Can deer smell OFF?

[hully1029]

Preciate the answers, all of them.

[be12hunt]

I am sure they smell it, but not sure how negatively they may react to it. Some of the smart ones might smell something out of the ordinary and never come in. I think even hunting the wind might not be enough for something with such a strong smell.

[FireNguns]

They smell thermocells but people still use them. If the bugs are so bad you can’t sit still or finish the hunt then what’s the point. If you need it, use it but I would try not to if you could. I have seen plenty of deer when using thermocells with the earth scent but have never deer hunted while wearing off spray. I suspect they are used to the smell since most people use it outdoors all the time in the woods. I always wear some when pig hunting at night.
Hate mosquitos and chiggers.

[PondPopper]

Preciate the answers, all of them.

They can smell it but I'm not sure it would spook them.. We have deer that walk through the middle of our camp all of the time and even while we are there, at night.. There is all kinds of odors in our camp, diesel, gas, Bifen, campfire, WD40, Bacon grease, you name it..

One they that WILL make them leave the county is HUMAN scent.
Play the wind and use smoke as a cover and never look back..

[Slicefixer]

Skunk scent..... Overrides it all..... Well, maybe not serious college
Weekend drunk BO, but, it'll get the "you've wash your clothes and your *** in no scent soap" BO....��

[dustoffer]

I don't think OFF has permethrin as an ingredient, just DEET.

[Snowflake Killa]

Heck they might even use it if you put a couple of cans out for them.

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[Texas Grown]

Q: Can deer smell OFF?

A: Only if you spray it.

[dbelcher269]

Smell yes, associate with some type of danger or predator? Depends but I doubt it. Deer can be conditioned. Some deer will run from it, some won't. Some run at the sound of gunfire, some trot a few yards and look around. Some come to feeders, some never will. Like stated above though, IF they smell something you sprayed on you, they probably smell you so its a moot point.

[stickerpatch59]

if I can smell OFF i'm sure that deer can smell it.

[Smokeater]

Spray some around your buddies' stand and feeder then await the results!

[Slicefixer]

Kroll says their sense of smell is 100k times (I believe that's correct.... Read it a loooooooong time ago) more sensitive than ours.....I guess they calculate the number of smell receptors, dunno..... What I can tell without reservation, skunk scent will cover yours 100% of you'll go to the trouble of preparing your clothes and your body.... I've used it for over 40 years all over the southern half of the USA.... Had many, many mature deer DEAD downwind without a single scent spook..... I've had em react to the skunk, but, never go more than 10 - 20 yards and then they resume whatever it is they were doing....

I use Therma-cells religiously.... Have some kind of scent free insect repellent in my hunting pack, but, have never used it.

[SaltwaterSlick]

OP, Couple of things... First and foremost, you need to check your Thermacell. If you had it on, and the little flame was burning and you had a fresh pad in it, you should not have had any mosquitoes around you after about 10-15 minutes if you had the thermacell slightly upwind of you, PERIOD! Gotta be something wrong with it.


Secondly, yes, deer and everything else in the woods can smell OFF and every other brand of DEET based mosquito repellant. DEET has a strong chemical smell itself that is rather offensive. The OFF and other brands put a perfume of sorts in their products to cover the putrid smell of the DEET. Before the thermacell came out, I always kept a rag tied around the ladder rung on my stand and every time I went to the area to sit, fill feeders, just pass by, whatever, I'd spray that rag down with OFF so the smell was always there... When I hunted the stand, I could use it without fear of them being spooked by it, and in reality it acted like a cover scent. ...not a bad strategy at all...

[Johnny44]

Is this a serious question?

Amen to dat!

[sqiggy]

OP, Couple of things... First and foremost, you need to check your Thermacell. If you had it on, and the little flame was burning and you had a fresh pad in it, you should not have had any mosquitoes around you after about 10-15 minutes if you had the thermacell slightly upwind of you, PERIOD! Gotta be something wrong with it.

For a minute there, I thought I was the only one that noticed that!!!
If a thermacell is working, there will be no need for OFF.