School me on scent control?

[jmiller676]

Remind me that after dragging one out and butchering it will ya.

LOL I mean the actual hunt...we all know after the arrow is released and gun is fired is when all HELL breaks loose. Especially early season when its 80 degrees and you're trying to get it butchered before it turns.

 

[yotewacker]

Scent control is optional. I can confirm it does not work. Heck , most people think most of there scent comes from underarms. They do not even think of behind the ear lobes scent glands or the other 5 that humans have.
Story,,
Out with DNR tracking a guy through the woods. Dog catches him and ends chase. Bad guy says, how did you find me? We told him we didn't, the dog did. Bad guys says that is impossible, I have me scent block camo on. well, a dog tracked him for about a mile and ran right to him.

Bottom line. Is watch the wind. The wind will stop most scents if your paying attention to its direction.

If you do not pay attention to the wind, the animals are paying attention to you.

 

[jmiller676]

Scent control is optional. I can confirm it does not work. Heck , most people think most of there scent comes from underarms. They do not even think of behind the ear lobes scent glands or the other 5 that humans have.
Story,,
Out with DNR tracking a guy through the woods. Dog catches him and ends chase. Bad guy says, how did you find me? We told him we didn't, the dog did. Bad guys says that is impossible, I have me scent block camo on. well, a dog tracked him for about a mile and ran right to him.

Bottom line. Is watch the wind. The wind will stop most scents if your paying attention to its direction.

If you do not pay attention to the wind, the animals are paying attention to you.

Outta rep. People spend way to much money and effort on scent "control" just be smart in the woods and all is good. In the 35 years my dad has been hunting he has taken at least one deer for every year he has been hunting and that is with maybe going out 2 times a week.

 

[Bradsknives]

I may be one of the more anal guys as far as scent control goes. I was anal about scent control before any of these products (soap, scent remover, non scent deodorant***etc.) were available. I used to wash my hunting clothes in baking soda and take showers using baking soda. Most of the scent control philosophy has been cover in this thread, but here are a few things that I do that have not been mention.

1. The clothes that I wear before changing into my hunting clothes are washed using camo (non scent) soap. If I'm at my hunting camp, the clothes I wear while at camp are washed using camo soap.

2. The pillow case and bed sheets that I sleep on/with during hunting season are washed in camo soap and they get sprayed down once in a while between washes. This applies if I'm hunting from home. If I'm at my hunting cabin, my sleeping bag gets washed using camo soap.

3. I have been using the camouflage gum while hunting for the last 3 years. I read that your bad breath will get you busted by a deer before your body odor will. I have had no bad experience with it, but really can't tell if it is helping.

4. The towel that you use to dry off with after taking a non scent shower/bath should be washed in camp soap.

Some of this my not apply if you are taking a shower in the morning before going out. In my case when I'm at my hunting cabin, there is no shower or bath and I have to use non scent body wipes before dressing to go out.

 

[hammer24]

Here is my routine and philosophy,
1. Play the wind
2. Wash clothing in scent free soap then put in big storage tub with fresh earth wafer.
3. Shower with scent away and use Arm & Hammer scent free deoderant.
4. I always use a light silver infused base layer under my clothes.( I was skeptical about this, but got them on clearance. I've used them for three years now, and let me tell the silver base layer works! I've worn them all day during times they should have absolutely reaked and no funky BO smell at all!)
5. Spray down with silver XP
I throw my clothes on when I get ready to leave, don't wait till I get to the stand. I put in a dip of mint snuff and hit the stand. I spit on the ground around my stand, I let fly when I need to take a leak. Do I kill deer? Yep, I can't tell you how many I pass every year. It's been a few years since I've knowingly been winded, and believe it or not I kill about 50% of my deer on my downwind side. Last year all three that I took came from my downwind side.

 

[clfergus]

Outta rep. People spend way to much money and effort on scent "control" just be smart in the woods and all is good. In the 35 years my dad has been hunting he has taken at least one deer for every year he has been hunting and that is with maybe going out 2 times a week.

It has to work at least as well as using nothing...based on this article is does someting and something is better than nothing in my book.

The Best Way to Inhibit Your Scent | Deer & Deer Hunting | Whitetail Deer Advice and Instruction

 

[jmiller676]

I am old school when it comes to that. Which is why I never got into compunds or crossbows. There have been many deer shot without the use of all the gadgets and scent covers and I have shot deer without that stuff. To me hunting is my relaxation time. If I am spending money on that stuf it stops being my relaxation time. I have found that the more people spend on using scents and all the other crap the less they actually know about hunting and the specifics of the game they are after.

 

[finity]

The only things I do are wash my clothes in Sportwash every couple of times out & shower with scent free soap/shampoo. That's it. I tried the scent killer sprays a couple of times but gave up on them pretty quickly just because.

I don't play the wind...at all. I smoke in the stand. I whiz from the stand. I don't keep my clothes in a bin. I wear my clothes while eating. I wear my boots into the gas station in the morning.

I may have been winded a couple of times but I've been fairly successful, nonetheless. I've killed at least one deer every year but the first one since I started hunting 6 years ago. The second year I killed one. Every other year I've gotten more than one. The year before last I shot five deer. Not too shabby. I've also had several deer walk right under my stand & they had no idea I was there.

Not that it can't happen & not that it hasn't happened but I think the scent control/camo/they can hear a pin drop at 100 yards/they can see your eyes blink at 1000 yards/etc stuff is way over-hyped.

People have been killing deer for thousands of years without all of that stuff.

 

[bwframe]

I know guys who have to put down a smoke to shoot deer. Scent control is about common sense, but learn the wind first.

I remember well when camo first started having name brands. A buddy of mine that had walls full of mounts and hundreds of freezer dear to his credit. After a particular dry spell, he said he had taken way more dear wearing old, smoked in, gray coveralls.

 

[KEHO]

People have been killing deer for thousands of years without all of that stuff.

This is absolutely true. However, modern hunters have to deal with a whole range of modern scents/odors that didn't even exist thousands or hundreds or even (in some cases) a few decades ago.

Can you kill deer without any thought to scent control? Absolutely! Will paying attention to wind and scent control help a hunter be able to get within bow range of an old, crafty deer? Probably. Is it worth the time/effort/money? Up to each individual to decide.

 

[jmiller676]

This is absolutely true. However, modern hunters have to deal with a whole range of modern scents/odors that didn't even exist thousands or hundreds or even (in some cases) a few decades ago.

Can you kill deer without any thought to scent control? Absolutely! Will paying attention to wind and scent control help a hunter be able to get within bow range of an old, crafty deer? Probably. Is it worth the time/effort/money? Up to each individual to decide.

It comes down to what you want to spend/ and think hunting is. I like my recurve, homemade wood arrows, and old army BDUs. But, hey to each his own. All I ask for from other hunters is respect in the woods. If I am there before you please don't walk in on me. I will return the favor and that depends on the choices that the other hunters around me make. What happened to the "code" in the woods?

 

[woodsie57]

You dont need fancy camo- just be still, wear drab colors. Dont need scent control, just realize they aren't likely to come in from downwind.

 

[rao]

There are so many schools of thought on scent control. i've been bow hunting for 20 years and I have tried the whole gambit of products and theories surrounding scent control. I am convinced that no matter how hard you try, you will never fully eliminate all odor and fool a deer downwind of you. However, you can and should take as many precautions possible to eliminate your scent signature.

My best success has come from using scent reducing hunting clothes (carbon lined), using unscented deodorant, washing my clothes in scent control detergent, using scent elimination spray before entering the woods, using rubber boots while hunting, storing my hunting clothes in an airtight container between hunts, not touching too much with my bare hands while walking to my stand and using the wind to my advantage. I never take my hunting clothes out of the bag until I am ready to enter the woods and put them back in a scent locked bag before getting back in the truck.

On flat ground, I've found if you get 15-20' up, you generally don't have to worry too much about scent. However, in the hills of southern Indiana, its hard to play the wind card.

 

[joseywales7450]

Well, thanks for the feed back everyone. I bought some scent control detergent, spray, soap, etc and am giving that a try. Also, I am going to keep my eyes on the wind direction. The property I hunt isn't all that big so there isn't much I can do with the wind.

 

[finity]

My best success...

How do you know that you're "successful"?

Are you basing your "success" on taking deer every year? Even then there's really no way you can know whether your success was the result of all those scent control things you do, something else you've done (scouting, etc) or just pure chance.

It's not like you can ask the deer if they could really smell you or not.

I'm really not trying to be smart here. All of that that you seem to do to be "succesful" is far & away more than many other also-"successful" hunters do.

If it makes you more confident & you don't mind spending the potentially hundreds of dollars extra on all of the fancy, hi-tech & EXPENSIVE clothes & scent killing sprays then go ahead & use them but I'm just trying to make a point for the noobs that you don't absolutely need that stuff to take deer.

Just use a little common sense & you'll be fine.

Again my .

 

[Ragenarok007]

In ancient times, everyone hunted with handmade bows and arrows and had no cover scent. Of course, back then it might take you days to get one deer and you had to walk the whole way and if you didn't get a deer or whatever your whole family might starve to death. So yeah, it helps improve the odds but its no substitute for skill.

 

[Bradsknives]

In ancient times, everyone hunted with handmade bows and arrows and had no cover scent. Of course, back then it might take you days to get one deer and you had to walk the whole way and if you didn't get a deer or whatever your whole family might starve to death. So yeah, it helps improve the odds but its no substitute for skill.

Not much has changed since then (at least for me), except for the "whole family starving" part.

 

[jmiller676]

Oh, don't fart.

 

[HICKMAN]

very interesting thread on archerytalk of many folks moving to smoking instead of sprays.

Who Here "Smokes" Their Clothes?

 

[joseywales7450]

very interesting thread on archerytalk of many folks moving to smoking instead of sprays.

Who Here "Smokes" Their Clothes?

That is a great thread!! Now only if I could find a smoke scented regimen of washing supplies and hygiene supplies... right?