Scent control

[sage5907]

I hunt only for big mature bucks and I have three rules on controlling scent that I never break. I always sit down wind from the major deer trail where the deer are traveling. If the wind changes I get out of the area and wait for the wind to change before going back. I never walk where the deer are traveling because if a mature buck gets the scent on the ground he will likely change his travel pattern or go nocturnal.

If I am familiar with the hunting area I only hunt from a stand which brings up two more points. For a morning hunt I always go to the stand in the dark and stay out of sight until the deer movement stops. For an evening hunt I always go to the stand before the deer movement starts and stay in the stand until arter dark. If I can help it I never travel when the deer are active.

 

[GAF]

IMHO sent control is over rated. I know people who pee at the base of their stand, smoke eat and drink coffee and they shoot a lot of deer.
Just like people who put scent on their fishing lure. I really don`t think it help, but it does not hurt either. I have been back into deer hunting for the past 15 years. I have been skunked 3 years of that time, but I don`t think my scent had any thing to do with it.

 

[Fyrstyk]

When I leave my stand at the end of the day, I use a coyote howl call before I descend from the stand. If any deer are in the area, they usually move out when they hear the coyote call.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

I agree...

I've noticed that deer know what is in the area, since they are there all the time. So if you suddenly deploy apple lure or corn lure and there is nor corn nor apples around..., I think that bothers them rather than helping you.

Some folks think scent is everything, or the second most important thing. They tell you to wear some charcoal impregnated, loam external scented coverall, and to chew pine fresh gum...no farting nor belching. In fact what would really be ideal would be a suit that was orange for hunting but contained you 100%. Of course a lot of the folks pushing the scent idea are the folks that sell scents, so......





I wash me and my clothes in plain lye soap.

I take 3/4 of the bar of lye soap and grate it with a cheese grater into the washer which is set on "small load" and hot water. It dissolves the lye soap. No scent; no color brighteners. I let this cool. Then I put the hunting clothes into this for about a 30 minute soak then let it agitate and drain. To rinse, I reset the washer to "fill" and use hot water again. I wish my washer had a hot/hot setting but it does not. The heat applied to the water in the water heater breaks down the chlorine so a hot wash and hot rinse does not leave chlorine in the clothing (and the clothing doesn't fade like it does in areas where the chlorine is high). Folks on well water can disregard the idea about hot/hot washing as there is no chlorine. Then I line dry.

The outer layer of clothing that I will wear gets "smoked". I take a small, charcoal brazer (or you could use a habachi or small grill). I use some hardwood charcoal started with newspaper...., not fuel or lighter fluid. Once this is going, I get some green hickory, plus some hickory nuts that I've gathered squirrel hunting, and burning this I hold the clothing in the smoke for a few minutes which will give a nice hickory wood smoke scent.

I hunt from the ground, and I wear historic clothing because I'm half-crazy and use a .54 flintlock. I hunt from the ground and get the deer in if I can, to under 50 yards. Sometimes they are very close, and if my "scent" after what I do was a problem, I'd think they'd show me. OH, I also scrape a tiny patch of ground under my feet where I'm hiding so I don't crunch and leaves or twigs when I shift feet and on a still day it kicks up some loam scent.

The only "reactions" I've ever had from scent were the time the wool capote that I was wearing had been washed without my knowledge in Tide detergent ..., but with the hickory smoked clothing, I've had a buck, once, get wind of me hiding in a thicket, and he stomped and challenged what I think he thought was another deer.

Movement and noise and paying attention to the direction the wind is blowing seem to me to be the key....

LD

 

[Rivenoak]

So the original post was more or less me trying to decide if going straight from work without taking a shower after work with the scent free shampoo/body wash was a better option than going home first bc it takes out about 45 mins of hunting time due to 5pm traffic. If I go straight from work I can bypass 90% of traffic and go straight interstate. Ive just started showering with the scent free stuff before work and keeping my clothes in a plastic bin in the backseat of the truck and changing in the field. I'm also using the scent free deodorant. Hopefully they don't mind the smell of office.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

45 mins of hunting time

An extra 45 minutes in the stand is free and will up your odds vastly more than any scent control product you could ever buy.

 

[Aletheia]

Scent control is a scam. Controlling where your scent goes is your only valid strategy.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

Scent control is a scam.

I think it causes global warming too. Think about it, the timeline of the increase in scent control products available and the level of climate change hysteria are eerily similar.

 

[Enfielder]

Soak yourself in alcohol. Internally.

 

[buck460XVR]

I hunt only for big mature bucks and I have three rules on controlling scent that I never break. I always sit down wind from the major deer trail where the deer are traveling. If the wind changes I get out of the area and wait for the wind to change before going back. I never walk where the deer are traveling because if a mature buck gets the scent on the ground he will likely change his travel pattern or go nocturnal.

If I am familiar with the hunting area I only hunt from a stand which brings up two more points. For a morning hunt I always go to the stand in the dark and stay out of sight until the deer movement stops. For an evening hunt I always go to the stand before the deer movement starts and stay in the stand until arter dark. If I can help it I never travel when the deer are active.

While I too go to morning stand well before light, it has nuttin' to do with staying out of sight. Since deer see in the dark, I'm no really traveling under the cover of darkness. The flashlight I need to see my way to the stand probably spooks more deer at a greater distance than walking into stand during daylight. Getting there well before light means the woods has more time to settle down and deer that may have heard me come in, may have lessened their alertness. It also gives my trail scent time to cool. Deer, like a good bird dog, knows the difference between a cold trail and a hot one. iffin' you've ever watched a deer cross a 'yote trail, you'll see while they may smell a cold 'yote trail, it does not alert them like a hot one. In some of the areas I hunt, deer cross human scent trails regularly and become accustomed to them. I live on the outskirts of town, surrounded by sub-divisions. I have Apple trees in my backyard and right now there is a deer scrape under one of them. The deer that come into my back yard have to cross a soccer field to get to my house. A soccer field where daily the High School practices and leaves thousands of scent trails. Every year someone spots a large mature buck crossing that same soccer field, sometimes only hours after practice. Last year, while on stand, my wife came out to tell me I had a call from work. She did nuttin' to control her scent. Within a few minutes of her leaving and going back to the cabin, a nice three year old buck walked down the same trail as she had walked on, just minutes before. I'd assume he was staging on the hill behind me and watched her leave and assumed everything was safe, even tho her scent trail was still fresh. Back when we used to drive deer in the big swamps north of here, we used this tactic to drop off the standers. The standers would walk in with the drivers and if they stood still after being dropped off the deer paid them no heed as they would concentrate on those left walking in. Apparently.....deer cannot count.

At night, I get out of the stand as soon as shooting hours are over, UNLESS I have deer I can see, close to me. I see no advantage to staying in the stand till a time I cannot see or shoot, and create a bigger risk of spooking a deer that I cannot see. Most deer, especially mature bucks are most active after dark. That tells me staying in stand after dark means traveling when they are most likely to be active. Getting out when I can still see where I am going without the aid of a light, making less noise in the process, while traveling when they are less likely to be active, makes more sense to me. I see no advantage from darkness. Now......... heavy fog or snow is different. Deer are at just as much of a disadvantage then as we are.

 

[beeenbag]

Some anecdotal evidence right here. Taken 15 minutes ago, I’m posting from my deer stand right now.

No scent blocker or scent cover at all, grabbed my clothes out of the closet and headed to the woods. Had a chew of Copenhagen long cut in my mouth at the time. I literally did absolutely nothing to attempt to mitigate my scent as I always hunt the wind.

Anyone that gives me crap over the crossbow can eat a tube steak. It’s muzzle loading season and I still took a string.

Less than 15 yards from the base of my stand.

(I let this one walk by the way)

 

[243winxb]

CWD prevention- Avoid using doe urine as a lure.

This may include any product from deer as a lure?