Location of food and other food related information.
Information on animals or humans that have been traveling in their territory.
Awareness of when danger is upwind, be it a human or a predator.
Information on which deer are traveling in their territory.
Any new smells or changes in smell are taken in.
The sense of smell is extremely important during rut time activity.
It is commonly acknowledged that deer have an extremely sensitive nose and that they are very capable of using it. Their sense of smells plays a vital role in their day to day life. Smells are some of the most important messages deer receive. They keep them in touch with what is going on in their territory and what is happening around them.
The sense of smell is used for a wide range of used by deer and the list goes beyond what is listed above. Because of the importance of smells to deer, it is extremely important that hunters have a basic understanding of smells and how deer are likely to react to them.
If you have watched deer in the simple act of walking, you are sure to have seen them stretching out their nose from time to time and taking in messages from the air. They also like to stick their nose down near the ground to read the story in smells of what has been going on.
Watching a Buck during the rut, you can really see the nose get a workout. That guy is working it as hard as he can, because smells are his best source of information in regard to locating a receptive companion. He uses his nose in his travels and he uses it to evaluate the activity at scrape locations.
Smells have a life, They usually weaken and may change as time passes. Because of this , deer can oftentimes evaluate the smell and can guess when it was deposited. Especially valuable when the deer is examining a location where another animal has been, whether it is a deer or another type o animal. When a deer is aware of when another deer or animal has been passing through his territory, it gives him the option to either intercept or avoid the animal, if it sticks with with the same pattern.
