Masking Human Scent?

[POPEYES8548]

I was watching a Youtube video of Andy Burk on tying a Pyramid Lake Wooly Bugger, and he mentioned it is a good idea to grab some bottom mud and rub your flies with it to mask non-natural scents.

Later on I read an article on FAOL about scent trails and particularly that of human scent. The gist of it was that some people excrete more "L-Serine" than others from their hands and that it is a powerful fish repellent (along with bug spray, sunscreen, and some say even head cement).

"Smell Tracks - Fly Angler's OnLine

I have to admit, I've been real sloppy about it. I rub on sunscreen and mosquito repellent and kinda just wash my hands off in the water and wipe them on my waders. I'm pretty sure that for an animal who can find their way upstream to where they were born using scent alone, I am putting a big nasty Exxon Valdez kinda scent trail into the water, and getting it on my flies and leaders too.

I am going to get some biodegradable unscented soap like Dr. Bronner's and carry a little bottle of it with me to wash my hands with periodically throughout the day, any time I have handled stinky stuff other than fish. I'm thinking of also scooping up some mud and water from shore and carrying it in a small container like a film can to dunk my flies in and maybe rub on my leader.

It may not help, but I can't see any way it could hurt. Do YOU do anything to mask human scent related stuff on your flies?

[Scarlett Pistol]

Dang, maybe this is why my buddy casts the same rig just feet away from me and catches 2x the fish!!!

[POPEYES8548]

Please guys i need more input on this.

[M1A4ME]

Don't know about fish.

I used to have a buddy who sat on a log in the woods and smoked his pipe during deer season and killed deer every year.

I've had deer walk by me within 3 or 4 feet and pay no attention to me.  They just stopped and stood there looking on down the path.  One of the fawns caught me moving my eyes (or something) and stood there looking at me, then looking at mama, looking back at me, etc. till the does and fawns turned around and went back up the path out of sight.

When fishing, instead of bug spray, carry a small pack of cheap cigars.  Light one up, let it hang out of your mouth (don't smoke it, just let it hang there slowly burn) and the smoke will keep the bugs away from your face.  Can't say it will keeps ticks/chiggers off you (don't have those up home in the mountains) but it will keep the flying bugs away from you.

I used to know a guy who seldom took showers.  He'd borrow a relatives pick up truck and it would smell so bad (even the next day) inside it would almost turn your stomach.  He killed deer every year.

[Tyerone]

Hunt the deer that are not downwind of you.  Else they will detect your scent regardless of what you do.  Now, perhaps that buck throws caution to the wind if in the rut...
Deer could be conditioned to NOT be alarmed at human scent if constantly exposed to it near the farm hiuse for instance.  They've even been known to run to the chainsaw in habitat-ruined (over populated) areas.

In general, a mature deer is going to be leary of anything unusual for them.  Their sense of smell is their primary sense for SD.

[Esquilax]

Old thread, but I fish Pyramid Lake, NV from time to time. I haven't heard of people doing this, though wooly bugger is pretty good at it. The main local practice is using step ladders to fish.

[M.Ray]

Hunt the deer that are not downwind of you.  Else they will detect your scent regardless of what you do.  Now, perhaps that buck throws caution to the wind if in the rut...
Deer could be conditioned to NOT be alarmed at human scent if constantly exposed to it near the farm hiuse for instance.  They've even been known to run to the chainsaw in habitat-ruined (over populated) areas.

In general, a mature deer is going to be leary of anything unusual for them.  Their sense of smell is their primary sense for SD.

To keep myself not upwind of a deer is kinda difficult for a newbie. coz that requires a strong sense of direction. What would happen if I am unfortunately upwind of a deer and what am I supposed to do for self-protection?

[Ron M.]

Depending on the area you hunt, scenting your clothes with car or truck exhaust works very well. Lots of deer are very used to the smell of cars and trucks going by. Just put your clothes in a mesh bag and hang them in front of the exhaust for a few minutes as your vehicle idles. Several people that hunt ranches near mine swear by this. I just shower with scent free soap and wash my hunting clothes in scent free detergent. I usually get 1 or 2 Whitetails every season along with 3 or 4 Axis deer. Hogs don't seem to care much about scent, but spook on motion and sound.

[crosstimbers]

Im there with the commenter who said he knew a guy that smoked a pipe and was still successful. Sometimes deer seem more sensitive to scents than at other times, I don't know why. I always just try and stay as clean as possible, avoid overly scented soaps and laundry detergent, and I try and hunt the wind. As with anything else there will invariably be a deer or two that pop up downwind from me, that's just how it goes.

Back quite a few years ago, you used to be able to buy Red Fox urine in a bottle that was about half-pint size. Now the largest bottles I ever see are much smaller and I swear it cannot be the same stuff. The older variety smelled so strongly that it came with a wax seal on the lid, and after being opened it would stink up your garage over night even with the lid screwed firmly back in place. A friend of mine was trying to screw the lid back on extra tight in his tree stand, and managed to break the lid. He had no choice but to empty the entire bottle at the base of his tree. Sure enough he killed an 8 pt that morning, that had come up and was sniffing around the base of his tree. It was meant as a cover scent but apparently has some attractant qualities as well. Not that any of this helps with fishing...

[Old-Duckman]

I'm not a hunter so I can't speak from experience but I can relate a story from a "man in the know".

I attended a presentation a month or so ago by a retired Army Colonel about getting close to game in the woods. He gave much interesting information. One item was the number of olfactory nerves in humans vs dogs vs deer. I don't remember the numbers but dogs have WAY more than humans and deer even more than dogs.

He told us a story of when he was still on active duty and though I don't recall the details what I do recall is interesting and relates to this thread.

There was some exercise he was in charge of and along with its main objective he wanted to test the dog's ability to find hidden soldiers. Though I don't recall the number of soldiers or the acreage they were spread over I do recall the most significant number. He gave the soldiers several days to prepare themselves to disguise their sent, in whatever way they would choose. The longest it took the dogs to find the soldiers was 45 seconds.