Scent control (or lack there of)

[Browning Slayer]

I don`t take any scent precautions and hunt in my everyday work clothes. I do pay attention to the wind and hunt accordingly.

Your everyday work clothes is a camo pattern of it's own..

 

[doenightmare]

I just spray my boots. Have seen deer cross my trail and catch my scent by sniffing the ground - and they GON. Not sure if scent killer really helps but it can't hurt. Other than that I just play the wind. If a deer is upwind it won't smell you.

 

[kmckinnie]

Learn these few simple things and now you're a professional deer hunter.

Like kmac. ?

 

[Browning Slayer]

Hunting the wind is never going to be a perfect thing in GA simply because of light and variable winds.

You can't avoid ebb and flows in wind except getting as high in a tree as you can and hope you get high enough.

Will a light and variable wind keep me out of the woods? Not a chance. I like to hunt in blinds cause I can close up windows and keep just a small shooting window open. You still have odor especially every time you exhale.

 

[BeerThirty]

Scent is relative to numerous variables while hunting. Do I think it’s important? Absolutely!! Is it the end-all, be-all??? No! But I’ve been snorted enough to know that it can ruin a golden opportunity. The best thing you can do, in my opinion, is to get up off the ground and hunt in a treestand. That alone solves 90% of the problem.

 

[doenightmare]

Hunting the wind is never going to be a perfect thing in GA simply because of light and variable winds.

You can't avoid ebb and flows in wind except getting as high in a tree as you can and hope you get high enough.

Will a light and variable wind keep me out of the woods? Not a chance. I like to hunt in blinds cause I can close up windows and keep just a small shooting window open. You still have odor especially every time you exhale.

I agree on GA having a lot of variable wind days. It can be frustrating. I'm mostly a OTG hunter these days and play the thermals. "Hunt high in the morning and low in the evening" My experience is it is a pretty good tactic. A ridge with a S/SE exposure is best in the AM.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

You do not have to buy all the “scent free” products. Regular products of soap, deodorant, laundry detergent have added perfumes to them so you smell pretty. Simply buy the unscented brand that have no perfume. Then play the wind. Now that being said, a deer lives by his nose and he is good at it. Everything you touch or brush up against leaves a scent trail that the deer will smell and it paints them a picture. If you are hunting a big deer, your best bet, excluding the rut, is to get tight to his safe area, which can be as small as a couple of acres in the daylight. You cannot afford to be intrusive and leave scent trails in and out of the stand, he will come out of that zone at night and pattern you by your travels. Think of it like this, if a skunk walks thru the woods 20 minutes before you, you never knew he was there. If a skunk goes thru those same woods and sprays…….you know without a doubt he was there. You still have to play the wind and take a few precautions. Never walk across a gas station parking lot ( or even step on one) with your hunting boots. I never go in a store before hunting. You will stink like cigarettes , coffee, biscuits and everything else in there.

I’ll tell you about a hunt and how sharp a deers nose is. I had scouted and found 2 good feed trees side by side. I put my son who was 14 at the time on them. He saw a doe and 2 fawns. A couple days later I put my friend on them, he saw a spike and a doe. A couple days later I sat them because I could tell there was a good buck on them. The wind had changed, so I hunted the trees from the other side. I had to cut a sapling about 2 1/2 inches thick to open a shooting lane from my side. When I cut a sapling, I reach up high as I can and hinge cut it. That leaves my hand scent up over a deers head. 30 minutes before dark I heard him coming. He walked up from behind and stopped at the base of my tree. I was wearing rubber boots, I had stepped up on a fallen log to get in my stand. That rascal dipped his head and smelled exactly where I had stepped. I was watching him thru my foot piece of my stand. When he raised his head back up, he noticed the underside of the leaves of the sapling I had cut. He walked toward it thinking it was a new intruders rub. That’s when I sent a slick trick thru his boiler room. I watched him crash at about 50 yards. He had me nailed from one foot step, but his pride in his territory got him killed. He was a 211 lb. 8 point. When I scout for bow season, I carry 2 forked sticks about 2 foot long, I move under brush instead of plowing thru it leaving a trail.

 

[Jim Thompson]

A deer that is down wind of you will pick up your scent no matter what you do to block or conceal it. Sometimes they react and sometimes they dont. Sometimes they come unglued and sometimes they stick around to see if they can figure out what they are smelling and sometimes they pay zero attention. There's no rhyme or reason either.

When an old buck picks you up and cares about what he is smelling he will usually quickly and quietly back up and out and sometimes turn tail and haul tail with a quick blow.

When a doe picks you up and cares about what she smells she will stand around stomping and head bobbing usually long enough for you to wanna jump out of the tree on her back and cut her throat.

A young buck and fawns will usually play ring around the rosy with each other cause they bucks are the dumbest animals in the woods and fawns dont know any better yet.

I do what I can to try and not introduce more scent than I need to with scent scent free soap and clothes wash and deodorant but have zero illusions that a deer that gets a whiff of me will not know I am there.

Course I also carry my coffee and food to stand. If they smell that they are smelling me too

 

[DAVE]

I think if there was something that could neutralize scent or prevent it's detection the drug cartels would have found it and be using it, instead of losing money to police dogs.

 

[dang]

I drive to the woods nekkid, hike to my stand in my skivvies, dump a gallon of scent killer GOLD on my scent lock ozone super secret full body suit and then I deal dirt naps to old warrior toad bucks

 

[dang]

You guys shouldnt knock it till you try it

 

[86ccord]

I'll typically wash my clothes in scent free wash. Hunting the wind has been a world of difference.

 

[Railroader]

I drive to the woods nekkid, hike to my stand in my skivvies, dump a gallon of scent killer GOLD on my scent lock ozone super secret full body suit and then I deal dirt naps to old warrior toad bucks

And pump your fist, yell BOO-YA, and don't smile on Twit Tock 'cause you a killer, stone cold.

And don't forget your double barrel Nozeonics!

 

[Kisatchie]

I don’t watch any of the hunting infomercials, I mean hunting shows anymore can’t stand them. But next tine you watching one ask yourself why they are sponsored by Camo companies, scent elimination sprays and Ozone machines? If the Hecs suit works why would you need camo? If the spray works why you need the ozone machine?

I hunt only public land. I’ve never bought or used any of the above mentioned snake oil and kill plenty of animals. The only time I even wear camo is turkey hunting. I think it’s lack of hunting experience that makes people believe in these scams. If you’ve spent enough time in the woods you’ll have enough close encounters with animals too know you don’t need this junk.
You’ll also notice the UV clothes wash etc. the only studies or tests done on the product was by people trying to sell you the product lol. They also have proven multiple times scent sprays and scent lock suits cannot hide your scent from a blood hound which does not have a nose nearly as sensitive as a Whitetail. So if the dog can smell you you better believe the deer will also.
The HECs suit is supposed to block your electromagnetic field from game animals?? Sure it does lol. The ONLY testing done in this field has been on fish and sharks which I don’t hunt.

 

[NCHillbilly]

You cannot fool a deer's nose. Period. A deer cannot smell you if he's upwind of you. Period.

 

[Milkman]

I drive to the woods nekkid, hike to my stand in my skivvies, dump a gallon of scent killer GOLD on my scent lock ozone super secret full body suit and then I deal dirt naps to old warrior toad bucks

You sure sound like you are enjoying that routine. Do you do this year round? ?

 

[dang]

You sure sound like you are enjoying that routine. Do you do this year round? ?

Shhhhhhh

 

[dang]

Seriously though, my wife washes my hunting clothes with the regular laundry detergent when they get to stinkin. I don’t like hunting in clothes that smell like my BO. I don’t mind the detergent smell…its flowery and fresh! It’s been quite a few years since I’ve not tagged out and I see no reason to change. Last year by the end of the season my pack stank so bad like rank pigs and tarsal glands mebbe they all just thought I was a buck who liked to wallow I remember one hunt in particular on Paulding Forrest my buddy and I were stalking down a firebreak. The wind tickled my neck for a split second and I hollered quiet at him to stop…said there’s one in here I can smell him good. Don’t move. I was in kill mode for about 15 minutes trying to map out how to make a move and setup before I realized that it was my pack that stunk like crap and there was in fact no buck….

 

[Jim Thompson]

A deer that is down wind of you will pick up your scent no matter what you do to block or conceal it. Sometimes they react and sometimes they dont. Sometimes they come unglued and sometimes they stick around to see if they can figure out what they are smelling and sometimes they pay zero attention. There's no rhyme or reason either.

When an old buck picks you up and cares about what he is smelling he will usually quickly and quietly back up and out and sometimes turn tail and haul tail with a quick blow.

When a doe picks you up and cares about what she smells she will stand around stomping and head bobbing usually long enough for you to wanna jump out of the tree on her back and cut her throat.

A young buck and fawns will usually play ring around the rosy with each other cause they bucks are the dumbest animals in the woods and fawns dont know any better yet.

I do what I can to try and not introduce more scent than I need to with scent scent free soap and clothes wash and deodorant but have zero illusions that a deer that gets a whiff of me will not know I am there.

Course I also carry my coffee and food to stand. If they smell that they are smelling me too

You cannot fool a deer's nose. Period. A deer cannot smell you if he's upwind of you. Period.

I said the same thing with a lot more words

 

[Pig Predator]

I've killed a few nice 2 1/2 year olds that came from down wind but tinks 69 aerosol was involved. I like that stuff.