Scent Theory

S

schepherd

New member
Thought I would spread a liitle knowledge around from my SAR dog training days. What is it that a dog smells when searching for a human? Well a human sheds dead skin cells known as rafts these cells are shed at a rate of 40,000 per minute! Rafts carry bacteria and vapor unique to each individual human. The wind disperses these rafts downwind in a conelike shape. On a day with a steady breeze a SAR dog can easily pick up human scent at 300ft. or more. This holds true even if the human has only been in place for 10-15 min. Terrain, temperature and humidity play a major role in the ability of a dog to pick up scent. For instance on a calm day scent is carried in an updraft a few hundred feet or farther and then dropped back down. Drainages or Ravines can funnel your scent up or down depending on whether the air is cool and falling or hot and rising. The resulting effect is like how water flows in a stream. Hot and dry conditions are the most difficult for a dog to pick up scent. On wet and humid days your scent can stick like glue to everything around you. Low areas can make yor scent pool just like water. During the day warm air rises and air rises having a chiminey effest on scent. In the evening air cools and falls so your scent will be carried downhill. The heat from your body alone will cause youre scent to rise.
 
Interesting, thanks.

So, what is the best condition to keep your scent "cone" to a minimum? Will light rain or fog and no wind lower the detection range?
If I walk out and place my caller, should I wait a while for the out-back track to "cool off" before I start calling, or does it make a difference?

Thanks.
 
I believe that your right , rain will bring scent down to the ground but moisture also amplifies scent, I have seen air scent dogs have a difficult time on a calm day but a tracking dog could sniff out a trail with ease when the ground is moist. As far as cooling off the track I have seen dogs pick up trails that are 48 hrs old. and a old time member of the group had said it is easier to track a man when the trail ages a bit because the skin Rafts arent blowing around , they have settled in. I would suspect a coyote is more like a air scent dog trying to catch the airborne scent. So I would say the longer you are in one spot the more your presence is detected.
 
I've pheasent hunted a lot behind good dogs, so I realize once they've cut a scent trail, they can easily follow it.
What I was more interested in was:

If I walk cross-wind, then come back to a spot, will a dog detect my scent cone (from the trail) downwind for a long time, or will it dissipate? Will waiting 5 or 10 minutes help any, or would I be wasting my time?
I know if they get downwind of where I'm sitting they'll bust me.

Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions, much appreciated.
 
Here is a good example for you, upon training one day I was playing the "subject" role and the dog trying to find me was an airscent dog. I found a nice hiding spot and sat there for a while but I got chilled so I got up and moved away to find a sunny spot. I watched as the dog made its grid right past where I was just sitting without giving any indication to its handler. So an airscent search dog is more looking for the cone of scent coming directly from the human (or an article that has scent on it). Now with a coyote I think it would all boil down to how much human activity is in that area. If there are houses and roads nearby I would guess the residual scent from your trail would not alert them that much . All that I can say is a coyote is probably more aware the normal smells in its habitat. I am by no means an expert on this but I did train with some very experienced individuals for severeal years.
 
After reading this set of posts, I wondered how all of the scent blockers really work. Or do they? I'm assuming that they may mask the human scent or perhaps confuse the animal.
A trip to any large store that carries hunting supplies finds you seeing a wide range of potions that are advertised as "hiding" the human scent.
 
I posted this before but Ill do it again, A fellow I trained with at SARDOC with put it to the test at CSU ( because lost hunters are at the top of the list for searches) the scent blocker didnt work, I guess youd pretty much have to be in a bubble so your scent was contained. I think it is a marketing gimmik. It might eliminate a portion of your scent but you still gotta breathe right.
 
Thanks schepherd. I appreciate you summarizing your previous post. Now I can save a few more dollars for my scope upgrade. Every nickel helps.
 
My analogy is this: if a drug dog can smell cocaine dissolved in gasoline, a coyote can smell any/all the scent molecules (rafts as you call them) that escape even the best scent control garments. But then I'm a sceptic, I think all this scent control is by and large the biggest scam foisted on us hunters in decades. I just wish I would have thought of it!
 
Thanks,

It's much like I suspected. If I leave enough time for my "cone" to disperse downwind (depending on wind velocity) I should be good to go. Waliking the caller out crosswind and immediately starting calling might get me busted.

Good stuff.

I never figured "scent-blockers" would have any effect, personally.
 
I work as a firefighter paramedic. Our department is very fortunate to have a member on our department that has a canine search and rescue dog. The first dog that he had was a recovery dog that worked off of cadaver sent. I asked the handler if there was any way to fool a dogs nose i.e. scent lock garments sprays and the like. And he expressed to me that the human body releases so many skin cells alone along with other contaminents gasoline, cigarette, tobacco, poor hygene etc that it is impossible to fool the dog or coyote fox etc. That being said I have been able to observe that paying close attention to not contaminating your in field clothes, keeping them isolated in a fashion that you pack your hunting clothes in a air tight container or bag and take them on and off when entering or leaving your hunting area is a plus. I also use a spray or cover scent that I spray on my clothes prior to entering my hunting/calling area. I do believe and have experienced Deer, Coyotes, Bobcat that have been either called in to my location or have been traveling down wind of my location and have felt or new that the predominant wind had shifted or swirled in the direction of my intended target. I can state without hesitation that the target had an idea or new something wasn't quite right but in a lot of situations during that inquisitive or processing phase has alotted me that extra few seconds to either place a shot or at the very least observe the targets behavior. With that being said I honestly feel that taking the extra time or spending the money on scent masking products is worth the effort and money. Ideally we would always like to be able to have the sun at our back and the wind in our face that being said situations in the field are never constant. I also feel that paying close attention to small details scent control, wind direction, hygene etc. will pay dividends in the field. Something that you may want to try is after a long day at work or at my profession a firefighter run a q tip or simply your fingers through your hair, ear lobes etc and give your hand and fingers a sniff. Then take your scent product, dead down wind, scent blocker spray etc. and spray your hand or area. You can and will tell the difference. The being said an animals nose is much more advanced than ours but that little bit of difference between the two, treated or untreated may give you that extra time that you need. I feel it is worth it !!

Good Luck & Stay Safe

TC
 
I don't know how the nose of a coyote or fox compares to the nose of a deer, but every serious deer hunter shooting a bow is decked out in scent-block or similar charcoal clothing. May be a gimmick, but as a former bow hunter if I had the money I would've been wearing it. My morning/night ritual before a deer hunt would be shower with unscented/scent cover soap and shampoo, with scent free/scent cover deodorant. My hunting clothes were stored in a rubbermaid container that was thoroughly doused with scent eliminating spray, washed with UV free and scent free laundry soap, and air dried/left outside for several days on the clothesline. Also threw in a few of the dirt cover scent wafers by HS. Open that container and all you smelled was dirt! Deer sure were fooled by it. Guarantee that any good bow hunter will be doing the same, there's a big difference between fooling a buck 200yds away and having that same buck 20yds downwind and still pulling off the shot. Don't know if this is even comparable to dogs, but something to think about. You bow hunters know what I'm talking about!
 
Scent clothing is really designed for deer hunting. It can keep you from filling an entire area with scent while sitting for long hours or passing through an area. The charcoal clothing is similar to a respirator mask that you would use to keep out paint fumes. Any one who has used these knows you can still smell some paint through these but nothing compared to if you didnt have the mask on. But a deer is not a canine.
 
I think tcavaness said it perfect. Serious Deer hunters know that we can not fool a deers nose but we can confuse it long enough to get a good shot off.

I am new to coyote hunting but I find it VERY similar to bowhunting whitetails. I dont think that I can eliminate my scent from the coyotes but I do think that I can fool it long enough to get a hot. Where I hunt in NH the shoots are tight and there is a lot of human intursion in the woods so human scent is very prevelent. I have seen coyotes walk through back yards where kids were playing and show no alert what so ever.

Besides, it gives me a reason to go buy new hunting clothes!!
 
I know exactly what Goose Boy is talking about. In my experience as long as I done my part on deer thier not gonna smell ya with the suit. Hogs sometimes,yotes sometimes. Ive had probably 6 yotes & a fox comein down wind within 30 yds and not spook. Some I let walk some are no longer with us.

Ive had an equal amout of hunting time with and without a Scent Blocker suit over the last 25 years. If I had to hunt without one I would almost rather stay home.

Im talking about a premium suit not some junk you buy at your local sport show or army surplus store.

Nay sayers can talk all they want about the suit. When we start talking about dead deer thier jaw usually drops when I tell them how many I shoot a year and its not like I got a premo private spot either.
 
Coyotes I think have better noses than deer. I have had them smell me from over 400yds away but I have had them also walk by at 6 to 10yds on several occasions so there you go. I have bowhunted for deer since 1978 and have done just fine without scent blocking clothing( NASAYER)and will continue to do so.
 
I have bow hunted for several years now. Most will agree that deer don't have jack on a coyote, but to think that a deer can not smell you at close range because you wear a fancy suit or have taken every precaution to eliminate your odor is very deceiving.
The first few years of my bow hunting experience I to bought into being absolutely scent free. I used unscented soap, took chlorophyll capsules, cut out my spicy food {which I love by the way}, washed my clothes in unscented soap, wore rubber boots, used cover scents, dressed{hunting clothes}only in the woods so on and so on you name it I did it to cover my scent.
I bow hunted for several years killing a few does but never a mature buck {till 2000}, I would catch glimpses of them in the distance but not up close. That's when I figured out that they were coming in down wind of me and cautiously leaving all the while never making a sound just leaving. They couldn't have caught wind of me after all I was "scent free", yea right!
Here's what I discovered later while hunting my favorite bow stand. I had to walk across the same trail the deer used to get to my stand. One day as I sat watching I had 8 does and 2 bucks walk down the trail I had used to get to my stand, which was on the upwind side of me. It had been 2 hours since I had walked the trail with very clean rubber boots that had been in a bag full of cedar branches. Ten deer total had walked the same trail I did and never acted like they could smell me at all. Or did they? My first thought was that all my precautions had paid off! yippee! Then it happened, a large old doe came down the same trail, when she hit where I crossed that trail you would have thought she saw Satan himself! She about broke her neck trying to get turned around and headed the other way, she stomped, she blew, and she ran back and forth and ran every deer there away with her. It blew my mind. How could the others not smell me? I played that day over and over in my head for days. Here's what I came up with. The 1 1/2 year olds were first there that day. They never slowed down coming in. 2 of the deer were 2 year olds they paused where I crossed and kept going. The last doe was at least a 4 or 5 year old with lots of experience, she knew I didn't belong there.
I wont even go into the pig{wild boars} thing, just know this, They can smell you. If they can find tubers and bulbs several feet deep they can smell you! I have heard they use hogs to locate old land mines in Vietnam.
Coyotes as mentioned have the nose of a dog and most have the ability to process the information collected by that nose at an unbelievable, extraordinary rate of speed. Yet all of us long time predator hunters have had coyotes come in down wind of us and act as if they couldn't smell us.
Now If I was using some fancy scent free soap, a suit designed to eliminate human odor or trying to prove how good my secret sauce was I could say that I had "fooled" their nose or they couldn't smell me.
Here's my take on this whole "scent free" situation and "fooling" the nose of most mammals and predators, 99.9 % of the time it can not be done. Why then do we think we have fooled some?
I think there are so many factors involved here that I can't mention them all and I doubt that I even know what some of them are. The few I know about are as follows;

Age- with age comes experience provided they live long enough. All of us have seen this in coyote pups and yearling deer. Let a mature animal get down wind of you I'm talking 4-5 year olds. Most will react, although some react different than we expect.

Wind- while we think we know which way the wind is blowing, this is not always true. It doesn't take much of a variance in terrain to change the course of the wind behind you. Just last week I had a coyote 5-6 feet on my down wind side. There’s no way he couldn't smell us. Or was there? While the wind was hitting me in the face, I sat back a ways with my friend still there and the wind behind him was blowing from his right. Something was changing the wind direction less than 2 feet behind us. It was a very dry 30-40 mph wind.

Temperature- as has been stated the temperature and amount of moisture in the air has a tremendous effect on how odors hang in the air.

Individual odor detecting capabilities- as most hounds men know not every dog can detect odors the same. Some trail the air some trail scent on the ground. Some track hot tracks some very old and cold tracks. So it would seem to reason that individual coyotes would vary as well. This may factor into the intelligence area as well.

Individual personalities- anyone with kids or dogs knows that each has its very own distinct personality. In fact every animal out there has a very distinct personality. Some are shy, some are aggressive and some cautious. I'm sure I left some out. Each of these will react differently to what they are smelling.

Intelligence- anyone who has dogs or kids know that each individual excels in different areas and well some are just plain not too smart. Of course the dumb coyotes don't live long unless their to dumb to investigate a call. I think I've met a few of those as well!

Human contact- we also have to figure in human contact and individual experience with humans. Some may be negative and some not so negative.

I'm not saying to be lazy. I still wash my clothes in scent free soap and use unscented deodorants. I use anti bacterial soap to bathe in, but I eat my Mexican food! After all you never know when it might help and there is no reason to amplify the situation with perfumes.

There are so many variables it's amazing. I think this is why some new hunters get discouraged and quit. Don't over think it just use what you know get out there hunt and USE THE WIND! It'll happen.
 


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