I thought I would share this as the the other day my better half and I went for a walk around the section on a nice spring day, and as we got 2 miles in, an elderly neighbor's dog decided to come along. I could not get that dog to go home as it was having the time of it's life with us in wading in sloughs, looking back to make sure we were coming and searched out a deer bone in the ditch to present to us. (We had to give the dog a ride back home in the pick up as he wanted to stay with us.)
I watched with interest in someone had shot a coyote with mange, rubbed on the belly, a few weeks ago about 150 yards off the road, to see what this German Shepherd - Pyrenees would do on an east crosswind not blowing to her. In the exact spot she locked up, head went up and off she went to that coyote. This yote was not plumes of stink coming off of it, even when I walked out to check it before, but this dog scented it.
Different breeds and different animals have different scenting abilities. I have a Manx cat which acts like a coon hound most days. But to watch this dog was a reminder to trappers just how far bait and lure will reach out. Yes location is all important, but I read often here how animals are not responding to lures or baits. The above is a point that the animals are scenting those concoctions, but they are not responding to them, either due to exposure to them in teaching them they are a nothing burger or the scent does not attract them.

I posted this to help young trappers to be aware of how far animals can scent their lures and baits.

My experience was 2 coyote had come out of a small chunk of woods circled a little and headed toward my sets easily 200 yards away going into the wind there was 4 in. of snow so tracks were easy to see the smaller track zigzagged and the larger in a straight line about 10 yards away could see I had nothing but the 2 dogs went thru my 3 sets without breaking stride couple days later a storm front passed thru and I had a double there You just never know

I watched as a bear caught the scent of me and two hunters, we were about a half mile upwind, he took off like a bullet when he smelled us. I'll bet they can smell even a lot farther than that.

I learned a lot by walkimg in thenwoods with my dog. Walk very slow and observe what interest them and how they respond to odors.

I learned a lot by walkimg in the woods with my dog. Walk very slow and observe what interest them and how they respond to odors.

What is important is how far they will go to investigate that smell. A coyote will travel miles to feed on a dead horse because the coyote knows its a big pile of feed.

That little bit of lure or bait is not going to move one very far. Coyote might detect a tablespoon of bait a half mile away but its not going to go check it out. Not even 100 yards away. Unless that coyote is heading there anyway.

Forget about calling stuff in with bait or lure. Unless your bait is a roadkill deer you moved or 7 beaver carcasses in a pile.

Set where they will go whether you set a trap there or not.

Scent is changing every day. Even by the hour. Some days it rises. Some days it doesn't. Moisture or dryness changes it. Don't worry to much about it. And that dog looks to be pure pryenees. Him wanting to go with you is teaching him new boundaries and area to guard.

I spotted a brown bear on a beach on the Alaska Peninsula that was so far away it took me a minute to realize I was looking at a bear and not a boulder. That was with binoculars. The wind was blowing from me toward the bear. It caught our wind and reacted just as you described. Amazing nose.

That’s what I was thinking so no need to repeat.

Bears have the best sniffer and can smell stuff from miles away.
They can also smell food in unopened cans inside cabins.
Wolves second best but nothing like a bear.

I'll share an experience with coyotes.

I had been trapping on the airport for about 2 years (year round). I had picked up traps as I hadn't seen or found any coyote sign in months (Middle of July). We had to dispose of a deer from the airfield. I dug a hole with a backhoe and buried the deer. Within 3 days coyotes from the surrounding area found that deer and dug 4ft down to it to eat.

Was thinking similar, a pet knows where the next meal is. If a critter investigated everything it winded it would never make it out of the woods. lol

Cold winter day 3-4" fresh snow, female coyote hunting a creek bottom, smelled ogormans ldc from 200 yds, walkjed straight as an arrow to the set, pretty cool to see tracks in the snow

Did it walk straight to the set because of the lure or because you can pick good locations?

I would say for the test, he probably set where there was absolutely zero coyote sign and a zero chance a coyote would travel that way.

This reminds me. Back in the 80s a guy I worked with had a Manx cat. It jumped up on the kitchen table one night when he had some buddies partying at the house. The cat got a nose full of cocaine. It survived the incident after tearing around the house for an extended period of time. However, it acted like a drug dog after that. If you had any trace of that stuff on you when you went there that cat would climb you like a tree to get at it. Thankfully I never messed with that stuff, but it was funny to watch that cat check over every person that walked in the house. It was almost like a dog with that kind of behavior.
Joe

Great thread. I have always been a student of how scent works, as I run bird dogs. When I was a kid my dad and I were pheasant hunting a cattail slough with our GSP. The dog, Katy, caught a skunk by the business end. She obviously got sprayed point blank. We could literally see the skunk juice dripping off her face. We couldn't stand for her to be anywhere near us. We kept hunting and about 15 minutes later Katy went on point. My dad and I were skeptical that she could smell anything but the skunk, but we walked in on her point anyway. Sure enough a rooster flushed and one of us shot it. That incident, even as a kid, really opened my eyes to what canines can smell. The dog got sprayed point blank by a skunk yet could still smell a pheasant. That dog also REALLY loved her job.