Cover Scents

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WTXHUNTER

New member
Given that most predators hunt with their noses as much as anything, do you "seasoned" hunters of the hunters use a cover scent when setting up? If so what are your preferred scents, do you use another predator or scavenger such as fox urine or coon urine? Or something such as skunk scent? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif Oh and i apologize if this is a rather elementary questions, but i am really just starting out, and being self edu-ma-cated!
 
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I use a sent eliminator on my clothing and coon urine on the bottom of my boots to cover my track sent. One thing to remember is that even if you are shure that you got rid of all human sent (wich is impossable) your gun still smells like... well a gun with . Much more important than your cover cent choice is to really watch your wind direction as you walk in and at your set up area. Good luck
 
Wtxhunter, I have never used a cover scent and I've killed more then one coyote, it is not going to do much good against a coyote nor is scent eliminator clothing.

A coyote smells it all no matter what you do. The only thing you can do is to trick the coyotes nose by making it think it smells more interesting things and that's another story.

Remember this, Predator hunting is big business nowadays with lots of goodies on the market for sale, some work good and some don't.

Coyotes smell people all the time in many cases, along with everything related to man like trucks, gas, oil, guns etc etc etc.

It don't take a bunch of brains to be a good predator hunter. To many people go overboard buying things they don't really need. You can ask most oldtimers of the sport, all you really need is your rifle and a hand call. Kinda simple huh.....Good Hunting
 
Thanks CZ, years of deer hunting has educated me on the necessity of knowing and using wind direction, i just didnt know if a coyotes nose was so sensitive it would smell right through manufactured cover odors.

BTK (and i dont mean the serial killer) thanks for the feedback, never really thought of it in terms of they can smell you no matter what, but you are right. just have to create the image of something better and hope their drive to eat out powers their drive to evade!
 
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"Their drive to eat out powers their drive to evade"....YOU SAID IT ALL... Coyote & rabbit urine mixed 50-50, cut it half with water then strain it real good. Put it in a plastic spray bottle on mist.

Next time you see the coyote heading downwind, spray it in the air and watch what happens. The coyote smells the rabbit, but also smells another coyote beating it to lunch. Remember the trick em part? Good Hunting
 
Why strain it? or add water for that matter? is it too strong in its bottled form?

By the way, i'm only a few hours from you in Carrizozo, i live Lubbock, Tx. Head to Ruidoso at least once a year for a change of scenery.
 
Personally I feel they are a waste of time and money. If a dog can smell cocaine submerged in a can of gasoline, I believe they'll smell a skunk pee covered human just fine!

Coyotes smell humans all the time, and it does not cause concern enough for them to high tail it out of the country. But, when a coyote is responding to a distress call, you can bet the smell of a human coming from the direction the sound is coming from is going to sound of big old alarm bells in that coyote's head.

Keep the wind in your face, or have a good view of the downwind side, and you'll do just fine without making some guy bottling skunk pee rich!
 
I know lots of guys use cover scents and believe in them. I also know lots of guy like Danny (Billy the Kid)and Rich Higgins that use the misting. I have tried both and decided not to use any scent at all. To do the misting as they do envoles movment while on stand, something else to carry and the potential for spilling are getting it sprayed in your face. They call a while and mist a while. I don't want anybody hunting with me moving at all. Coyotes in the areas I hunt (Hunted 6 different states this year)are very spooky, and I assume from experience that they are that way just about everywhere. I cant imagine a coyote smelling me, rabbit urine, and coyote urine and taking any time at all in turning inside out getting away, FAST. Some say it confuses them long enough for a shot when they smell the mist. I have rarely seen a coyote that was confused. Most are very spooky and will retreat fast if and when they smell a rat, so to speak. Rest assured a coyote will still smell you your gun, and your cover scent no matter what you do if you let him get downwind. Period. His coyote brain is capable of analizing and interpreting all the different scents in miliseconds. I'm not trying to talk anyone out of trying it, or if you use it and have confidence it works for you then keep on using it. For me I have found that it is a lot more dependable to watch the wind. Set up acordingly and let him do what he does. When he does it kill him.

There is an old Chineese proverb that asks "If a fox is after a rabbit which will try harder, the rabbit or fox?" Answer is, the rabbit. He is running for his life. The fox is just running to eat.

I can't imagine a coyote smelling a human still taking the chance at the rabbit. His instincts will automatically kick in and retreat. I have also never called coyotes that would ignore human scent because he smelt a rabbit or another coyote. I'm convinced that you will kill more coyotes if you leave the misting bottle and cover scents at home and kill them before they get downwind of you. If you are set up correctly you can usually WOOOF at him to get him to stop before he gets to your scent cone. You can also improve your odds by setting up to make it difficult for him to get downwind. This encourages them to weigh it as too much effort and rely more on there other scences for conformation and defense. I will say it again. If you believe misting makes a difference and is worth the effort, stink, cost then keep on doing it. It has been my experience that cover scents and misting are unreliable at best.

Byron
 
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Byron, I can't type that much, kills my fingers lol. I've always said you can't hide from a coyotes nose, it just ain't gonna happen. In most cases I kill the coyotes before they ever get downwind. Alot of my hunting unlike Rich in Arizona is done at night, so movement is not much of a problem. I hunt sage country, most of the coyotes that respond like to hang out 150 yards or so and circle downwind, most times making for an easy shot on there way. I'm usually about 8' in the air when I'm lighting. I do it something like a Texas high chair but somewhat different. Misting has worked for me for years, I think it depends on when and how you hunt. It's something I wouldn't rule out of a bag of tricks....Byron, is it ok to disagree a little right? lol...I sure it is....Good Hunting.

WTXHUNTER, Why cut it? It's strong stuff, if you cut it in half it last twice as long. Why strain it? So it well go through the misting system and not clog it up.
 
Danny,

Your experience and opinions are alway's welcome. I'm sure lots of people don't agree with me and I'm OK with that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif. More way's than one to skin a cat. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif. I do quit a bit of night hunting as well from elevated chairs, some of it is even in sage brush, some in mesquites, some in the CRP.

Byron
 
I've used fox urine a couple of times, since I started callin. I soon quit doing the "misting" thing. I to along with BillyTheKid, thought even though the "dogs" could pick my scent out, still might help bring a young hungry one in.

I've also had some get up & leave, looking back in my direction. While stalking in on them through "fluffy" quiet snow. No way, IMO could've they seen or heard me. This has lead me to believe, that some coyotes(if not most or all)have the "instinctual ability". That "something" BAD...Cometh their way. This has always "awed me" when it has happened.
 
I tried cover scents years ago and decided it wasn't worth carrying. If you're sold on misting, but don't want to risk movement get one of those battery operated scent dispensers. You know, the ones they advertize on TV as room fresheners. Clean it out well and refill with the cover scent of your choice.
 
Cover scent as a saviour? Naw, but maybe they can help a little. I spritz just the slightest amount around the decoy, or, if an electronic caller is used with a remote where ever the speaker is. I position that so that I'm below and downwind of the perceived air cone/stream. An approaching coyote as it slides into that downwind position as they most often do, is locked on the decoy/speaker and smell, and trots into my set-up "kill zone". That is "if" everything goes as planned!

I want to sell the set-up to the oncoming coyote and convince it to relax, come over, grab a bite and sit a spell. Covering the smell of the decoy/speaker (if I were to use e-callers - I don't) and adding the idea that maybe that decoy bobbing around is really something scrumptious with some mouth watering squirrel/rabbit scent, or that there may be a lesser predator around such as a fox or coon, might add enough realism to hold the coyote for a shot. You know, much like how your appetite spikes when you walk into the house when you're cold and hungry and smell something good being prepared in the kitchen? Say the little lady has been baking cookies and the kids are already tearing into them, the smell spikes the appetite, the thought that you better grab one before the kids gobble them all, probably makes you walk into the kitchen, take in the scene, and snatch one right then. The perfect anology would be if the kids scampered out of the kitchen and then the wife walked in to see her cookie plate cleaned out and you standing there with a half eaten chocolate chip in your hand/mouth - and BOOM! She lays into you! Your greed and the added visual, hearing, and smell stimuli got the best of you!

If the coyote gets too far downwind and catches my scent, I doubt I could cover that with a gallon of cover scent. Remember the coyote smells it all and has the ability to break it down into the various parts. We smell cookies, he smells chocolate, flour, sugar, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, salt, ect... My decoy is kept as scent free as I can make it, and stored in a clean white plastic bag with cedar limbs and oak leaves. My clothes are washed in cold water with unscented soaps and line dried. My hunting boots and clothes aren't worn when working or cutting wood, ect... I'm not a fanatic about scent control on the clothing, but I do the best I can and try not to expose them to human type odors.

In the thick cover of the heavy timber and brushy creek bottoms I hunt here in the Ozark's every second counts. A critter can blow in and out in a matter of a few short seconds and if that scent holds him for an extra 2-3 seconds, well maybe I get a shot. Maybe it's a confidence thing, thinking that I've taken every step I can to make the very best set-up. I don't rely on the cover scent and totally ignore wind direction, that'd be foolish. I do know this, I've had coyotes directly downwind of my decoy trot to within just a few yards of it. Surely if they smelled too much human odor they'd not approach it so closely. If I could ever resist pulling the trigger maybe I could see what would happen next... /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grinning-smiley-006.gif
 
I have found that cover sents will never do what you wish they did but they can confuse younger yotes as to what you are or where you are. The older yotes in hunted ares will bolt at the first sent that something is out of place weather it is human sent or the favorit cover sent that the locals like best.
 


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