I try to neutralize my scent as much as possible but you can't eliminate it. My #1 rule is playing the wind as best you can. That helps more than anything but regardless of what you do you can't fool their nose.
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Am I wasting my time on scent control?
- Thread starter Brassy
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Once I'd seen my squirrel dogs get 50-60 yds downwind of a gray squirrel 30 feet up in a tree and then follow the scent to the tree and start hammering on the exact tree it was in I knew scent control was hopeless. That squirrel is only a pound and a half at most and I dont think a dogs nose is as good as a deers yet the dogs can pinpoint the squirrel… just imagine what a deer can do with a 200 lb man and all that surface area emitting scent. I just plan for the right wind and hope it holds long enough at the right time. You gotta remember if the wind swirls and blows the wrong direction if it changes 180 degrees all that scent that went in the wrong direction is blown back and past you in the right direction when it switches.
Rakkin6
Well-Known Member
So personally I am anal retentive about scent. Hunting the wind is obviously the preferred method but not always possible in public land. Especially Fort Campbell where you are "assigned" an area and if you do not get to a certain spot on that one area you are assigned you may not be able to walk into an area where the wind works to your advantage. So I like to assume that I will not get there first just in case. I use the detergent, soap, and scent free Arm and Hammer deodorant. All my clothes are stored in 30 gallon zip lock bags with a little baking soda and put into a sealable tote. The three biggest thing to me are boots get out on where I park and taken off when I get back to the truck, and I do spray them down before walking in. Second thing is avoid touching vegetation etc with my hands as much as possible and third is I hunt high 25'-30' even with archery equipment I get up a minimum of 22'-23' and hope the thermals will pull my scent up and away.
Bgoodman30
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This why I use milkweed because I don't listen to the weatherman and yes I get down and move stands I did it three times the other day.. I get blown at almost every hunt. There's deer 360 where I hunt way too many does right now. If you don't want to get busted you got to have your back to road which isn't as fun..
Bgoodman30
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Also I think folks get busted a lot more than they think. When I have been winded by a mature deer they rarely announce it they just bounce.. Had one wind me last year at 325 yards wind was blowing out of the west and he was due south..
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
I think it would amaze people how many deer they spook. A lot of time deer will never blow or let you know.
Got lucky several years ago and got to hunt in snow. The tripod was tuck in a spot I though was out of swirling winds from the ridge. Til I hunted and saw how the snow was moving around. We moved it another 70 yards to get out of that swirl.
Really paying attention to the wind direction/thermals and hunting accordingly will serve you better than any scent control regimen in my opinion.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
This is me to a T. If the deer is going to smell you, he's going to smell you, no matter what you do. What you CAN do is #1 - make your scent faint enough where he thinks your 100 yards away when your really 20 yards, hence them not busting out of there and them starting to become very suspicious….which often times gives you a shot opportunity after they've smelled you. And #2 - I think this is most important. Have dedicated boots for only hunting that never see the indoors and are only walked on dirt/grass (from the time they're pulled out of the box. I'd have to really think hard on the last time a deer busted my trail on the walk in or out
Bgoodman30
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Thermals have been key this season because winds have been light until now.
ScLowCountry
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I don't even wear camo most of the time. I even use regular shampoo and soap. Haven't noticed a difference
JJ3
Well-Known Member
We do a lot of field hunting. Deer walking across a field 100 - 150 yards downwind will stop on a dime when they hit your scent trail. Sometimes that has been the point to take a shot. I try to minimize my scent — clothes are washed in non-scented no UV detergent, I use the green non scented liquid soap, and non scented detergent. Like BSK said, we wash under layers (pants, shirts, socks) after each days hunt. Outer layers (coveralls, etc), may only be washed once or twice a season. Clothes are stored in non-scented plastic trash bags between hunts. I believe it makes a difference. I don't use any sprays or cover scents — ever. If the doe or buck goes into a mode of trying to figure out what the smell is — it's a lot better than when they slam on the breaks and head directly downwind or even reverse course at high speed. I quit using doe urines after watching multiple deer over a few years just slam on the breaks and head the other way when they would hit that scent trail.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Pretty simple for me and really no extra expense. Have to shower and use deodorant. We use unscented dove sensitive skin bar soap year round, nothing changes with that. During hunting season i switch from regular arm and hammer deodorant to their unscented deodorant. I do buy scent away body wash and shampoo to wash hair, usually after season closes on clearance, but I would have to buy regular shampoo that costs nearly as much anyway so how could that be wasting money. Use either baking soda or whatever hunting laundry detergent that Walmart has on sale after season, again have to use detergent for clothes anyway and sure don't want brighteners on my clothes..
DoubleRidge
Well-Known Member
Great point...we got to buy detergent and soap anyway...so I try to be scent free as "reasonably" possible...not as fanatical as I once was...and its true that many years ago Uncle Joe would hunt while wearing his dirty work pants, smoking a cigarette and sitting on a stump in the rain and he'd kill a deer.
No doubt thats true...if killing any deer, with a gun, for the freezer is the goal Im sure success rates will be consistent enough...but what worrys me is how many mature old deer just quietly turn and walk away without making a big spectical and we never know it? Its worth it to me to be clean and have fragrant free clothing with no UV brighteners and rubber bottom boots work period. Absolutely play the wind...which changes often on our place with hills and hollers...but play the wind best you can...I just like stacking the deck in my favor best I can.
It matters, but not nearly as much as being a good woodsman and hunting the wind. I bathe in unscented soap. I wash my clothes in unscented detergent. Will either of those help me beat a mature bucks nose? Nope. Will all the expensive scent control measures (ozone, scent blocker suits, sprays,) increase my odds of beating a mature bucks nose? Nope. These things, like most hunting related items are money grabs and nothing more. When hunters claim they killed a mature buck down wind, it's most likely nothing that they did and rather that they were lucky and their scent was being blown over the top of the deer or thermals may have been in play and they don't understand how they benefited from that. Do what makes sense, don't bathe yourself in your wife's rose pedal hibiscus soap the night before you hunt. Hunt the wind the best you can because if you hunt big timber like I do, we all know that deer can and will come from any direction, the wind can and will come from any direction. The scent control measures I take are not an inconvenience, don't cost me any extra money, and they make good common sense for the type of hunting I do and probably most others.
I was busted one time this year that I am aware of. It was a mature buck, 5+. He walked up directly down wind of me. Came out of a deep, rocky draw that I was not expecting any deer to cross. He caught my wind at 35 yards. He stopped for approximately 5 seconds to asses the situation and had he not been behind some branches, I would have gotten a shot off. I assume he stopped out of confusion because if he could have identified the smell or connected it with a human he would have bolted immediately. I believe he knew the smell was out of place but was never able to fully identify what it was. After his brief pause, instincts kicked in and he moved in his same direction of travel at a very quick walk out of the picture. Every situation is different, but I think this a good example of the benefit of some scent control.
I was busted one time this year that I am aware of. It was a mature buck, 5+. He walked up directly down wind of me. Came out of a deep, rocky draw that I was not expecting any deer to cross. He caught my wind at 35 yards. He stopped for approximately 5 seconds to asses the situation and had he not been behind some branches, I would have gotten a shot off. I assume he stopped out of confusion because if he could have identified the smell or connected it with a human he would have bolted immediately. I believe he knew the smell was out of place but was never able to fully identify what it was. After his brief pause, instincts kicked in and he moved in his same direction of travel at a very quick walk out of the picture. Every situation is different, but I think this a good example of the benefit of some scent control.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Agree completely. We set our stands in areas with very limited visibility. How many deer winded us way out of visual range and shifted their movement away from us? probably a lot!
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
they always smell you if they are downwind....its just whether or not they choose to be alarmed by it or not...
buck during rut often dont care
an old doe will lose her poop
buck during rut often dont care
an old doe will lose her poop
BSK
Well-Known Member
I concur. I'm pretty serious about my scent control, but if a deer gets downwind of me, it IS going to smell me. The question is, HOW alarmed are is it going to get?
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When it gets really cold, like below zero cold, it's a lot easier to beat a deer's nose. The air gets really dry when it's that cold. I think it's tough to pick up any scent when the air is that dry.
Of course, that's not really an option around here. But if you hunt up north, colder is better.
Of course, that's not really an option around here. But if you hunt up north, colder is better.
swampbadger
Well-Known Member
I use it often so I know where my scent is blowing. If deer come by I have a very good idea of where I need to shoot them before I might get caught. Most times I will drop some milkweed before I setup.
High wind, rut crazed deer, hunting near residents and using long range weapons bridges a lot of gaps. Also an enclosed box stand or blind makes a big difference if you are on private. So it's not as necessary this time of year.
I hunt swamps and low lands from a mobile stand, so it could be worlds different across the state. I understand concepts of how important thermals are and how wind might be much more steady at higher elevations in hill country.
It's important for me to know where my scent is pooling on calm and foggy mornings. So it helps me watch thermals when I have less wind. It will show wether it's dropping or rising. This time of year with the rut it might not be as important.
Another factor that has changed over the month that affects how the wind flows through the woods. It is much more consistent now that a lot of the leaves have dropped. That makes a difference too!
And yes I will get down and move if I think it's worth it. On days with a E and SE wind it's not gonna matter how many spots I seem to burn, those winds always seem to swirl on me, so i don't go into my best spots on those days or at times avoid hunting on those days. I hunt mobile and will move especially during bow season when you need to get close to get the job done.
That last buck I killed, I setup within 50 yards of the river and I watched milkweed flow into the river and towards the boat. He was in a briar patch with honey suckle feeding, so I suspect he felt safe there and bedded there.
