A hunter's guide to understanding deer scents - The Daily News of Newburyport

The shotgun deer season is under way throughout Massachusetts. To be successful in the woods, it is important to understand how deer relate to their environment. By taking the time to think through what they see, hear and smell, you will increase your chances of waylaying a big buck.

Hunters perceive their world primarily through sight. However, it mainly through the sense of smell that deer perceive theirs. Although they use all of their senses to stay alive, research has shown us that their sense of smell is perhaps the most important to them. To be successful, hunters need to understand how they can use that sense to their advantage.

A deer’s olfactory bulb in their hairless, moist nose is much larger than ours and contains almost a hundred times more epithelium. Olfactory epithelium contains millions of chemical receptors that detect odors. When we sniff, chemicals in the air are dissolved in mucus. Odor receptor neurons in olfactory epithelium detect these odors and send the signals on to the brain. Each time a deer sniffs the air they take in an incredible amount of information that we humans would never detect.

In addition, deer also use several different glands in their bodies to emit scents that are used to communicate information to other deer. How and when these glands are used has been the subject of much research. We now know that the scent emitted from these glands differs between sexes, age classes and times of the year. Deer use all of these glands to emit a wide variety of information.

These glands consist of the interdigital, metatarsal tarsal, preorbital, forehead, nasal and preputial. All of these glands emit their own special odor that may change depending on the time of year. For example, The interdigital glands are small sacs located between the toes on all four feet. These sacs contain a foul-smelling fatty acid that is secreted every time the deer takes a step. These secretion smell differently depending on the age, sex, and health of the deer. The smell of the footsteps of dominant bucks are different than those of others.

The tarsal gland, located on the inside of the deer’s hind legs, secretes a fatty substance called a lipid that adheres to the long guard hairs around the gland. In studies conducted at the University of Georgia, it was found that the basic secretions from the glands stays the same all year round. However, depending on circumstances, deer deliberately urinate on these glands. When they do so, it combines with the naturally occurring bacteria found there, giving each deer its own unique smell. The more frequent the urination on the glands the stronger the smell. It appears likely that the tarsal gland is somewhat analogous with the human underarm where bacterial alteration of body secretions produces each person's individual scent.

Rutting bucks use this odor to advertise their dominance status and breeding condition. There are some researchers convinced that does can tell from this smell whether or not the buck is a healthy and strong animal, and, that using this information, they seek him out for breeding. The smell of these secretions also allow a doe to identify her own fawns.

Another important set of glands are the apocrine sweat glands located between the antlers and the eyes on the forehead of the deer. If you watch a buck at a rub during breeding season, he will rub his forehead back and forth on the trunk of the small tree and nearby overhanging branches. He will often pause and sniff or lick the rub as he makes it, apparently checking the scent he is leaving on the tree.

There are several other glands on the body of a deer that secrete odors, each serving to alert other deer as to their sex, age, readiness to breed, etc. Each time a deer takes a whiff of the breeze he is analyzing the information gathered. Knowing that, how do we turn that into our advantage as hunters?

First, leave no smell of your own or at least mask that which you have. Let’s start with our clothes and boots. One of the best ways to mask your smell is to store your outer gear in a box filled with fresh spruce, pine or cedar boughs. Wash everything with a scent-free soap and then place them in a big box filled with the boughs. Let the scent from them permeate your gear, especially the bottom of your boots. Keep your boots in that box in the back of your truck until you put them on at your parking site.

Wash yourself in non-scented or earth-scented soap. Hair holds the most scent, so be sure your hair shampoo is non-scented as well. The food you take in your backpack is important as well. Garlic and onion might be a dead giveaway!

Always approach your stand at 90 degrees to the trail you are watching. Do not walk up or down the trail itself. Be sure your stand is down wind of the crossing trail. A little scent might make a deer curious, a lot will send him slinking away.

There is a lot of advertising for deer scents to be used while hunting. They break down into two types. The first is food oriented and the second is deer urine attractor. Food scents like concentrated acorn can be dropped along though the woods, leading the deer toward your stand. I have never been a big fan of these, but some folks swear by them.

The most commonly used scent is that of deer urine, especially doe estrous urine. Estrous urine is collected when the doe is in her breeding cycle, which makes this type particularly attractive to bucks. Urine scents are placed around a hunter’s stand or trailed into the hunting area on a drag rag. A urine-soaked drag rag trailed into the stand lays down a scent trail bucks can follow right to you. Some spray the bottom of their boots with the scent so it disperses as they walk to their stand.

As you head out into the woods this week, keep in mind that a deer relies heavily on his sense of smell to keep him alive. Use that knowledge to your advantage. Good Luck!

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