Because of my long career as an outdoor writer and editor, I’ve had the wonderful opportunity to hunt from Saskatchewan to Texas with some outstanding whitetail outfitters. But my time on outfitted deer hunts doesn’t account for even a tenth of 1 percent of the time I’ve spent in my life pursuing whitetails on my own. I started deer hunting at age 12 (1977) in northern Minnesota, and today my time is spread evenly in South Dakota and Wisconsin.
I mention my deer hunting background simply to explain that I’ve heard strong opinions on both sides of this debate, from guides and outfitters, as well as family and friends. Because I’m a “rule follower,” I’ve used a pee bottle during many outfitted hunts. If my guide said to use one, I did so. Period.
That said, do I use a pee bottle on personal deer hunts? No. Do I think my urine scares deer? No. Am I 100 percent sure of this opinion? No. Let me explain.
I’ve seen several instances where younger deer, especially 1.5-year-old bucks, seemed attracted to human urine. In these cases, I either peed in a nearby scrape, or I peed from my treestand.
Once in northern Minnesota, I peed out of my treestand onto 4 inches of fresh snow. A half-hour later, a forkhorn showed up 50 yards crosswind of my location, and he slowly walked in my direction. At 10 yards, he stopped and raised his nose. I was sure that the light wind had swirled, and he’d flee in a split-second. Instead, he lowered his head to the snow and walked right under my 12-foot hang-on stand. He smelled my boot tracks, smelled the bottom screw-in treestep, then walked around the tree to where I had relieved myself. He crept toward the yellow spots, and licking his nose, he then plunged his face into the snow, allowing the yellow stuff to cascade over his forehead, eyes and nose. HIs nose-licking intensified.
What did that prove? Nothing more than my urine didn’t spook that young buck. But I’ve seen enough other times where immature whitetails also either didn’t spook from my urine, or seemed attracted to it.
But what about mature bucks? After all, they are far more wary than younger deer. I can speak only from my experience. I’ve peed from a treestand and killed mature bucks from that location a couple hours later. Does that prove anything? In my opinion, not really. Have I ever had a mature buck duplicate the yellow snow-plunging behavior of the Minnesota forkhorn? No.
I don’t think my urine scares mature deer, but I can’t be 100 percent sure. So, do I carry a pee bottle when there’s a chance to encounter a mature buck? No. The reason is it’s a hassle, especially as the deer season marches along and temps drop well below freezing, and I’m wearing multiple layers of clothing, etc. It’s difficult enough just to relieve myself from the stand and not hit my bulky bibs and boots.
Check out the two YouTube videos below and draw your own conclusions. I don’t know the host of “A Wisconsin Wildlife Journal” (first one), but his short video has nearly 460K views. He seems like a common-sense deer hunter, and I think you’ll appreciate his experiment.
Want a second opinion? The bottom video is from Jeff Sturgis from the “Whitetail Habitat Solutions” YouTube channel (262K subscribers and more than 1,500 videos). I’ve highlighted Jeff’s outstanding content a few times on this website, and he’s highly respected in the whitetail world. As you’ll see, Jeff doesn't think human urine spooks deer, including mature bucks, and he has first-hand experience to back up his opinion. (Spoiler: Jeff’s 7-minute video does contain a surprise of sorts.)
