My scent control …

[Robhuntandfish]

3 minutes ago, grampy said:

My camo is a mish-mash of different patterns and ages. Some decades old. Some bought this year. I use what the weather dictates. And is most comfortable. I know some of the younger guys I hunt with, pay hundreds of dollars for just a jacket? And they compete to see who is the current fashionista of the woods.......lol

Got out of the truck one time and Corey says..."what the hell?  I can't hunt with you.  You've got real tree pants on and a mossy oak jacket!  We will look like idiots". Lol

My take on camo is again....Why wouldn't you?  Have to wear something out there. Why not camo?  

Edited October 27, 2023 by Robhuntandfish

[KungFu Tolkien]

1 hour ago, dbHunterNY said:

scentlok is very much still sold and i use it all the time. you also will find me always carrying one of those wind checker puff bottles full of talc powder and watching the leaves fall and checking as the air cools or warms throughout the sit. i don't expect it to keep me from getting busted but in some cases it's bought me some time.

i have some baselayers too. I wear it as part of my layering, I don't think it hurts but i also don't think its essential either. You should try the milkweed stuff, doesn't get clogged or clumpy.

1 hour ago, Buckmaster7600 said:

Can’t answer from him but for me if a deer was downwind they still smelled me. Like DB I grew up on a farm where an average sit was seeing 20-30 deer. There some that don’t see those numbers in a year. That gave me a lot of opportunities to try different things against a deers senses. It’s obviously not scientific but when I was going through all that it took to be scent free I saw zero difference in a deer not smelling me when they were down wind. I also stopped a little at a time and nothing changed as parts of the system were dropped. Similar situation is why I quit wearing camo, I went from head to toe with face paint. To comfortable clothes.

Some of these responses about playing the wind seem to imply that those who use scent control don't play the wind. It is absolutely both. I've been busted many times doing my whole scent free thing and i've also just a week ago had a bunch of deer downwind of me not get spooked. To me it's like, you're probably going to get busted if the wind swirls and you're wearing axe body wash and you might get busted if you aren't. just like rob said, it's an odds thing.

[KungFu Tolkien]

28 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Agree on the wind but I find good camo to be amazing. Open "breakup" type patterns like predator. Also the better patterns come on better quality outfits in general so I dont mind the cost (to a point)

oh man you just brought camo into this thread. there are some guys whose heads are going to explode. I wear camo the same as the next guy and agree with you on open patterns, but what I buy these days is far more influenced on comfort and what will keep me in the woods more than a pattern being hocked at me.

It is funny that the same guy who doesn't care about scent doesn't wear camo either. This old farmer guy who has his spot and deer patterned I think would fail miserably if you dropped him onto public land. Just my .02.

[KungFu Tolkien]

15 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

Got out of the truck one time and Corey says..."what the hell?  I can't hunt with you.  You've got real tree pants on and a mossy oak jacket!  We will look like idiots". Lol

My take on camo is again....Why wouldn't you?  Have to wear something out there. Why not camo?  

stuff designed for hunters that is wind blocking, dwr treated, fleece/softshell for noise reduction and made to layer and has all the right pockets in the right spots just happens to be camo. I guess some brands you can buy in like olive and tan flat colors, but not at a cost savings and I know I'm not buying tan like the western guys wear. I'll get my ass shot.

Not to mention, i'm hiding from the deer just as much as I am from people as I have a spot near a highway and don't need the hassle.

[518BowSlayer]

1 hour ago, KungFu Tolkien said:

followup. How do you know it didn't make a difference?

When you see deer downwind of you and they sniff the air and run away... pretty good indicator that your scent control didn't work 

[Buckmaster7600]

4 hours ago, KungFu Tolkien said:

i have some baselayers too. I wear it as part of my layering, I don't think it hurts but i also don't think its essential either. You should try the milkweed stuff, doesn't get clogged or clumpy.

Some of these responses about playing the wind seem to imply that those who use scent control don't play the wind. It is absolutely both. I've been busted many times doing my whole scent free thing and i've also just a week ago had a bunch of deer downwind of me not get spooked. To me it's like, you're probably going to get busted if the wind swirls and you're wearing axe body wash and you might get busted if you aren't. just like rob said, it's an odds thing.

I wasn’t at all implying that it was a one or the other thing. To be honest hunting how/where I hunt there is no such thing as a steady wind unless it’s blowing 30+MPH,  I am always cognizant of the wind at that moment but wind direction isn’t a determining factor for where I hunt. I had a guide in Maine tell me once “if you don’t like the wind wait 5 minutes and it will be 180 the other direction.” It’s the same in the Adirondacks. Between the mountains, the edges and the thermals it just never stays steady in a direction. 
 

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Buckmaster7600

[Wolc123]

When it comes to scent control, I do a few things that seem to help, but mostly rely on the wind. 

Other stuff, that seems to help, is:

1) a little Evercalm, wiped on the heel of each boot, every couple hundred yards, during walk in. 
 

2) getting downwind of the deer in closed cab (field car or regular truck or car), not an open atv, tractor or side by side, before walk in.  

[Larry]

Just to let you all know when I do all day sits I only climb down to pee and take a dump and I don't do it by my stand so one of you guys has a surprise under their stand that's what I call scent control 

[ZAG]

When all else fails I rub evercalm in my cracks and wash my clothes by pouring scrape mate in the washing machine 😂

[Cabin Fever]

Sounds easy to just say hunt the wind, but keep in mind how it sometimes shifts directions and swirls. It’s no bother to me to try to keep things as scent free as possible to help my odds. Like @Robhuntandfish mentioned before, you gotta use soap, shampoo, and detergent anyways, so what’s the big deal about using scent free? You don’t need to spend top dollar for the buck on the bottle stuff either.  I also use an ozone bag that I nuke my camo in after every couple of hunts, that I am convinced helps. I keep my boots in a garbage bag at all times too instead of just sitting in the garage, collecting odors.

[Caveman]

I showed in Irish Spring, don't wash my clothes, drink coffee in the car while wearing my camo, etc. 

 

But I also don't see or shoot many deer, so I wouldn't recommend you do what I do.

[Nomad]

Forgive me I haven’t read any responses yet . I’m not saying what I do is better ,or what others do is worse . I’m a simple hunter , I have zero cameras out, I don’t scout ,I haven’t moved a stand in years ,I don’t use any calls, lures , rattle bags . I just keep it simple .

Since 1988 I’ve owned three bows and the only reason I bought the third is because I could no longer draw number two , I have one pin and it’s set at 20 yards , one time in 35 years I took a shot over 20 that was perhaps 20 years ago ,a doe who didnt run and went back to feeding  till she dropped . My goal is not to be a good shot at 45 yards , but to be great at getting deer to walk by at 12-15 yards. 
 

I’ve never held a range finder and it seems odd to me a bow hunter would need one ,i mean If you can’t judge  20,30 yards etc to one or two yards you need more work on basic hunting skills . Just my opinion, I’ve spent decades guessing distance as I walked the dog ,or around the shipping dock where I worked when I first picked up a bow . That’s a good story a number of us gun hunters in the factory all bought bows one  year , I was the only one to kill a deer , that really pissed off a couple guys, and I was hooked ! Lol 

i always thought All the scent control Products in the world won’t work ,until, I can hold my breath for a few hours .

 

That’s all good hunting fellas .

[mowin]

33 minutes ago, Nomad said:

Forgive me I haven’t read any responses yet . I’m not saying what I do is better ,or what others do is worse . I’m a simple hunter , I have zero cameras out, I don’t scout ,I haven’t moved a stand in years ,I don’t use any calls, lures , rattle bags . I just keep it simple .

Since 1988 I’ve owned three bows and the only reason I bought the third is because I could no longer draw number two , I have one pin and it’s set at 20 yards , one time in 35 years I took a shot over 20 that was perhaps 20 years ago ,a doe who didnt run and went back to feeding  till she dropped . My goal is not to be a good shot at 45 yards , but to be great at getting deer to walk by at 12-15 yards. 
 

I’ve never held a range finder and it seems odd to me a bow hunter would need one ,i mean If you can’t judge  20,30 yards etc to one or two yards you need more work on basic hunting skills . Just my opinion, I’ve spent decades guessing distance as I walked the dog ,or around the shipping dock where I worked when I first picked up a bow . That’s a good story a number of us gun hunters in the factory all bought bows one  year , I was the only one to kill a deer , that really pissed off a couple guys, and I was hooked ! Lol 

i always thought All the scent control Products in the world won’t work ,until, I can hold my breath for a few hours .

 

That’s all good hunting fellas .

You pretty much described me. 

[KungFu Tolkien]

On 10/28/2023 at 8:56 PM, Nomad said:

Forgive me I haven’t read any responses yet . I’m not saying what I do is better ,or what others do is worse . I’m a simple hunter , I have zero cameras out, I don’t scout ,I haven’t moved a stand in years ,I don’t use any calls, lures , rattle bags . I just keep it simple .

Since 1988 I’ve owned three bows and the only reason I bought the third is because I could no longer draw number two , I have one pin and it’s set at 20 yards , one time in 35 years I took a shot over 20 that was perhaps 20 years ago ,a doe who didnt run and went back to feeding  till she dropped . My goal is not to be a good shot at 45 yards , but to be great at getting deer to walk by at 12-15 yards. 
 

I’ve never held a range finder and it seems odd to me a bow hunter would need one ,i mean If you can’t judge  20,30 yards etc to one or two yards you need more work on basic hunting skills . Just my opinion, I’ve spent decades guessing distance as I walked the dog ,or around the shipping dock where I worked when I first picked up a bow . That’s a good story a number of us gun hunters in the factory all bought bows one  year , I was the only one to kill a deer , that really pissed off a couple guys, and I was hooked ! Lol 

i always thought All the scent control Products in the world won’t work ,until, I can hold my breath for a few hours .

 

That’s all good hunting fellas .

 

On 10/28/2023 at 9:30 PM, mowin said:

You pretty much described me. 

I appreciate these posts. That was the kind of insight I was looking for. Reminds me that we all hunt differently and for different reasons and the what we're willing to sacrifice, spend, do is all different. Thanks.

[KungFu Tolkien]

On 10/27/2023 at 12:38 PM, 518BowSlayer said:

When you see deer downwind of you and they sniff the air and run away... pretty good indicator that your scent control didn't work 

I'd like to take a stab at this from the other angle than Nomad took on scent control. If we all agree there is no real possible way to eliminate odor, but there is a way to reduce it, I'll throw out some things I do. Some of these are obsessive yes, but I don't really feel like after years of doing them, that any are truly inconvenient.

I never wear my outer layers or boots anywhere outside of the woods. I drive to my place with different shoes on. All my outer layers, bags and gear stay in my totes. I spray down before I walk in, and even then they cut my tracks. I clean my truck before the season and after I've had kids in there. Not a crazy clean, but vac and spray down with scent eliminator. No chemical cleaning stuff. I have an ozone generator in my truck that I turn on occasionally. I have the wife use scent free detergent and softener on the bed sheets and the towels i dry off with. What good is scent free soap if you dry off with a towel covered in lavender scent? When I'm not hunting I don't use buck on bottle stuff, but I wash with scent free soaps. I have an ozone generator that i use on my layers between hunts. Wash baselayers every 4 sits.

I do however pee off the stand and drink coffee before hand and snack in the stand. That's where I draw the line.