This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately and might come off as a rookie question. Maybe it is something many think about and already have found an answer. On "Farm West" I have two entry points. One is on the west edge of the property between the woods and beans. The other is a looooong walk around the woods from the NE. I can not really walk from the north straight through the woods because the whole woods is so thick and not an overly large amount of woods. It tends to be a primary bedding area. If I walk from the NE I walk along a road and down a railroad track that separates the woods from the corn field. It would allow my scent to blow away from the woods on a north wind or west wind which are prevailing winds.
Here is my question: Would I leave less ground scent using scent control precautions and walking a grass strip between the RR tracks and corn field or if I walked on the RR ties? My fear is walking on the large stones along the tracks would be noisy. Other fear is the creosote smell on the RR ties would be picked up on my boots and make the deer spooky. I think they have to be used to the smell of the RR ties, but not that much smell exiting the tracks and heading into a funnel just inside the woods on a nice funnel. The RR ties would be the quietest approach.
So, grass strip or RR ties for the approach?
Here is my question: Would I leave less ground scent using scent control precautions and walking a grass strip between the RR tracks and corn field or if I walked on the RR ties? My fear is walking on the large stones along the tracks would be noisy. Other fear is the creosote smell on the RR ties would be picked up on my boots and make the deer spooky. I think they have to be used to the smell of the RR ties, but not that much smell exiting the tracks and heading into a funnel just inside the woods on a nice funnel. The RR ties would be the quietest approach.
So, grass strip or RR ties for the approach?