How damaging is scent left in the field?

[Gatorgrizz27]

We all know how sensitive elk’s noses are to the scent coming directly off us, but I haven’t found much information as to the “scent trails” we leave behind.

If you’re slipping down a trail looking for a spot to stop and call, are you basically going “scorched earth”, where turning back around isn’t an option? Meaning, if you back up 100 yards from the furthest you went, will an elk walking down the trail towards you pick that up and blow out?

Same for entering a bedding area to check for freshness. Will they detect that someone has been in there and abandon it for several days/weeks?

Obviously this all implies that you’re playing the wind correctly, and not touching it with anything but the bottoms of your boots.

 

[Billy Goat]

I feel like in the areas I have hunted them they are sensitive to someone walking through. I think it's a lot of factors, but walking through an area where they bed up I think can leave enough scent to run them out. Depends on how accustomed they are to people tho.

 

[Swede]

Here is what I have observed: If an elk smells you; it is game over.
However it appears to me that they are not adversely affected by residual scent. I have observed elk follow me down a trail I just walked. I urinate from my tree stand. I have had elk, deer and bear walk right over where I peed. I have had deer eat on bushes I just relieved myself on. I sit in my tree stand all day, dawn to dark. Sometimes I need to get out to defecate. Elk have walked in past the place I relieved myself without any observable reaction.

 

[Wapiti1]

I've never seen them react to my footpath. I have seen cows sniff brush that I went through, but it must not have been strong enough to matter. They walked through too and didn't change their path.

They aren't as scent driven as something like a whitetail is when it comes to mating and social behavior. So, I don't think they are as keyed up on it as deer.

If I had a stand or blind setup, I would consider approach and egress. Otherwise, I don't think about it. Keep the wind right and get in there.

Jeremy

 

[Nickofthewoods]

On a few different occasions I have seen my game cam footage of Elk giving the camera a very thorough sniff inspection days or weeks after I have left it. I've also witnessed Elk feeding in a small area that I had tromped all around in looking at sign just hours earlier.

My observations and experiences tell me that while Elk have an incredibly sensitive olfactory system, they seem to react differently to scent on the ground vs scent in the air when they know a predator is very near.

 

[bluetick78]

It completely depends on the elk, and how new your scent is. Case in point: last fall I was on a ridge with a good bull bugling below me. It was still dark, and the elk were moving up towards me. Problem was, there were 2 draws that came together at the ridge top I was on, but I couldn't tell which draw the elk were using to move up. I rolled the dice and picked the far draw to set up on. Just as it got light, the bull appeared with 14 cows at the top of the other draw, 125 yds from me. Can't shoot a bow that far so I decided to move into the trees and call. Worked really well until the elk got to the spot where their trail crossed my back trail. The lead cow barked and the elk bailed quick. That night I laid in my tent listening to a small bull bugling all night 250 yds downwind from me. Depends on the elk, but generally if they smell you and your scent is very fresh at all, it's game over.

 

[trophyhill]

I must be lucky. I've had elk come right in with the breeze taking my scent right at them, and killed them. I think alot depends on the situation and how alert or in tune elk are to human scent and whether an elk is looking for you, the predator, at the given time. If a bull has pussy on the brain, not much is going to deter him.

If I know my scent is blowing in the direction of an incoming elk, I'm not gonna run and hide. I'm there to kill that elk and will do all I can to make that happen. Even if I feel the wind on my neck.

That being said, I do try and hunt with the wind in my face. It helps me smell them before I see them