Deer friendly snacks

[ez bake]

I know I'm not the only one who takes snacks along for a hunt, but I've always wondered with deer having super-smellers, what sorts of snacks do more harm than good (and visa-versa).

I usually try to keep that stuff in mind in case I happen to be up-wind from something, but I take along mixed nuts, (did corn nuts one year, but it was super loud), and stuff that I think they would be attracted to / curious about instead of warned off (don't know if beef jerky or other meats would smell bad to them or not).

Anyone have any recommendations or experiences with having deer around despite the smells of your food items?

 

[jmiller45]

Deer like the smell of Copenhagen! J/k I was curious as well. I made some more jerky yesterday and wondered if they like their own smell after being dehydrated!

 

[bigcountryok]

Never happened to me, but I know people who have had deer sniff and lick apple cores and peach pits after they ate the fruit and tossed the rest.

 

[imhntn]

Never happened to me, but I know people who have had deer sniff and lick apple cores and peach pits after they ate the fruit and tossed the rest.

I had a buddy that took his wife out and she spit out some grape bubble gum and he chewed her out about it till a doe came up under them sniffing the gum. I always have the multi colored life savers with me to suck on so I don't cough. I can't tell that they have ever hurt or helped though. My experience says that if the deer get downwind, you are busted.

 

[Danny]

I've had penned deer sniff out my cigarettes and try to take them out of my back pocket. I've had wild deer come in, nose to the ground, to film cannisters filled with cotton balls soaked in Vanilla Extract.

As you can see from the answers you get, there is a wide variety of smells that deer check out. Curiousness is probably the main reason. As long as they don't associate the smell with danger, you could probably get away with just about anything.

 

[HiredHand]

I tend to think that a lot of the scent control hype is just that hype. I think movement tends to attract a deer's attention much more than unusual smells.

 

[Parks 788]

Good thread. I am curious too about the tobacco stuff. I tend to dip Skoal mint everytime in the stand and spit in the dirt at my feet then give a little brush over with the sole of my boot. Do you see any problems with this? Besides my mouth falling off my face.

I may need to try that vanilla in a canister thing too. Also, my FIL who has hunted for the last 50 years said that he has put a small AM radio hanging from a tree with low-medium volume (like you would have on in your office) with just the white noise or static type noise on and he said it attracted deer due to curiosity.

 

[ez bake]

I tend to think that a lot of the scent control hype is just that hype. I think movement tends to attract a deer's attention much more than unusual smells.

I agree with this in a lot of ways except for things like sweat, urine, and possibly smells that Deer would naturally associate with danger due to past experience (like gun oil, burnt powder smell, etc...).

That's what I hate about CLP Break Free on my hunting rifles - that stuff stinks badly.

 

[criticalbass]

Can't go wrong with dried fruit as a hunting snack.

I agree with the BreakFree comment. Lots of better stuff out there that doesn't stink so much. I like Militec, and not too much of it, and usually don't put anything on my rifles for a month or two before season. So far, no rust, even on the blued guns I sometimes use. CB

 

[deerwhacker444]

When I was a kid,..St. Gregory's Univ. in Shawnee had a pen with some deer in it. This was back when everybody smoked and there were cigarette butts around everywhere.

I remember the deer loved to chew on the cigarette butts and would stand in line at the fence. Cigarette smell didn't seem to bother them much.