Rural/Farm Life

All skunks spray smells strongly. But the scent fades in a day or so. The wind will carry the scent quite far, so they may not be as near as you think.
Another obvious clue as to where they've been is to look for small patches of overturned sod where they've been digging for grubs. They love several types of birdseed too, so I learned to put the feeders away at night.
Leaving food out for a pet will attract them, as will trash. My first close encounter happened when I stepped out on my carport to see a bag of trash moving. As I approached it, a skunk popped his head out of the bag, wriggled out, followed by another, and both came waddling toward me. I ran inside and feared the worst, which turned out to be some scattered trash. I didn't leave trash where they could get to it after that.

The two primary causes of spraying that I've seen are dogs (or foxes, or coyotes) and males working out territory or mating issues. I acquired my skunk wrangling powers after a female burrowed under my heatpump into a crawlspace, and a couple of horny males decided to seek her favors by fighting it out (skunk-style) under a bedroom. It was an awful week until I located the point of entry (sprinkled some flour around possible locations and watch for tiny footprints) and set up a trap.

Once I reduced the population, and made sure there was no way back under the house, I've not had a problem. I'll see them around on occasion, and get a whiff from time to time, but that just goes with the territory where I live. I've had them come right up and give me a curious sniff when I've been out in the yard with a telescope in the middle of the night, if you don't startle them, they'll wander off without any trouble.