Scent control on extended hunts

[FishingWebGuy]

We will be camping for our hunts this year up to 5 days. That means:

1. No showers

2. No freshly washed cloths

I've done a lot of reading about people changing into hunting clothes when they get out of their truck, keeping camo in plastics bins, etc. None of this is going to happen while camping. Everything is going to smell like BO and campfire. I don't have 5 days worth of camo to wear a fresh set every day.

I'm guessing we just have to suck it up and pay that much more attention to the wind. I know when I see images like this

I have to believe he wasn't spraying down with scent killer and playing the wind was the most important factor.

I would imagine Elk camps out West are very similar when packing in. Same camo every day and no showers. Any strategies to share?

[Stratosman]

Keep yourself clean, wash nightly in scent free soap, keep clothes outside of tent if you can keep them dry.

No matter where you hunt you need to play the wind anyway.

Most of all good luck.

[FishingWebGuy]

Keep yourself clean, wash nightly in scent free soap, keep clothes outside of tent if you can keep them dry.

No matter where you hunt you need to play the wind anyway.

Most of all good luck.

That gives me a good idea. I'll setup a clothes line with a fly over it so I can hang clothes out to breath over night. They'll be fresh as the forest in the morning.

[Stratosman]

Or stuff them all in a bag with pine needles and whatever else is laying on the forest floor.

[JacobMHD]

Let them breathe at night and try to keep them fairly clean and dry during the day and you should be ok.

[DonBo]

I shower everyday while hunting from a camp. Get a shower bag, warm some water from the creek, hang it in a handy tree and take your shower. With hot water in the bag you can shower outside even when it gets very cold. There are plenty of scent free wipes available to use between showers that really help.

Hang your hunting clothes (all of them, right down to your long underwear) outside when not wearing them. Use your scent killer spray just before getting to your stand.

No, you won't be able to stay totaly scent free, but it doesn't take much to stay pretty clean.

I'm sure even Fred Bear washed up in plenty of back country streams at every opportunity.

[FishingWebGuy]

I shower everyday while hunting from a camp. Get a shower bag, warm some water from the creek, hang it in a handy tree and take your shower. With hot water in the bag you can shower outside even when it gets very cold. There are plenty of scent free wipes available to use between showers that really help...

Yea, I've been trying to think up a way to dig a little drainage ditch from inside the tent so we could hang the shower bag in there and not make a mess. A little ditch with a small tarp over it should work. Then showers on 10, 20, 30, and 40 degree mornings would be possible when it's 70 in the tent.

[Bear55]

Like others have said shower if you can, hang clothes outside, and use a lot of scent killer. You won't be as clean but I belive any extra bit can help.

Then you will just have to hunt a little more old school, playing the wind will be the most important. Also be sure to keep your boots as scent free as possible and try not to touch any braches on your way into your stand. Your odor can blow away but often times the deer will smeel your trail in or anything you touch on the way in. Also try and climb a little higher up in the tree so your scent has a chance to float above the deer. I like to be at least 20 feet up, sometimes a little higher depending on the situation.

[FishingWebGuy]

Like others have said shower if you can, hang clothes outside, and use a lot of scent killer. You won't be as clean but I belive any extra bit can help.

Then you will just have to hunt a little more old school, playing the wind will be the most important. Also be sure to keep your boots as scent free as possible and try not to touch any braches on your way into your stand. Your odor can blow away but often times the deer will smeel your trail in or anything you touch on the way in. Also try and climb a little higher up in the tree so your scent has a chance to float above the deer. I like to be at least 20 feet up, sometimes a little higher depending on the situation.

We have to walk through a swampy area on our way to many of our spots. It looks like rain up there most of next week so I don't imagine it will dry out. Anyhow breaking through the crust of the mud sure lets out a nasty methane smell. Maybe that will help mask me

[BRULEDRIFTER]

The Balsam Fir should become your best friend when hunting up north! I always break off a few branches and give myself a full rub down multiple times a day.

Take along some sent free wipes, hang your cloths out at night, use sent spray and the forementioned conifer and you should be good to go!

Good luck! I'm literally trembling in anticipation at this point!

[charliepete]

At my deer shack there is no running water so I use a solar shower and I stick it in the microwave if it's too cold outside to warm it through the sun. You'd be surprised at how cold of weather you can take an outdoor shower in if the water is piping hot. I use mine outside well into November. Even though you are camping I'd have a set of clothes for sitting around camp and eating and another for hunting.

[Bear55]

Originally Posted By: Bear55

Like others have said shower if you can, hang clothes outside, and use a lot of scent killer. You won't be as clean but I belive any extra bit can help.

Then you will just have to hunt a little more old school, playing the wind will be the most important. Also be sure to keep your boots as scent free as possible and try not to touch any braches on your way into your stand. Your odor can blow away but often times the deer will smeel your trail in or anything you touch on the way in. Also try and climb a little higher up in the tree so your scent has a chance to float above the deer. I like to be at least 20 feet up, sometimes a little higher depending on the situation.

We have to walk through a swampy area on our way to many of our spots. It looks like rain up there most of next week so I don't imagine it will dry out. Anyhow breaking through the crust of the mud sure lets out a nasty methane smell. Maybe that will help mask me

That could actually backfire a little. I know another poster on this site has used waders to walk through a deep swamp, the deer would alwasy freeze when they crossed his path into the stand. They may have smelled the freshly kicked up swamp and thought danger might be near by.

Don't get me wrong these deer aren't rocket scentists but they have a keen sense of smell and will do what it takes to survive. Also remember that a mature deer is a different animal than the young deer. Many of us are waiting for a big buck so we take every precaution. The one thing to remember is that nothing is written in stone when it comes to deer hunting, there are no rules and anything can and will happen at any time so just be ready.

[MnMonarch]

When is your hunt? and where do you go? This sounds interesting.

[Wanderer]

That could actually backfire a little. I know another poster on this site has used waders to walk through a deep swamp, the deer would alwasy freeze when they crossed his path into the stand. They may have smelled the freshly kicked up swamp and thought danger might be near by.

That happened to me as well, without a doubt. I crossed the swamp in hip boots and continued hunting in them thinking it couldn't get any better n that.

I watch a doe and her fawns cross my track at about 30 yds and stop stone cold, take a couple quick looks and bolt back the way they came.

If I do cross swamps anymore, I change boots on the edge after I get out.

BTW, ever see the portable showers Cabela's sells. They work great if you have the room to pack one. It packs at about the same size and weight as a small tent.

And count me as another fan of the scent free wipes.