Gun Oil Getting Me Busted?

[drcard79]

First and foremost my congratulations to Amish Mooseboy on his prize doe.  Second and going back to my original posting does anybody have any constructive ideas/suggestions as to how I can minimize the smell of gun oil/cleaning agents from my gun.  Unfortunately for me most of my best spots don't allow me to hunt the wind like I want.  I am stuck hunting in VA and for those of you that haven't tried deer hunting in this state it doesn't exactly stack up to the midwest or out west.  Every state or federal area I've scouted is either devoid of game from overharvesting or other hunters pushing them to private or its choked with mountain laurel or some other cover that is incredibly tight.  I'm originally from the midwest and there is more good habitat in one county in that state than in this entire state.  Notice I didn't say what state so that nobody lobs a disparaging teenage girl remark my way about my home state.

[JOEL]

Outer's makes a lube,oil called scent out.comes in a 4 oz bottle good for guns bows all outdoor gear.I use it and it has no smell that i can detect http://www.outers-guncare.com/products/ ... cants.aspx

[shaman]

ORIGINAL: dmcianfa


So, after all that rambling, where do you stand on gun oil?  I'm not sure I made it out anywhere in your text?  Just curious to know if its
A.) Doesn't affect the deer's behavior
B.) Positively does influence a deer.
C.) Undecided

A.

My point, rambling as it might have been, was that this whole issue of scent reduction seems goofy to me. [ul][*]Deer supposedly have these incredible noses. However, we go dragging smelly firearms into the woods and they're not supposed to mind. I can smell gun oil. Probably you can. So why not deer?
[*]Deer can supposedly smell 10,000 times better than we can, but we can smell the naptha in our rubber boots 10 years after we buy them. They supposedly can't.
[*]Deer have super-sensitive noses, but they are immune to smelling ATV's[/ul]Gun Oil?  I just painted two of my ladder stands this year with De-Rusto Industrial. Two weeks later, I had deer chewing their cud under them. My conclusion? I don't think deer are particularly sensitive to petroleum distillates.  I can still smell the stands, if I put my nose to them. 

My firearms undoubtedly smell of not only gun oil, but probably: [ul][*]Kerosene[*]Automatic Transmission Fluid[*]Mineral Spirits[*]Acetone[/ul]. . . the ingredients of Ed's Red, a classic homebrew powder solvent and lubricant.  Sure, I wipe as much of it off as possible, but I'm sure it's still on the firearms when I go out.  I can sure smell it. If THAT doesn't get the deer running away, I'm not sure what would. I doubt  Hoppes, Rem-Oil , or any other preparation would have a different effect.

You want real life?  My example was that a doe busted my son at 200 yards up in his stand after the wind changed, but there I am with my smokepole less than 50 yards away, having been upwind of the critter for the better part of an hour. It was cleaned with Ed's Red.

My other point in this, obscure though it was, is that it seems that deer DO seem to have a sensitivity to human body odor.  My only sin that weekend seemed to have been using the same poly-pro undershirt two days in a row.  On Day 2 of that hunt, the deer really let me know.

I hope that clears up any misunderstandings.

By the way, If anyone wants to try Ed's Red:

Ed's Red Recipe

I shoot a lot, so mixing this stuff up by the gallon really makes sense.

The recipe says that a 50/50 mix of the first two components (Kerosene and ATF) makes a dandy gun oil.  That's what I use. I can't guarantee the deer don't smell it, but they don't seem to mind it. For a lot of deer, it's been the last thing they smell.

[Dan Salmon]

There are a lot of things that I would be looking at before my gun oil if I was getting busted. The first being movement. I think that more animals are saved every year by hunters moving and not realizing the animals proximity to them until they see them run off. Usually, the excuse is "They must have winded me."

[DrummingGrouseKennel]

Now that everyone has revealed their assumptions, opinions, and speculations on the olfactory system of the whitetail deer, let me cast yet a little more conjecture on the subject.  With the following statements, I assert no more hunting ability nor knowledge than that of any other hunter who may challenge any ideas my years afield have produced.  I have personally decided that the sense of smell is the safeguard most imperative to safety of any whitetail deer.  It is this sense that the whitetail trusts more than all others combined.  This is evident in the common scenerio that upon hearing or seeing something out of the ordinary, a whitetail will instinctively head downwind (many times out of sight) before reaching a final decision as to wether there is a legitimite threat.  However, when a whitetail catches a wiff that doesn't belong, this in itself is proof enough to vacade the area.  There are always exceptions to the rule and generally the exceptions will come along in the form of a fawn or yearling, whose curiosity often get the better of them.  However, when it comes to mature specimens, it is best to keep your scent as neutral as possible and keep the wind as favorable as possible.  I store my outer layers of clothing in plastic storage bins with leaves and bark from trees. In addition, I do my best to keep anything I take into the woods with me as scent free as possible.  When it comes to firearms, I use a silicone cloth wipe them clean while still offering protection from the elements.  I try to keep my guns void of excess oil when out in the field.  Gun oil in my opinion does not smell the same as gasoline, diesel fuel, or any other petroleum product we use on a regular basis, so I do not beleive that deer are used to this smell.  That being said, if a deer gets a whiff of it, one of three things will happen; the deer will vacade the area, the deer will pay no attention to it, or the deer will move in to investigate this smell.  The reaction of any individual deer will depend on several variables, one of these being what the deer is doing at the moment.  If the deer is a buck trailing a hot doe, I would assume that he will disregard the smell.  However, a fawn may decide to come closer to further investigate this new smell.  A second variable would be how strong the smell is.  It would be assumed that a strong smell would draw more attention that a very faint smell.  A third variable would be wether the deer can associate the smell with a prior experience.  There is no set manner that any deer will react to this situation, however, the moral of the story is that I choose not to take any chances when it come to scent and hunting.  I always strive to keep all of my hunting gear and apparrel as scent free as possible and always try to hunt with favorable winds.     

[drcard79]

I couldn't agree more about the movement and do my best to remain as still as possible and break up my outline as much as possible as well.  I also wash my clothes and self with scent eliminating soap and then store in a dry bag specifically made for eliminating scent contamination.  It sounds like that unless I use specialized gun oil that I will still be leaving a significant scent signature in the field.  However mitigating the amount of scent is really my best option at being sucessful afield.