To Pee or Not to Pee

[EvenSteven]

Does anyone use a container for urine during spot and stalk or other types of hunting? After not hydrating enough Saturday for the Elk opener I overcompensated yesterday and realized I was probably leaving more scent in my hunting area than I wanted to. I tried to do most business at the camp/truck and otherwise tried to get off trail and not at any of my setups. Any advice out there?

Thanks

 

[Trial153]

I pee....

 

[Vids]

Let it fly! All pee breaks down into ammonia in a short period of time. Lots of whitetail hunters intentionally pee in deer scrapes to create scent.

 

[jm1607]

I try to pee in a creek

 

[RamDreamer]

I pee whenever I need to. In fact last year I laughed when I had an impromptu experiment. I was hunting on my dad's property for a whitetail doe and they were coming in and I couldn't hold it anymore and from the tree stand I just let it fly. Keep in mind about 6 of the 12 does/fawns were down wind of me. The golden arch flew down onto the leaves making a wonderful noise and casting my urine scent. They bolted about 20 yards back from the noise. After I was done they stood there for about 5 minutes and then came walking by and I arrowed a nice fat doe. She was large and old when I looked at the teeth. All the stories of do not pee when in the stand or hunting went right out the door for me at that point!

 

[belly-deep]

I pee whenever I need to. In fact last year I laughed when I had an impromptu experiment. I was hunting on my dad's property for a whitetail doe and they were coming in and I couldn't hold it anymore and from the tree stand I just let it fly. Keep in mind about 6 of the 12 does/fawns were down wind of me. The golden arch flew down onto the leaves making a wonderful noise and casting my urine scent. They bolted about 20 yards back from the noise. After I was done they stood there for about 5 minutes and then came walking by and I arrowed a nice fat doe. She was large and old when I looked at the teeth. All the stories of do not pee when in the stand or hunting went right out the door for me at that point!

I've heard similar stories from other treestand hunters.

In my experience, it is probably the least of your worries. Even when you think you're being stealthy, you aren't. My family owns 40 acres of whitetail property that I often take a doe or two on. It is a bedding zone for the deer, along with several hundred acres of timbered property adjacent to it. I've noticed that ANY human presence will result in fewer deer in the area the next day, even if I don't visually see them spook. Like I said, it is a bedding zone just like many other places nearby, so I feel that my observations are pretty valid. There is nothing particular that attracts deer to the property; they are just on it if they want to be.

Point is, none of us are as sneaky as we'd like to believe. Even if we "ghost" in and out of a place, if a boot falls in the forest, something hears it.

 

[Vids]

Funny story RamDreamer, reminds me of my whitetail hunt in Illinois two years ago:

I bought some Tink's 69 and Trail's End to try out for the weekend. A buddy of mine has had luck with TE so I figured I'd give it a shot, literally shooting two bucks as they had their nose up to the wick. The first day I put a couple of wicks out, saw about 50 deer (it's an amazing property), none of them paid any attention to it including bucks that walked right by it. Keep in mind this was during the peak of the rut and bucks were going crazy. The next day I put a couple more wicks out and it was the same. The third day I dumped the rest of my bottles out all over the brush, fence, etc. The area stunk. Same deal, lots of deer coming by and none paid any attention to it whatsoever. That was the end of using scents for me! (This is not a bash on those products BTW)

I still believe in some scent control and wash my clothes in scent free detergent, but won't waste much money on all those products. Playing the wind is more important anyways.

 

[-bowfreak-]

Pee. It alone has no negative effects.

 

[Kevin Dill]

My main approach on whitetails has always been to prevent depositing ANY scent which might cause them to linger and investigate the area near my stand. Urine might not be an issue in itself, but if deer are curious enough to hang around and investigate, they may discover other traces of human presence and quietly (especially in the case of mature bucks) begin avoiding that location. Nothing makes me happier than seeing deer around my treestand and they have no sense of the unusual nearby. I want them totally unsuspecting.

I don't urinate near my stand ever. I carry a nalgene bottle in the outside mesh pocket of my pack, and that's my tree-pee can. Carry it out and dump it elsewhere...rinse and repeat.

 

[5MilesBack]

I don't even give it a second thought. I hydrate like it's the last water I'm ever going to drink, so I pee a lot. Around my base camp I must have several gallons on the ground and I still get elk running around my tent at night.

 

[bourbon]

I pee and then pee again.

 

[William Hanson (live2hunt)]

Damn I thought that I over thought things. Just piss

 

[VernAK]

This Geezer didn't remember it being an option!

 

[Matt W.]

I try to pee in a creek

Man.. Now I totally have to filter! : )

 

[Darren Best]

They eat it.

 

[Roy68]

I watched my pops stop mid stream to shoot a doe at 30 yards while his pants fell to his knees. He just turned around and grinned.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I try to pee in a creek

Stop doing that! We are downstream.

 

[jherald]

I peed in a Moose rutting pit once and the bull came back and turned the place upside-down.

 

[ohoopee]

Ive seen this happen several times. Every couple years I try a new whitetail product with the same results. I pee and doesn't seem to bother them but scents have no results or negative ones in my experience.

Funny story RamDreamer, reminds me of my whitetail hunt in Illinois two years ago:

I bought some Tink's 69 and Trail's End to try out for the weekend. A buddy of mine has had luck with TE so I figured I'd give it a shot, literally shooting two bucks as they had their nose up to the wick. The first day I put a couple of wicks out, saw about 50 deer (it's an amazing property), none of them paid any attention to it including bucks that walked right by it. Keep in mind this was during the peak of the rut and bucks were going crazy. The next day I put a couple more wicks out and it was the same. The third day I dumped the rest of my bottles out all over the brush, fence, etc. The area stunk. Same deal, lots of deer coming by and none paid any attention to it whatsoever. That was the end of using scents for me! (This is not a bash on those products BTW)

I still believe in some scent control and wash my clothes in scent free detergent, but won't waste much money on all those products. Playing the wind is more important anyways.

 

[Emh]

Pee where you want. At worst it may smell like a predator and if that spooks em they would never stop running. I hunt Coues deer, perhaps the jumpiest animal alive, I pee out of the tree stand and have them walk right by and never give it a second thought.