Hide glue and rawhide scent

[Gurge]

Ok so I know hide glue and raw hide have been used for hundreds if not thousands of years. There for I assume there have been successful hunts with equipment using those materials. But with today's hunting technology and scent reduction and camo that is way more intricate than most prey animals can perceive except for turkey (I only own one old school army camp shirt. I usually hunt I. Brown canvas pants and a black or orange hoodie and haven't had too many issues). But I also understand that with poor eyesight comes other heightened senses, such as smell. I'm making some hide glue for a bow I'm working on now and this stuff stinks. Do other animals not smell that? Or does that go away when it dries? It seems like most (American prey) animals avoid things that smell dead. And I'm trying to make a bow with things that were once a part of living things and smell kinda...dead. Someone help me out here.

[calgarychef]

Dead animals don't frighten deer.  If you're downwind they can't smell your hide glue and if you're not downwind they can smell you a whole lot more than your arrows.

[Pat B]

If the hide glue really stinks that bad I'd say it has spoiled or was made with spoiled materials.
 I've made a few sinew backed and many raw hide backed bows and prefer to use hide glue for these. I have never smelled anything offensive about the smell either before or after the finish cured.
 Also, if the deer smell your bow they will smell you too...even with "scent lock" cloths on. As long as you breath the deer will smell you if they are down wind.

[Gurge]

Ok. I figured I smell worse than a bow or arrow. Ha. But I'm making the glue out of dog chews and it's not a super offensive smell but I can smell it. Almost like a wet dog or something. But nothing too bad. My roommates haven't complained so it can't be the worst smell in the house.

[BAK]

Well, the rawhide from dog chews is some of the poorest quality stuff you can use regardless of the glue.

[Gurge]

BAK, do you think the glue will be weak or just that it's low quality rawhide? And if the latter how so? Like chemically treated or rancid etc?

I don't give them to my dogs so I haven't researched too much about it.

[Pat B]

It seams to me that there are 2 kinds of dog chews, some are amber colored and translucent and the others are white, puffy and opaque. I think the amber color in the first is what becomes the glue and the white ones have dad the proteins removed. I haven't done any experimenting so this is just an uneducated observation.

[Sam McMichael]

If a deer is downwind of you, he can smell you. Your hide glue will not be a factor.

[YORNOC]

Originally posted by Sam McMichael:
If a deer is downwind of you, he can smell you. Your hide glue will not be a factor.

X2.

Even when the wind swirls, not much you can do but be as clean and stink free as possible...but 9 times out of 10 you wont fool a deers nose anyway.
And I have coyote hunted over one of my own gut piles and had deer come down the trail just down wind of it an a daily basis.
My Uncle was a gun hunter and you could always find him by getting downwind of his area and following the smell of Hoppe's gun solvent and the lighter fluid burning in his handwarmer right to him.
The guy shot a lot of deer. He was always aware of wind direction.

[Gurge]

That seems like my grandads mo as well. He smoke a lot but still brought home game.