to figure out what the best plan of attack was. He constantly stopped to figure out what the best position was to travel to use his nose and pin down the bird.

If he can do that and he only hunts for a small percentage of his lifetime imagine what bucks can do when they live this stuff every minute of every day. I also do believe that some deer learn to use their head better than others as well.
Dogs have many friends because they wag their tails, not their tongues.
User avatar
Sailfish_WC
500 Club
Posts: 2364
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 4:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Dog vs deer scenting ability

Unread postby Sailfish_WC » Fri Apr 06, 2018 5:16 am

Neat stuff.

I have a lab that is mostly deaf (she’s only 7), buy what she lacks in hearing she made up for it with her nose


If I’m inside cooking and she’s outside and I’m cooking meat she will be inside in a second. Nothing else but meat


It amazing to think how much more advanced a deers olfactory system is!
Sailfish_WC <-- Deer watcher


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 65 guests