Scent Control

[BHC]

Would like to hear you guys thoughts.. And I know this is a highly debated topic.. Also would like to not only know your opinion but if you actually practice scent control the way you think it should be done... If some of you have some intense scent control regimens I would love to hear them also..

I personally do not believe human scent can be reduce to an extent that is undetectable by deer. However, I do think it can be reduced to an extent that will create situations where down wind deer and even mature deer will miss you. But still you may get busted when going to extreme measures. As with anything I think you get out what you put in and some simple scent eliminating spray and a shower will do little. IMO you've got you're human scent which you can do little to eliminate and then you've got body odor which can be reduced and maybe even eliminated. To see continuous results tho I imagine it takes a consistant and pretty intense regime.

 

[deerhunter10]

if I sweat at all I wash my clothes. when its cool and I don't I was every 2 or 3 days. I put them in a trash bag or scent free bag. I use code blue or dead down wind mainly code blue scent eliminator. also when it is in the rut I use code blue again and also buck bomb. I play the wind the absolute best I can. also I have scent blocker and scent lok. but im not huge in the camo stuff as long as I am comfortable lol

 

[stik]

i do nothing

 

[EastTNHunter]

I wash my clothes in ALL or Purex Free and Clear. No sprays or voodoo.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I do the same things as most scent-conscious folks (bathe/wash clothes with unscented soap and store clothes in a sealed Rubbermaid tub) but several years ago changed up how I applied my unscented antiperspirant/deoderant. My thinking was that if it helps control odor at the armpits...why stop there?

1) Hit your shins, calf area, and back of the knee around where the top of your rubber boots reach.
2) Apply around your neck, waist, and even your legs or arms...especially where there there may be openings in clothing (sleeves or neck for example) where scent may sneak out.
3) Don't forget your forehead and hairline...lots of sweat, bacteria, and stink originate here.

I can say with certainty that this has helped further control my scent in the field (and even control sweat to a lesser degree). Yeah you'll use more during a season, but another couple of $2 tubes of deoderant for the season is a pretty good investment.

 

[Mike Belt]

There is no such thing as complete scent control but you can do things to minimize your scent. The best you can hope for is to minimize your scent to the point that as faint as it is the deer may believe you aren't as close as you really are and thus they may give you that closer shot.

 

[bowriter]

I bathe in cold, clear creek water using only homemade natural soap. Then, completely naked, I walk to my stand on stilts, three feet high and do not get dressed until I am in my stand and not sweating.

I cannot tell if it helps but it sure gets the landowner's attention and his wife has been giving me homemade apple pie when I walk out.

Next year, I am going to try some extreme measures.

 

[woodsman87]

I am not into the scent control industry one bit. I try to use the wind hunting, but I said in a wind thread earlier this week that it was way more fun when I was a kid and I just hunted my favorite spots and killed them all the time. It was way more fun without all the stress of over-thinking and wondering why I aint killing big bucks.

I bet the spray and the carbon suits and stuff work, but let me tell you the reason other than price I do not buy it; I cannot stand seeing all the crap on TV about it. Everybody should know that just because you dress up like the Drury's or Micheal Waddell don't mean you kill big deer. They hunt the best places in the world no doubt.
People need to understand that if you hunt 10,000 acres of private land that two people hunt on in Iowa or Texas for instance, you are bound to kill huge bucks. The bucks they hunt have probably never seen or smelt a person.

I could go play a basketball game, then go work on a septic tank, then go lift weights, then go into a breakfast store and wash my hair in grease, and then go to a shooting house with flipflops on, a tank top, and shorts and kill a booner. It is that simple in their spots.

 

[bowriter]

Now this is the truth:
Quite a few years ago, I started the program I now use and will always use. I do everything I can to keep myself and my clothing clean. Not scent free because that is impossible, just clean.

I shower before heading out, wear clean clothes washed in regular Tide Free and stored in a cedar chest, not for the cedar but because that is the best place. I often hunt in tennis shoes, seldom wear rubber boots. However, the tennis shoes are clean, worn only for hunting, often washed and sun dried. Can't ever recall having a deer smell where I put my feet. Hands, yes, feet no.I wash my hat almost every day or wear a different one.

I use no scent products of any kind and actually don't pay much attention to the wind. On an average, I kill 10 deer a year and pass twice that many up. I no longer elk hunt but when I did, I seldom burned a tag.

I am not some kind of great hunter. I have over five decades of experience and consider myself to be relatively intelligent. I have, I think, 19 animals that meet or exceed P&Y minimums. I do not send them in. I figure I am at least smart enough to know I cannot beat an animal's nose. So, I just flat don't worry about it anymore. I do what I can and the heck with the rest of it. I hunt for enjoyment, not to create worry about my scent or to spend more money on something that, when carefully examined, makes no sense.

The best scent method is common sense.

 

[BSK]

I personally do not believe human scent can be reduce to an extent that is undetectable by deer. However, I do think it can be reduced to an extent that will create situations where down wind deer and even mature deer will miss you.

In my opinion, it's not even about downwind deer "missing you." It is about reducing your scent to the point that nearby deer downwind smell you, but your scent is so weak that they are fooled into thinking you are much farther away than you really are. Even when I used to take my scent-reduction to extremes, nearby deer downwind still scented me, but they did not bolt. They would go through all sorts of gyrations trying to catch a better whiff of me, and then either continue on their travel path on high alert or slowly back-tracked. But the important point was they did not blow and bolt. Continuing on their route on high alert or slowly backtracking still presented some shooting opportunities, and that was what I was most interested in.

 

[Redfred16]

I personally do not believe human scent can be reduce to an extent that is undetectable by deer. However, I do think it can be reduced to an extent that will create situations where down wind deer and even mature deer will miss you.

In my opinion, it's not even about downwind deer "missing you." It is about reducing your scent to the point that nearby deer downwind smell you, but your scent is so weak that they are fooled into thinking you are much farther away than you really are. Even when I used to take my scent-reduction to extremes, nearby deer downwind still scented me, but they did not bolt. They would go through all sorts of gyrations trying to catch a better whiff of my, and then either continue on their travel path on high alert or slowly back-tracked. But the important point was they did not blow and bolt. Continuing on their route on high alert or slowly backtracking still presented some shooting opportunities, and that was what I was most interested in.

This is why I practice at least moderate scent-control. I'm not going to run out and buy one of those ozone machines, but I use common sense and spend a bit of money from time to time on scent control products.

I know to play the wind and try to as much as possible, but thats not always possible with swirling winds. I just figure that I try to make my scent impact as small as possible and even if the deer smell me, they feel comofortable enough that is an older scent.

As fas a what I do, I shower in unscented soap, use scent free deoderant, wash my clothes in scent free laundry soap, air dry them when possible but if not use a scent free fabrc softener, store them in a plastic container with nothing but hunting clothes.

I do spray down with scent free/cover scent before walking out and carry a packet of scent free wipes to wipe off my now bald head and face if I sweat walking out. I do wear rubber boots, but just started that a few years ago when I began hunting near a spring and they just made sense to have as I was walking in mud or water to get to the that stand.

 

[woodsman87]

haha ozone machines. Cannot believe the stuff they are coming up with.

 

[Vermin93]

I go all out on scent control, but I have done it in a way that costs little more than what people pay for the regular everyday products and regular camo they use. The idea that you have to pay hundreds of extra dollars for Scent-Lok clothes and scent reducing products is bunk.

I am trying a new product this year that cost $8. Several hunters are saying it's the greatest scent control product ever. I am skeptical, but for $8 I want to find out if these hunters are on to something.

 

[Vermin93]

haha ozone machines. Cannot believe the stuff they are coming up with.

Ozone machines are used in many commercial industries to disinfect and deodorize. In fact, many non-hunting, everyday people use them to deodorize their homes and cars and purify water. I would not pay $300 for an ozone machine to strap above my head in a treestand, primarily because breathing ozone can be harmful to you. However, there are lower cost ozone machines for home use that can also be used to disinfect and deodorize hunting clothes and hunting gear. One benefit of this is that you don't have to wash them as frequently. I have used one to deodorize my truck and it worked very well.

 

[woodsman87]

It probably works, and I believe you both Vermin and Poser. I simply do not buy scent clothes or ozone machines because the prices and the loons that advertise it.

If all these high and mighty, high fence, tame unpressured deer hunters on TV didn't advertise and guaruntee you will kill a boone & crockett/ pope & young every day you went hunting I might think about it differently. It is like I am kind of boycotting them buy not buying the products that they advertise.

I know myself doesn't do much good. I am traditional, old school, and hate how every company tries to come out with something new every 6 months. Camoflauge is always new, Mathews comes out with a new bow once a month, Thompson Center has a new gun every year, etc. I still wear realtree original, Mossyoak original, Army camo, and such. I do have some of the newer stuff but that is basically all I can find now. Sorry for my little rant there.

 

[BSK]

Personally, I no longer use expensive scent-reducing clothing, and certainly don't use ozone machines. Both products can work, but I found scent-reducing clothing had a very limited life-span(only a season or two), and as others have pointed out, breathing ozone is dangerous.

However, I do wash all of my hunting clothing and my entire body in scent reducing products. A difference exists between "scent-free" soaps and scent "reducing" soaps. Scent-free soaps only prevent ADDING new scents to your clothing and body. Scent REDUCING soaps actually decrease/delay the growth of odor-producing bacteria that produce the "human" smell. Scent reducing soaps (some, at least) DO work, although they must be used religiously, and clothing/body must be freshly washed to be effective.

And although I certainly don't want hunters thinking the ozone machines work so well that everyone runs out and buys one (again, using them can be hazardous to your health), they DO actually work. In fact, customs agents became very concerned about these machines when it was found that back-pack carried units could fool drug-sniffing dogs.

 

[MUP]

I wash my clothes with unscented detergent and take showers using Scent-A-Way soap/shampoo. I do not use any so-called "scent-eliminating" sprays. Been fairly successful this way over the years.

 

[BSK]

I have a snare drum with a snakeskin wrap on it and a camo beer cozie with the Bucksnort TN logo on it. Why? because they looks cool. :cool:

I have deer hunting friends and family from Florida that have to stop and get "Bucksnort, TN" paraphernalia every time they drive through the area!

 

[woodsman87]

Personally, I no longer use expensive scent-reducing clothing, and certainly don't use ozone machines. Both products can work, but I found scent-reducing clothing had a very limited life-span(only a season or two), and as others have pointed out, breathing ozone is dangerous.

However, I do wash all of my hunting clothing and my entire body in scent reducing products. A difference exists between "scent-free" soaps and scent "reducing" soaps. Scent-free soaps only prevent ADDING new scents to your clothing and body. Scent REDUCING soaps actually decrease/delay the growth of odor-producing bacteria that produce the "human" smell. Scent reducing soaps (some, at least) DO work, although they must be used religiously, and clothing/body must be freshly washed to be effective.

And although I certainly don't want hunters thinking the ozone machines work so well that everyone runs out and buys one (again, using them can be hazardous to your health), they DO actually work. In fact, customs agents became very concerned about these machines when it was found that back-pack carried units could fool drug-sniffing dogs.

I do the same. Take showers in the H.S. scent away stuff, not sure if it works but I do it anyways, and wash my clothes in HS stuff or dirt smelling stuff. Have no idea if it works, but it isn't very expensive, I do not think it is hurting anything, and I honestly like the smell of "fresh earth"

 

[MUP]

I strayed away from using the HS Scent-a-way soap one year in favor of trying the Primos Silver soap. I had deer winding me that whole ONE day. I went back to my scent-a-way soap and haven't used anything else since.

 

[Spikes Tactical]

I wash with dail soap. Wash my hunting clothes with scent free detergent and wear rubber boots. I spray down with the hunters speciality fresh earth scent (mainly because I like the smell) and I guess that defeats the washing everything because now I smell like dirt!!!

I have a buddy that swears by the smoke your cloths system and another that doesn't do anything (he actually smokes cigs in the tree stand) and both kill deer every year.

I am in the market for new hunting clothes this year and am thinking about getting some scent lok stuff.

JayP

 

[MUP]

Also, "killing deer every year" might be qualified by one's hunting style. Sitting in a box blind with the ability to shoot out 300-400 yards is a different game than hunting in the thick woods. Using scent control might pay off in the woods or when bowhunting but have no advantage in other styles of deer hunting.

Very good point Poser. I sometimes wish I had a blind to hunt from with a long range view, but then again, I'm amply satisfied sitting in a tree on a little seat/stand in the woods, and on the property that I am blessed to own. "Woods" huntin' is all I've ever known.

 

[Vermin93]

I am in the market for new hunting clothes this year and am thinking about getting some scent lok stuff.

JayP

The best time to buy Scent-Lok and other hunting clothing has almost passed. The end of season blow out sales won't last much longer and much of the available inventory has already been depleted. Soon it will be back to full price as the 2013 season gets closer.

A good place to look for heavily discounted Scent-Lok gear is Sierra Trading Post. Join their e-mail list and they will send you online coupons for an additional 30% off their already discounted prices.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/mens-hunting-clothing~d~2356/scent-lok~b~1135/

Eventually it all goes on sale. That's the time to buy it. Scent-Lok at full price is a RIP OFF.

 

[Vermin93]

Carbon Synergy

 

[Spikes Tactical]

Poser - great point. I guess I should of clairified my post on killing deer every year - they both bow hunt and gun hunt from regular old ladder stands. I wish I had the opportunity to gun hunt in one of those box blinds just once though.

And of course they are not killing monsters but they do fill the freezer.

Vermin - thanks for the info. I have been looking at some clearence items and discounted items. I don't want to pay full price as I think I would end up shelling out $500+ for that gear.

 

[timberjack86]

I strayed away from using the HS Scent-a-way soap one year in favor of trying the Primos Silver soap. I had deer winding me that whole ONE day. I went back to my scent-a-way soap and haven't used anything else since.

Yep I did that with scent killer. Went back to h.s stuff.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

I use the scent away detergent and soap.i also use the scent away spray and earth scent wafers.been doing it for a long time and believe it helps alot

 

[in the dog house]

I don't do much on scent control. IMO its all over rated. I smoke while on stand and that is my wind checker :D I tag have tagged out every year in TN. and fill my freezer and 3 or 4 others every year. I hunt the thick stuff most of the time and don't have huge tracts of land to hunt. 90% of my deer are taken inside 100 yards, and almost all are from my climber. I just hunt the wind, If it isn't right I go to another spot that is right. I also go out of my way to come into stand from a favorable wind.

I think knowing the animal(s) your hunting and knowing the land you hunt far out ways "scent control"

 

[BHC]

I think knowing the animal(s) your hunting and knowing the land you hunt far out ways "scent control"

Woodsmanship, knowing the land, and doing your homework obviously trumps scent control, this thread was directed more at after doin all else how much more will scent control help.. How many more MATURE buck sightings will it give you than you would've had otherwise..

 

[in the dog house]

Sorry wasn't trying to hi jack the thread.
Obviously there a lot of variables to that. I think you could spend a ton of money, wash everything every hunt ect. and your still not going to be scent free. IMO get as high as you can and playing the wind will give you the most chances at mature bucks. It works for me.