When I hear people talk about all the amazing things that they have done over their life or that their grandparents did or that Native Americans did in order to deal with scent control issues really indicates to me that either 1) almost anything works, or 2) it really doesn't matter. The information on scent control is so all over the board that I have to wonder what is reality and what is just wishful thinking overlaid on reality.
I don't necessarily think, "1) almost anything works", but that there are things that one can do to reduce or maybe confuse their scent. Similarly, a cover scent that may work in one area, may actively alarm deer in another. Back when we had horses on the property, I used to make a point of walking thru the meadow muffins to cover my scent. Worked great on the deer down there. Iffin I would wear the same boots to the north in the big swamp country, you could see any deer crossing my trail spook. Deer learn what the smells are in their area so even a natural scent, iffin it's outta place, can alarm them. Put gas in your car on the way to hunt and the smell of gas will probably alert or alarm any deer downwind of you, later when you're on stand. Mix it with some two stoke oil and hunt an area that has just been clearcut and it will not alarm even the wariest of bucks. Seems the "scent" business really took off in the mid to late seventies. I remember when the very first "Original Rut" scent came out. Bucks of all sizes, even on heavily pressured public land would come running in....now, by the time rut comes around, most bucks have smelled it to the popint that they are now leery of it. Anyone else remember when "skunk scent" was the big craze? Had to keep the bottle out in the back shed......even the stores around here would store it outside. You had to ask for it and they would go get you a bottle...after they placed it in a ziplock bag.
as for "2) it really doesn't matter.", I have to agree that sometimes it don't. Like I said before with the right wind and stand position you can smell like a boy's High School Locker room. With a rifle that reaches out past your active scent cone, or at those distances where a running shot is high percentage, taking precautions is probably in vain. But for an archery or handgun hunter, every little bit can and will help. Still, the wind needs to be right or the deer very stupid. As I said before, deer associate certain smells with danger. Used to be around here when all the deer were in the big woods and swamps, any human scent put them on alert or gone. Nowadays with deer associating humans with food, either because of ag crops, food plots or feeders, I don't think scent, especially your foot scent, is as alarming to deer anymore. I have friends who, when and where it is legal to feed deer, will bang on the pail on the way out to the feeding area. At first it spooks the deer, but after a while they come out of the woods at a run to the feeding area as soon as they hear the pail getting hit, even it they don't get fed. If you have a pail in your hand, the deer will let you walk right up to them. Try it without a pail and they are gone.
IOWs, one needs to be observant and know what is natural in their area. They also have to experiment and see what works and what doesn't for them in any given area. While one can reduce their scent and maybe camoflage it a little, there is not such thing as complete elimination or completely covering it up by just using hygiene and cover/attractant scents. For me, the majority of the time, I use clean clothes hung out in the area I will hunt and non-scented soaps. If I use some form of attractant, I use it sparingly. Last night I picked a coupla apples from a tree the deer prefer on my way to stand. Iate one and then rubbed the core over my clothes on the way into stand. I also stomped on one and crushed the apple into the treads of my boots because I have to cross a deer trail to get to that stand. Had a doe put her nose down to the trail I took in and follow it right to my tree and then smelled the rungs on my ladder. I'm gonna guess that wasn't a coincidence.