Does Elk Urine Work?

Fact checked by Steven Lines, lifelong Hunter and Outdoorsman.

There are many questions about urine and hunting. Do elk or deer know if a human urinates in the woods? Do scents from what they have eaten have an impact on your ability to hunt? Many hunters bring plastic bottles with them so that they don’t have to urinate in the woods and studies have been done to find out whether elk or deer respond to their own urine.

Elk urine does work because bulls are curious about the scents. The urine is from an estrus cow, and it draws the bulls. You can spray it when the bull is downwind, or you can use a scent rag and hang it on a limb when you are near to a bull. You can also spray your clothing, pack, and boots as a cover scent.

People are always looking for tricks to lure the bulls out of the thick woods during the day, and elk urine is one of the tools they use. Continue reading to learn whether elk urine works and how to use it.

What Is Elk Urine Used for?

Elk urine is collected from an estrous cow and it is designed to attract a bull during the bugling season. You can spray it on a tree upwind of the bull or you can cover a scent rag with it and wipe it on the trees and your clothing. The bull should smell the urine and find it somewhat irresistible. People use it often to help draw the bulls out of the cover.

Bulls are good at hiding, especially when they are being pressured. It is very difficult to lure elk out during the day, so hunters look for any trick they can find to help. Elk hunting can be difficult and you can spend days waiting without ever seeing an elk. Using elk urine can give you an edge, especially during the bugling season. The bulls are looking for cows to mate with and this scent could be the thing that draws the bull out of hiding.

How Far Away Can an Elk Smell You?

Elk can smell you from quite a distance. Many people think that they can smell you from 100 yards or more. There are other factors to consider because they will determine the extent to which elk smelling you has an impact on whether or not you might find them.

If you are hunting in an area that has a lot of human traffic, your scent is less likely to startle the elk. They are used to people being in the area and they won’t think a lot of it. However, if you have traveled to a more remote location where there are very few people, the elk will notice your scent and are likely to go into hiding when they smell you. In this situation, you need to be very careful and cover your scent so that you don’t disrupt the elk.

What Color Is Elk Urine?

The elk urine from a healthy elk is an amber yellow color. When you purchase it, it has been collected from an estrous cow and it is designed to attract a bull who wants to mate. When you are out hunting, you can find urine near the elk’s resting place. The male will urinate in the center of the bed, while the cows will urinate around the edges.

Elk bulls make a display of themselves and battle for their harems, which are the cows they will breed with. There are dominant bulls that follow groups of cows and defend their harems from other bulls as well as predators. One of the things that they do is roll in their own urine and soak it into their coats. This gives them a distinct smell that attracts the cows.

What Does Elk Smell Like?

Although people are well aware that elk have an excellent sense of smell, they don’t often realize that people can use their own sense of smell to track elk and figure out where they are hiding. It is important to get close to them, especially during archery season. If you know what elk smell like, you might be able to find them when they aren’t bugling.

First of all, elk smell awful. They have a very distinct scent and it is somewhat similar to the musk of cattle. They have glands that produce a combination of liquid and musk, such as their urine glands. They also smell because they roll around in the wild and they live in the wild. The scent is strong; once you know what you are looking for, you will be able to smell them.

During bugling season, bulls urinate in the center of their bed and they roll around in it. This makes them smell even worse. The scent is designed to attract the cows to mate. The scent is very strong and it is unmistakable. If you are downwind from the elk, you will have no trouble smelling them. It will also help you understand where they are.

How Do You Use Elk Urine?

When you have the elk urine, you will use it to lure the elk. It is irresistible to the dominant bulls. They will want to investigate to find out who the intruder is if it is bull urine. If it is cow urine, they will be looking to mate. You need to be careful when you use it because it can enrage a dominant bull.

You can apply the urine to branches near you. You can also place it on wicks and hang them three to six feet off the ground. You can place drops on brush nearby, near bait piles, and on the ground cover. Each time you enter the area, you will want to reapply the scent. Not only can it attract the elk, but it can also cover your scent.

Can You Find Elk Without Elk Urine?

You can find elk without elk urine. In fact, in some states, you are not allowed to use elk urine. There is a disease called CWD that is carried in elk urine. The urine is often harvested from elk in captivity and they have a higher chance of carrying the disease. Be sure to check the local hunting laws before you set out.

There are other ways to find elk, but you need to know what to look for. First, you should be on the lookout for elk droppings. If you see fresh ones, you need to stop and make a few cow calls. Keep in mind that elk don’t always respond vocally during the day, so he may arrive silently.

Elk droppings are bigger and longer than those of a deer. The key is to make sure that they are fresh. If they are older, they will be dry and cracked. Fresh droppings will be moist and a bit shiny. If it is cool out, the droppings may have steam rising off of them. If you see them, there are elk nearby.

Another way to find elk is by locating their tracks. If it is snowing out, this is much easier because any tracks you find are likely to be fresh. A bull track is going to be larger and wider than a cow. The cow tracks have more of a point to them.

When you notice signs of elk, the next step is to evaluate your surroundings. Think about where the elk might bed down. What would be a safe place for them to rest and hide during the day? Elk need three things: security, food, and water.

During the day, security is their priority, with water coming in second and food last. They are unlikely to graze in meadows during the day, as they usually do so after the sun goes down. They will retreat to the thickest part of the cover and they will take some time to rest during the day.

Another important way to track elk is by knowing what they smell like. If you haven’t smelled elk before, you should buy some elk urine to get an idea of how it smells. Once you smell it, you won’t forget it. It is a pungent scent and it smells horrible. When you are out hunting, if you smell elk, this means that they are upwind from you. This will help you get an idea of the direction of the elk.

What Is CWD?

Elk urine is a useful tool that many hunters use when they are hunting elk. However, it has been banned in some states. In 2019, Oregon banned it and the ban went into effect on January 1, 2020. They passed the bill because of concerns over CWD, or Chronic Wasting Disease, which may be transmitted through products that contain elk urine.

CWD is a disease that affects elk, deer, and moose. It is a neurological disease that is always fatal because there is no cure. It has been found in several different states and it is very contagious. It spreads between the animals through bodily fluids, such as urine. The concern is that the urine products could have CWD in them. These products are often made using captive elk and the risk of CWD prions is greater for elk in captivity.

CWD produces lesions on the brains of the elk that are infected and they lose their body condition, behave abnormally, and then die. It isn’t a virus or a bacteria, but it is an infectious protein called a prion. For this reason, some states are banning the use of elk urine for hunters and they will have to use other methods to find them.

Do People Use Elk Urine on Themselves?

Some hunters do use elk urine on their own clothing, boots, and packs. They do this as a cover over their human scent. Elk have an excellent sense of smell and if you are hunting in a particularly isolated spot, it is even more important to cover your scent. Elk go to these isolated spots because they have experience with hunters. Those that survive to the next season know how to find spots that are off the beaten track.

If you are fortunate enough to locate the elk, you will want to do everything possible not to let them know that you are there. You have to conceal your scent, your sounds, your tracks, and everything else or they will know that you are there. One thing that you can do is cover your own scent with elk urine. The elk urine is something that will not smell out of place to the elk. Be prepared for how horrible it smells.

If you need to go to the bathroom, do not urinate in the outdoors. The elk will smell your scent and they will never appear. Many hunters carry a plastic bottle for this reason and they close it after they urinate. This is especially important in a more remote area.

Where Can I Get Elk Urine?

There are many different places where you can buy elk urine. Most of the time, it will be carried in hunting specialty stores. They sell natural elk urine and synthetic, so you can choose the one that you want to use. The important thing is to make sure that you are allowed to use it where you plan to hunt. Some places have banned it due to the concern of spreading a disease called CWD.

Final Words

You might have heard of people using elk urine as a tactic for luring elk when they are out hunting. Naturally, you will want to know if it works. Many people swear by it. Elk bulls urinate in the center of their beds, and then they lay down and roll in them. They do this as they bugle and try to coax the cows to come and mate. The scent draws the cows to the bulls.

When you use it, you will hang wicks soaked in it from tree branches. You can also sprinkle it on the ground and bushes nearby. This will help you draw the bulls out during the day when they are hidden deep in the cover.

Steven Lines is a hunter and outdoorsman from Safford, Arizona, USA. Since he was a child, he has been hunting and fishing and has over 20 years of outdoor experience. Steven works as a hunting guide in Arizona during his spare time and runs a Youtube channel dedicated to sharing his outdoor adventures with others.