Rakkin6
Well-Known Member
If you are just using store bought free and clear try the 7th Generation Brand. It works great is scent and fragrance free and has no brighteners.
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- Thread starter Uncle J
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Headhunter
Well-Known Member
Well, I don't kill any deer to speak of, but I don't do much of anything. Well I use Nosejammer, that is about it. Spray on my boots, the tree I hunt from, vegetation around it, my stand, my pack, etc. I don't do much of anything else. I pay zero attention to the wind until I get to the spot I want to hunt and many times I don't really pay any attention to the wind then. I just hunt. I believe to many overthink it. Like I said I don't kill any deer.
14deerhunter
Well-Known Member
I use the dead down wind orange bag as well and also just have duffle bags I throw dirt scent wafers in
Tweeter
Well-Known Member
I don't like anything covering my face, for one I feel smothered and I also chew tobacco.After years of putting camo on my face in the military, I found this and never did it again, even in the military I used it. It is called Spandoflage, used it when I used to bow hunt a lot, but now I am in an elevated shoot house or ladder stand and is less needed, but have a fleece one for warmth.
Wash my clothes in whatever detergent I have around home, use normal dryer sheets, store wherever I have a place - normally a tote, just to keep them out of the way.
East TN Bowhunter
Well-Known Member
Plano Totes and glued a rubber gasket to the inside of the lid and has clamps on each side that make it airtight. I wash my inner garments before every sit and use the fresh earth dryer sheets in the dryer and in the tote. I spray my outer layers and headwear before each hunt and spray my boots especially the bottoms with scent away or scentkiller.
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I put mine in plastic totes. Inside large plastic trash bags, with limbs off trimmed Christmas trees from Lowe's. And I never have to use cover scent spray on them.
Speedwell-Hunter
Well-Known Member
It is all a scam. How has this been show to be true?Me too. I gave up on the scent control stuff. No matter how much I do, a deer will still whiff me if it gets downwind or crosses my path. I never noticed any difference so now I just don't worry about it. I know folks who swear by scent control, so maybe I was just doing something wrong. Or maybe I just smell so bad that scent control doesn't work for me
Do you turkey hunt? Do you use scent control in the spring for gobblers? Do you see deer in the spring? Of course you do. There is your answer. Scent control is a scam and a multi million dollar industry.
Speedwell-Hunter
Well-Known Member
I am not anal about scent control and then here is your list:
1) They get washed in scent-reducing soaps before the season
2) stored in air-tight containers during the season
3) Inner layers never worn more than once without being rewashed in scent-reducing detergent.
4) Mid-layers, 3-4 times before being rewashed
5) Outermost layer gets sprayed down with scent-reducing spray after every hunt and stored in airtight containers between hunts
6) don't wear my hunting boots in the truck
7) spray them down after every hunt
8) I try to walk through mud puddles on the way to my stand every hunt
If the list is at eight and your not anal anymore, what was it like when you were anal about. Holy hell!
We built a concrete safe room In our new house. I store my guns and close in there. I used cedar for the wood trim. It must work. Deer all around me yesterday on all 4 sides. As far as I know none smelled me.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Yep - my experience as well. My goal is to try to make them believe I am much further away than I actually am. If I stank to high heaven, they're gone. But if they slightly get ahold of me, many times they'll just ease off thinking the threat isn't in there immediate bubble. Most times, this high alert posture presents a shot if I were trying to take one
And I don't feel my approach is that extreme. I just keep my clothes and boots clean, and shower with scent free soap. I do take chlorophyll pills, but that's about it. Play the "just off wind".
While I don't believe it is as effective as others think it is, I do not think it's a scam. What I believe is that there is a sliding scale of effectiveness with noticeable, positive results at the beginning and diminishing returns at the other end of it.
I know folks who feel quite strongly about scent control, and they're not stupid people. They simply have had different experiences than myself. And some of them are stone cold big buck killers, so who am I to judge or question their hunt strategy? Scent control is such a nuance topic that there's no way one size fits all. It can't be generalized. We all hunt differently, have different standards, different experiences, different diets, different habits, etc.
For instance, a guy sitting in an enclosed blind 100yds off a plot once or twice per season probably doesn't require much scent control. He can sip his coffee or soup, whisper out loud to his buddy, run his heater on high, and never worry or care about getting busted. Another guy who bow hunts up close & personal to mature buck beds has to be a whole lot more careful. He can't drink his morning coffee and he probably should starve until he's back inside civilization, save maybe for a sip of water now & again. Scent control measures probably mean a lot to him because even the most marginal of advantages he has can make the difference between success or failure. For one guy scent control is a waste of money. The other guy could argue it's critical. And there's a wide range of hunters in between, thus a sliding scale.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Didn't even handle my clothes without surgical gloves on. Not a joke. Never let anything touch me on the way to the stand. Cleared paths so my clothes touched nothing on the way there and back. When I would check trail-cameras, I would wear a cheap plastic rain suit that can easily be hosed down and doesn't absorb scents easily in case my body touch a branch or vine on the way to the camera and only place cameras where I can ride a vehicle right up to the camera (I still do the camera-location-vehicle part).
And I still shower with scent-reducing soaps before every hunt. Keeping scent down on hair, face and hands are critical.
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I use to pretty anal about "scent control". But, as time went on, I got less and less anal about it, yet - I noticed my deer hunting was not affected negatively in the least. As a matter of fact, my hunting experience improved - a lot. Probably not because I was less anal, probably other factors - but, it was not affected negatively. I finally got to the place I just skipped it altogether. Wash my clothes in regular scented detergent, never use no scent spray, etc. Meanwhile, my hunting partners would spray, use ozonics, scent adsorbing (or absorbing) clothing, etc. I would always see more deer than them, kill more deer than them - and pretty much every year kill a mature buck or two. Last several years I've pretty much hunted mature bucks exclusively and been pretty successful. I've never noticed any difference in deer reaction to my scent from my anal days to my carefree days. I do hunt out treestands, hunt high, and I work the wind the best I can in the mountains of East TN. My experiences with scent control just convinced me - there is no real value in extreme scent control. But, someone else's experiences may be different than mine. Do what you will. Whatever makes you sit in the stand, and be confident and stay there is the best strategy for you.
T. J. Mercer
Well-Known Member
Older thread, but I wanted to weigh in with something I don't think most folks ever consider.
I absolutely believe the number one determining factor in this whole scent issue is deer sensitivity. Take the extremes: suburban Davidson County vs backwoods Alaska. The deer in one location will be a lot more sensitive to human smells than the other. The deer in the other is saturated by human odor.
I've taken scent control to the nth degree, and my coonhounds can still follow my path with precision without a single pause hours after I've walked it -- and deer have a significantly stronger olfactory.
I don't doubt that "less scent is better" for the hunt (maybe the deer think you're further away, who knows?), but if you think they can't smell you, you're insane.
They smell you, it's a matter of whether they care.
In my experience, mama does with fawns have always spooked the easiest, and I think there's reason for that. They always seem to be on high alert.
I think the thing I wonder most is whether some of the things ppl have mentioned have any effect at all, like smoking, fragrances in detergent, peeing off the stand, etc. I don't underestimate the power of a deer's instinct, but wouldn't there need to be a preexisting association for them to smell Tide detergent and think "human"/"threat"?
I think human oils, from touching leaves, etc. is the single most impacting action.
I taught myself years ago to see anything green or brown in the woods as a scent wick and my skin as an oily agent.
I absolutely believe the number one determining factor in this whole scent issue is deer sensitivity. Take the extremes: suburban Davidson County vs backwoods Alaska. The deer in one location will be a lot more sensitive to human smells than the other. The deer in the other is saturated by human odor.
I've taken scent control to the nth degree, and my coonhounds can still follow my path with precision without a single pause hours after I've walked it -- and deer have a significantly stronger olfactory.
I don't doubt that "less scent is better" for the hunt (maybe the deer think you're further away, who knows?), but if you think they can't smell you, you're insane.
They smell you, it's a matter of whether they care.
In my experience, mama does with fawns have always spooked the easiest, and I think there's reason for that. They always seem to be on high alert.
I think the thing I wonder most is whether some of the things ppl have mentioned have any effect at all, like smoking, fragrances in detergent, peeing off the stand, etc. I don't underestimate the power of a deer's instinct, but wouldn't there need to be a preexisting association for them to smell Tide detergent and think "human"/"threat"?
I think human oils, from touching leaves, etc. is the single most impacting action.
I taught myself years ago to see anything green or brown in the woods as a scent wick and my skin as an oily agent.
BlackBelt
Well-Known Member
You cannot be scent-free. But the less of your scent that is present in the woods means the deer dont bound away 600 yards from what they think is "danger close".
The very first time years ago that I wore Scent-Lok was the first time ever that I had deer walking under my stand. I have worn it or other branded coconut carbon based clothing every deer hunt since and almost all of my kills are at very close range. VERY close.
I pay attention to every detail. I dont smoke or drink, so I dont have those odors to contend with. But I also dont eat foods that put off odors that permeate through the skin, like onions and garlic, during deer season. No coffee on hunting mornings, and I brush my teeth, tongue and roof of my mouth with natural paste a couple of hours before I go into the woods. Your mouth and nasal passages are connected. They put out a lot of scent while you walk around, especially if you are breathing hard. Deer are not afraid of new scents in the woods, but they do get skiddish over human scent.
Pay attention to ALL the details.
It has paid off for me with walls full of trophies and a life full of memories.
Your mileage may vary.
The very first time years ago that I wore Scent-Lok was the first time ever that I had deer walking under my stand. I have worn it or other branded coconut carbon based clothing every deer hunt since and almost all of my kills are at very close range. VERY close.
I pay attention to every detail. I dont smoke or drink, so I dont have those odors to contend with. But I also dont eat foods that put off odors that permeate through the skin, like onions and garlic, during deer season. No coffee on hunting mornings, and I brush my teeth, tongue and roof of my mouth with natural paste a couple of hours before I go into the woods. Your mouth and nasal passages are connected. They put out a lot of scent while you walk around, especially if you are breathing hard. Deer are not afraid of new scents in the woods, but they do get skiddish over human scent.
Pay attention to ALL the details.
It has paid off for me with walls full of trophies and a life full of memories.
Your mileage may vary.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Those two things right there.
I've mentioned this in the past several times, but I'll bring it up again here. I often read where hunters go to extremes to keep intrusion in their hunting grounds to an absolute minimum year-round. But I have to wonder, are they doing more harm than good? I'm beginning to believe it is possible to acclimate deer to your personal scent. I say that because I have watched deer, time and again, react far less negatively to my scent than my hunting buddies' scent. We all take the same scent-reduction precautions, but I am the one on the property year-round, doing work, scouting, working the food plots, checking stands, checking cameras, etc. When on the property outside of deer season, I take no scent reduction precautions. I also vape and make a point of vaping everywhere I go. That scent really travels hence deer smell it all the time. When hunting, deer will still smell me. But they have stopped reacting violently to the smell. They simply go on high alert and usually back out of the area. But they don't blow and bolt. Other hunters, they blow and bolt. Could I be conditioning the local deer to my personal smell? Perhaps...
I just finished mowing all of the roads we use to access stands. Clothes brushing against grass and vines is a dead giveaway. I've watched deer pick off a hunter simply be smelling grass blades and twigs the hunter had brushed against while walking to their stand.
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skipperbrown
Well-Known Member
A couple of thoughts: My wife walks my dogs everyday on the same route bordering our woods. We have frequent deer sightings both buck and doe along her route. It's pretty clear the deer know her route and timing and just adjust their movements to her and the dogs.
My tracking dog laughs at your attempts to cover your scent by what you wear or how you wash it or what you spray it with. He can track me at a fast pace on a 2 hr track whether I'm wearing sneakers, leather boots, or rubber boots and no matter what I'm wearing. Your scent is cascading off your body all the time. I know he's tracking me and not my track because you can watch him drifting off the track following the how the prevailing wind blew my scent.
I've seen deer react to cameras I've placed 2 days after I've set them and I've seen deer cross my track just a few minutes old and not react at all. It just depends on the deer and their interactions with us.
My tracking dog laughs at your attempts to cover your scent by what you wear or how you wash it or what you spray it with. He can track me at a fast pace on a 2 hr track whether I'm wearing sneakers, leather boots, or rubber boots and no matter what I'm wearing. Your scent is cascading off your body all the time. I know he's tracking me and not my track because you can watch him drifting off the track following the how the prevailing wind blew my scent.
I've seen deer react to cameras I've placed 2 days after I've set them and I've seen deer cross my track just a few minutes old and not react at all. It just depends on the deer and their interactions with us.
I wash them in tide with the rest of the clothes and hang em in the closet! Have seen no change in sightings or success rates since i quit wasting time money and effort on all the crazy scent "killing" tactics. Learn the thermals and just hunt because you are not going to fool a deers nose if he is downwind
