To pee, or not to pee?

[The Hermit]

Last summer I was walking into a field and came across 3 does eating grass. They stood still spotting me and after 3 or 4 minutes I decided to relieve myself as I really need to go. As soon as I started to go, they just ignored me and started feeding again.
Now I can't decide if they just thought I was another animal or too small a threat.

The Hermit

 

[Matt85]

im not going to pee in something and carry it around with me. as others have said "if ya gotta go, ya gotta go"

-matt

 

[Richard J.]

Well I guess I will let you people in on a little secret, and I have never told anyone outside my family. A long time ago I was hunting an area and there were just to many trails to cover in the thicket. The deer would just slip thru and by the time I would see them it would be to late. I got the bright idea to make scrapes on some of the thicker trails and just pee in them. Well about an hour later all hell broke loose. Turned around and there was a buck tearing up the ground with his feet and horns,put the old flintlock on him and he then started to pee in the scrape. I shot him and watched him run a couple of feet and drop. Walked over to scrap after I made sure he was dead and he had it all tore up. I have been doing this ever since. The funny part is I have seen spikes,3points,4point and bigger bucks pee in it. I really thought it would only be the big bucks but I was wrong. I still do it to this day. The reason I never told anyone was I figured they wouldnt believe me. All I know is it caused a lot of bucks to take a dirt nap. Try it if you want, its up to you but for me and my family we will do it all the time. One more thing. When bucks are in full rut a lot of the time they will stop at there own scrapes for less than a second and keep going. When you pee in it they stop cold and then tear up the ground so they can pee in it. Good luck to everyone.

 

[AWsaddles]

A couple years I was on my way out one evening and relieved my self not to far from my stand before leaving . Hunted it the next morning and watched a buck walking up the trail stop dead in his tracks and investigate. After a min or so he continued on his way as if nothing happened apparently unalerted. Told this to a friend who had at one time been a game warden and he believed that the only thing the deer seemed to get out of urine was testosterone or estrogen levels. Seems to override human factor and have no effect on my hunts that I know of but just my 2 cents.

 

[Spikebuck]

Everything I've been taught about scent control would tell me not to do it, and I avoid it if at all possible.

That said, 40 years of observation gives me no reason to believe that deer overly react to human urine.

On one hunt I was rattling for a friend and before we set up I just had to pee. I went about 50 yards away, well off a trail, and dug a hole in the leaves, peed, then covered it up. Rattled in a pretty nice 10 point and as he was coming toward us he suddenly went off the trail and walked to the exact spot I had peed less than an hour before. Stuck his nose right in it. He then continued on his way to us and got himself kilt! That tells me that they definitely smell it and will even go out of their way to investigate it, but it may not bother them in the least.

In addition, on our lease we have 8 hunters. Other than me, the others have zero issue with peeing off stand, and they were every bit as successful at seeing mature deer as I was. In fact, since we share/draw for stands, I was sitting stands that had been peed out of and I didn't notice the deer acting any bit differently.

So net, I'm just overly cautious not to pee around my stand and have absolutely no observation that supports my practice.

 

[Mad Professor]

when i worked on a farm i'd wear my hunting clothes to clean the barns, deer had no issues with cow/sheep/horse/pig/chicken pee/poop but i'm sure they smelled it.


think about YOUR pee, eat some asparagus, drink some coffee...smell the same? no? think a deer can't tell?

 

[George T.]

I have been hunting with the wife and kids over the years and we peed all over the lease and I have never seen it bother anything. Twice over the years I saw bucks take note of where women had gone. I think they do pick up on the estrogen. Geo. T.

 

[S.Kenton]

I have urinated in scrapes as others have stated..and even on fresh rubs and it seems to attract the bucks. I have done my business right off my trees stand during bow season and shot a nice doe one year and a buck another later that day. So my vote is that NO it makes no difference. It may even help the hunt..

 

[Roguedog]

This has been a very interesting thread. Myself, for years I carried a gatorade bottle around and peed in it and carried it out with me after the hunt. These days, whether it be getting a little older, just not caring, or whatever, I have chosen to reduce the amount of stuff I lug around the woods. As such, If I need to go, I just go. I can't say I've seen any adverse reactions either way. The making of a mock scrape and peeing in it is a very interesting idea. I plan to put it to the test next year.

Now, to take the discussion a little bit deeper, how many people have experience with doing the #2 in the woods and how this might affect deer? I do everything in the world to avoid having to do this but occasionally, nature has her way with me and I have taken a squat in the woods. If this is too graphic or just too disgusting, please feel free to disregard.

Jeff

 

[RC]

not real sure how deer react to it,,but, unlike whizzin...paper....(or leaves fer you tough guys..or fergetters) might retain human scent enough to get deers attention? :hmm:

 

[Rifleman1776]

my theory on cig/pipe smoke is movement alerts them..cause if they can smell yer cig they can smell you..actually thought smoke would help cover yer scent,,especially after I quit..seen way more deer when I was smokin...jus what I observed...

I have a friend who has filled his tags every year since childhood. He is a non-smoker, except during deer season. He smokes cigars on his deer stand. Claims it brings them in. Dunno. :idunno: But, his results cannot be denied.

 

[Roguedog]

That is certainly interesting Rifleman. This may encourage me to bring my pipe with me when I am sitting in my stand. It would make the day pass faster if I could puff on a tasty blend.

Jeff

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Part of what I think we are ignoring is to what have the deer been exposed? If you hunt in an area that is farms and woodland, they probably have smelled human type stuff including dripped fuel from the farm vehicles, so don't necessarily associate a lot of human scents with danger.

I have carried a portable camping urinal, and done that, and I have forgotten it and had to whiz in the woods. I didn't see any change, but on the other hand I had not recently eaten asparagus either. :shocked2:

Now if I was to dump in the woods, I would dig a cat-hole next to a tree, and bury the wipe with the "load". Human scat is often attrative to dogs, and I saw a dude's birddog roll in the stuff after some yutz simply dropped a stool next to a tree and walked away. I do it out of consideration for other hunters, not due to deer.

Since I don't do anything for scent except use lye soap for washing my clothes and me prior to going out, and I expose my outer layer of clothing to wood smoke, I don't expect deer to approach me from downwind. :wink:

LD

 

[S.Kenton]

My honest belief is that deficating in the woods
during a hunt is a "NO NO"(although at times unavoidable). The Urine has no real distinguishing scent from animal to animal.. according to what I've read. While poo certainly does, for example I can certainly smell the difference between coyote poo and deer poo. Don't ask me how I know this..
AS well as people poo differs from person to person
but we all have that certain people poo smell, to an animal in the woods, that smell is for sure out of place. I try and get as far away from my stand, blind or shanty as I can..do my business and sneak back. Always carry a roll of T.P. with me in my trusty backpack.
Just my 2 cents.. no doubt worth every penny!

 

[Little Wattsy]

Yah urin is more trace minerals and bacteria free feces is not.. HUGE differance between the sweet smell of horse or cow fed grasses and hay VS others that STINK and reek of what ever was poked down their collective pie holes..
I NEVER crap in the woods when hunting...! :nono:

 

[BillinOregon]

Surely there must be scholarly studies on this matter, very likely being suppressed by the makers of the "Bladder Buddy" and similar silly products ...

:stir:

 

[Bob J]

I nice carry an empty Gatorade bottle to go in ,nice screw on top wont leak and I empty it when I leave the woods. Try to leave as little evidence as possible that I was in the woods. Just me. :idunno:

That is exactly what I do (but empty it away from the area I am hunting). I have observed the effect peeing on the ground near my treestand had when a doe came by :shocked2: Human urine puts them on alert!

 

[Flintfan69]

Back when I used to trap, I would use fox urine on some of my land sets for fox, coyote or raccoon. I was shocked on how many of my traps were sprung and dug up deer. It drove them nuts, and they certainly were not spooked by it. If you ever want to use fox urine for a deer cover/attractant scent, buy it from a trapper's supply house. It is much less expensive than the stuff you find in a sporting goods store made for deer hunters, and it is probably a more pure product too.

Now, how similar fox urine is to human urine, I'll leave it to someone else to compare them and let me know.

 

[cynthialee]

hmmm...
wonder if'n I should be extra vigilant on taking my hormone replacement pills next hunt and take a wizz outside
If the estrogene gets the attention of bucks it just may work.

 

[gjr902]

I've always been told to not urinate where I'm hunting. This past December 7th at 11:15am I walked 10 yards, urinated, walked back to my spot and shot my first deer with my new ERA flintlock at 12:00 noon at 35 yards. So I'd say as long as the pee-pee was made 25 yards away from a deer you should be just fine.
:v