I hunted (and worked) a very popular public hunting area in its hay day --Kingsbury FW Area in NW Indiana. This WMA was heavily used and the deer encountered human scent (workers, watchers, and hunters)daily during many days of the year. However, the deer retained their aversion to the hunter's scent the same as deer I hunt these days that encounter far fewer people.
In fact, on one hunt at Kingsbury the deer had several trail choices for coming out of a no-hunting area into the zone I was hunting. At the suggestion of a friend I put very stinky socks, one each on two trails that were out of range from my stand. It worked perfectly. Two different deer approached the furthest trail/sock, winded it and "bounced" to the next trail/sock. The deer smelled it and bounced to the trail I was on. Then I missed both deer! I've never used the strategy since but it sure worked the opposite of what you're after.
Could your idea work? Sure it could, there are few absolutes among whitetail deer. However, it is too much of a gamble for me -- it might work great for some deer and those you may see. However, I'd always wonder, did it scare the boogers out of a nice mature buck I would like to have seen?
I used to use skunk scent as a mask. One day I walked to my stand across a small winter wheat field. I watched three deer encounter my trail. The first two deer ignored crossing my trail. The third got so bent out of shape you would have thought I had shot it. I stopped using skunk scent that very day -- I use no masking scents these days, just as clean a me as I can.
Topic: will this work? (Read 377 times)
