The Deer & Deer Hunting Forum died before I could get any serious answers, so I'll throw this out here. I have an experiment in mind; I need your help.

The experiment involves taking a bottle of water out to the stand and pouring it in a way that simulates someone whizzing off the stand. I'd like some folks to try it and get back to me on the results. We can discuss the particulars. I'm just looking for some willing volunteers.

See, here's the thing. This all starts about 2006. My #3 son was still pretty small, and I was just getting him to where he could sit with me in a buddy stand. Lil Angus gets to about 0900 and he's got to whizz. I'm thinking about the hassle of getting him unhooked and down the ladder and then back up, and I finally tell him that it's okay to whizz off the stand. What the heck! He achieves this feat and sits back down and within short order, we're swimming in deer. This was early muzzleloader season. I wasn't going to bust a cap on anything that did not have serious rackage. What we got were all doe and a small buck. All told, in the next hour, we must have seen ten deer.

That got me to thinking. Whenever I'd been inclined to attend to matters out in the woods, I've frequently had close encounters with deer. #1? #2? Yes. Both. For a while there, anytime I let fly in the woods, I seemed to have an audience. This goes back nearly 40 years. Over the decades, the number of incidents have mounted up. I have opined that deer are like inquisitive 3 yr olds. They are curious about how we do it. I've popped a squat in the woods and stood up to see a big buck eyeing me. I've shot deer after situations like this. Why not after a whizz off a stand?

The episode in 2006 got me to thinking. Also about this time, middle age started to set in, and well. . . let's say the issue became more pressing as time wore on. I'm now 62, and a sit in one of my ladder stands now has to include one or more experiments. What I can tell you is that a preponderance of the sessions result in a deer sighting within a few minutes. I hunt stands mostly in oak/hickory groves so I suppose it could be that they hear it hitting the leaves and think its acorns.

Years ago I experimented with pitching acorns out of a stand. That never seemed to work.

So now I'm wondering: is it the sound or something else that attracts them? That's why I need y'all's help.

Take a bottle. Fill it with clean water. Dribble about 16 oz off the side of the stand, kind of like you're whizzing, and let me know what happens.

Shaman---- ??????? ya really got me mixed up here... ya talk about being swarmed with deer after a whizz--- shooting deer after taking a dump ---- then posting about making yourself sorta scent free in a Baking Soda topic.. Listen to Blackheart in your Baking Soda one. ---- As Bob Dylan said---- " The answer my friend is blowin in the wind "

Although i don't make it a habit i don't hesitate to pee out of the stand should the need arise. The movement that you make while trying to pee or some other odor that's on you will scare the deer faster than the urine smell will. Urine is urine and i personally don't think it's the sound it makes hitting the ground but the smell that strikes their curiosity, especially bucks. Now i wouldn't never ever take a dump anywhere near my hunting sight as that's a whole different smell lol.

Here's a test that i've tried many times, find a scrape during pre rut or better yet make a false scrape and pee in it and i'll promise you when you come back in a day or so that it has been visited. I use to hold it and make sure i never peed anywhere near my hunting area until an old local guy told me otherwise. He's actually the one that told me to pee in a scrape when i came across one or make a false one and see what happened so i did. I thought he was crazy but he wasn't and he has harvested a ton of deer and some really nice bucks to boot.

Having said that, now i don't go around peeing everywhere that i hunt but if by chance i have to pee while i'm hunting i don't hesitate to do so and i don't worry about it scaring the deer away because in my experience it won't. Like i said, urine is urine and every animal pees in the woods including me .

I stand by what I say about baking soda. It really does help. Remember, this is cutting down mostly on pit-stink and things like laundry detergent scents and other unnatural aromas. There may be a difference between that and the more natural scents. I know there are some guys that pee in buck scrapes and claim deer can't tell the difference.

Whizzing? Look I can't figure out why I see so many deer when heeding the Call of Nature, but I also can't discount it. Back at D&DH we'd have discussions like this that would sometime stretch years. There were guys who brought P-bottles to the stand, and some guys who whizzed right over the rail. Some fellows like me, have had an extraordinary number of deer encounters with our flies unzipped or our pants around our ankle. I've seen a doe roll in fresh urine. I've copped a squat and come up with 5 deer watching me with rapt attention. They ran off, but they came back 10 minutes later when I was back in my ground blind and I managed to shoot the buck trailing the rest of them.

I'm just wondering if the sound of liquid falling is somehow attractive or something else.

never had deer do that but an elk almost tried to get in the blind with me after wizzing in the woods about 10 yards from it. thought it was weird but might be a dominate guy thing . who knows.

. . . and I had that happen with a fairly large buck in 2017. He came right up to the window of the blind after I'd sat back down from paying the rent on the coffee.

shaman-

I'll not discount your findings but I'd also urge you to consider happenstance - particularly when you've noted on numerous occasions having ample deer on the lone property you hunt. Have enough deer, and, given enough time in the woods, you're likely to detect multiplicity in even some of the most peculiar situations.

That said, I have whizzed from my treestand and had a buck come looking - peak rut, calm conditions and crisp leaves on the ground.
There is zero doubt he heard the commotion and was looking for the maker of the leakage in hopes of it being a doe worthy of chase.
The s'mediumish buck ended up right beneath me, looking around for a couple minutes before walking off.

Just piss in a milk jug and put the lid on quick. It works. If you're really anal about it bring along a bottle of descenting spray. It's not Missile surgery. Deer have an uncanny strong sense of smell. But if you piss in a jug and put the top on it keeps that piss smell out of the wind.

I might be missing a heck of a hunting opportunity by keeping it in a porta-pee bottle, but my man cave isn't exactly devoid of nice antlers. The way I see it, I hunt in a big woods and look for big sign from a buck that doesn't see or smell people for most of the year. He is making that sign there because he lives there and any foreign odor is going to put him on high alert. Some deer are curious, but those are generally the first ones that end up on the meat pole and they are not typically the smarter, older ones.

Truth.

i agree x2,except ladies pee seems to attract bucks

I've been pissing off my stand or out of my blind for 30 years. Can you believe it...right on to the ground!!! :wow:

If a deer ran every time it smelled piss, they'd never stop running.

I never piss around my hunting places.

That could get awfully uncomfortable or require a fair amount of disturbing commotion getting in and out of location. If I have to go, I dig a cat hole and be done with it. I've seen and shot deer after doing so.

In our part of the world, there's always a handy piece of fieldstone around. It's just like lifting the toilet seat. Done? Just put the seat back down.

During turkey season, I pretty much cycle through the same rocks from last year.

I've got the added advantage of having built an outhouse between two of my favorite stands. It's next door to the family campground. That's convenience!

How do some of you function in the woods. LMAO.

Go hunt! Be outside.

They have outhouses in their stands.
When I was a young man I never took a piss from my stand and was proud of it.
Now that I'm in my 60's I quite regularly take a piss from my stand and don't give a damn.
I have noticed after 50 years of deer hunting that it makes no difference in seeing deer.

They sell a lot of these around here during deer season. 16oz goes into the woods, and 16oz comes back out.....

If you have to pee, just let it fly from the stand! It doesn't bother deer.

I'm not carrying around some nasty container of pee back and forth from the stand!

Some WAY OVER THINK this issue. YMMV

Shot a nice doe right after pissing from my stand last year.

Had the bubble guts couple seasons ago on a morning hunt.

Didn’t make it much outta sight of my stand before the code red hit.

Pro tip - keep baby wipes in your backpack.

Saw deer later that morn.

I am sure a hunter can piss and chit all around his stand and still kill deer but I am a trophy whitetail hunter. hunting an old whitetail buck on public land ain't for everybody as they are a different animal than your average hunting lease/ private land 2yr old 8 point, I am a scent Nazi when it comes to my body, clothes and equipment so I am most certainly in the no pissing out of your stand camp...but to each his own...Good hunting ...Hb

When I was hunting in Saskatchewan two years ago, we had a hunter having a tough time seeing deer, he actually didn't kill a buck. I think he was the only hunter for the week to go home empty handed. When the guide checked the stand at the end of the week, the hunter had been peeing out of the stand all week. Several guys had done this around the cabin, not even going into the woods a few steps, like 3-5 yards away. I could smell the ammonia smell around the cabin easily. Dumb par is the cabin has plumbing, no reason for this but laziness. Point is, I wonder if once or twice may not cause a problem, especially over the course of a week where the urine doen't build up a strong ammonia smell. But repeated urinating, every day for several days, probably does have a negative effect. For me, on a guided hunt especially with big money invested, I'll carry my urine out and deal with the hassle.

I'm cool with the folks that want to carry it out. I was that way for the first 25 years or so. Although I have to say even my "My First Deer" story starts with "I'd just gotten up and taken a leak when. . ." I'd also be the first to say that big bucks in big woods can be really finicky. Our bruisers are so used to humans, that it is quite common to see them feeding up close to the house during Happy Hour. I've found them bedded next to stands in the off-season.

Let's get back to the experiment. I'm wanting to test the hypothesis that deer are attracted to the sound of a stream of liquid hitting the ground. My point in raising the question is that I and a lot of others have had the experience of seeing deer right after taking a whizz. Is it the sound? Is it the scent? You've got 20 minutes left on a 5-hour sit. You've not seen even a squirrel all morning. What's it going to hurt? Mind you, I'm just talking clear water. I've tried it. I have to say the results are less than spectacular. I'd say 50/50 at best. Actually whizzing off the stand has produced far more deer sightings. YMMV.

What the hell was she doing way up there to begin with?

Don’t pee into a stiff wind.

Hang a funnel with a piece of garden hose going to the ground

Don't squat with your spurs on!

I use a plastic urinal from the hospital or a plastic coke bottle with a cap.

I was whizzing out of my stand one morning when 5 does suddenly appeared, yep, below me.

I had to turn the spigot off, not an easy thing to do. One looked up, then they all did.

It's embarrassing when they point, whisper, and giggle.......

I did something similar in our ground blinds. SuperCore liked it so much I added one to the second floor of deer camp, so he wouldn't have to come downstairs in the middle of the night.

Deer Funnels

I have pissed out of a ground blind a couple times during one hunt and shot deer at 15-20 feet before with a bow. That's not a story I heard at deer camp or happened to a cousins best friend.

Well, picture the senecio... You are on the north side of retirement age, the pecker pump isn’t what it use to be, you have been in your tree stand four hours in freezing temperatures and there is some shrinkage going on. You have four layers of underwear, long underwear, wool pants and camo pants on. And now you want me to do what exactly? Even if it does make it to the ground you need to climb back down through that. Might be better to meet the lower unit half way with container of sorts. Just sayin.

LOL, an older friend of mine (now passed) used to tell about almost being run over by a buck while he was taking a leak. He was on the ground of course.

One of the most successful deer hunters I've ever known said he whizzed from his stand all of the time.

Where I hunt most deer are shot at 75 to 150 yards, we don't worry about it. 'Course we're usually on a knoll or ridge 40 or 50 feet above them.

I've been a bowhunter 95% of the time for the last 42 years. I target whitetail bucks 3.5 years and older.

Trust me.........they don't care.

Took a piss, ate a sammich, lit a cig and 3 minutes later while still smoking stuck a 9 pt. No worries.

I just let it fly> never a problem.....

I completely agree! I refuse to carry bottles of urine around with me. Nope, not happening.

The deer do not care.

Genius I say! Well done sir.

I use one of those Primos can calls while making the 12' waterfall. It works.

Pee in a bottle if you are worried about the smell

Pissing in a scrape doesn't seem to bother a deer.

Ive never found that pissing out of any of my stands has ever caused any issues. I also piss in every scrape I find! Choke it down and let it fly!! LOL

First, I'm not sure a deer can identify human urine as such, unless they've learned by some experience. Second, if a deer can smell your pee on the ground below your stand, it's likely they can smell your breath and b.o. as well.

It makes sense to minimize clues to your presence during the early season, but once the pumpkins hit the woods, their stink and noise are everywhere, and the deer have to cope with that or stay in a constant state of agitation. I doubt it matters much at that point where you pee, poop, fart, or belch, unless they see or hear you do it.

I've seen gum meant to keep your breath from scaring deer; wonder if there's something you can eat to make your pee smell good to them, maybe asparagus?🤢

down here the hogs don't like it .they will run if they smell it .i use a big plastic salsa bottle

right or wrong ? it might depend on where you hunt and the size of the deer your hunting. city deer probably don`t matter ? farmland deer no problem, deep woods bigger bucks in Canada,northern Minnesota,northern Wisconsin it might make a difference ? i take a empty gallon milk jug to use just in case it does make a difference ? if we could only talk to deer we would know the true answer ? my wife`s flowers i pee by alot and now the deer leave them alone finally.

Non-issue, you can actually pee in a spot to stop a deer in a shooting lane. If on the ground, I would be much more concerned about leaving scent where you stand or brushing tall grass or other vegetation.

Having hunting apple trees many times. Dropping apples will bring deer in if they are close enough to hear them thump the ground.

Will the sound of urine or water hitting the ground from a treestand attract deer? No idea.

I can't tell you to use it as a tactic, per se. But YES..........it can and has.

Was in a double stand with my boy bowhunting when he was about 10. I couldn't hold it any longer and made a 20 foot waterfall into the frosty leaves. It was loud. The sound of my leak was hardly done when a young buck came quickly, STRAIGHT to the bottom of our tree.

The sound of taking a leak out of a tree is very similar to the sound of a doe letting loose.

PS. Many times I've taken a whizz on a scrape on my way out at night only to find the scrpe had been well worked when I was on my way back in the next morning.

Thank you! About the only trouble I had with this contraption-- it's been up for a decade now in 3 locations-- is that one year it attracted Junebugs in the off season. I went to use it and it was plugged with Junebug carcasses. It was weird too. There were intact carcasses on top, and ever-more-degraded ones going down the funnel until there were just dark plugs going into the hose. I brought out the air compressor and shot them out the window. Some of those carcasses must have flown 50 feet!

Same here, but didn't need the funnel or hose to reach the ground.

Is it wrong that I'd receive a greater sense of accomplishment from pissing on a B&C grade whitetail than from putting a bullet from its vitals?

Yup, only I use empty laundry detergent jugs.

Apparently this thread is never going to die.

Many years ago I was one who ONLY peed in bottles on stand. Then read a well-done study from Texas (which is where most meaningful whitetail statistics originate), which found that during the rut bucks were not only attracted to the sound of urinating but the smell of male human hormones.

Which may be why my experience is bucks like piss, especially during the rut.

I can't tell that it's ever bothered any deer I've seen. I used to carry a pee bottle, but after seeing bucks tear up scrapes that have been pissed in, I gave that up.

If I gotta go, I go.

Breeding age bucks are extremely competitive during the rut. I went to a deer hunting seminar once when the speaker mentioned that one of the ways that he has gotten a nocturnal buck to show himself in the daylight was to gather up dirt from a scrape somewhere else and bring it to the scrape from the buck that you want to hunt. I’ve never watered a scrape with my own urine because I’ve read that being a meat eater, my urine might smell more like a predator.

I thought of this thread a few minutes ago when I stepped outside to mark territory.....while doing so I watched a doe about 50 yard away in the soybeans.

As long as you didn't curl your lip and snort while you were watching her, it's OK.

Old news

Deer can’t tell piss from piss

I wizz off of treestands and pee in every scape I find. Doesn't bother deer 1 bit in my neck of the woods.