09/23/2023
A post I made on my old page, a good informative/reminder since season is coming in soon.
What does gum stuck on the bottom of a shoe have to do with deer hunting/tracking? Nothing really, BUT it’s an awesome visual aid! PLEASE READ ON.
Scent molecules are what makes up an odor, you definitely can’t see them. Scent molecules being so small can drift or blow around, and attach to different surfaces. Actually scent molecules can be like the gum on the bottom of the shoe in the pic. When walking around searching for signs of a wounded deer’s direction of travel, you can unknowingly/inadvertently pick the scent molecules up on the bottom your shoes and transfer them around. Again think of scent particles like the pic, if you had that sticky gum on the bottom of your shoe and walked on the carpet in your house, that sticky gum will attach itself to other areas of carpet fiber. The same exact thing happens with scent molecules, except of course you won’t see the transfer with scent molecules.
Most if not all of us know animals (let’s just talk deer and dogs here) can detect smells way better than humans. FYI I’ve read where a dogs sense of smell is +40 times greater than a human and a deers sense of smell is +60 times greater than a human. We (humans) are obviously nowhere on the same playing field compared to dogs or deer.
When tracking a wounded deer and reaching the point of loss (POL) it is crucial to realize that beyond the POL you’re likely to walk on the deers invisible path, those scent molecules, spreading them all about. Now maybe throw in the scenario of multiple people searching (grid searching) and those invisible scent molecules can really be spread about. Would this confuse a dog? YES it certainly would, how could it not, the scent has been spread about!
While I will say, yes there have been hunters lucky enough to find their deer using a grid search. I can attest to several different tracks where we have recovered the deer for the hunter and when we found their deer the hunter was in complete shock, stating that they had walked right past the deer and didn’t even see it! The nose of a trained dog is much better than the human eye is for tracking.
Besides possibly walking by the deer and not seeing it, another downfall to using a grid search with multiple people walking all about your hunting area is, those individuals would be leaving their scent behind them as well. Could the deer in the area of a grid search smell the presence of multiple people trampling all around? YES and those deer might totally leave that area due to “the pressure” or the presence of a predators smell (you and your buddies).
In summary think about the use of a trained dog, BEFORE the grid search not AFTER the grid search!
1. the odds will certainly be in your favor for a recovery
2. there will certainly be less human scent present to scare the deer away, since a trained dog will “lock on” to the wounded deer scent and not wonder aimlessly all about
3. The time savings as well, a trained dog can most times come in and find a deer in a much quicker time
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