How scent free...

[bogwalker]

How far do you go to eliminate your scent?

Some Native American hunters would not eat meat for several weeks before the hunt because carnivores/omnivores emit a smell that differs from herbivores.

[mrklean]

haha i spray myself down before and when i get in the stand been working for me so far

[BobT]

We do nothing and in fact, I'll even bring a cigar or two along. Haven't had any problems at all. In fact, our success rate for the area we hunt is about double what the records show for average hunter success for the area. In my experience, scent by itself plays little role.

[Bear55]

I am actually going the other way this year, don't care about eliminating my scent and hunting the wind. Scent elimination can help you but it won't fool a mature buck. I am also saving a lot of time and $$$ that I am putting to better use elsewhere.

I must say it has kind of be refreshing to go into the woods smelly again. Actual hunting is much more fun then whole scent control thing which can be more like a job at times. It also makes me think much harder about how I want to setup in a specific area.

Don't get me wrong scent control can be a great tool, I will probably still use it from time to time but don't use it as a crutch.

[Finlander]

I would do everything possible to de-oderize yourself, your body, your clothes, boots, your gun, fanny packs, and anything you bring in the woods.

The main thing to do is to be downwind of the deer when they approach you and not to leave any scent from your walk into your stand site. So keep those boots and pants scent free for sure. So spray down with a scent eliminator and use alot.

Also try to get into a high treestand so your sent doesn't go to the ground right away. And if you eat in your stand try to eat something that doesn't smell at all.

Try eating apples as they eliminate bad breath.

Good Luck!

[madbomber10]

I do spray down and am careful going in and out. However, I think the wind is by far the most important thing to consider. My dad smokes like a chimney and drinks pepsi like its going out of style and has numerous large bucks to his credit. Oh yeah, being a good shot never hurts when you have those 4 seconds to make your season great!

[TruthWalleyes]

My father always taught me to play the wind, and while i was growing up around him i do not ever recall him even discussing removing the scent from his clothes. I've never paid for any scent eliminating stuff (and hate that i cannot find hunting clothess that don't say "scent lok"...think that stuff is 2x the price and a total joke.....IMO, you can buy a whole bunch of scent killer, special clothes, the whole gammet, or a pack of cigs.

[Musky Buck]

I'm with Bear again, geez bear, I can hike through 1/2 mile of swamp water with waders and if a deer crosses my path once to the poplar island they peg my tracks instantly, my theory is if a big buck is coming he'll hopefully be shot before he hits my boot tracks, problem happens when he's trailing a doe and she gets nervous before he comes out. But, having so many deer hit my tracks and watching them go to high alert, every so often more so on a windy day or if it's a spooked deer they will blow over my tracks, but deer milling along on there own nail me. I'm saving any scent dollars and putting them into our beer fund. Thing is I've taken 28 deer in 28 years and have barely tried any scent products so if I started using scent would I be doing better, maybe ?

[BobT]

Quote:

not to leave any scent from your walk into your stand site.

That's not even possible. No matter what you do, you'll always leave a trace behind and with olfactory lobes 20x more efficient than ours, they can smell it.

I can't begin to count how many times I've found deer tracks on top of mine within hours or even minutes of passing. I believe that scent alerts them to the presence of something but until they see or hear something to go along with it, they don't get too alarmed. They might know you're in the area but they aren't freaking out about it.

[bogwalker]

I think you have to play the game where you are. Some areas the deer are very sensitive to human intrusion and other places not as much. If what you are doing works where you hunt you are doing it right. If you are not satisfied with your success try something else. Good luck all!

[creepworm]

You are right on bogwalker. Where I hunt it is mostly pastures and they ride horses all around every day and if deer were real concerned with human scent, they would not be able to go anywhere.

[WingDing2]

The Biggest Buck I have ever shot, was taken after having a juicy cheeseburger in town that was covered in onions and I slipped back into the stand, lite up a smoke and all I saw were antlers coming through the woods, he never even knew I was there....even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in awhile.

[MUSKY18]

That's not even possible. No matter what you do, you'll always leave a trace behind and with olfactory lobes 20x more efficient than ours, they can smell it.

I can't begin to count how many times I've found deer tracks on top of mine within hours or even minutes of passing. I believe that scent alerts them to the presence of something but until they see or hear something to go along with it, they don't get too alarmed. They might know you're in the area but they aren't freaking out about it.

I agree with you totally BobT! I do spary Scent Killer on me, just to help a bit. I walk right down one of the main trails when going into my stand and have had deer walk right down the trail I came in on. Don't know if the scent killer was that effective, but I don't think it kills ALL of my scent. Still, they browsed a bit and walked right down the trail. Not a care in the world...........

[matchset]

i figure that if you don't try to be scent free; how many deer are you NOT seeing (that u should be)?

[BobT]

One will never know. On the other hand. Deer are curious creatures. If you remove all traces of your scent, how many deer are YOU not seeing that you should be?

Bear in mind, our success comes from an area where deer are not accustomed to human scent, which is quite the opposite of the area described by creepworm. We are a minimum of 2 miles from the nearest human contact and the next human contact to our north is somewhere in the vicinity of about 15-20 miles through thick forest and swamp.

I think too often we think deer think like us but truth is we are clueless about what a deer really thinks, if it even thinks at all. They are creatures that react on instinct and habit. Does leaving a human scent trail repulse deer or attract them? In my 35 years of hunting and working in the forest I have yet to be able to answer that question. One day they seem alarmed by human scent and human activity and the next day they seem drawn to it. Go figure.

[Steve Foss]

One will never know. On the other hand. Deer are curious creatures. If you remove all traces of your scent, how many deer are YOU not seeing that you should be?

Bear in mind, our success comes from an area where deer are not accustomed to human scent, which is quite the opposite of the area described by creepworm. We are a minimum of 2 miles from the nearest human contact and the next human contact to our north is somewhere in the vicinity of about 15-20 miles through thick forest and swamp.

I think too often we think deer think like us but truth is we are clueless about what a deer really thinks, if it even thinks at all. They are creatures that react on instinct and habit. Does leaving a human scent trail repulse deer or attract them? In my 35 years of hunting and working in the forest I have yet to be able to answer that question. One day they seem alarmed by human scent and human activity and the next day they seem drawn to it. Go figure.

+1!

[Cheetah]

I try to pay close attention to the wind, no magical formulas or gimmick clothing.

[Bear55]

i figure that if you don't try to be scent free; how many deer are you NOT seeing (that u should be)?

For me it depends what you are after, if you are just after any old deer by all means go scent free and cover yourself in doe pee. You will fool plenty of young does and bucks.

Now if you are after a big buck 3.5+ or older, or if you have an old doe in the area they will bust you every time. The is no doubt going scent free can help you but if that older deer catches your scent or your trail in the jig is up. I use to be a scent control fanatic, the older deer would sniff me out every time. Now I don't bother as much with scent control but there is a time and a place for it. For example if you are hunting the same area all season long or same stand many times over a season you probably should go clean. I move around a lot to keep the hunting pressure down, those bucks that move through the area at night know you have been in there no matter how scent free you are and they adjust their routine accordingly.

[BobT]

I think the most significant aspect of scent is that it alerts the deer to the presence or former presence of something. They may not know what it is but they know there’s something different about their surroundings and this raises their level of awareness. Having entered that heightened sensual zone does not necessarily mean they are living on edge and ready to hit the high road at the drop of a pin. What it does mean is that they are paying a little closer attention to their surroundings and if they see or hear something that doesn’t feel right, they’ll leave but in the mean time they are going about business as usual.

Think of it this way. You’ve been sitting in your fish house for about an hour and haven’t had any action at all. Suddenly your flasher begins to light up with red bars indicating there are suspended objects in the water. What happens to your senses? You go into a heightened sense of awareness. You’re not quite sitting on pins and needles but you are paying a little more attention to how your rod feels in your hand and you’re watching that flasher with a little more interest. That’s sort of how I believe a deer reacts to scent.

Take it a step further. Now that the deer has scented you, what’s next? Back to our fishing scenario. Your flasher has alerted you to the presence of the fish and so you’ve been a little more conscious of what’s going on down the hole but not overly excited. You continue working your rod and then you feel a nibble. What happens to your level of awareness now? It goes right to the top! Now your attention is focused directly on that rod, the flasher, and the feel of the rod as you prepare for your next step - to set that hook. Everything else in your life comes to a halt. That’s similar to how I believe the deer feels when it hears you or spots you. He’s on the edge in anticipation of the next step – to flee. Everything else in his life comes to a halt.

There’s only one thing left that is needed - confirmation. For us in that fish house it’s another tap on the lure and we react by setting the hook. For the deer it will be to identify what it smelled. It can be a gust of wind to reinforce his olfactory lobes with another strong whiff of your scent, a movement, or a sound and then he’s outa there.

Many times we hear a deer take off and think it ran simply because it smelled us. Maybe, maybe not. To think it didn't see or hear us is, in my opinion, overconfident. I don’t believe that happens very often. I believe in most cases they need more than scent alone to trigger the instinct to flee. If it didn’t they would go bananas fleeing from every little sound, smell, or movement they encounter. Besides, if they were close enough for us to hear them, there's a good chance they were close enough to see or hear us.

That isn’t to say that they may not nonchalantly move to avoid us or even sneak in to check us out when they scent us. I’ve experienced both scenarios where I saw them sneaking around me or heard them sneaking up on me one step at a time. We have to remember that their senses are many times more powerful and efficient than ours. When we think we see movement, they saw it a long time ago. When we think we smelled something, they smelled it long before. When we think we heard grass shuffle as someone walks by, they heard it long before.

Their ability to hear and pick out movement is amazing. They can hear us move from a distance when we can’t even hear ourselves. I was standing four rows into a field of dry corn on a windy day with corn leaves rustling loudly and had a grazing deer snap to attention from 30 yards away when my bow string hissed against a pulley so lightly that I barely heard it even though the pulley was less than 6” from my ear. That deer knew precisely where that sound came from because it looked straight at me and stared looking for what made the noise. I froze dead still and eventually it returned to grazing. I had a buck scent me and stop about 15 yards away only to take off simply because I moved my leg ever so slightly. I was wearing wool pants and my stand was decorated with thick balsam bows to hide my body plus I was sitting with my back against a tree and the deer was behind me so the tree hid my body core. I don’t know if he saw the movement of my leg or heard my pants rustle but he sensed something. I know I didn’t hear my pants. Could have heard me breathing for all I know.

Their sense of smell is truly amazing. Earlier I mentioned about how I often find deer tracks in mine. Another thing I noticed about that is they are usually following me! How do they know which direction I was moving? They obvious are not only able to pick up our scent from our footprints but they must be able to tell which direction is strongest indicating direction of travel. The newer steps must have a stronger odor and they are able to distinguish that minute difference. That’s a fine-tuned sense of smell! Ever notice how a dog knows which way a pheasant ran? That’s purely amazing and beyond my imagination.

In the end I can see where sometimes reducing our scent footprint might improve our chances because it could get the deer a little closer to us before it becomes too aware of our presence but knowing that when they come across my trail they often follow my path it could be just as often that leaving a scent behind actually improves one’s chances once in a while too. Who knows? It’s a personal choice which option we choose I guess.

[bogwalker]

Mature deer do not fear the known. Human scent where they expect it does not surprise them so they do not fear it there. They do fear surprises and the unknown. They go out of their way to avoid surprises like places there should be no human scent and now there is human scent. Young deer on the other hand are curious to the point of being careless. Scent control is one factor you can use to your advantage but it is not enough on it's own.

[96trigger]

It depends on where you hunt. In the bluff country, the deer can seemingly come from any direction. If this is the case, you need to be as scent free as possible. Also, if you are bowhunting, you need to be close, and as scent free as possible. It seems like a deer needs to be within 50 yards and a stiff wind before I have ever seen a deer start acting suspicious. As soon as the scent leaves your body and the wind takes it, it is starting to lose its power and diffuse throughout the atmosphere. 100 yards away, the deer really should not smell you. If I am hunting with a rifle, that is probably close enough, and I wouldn't need to be all that scent free. often, with the curve of the bluffs and rolling terrain, we don't see the deer until its within 50 yards, and scent elimination is a good idea.

I don't think deer apply any association to cigarettes, cigars, and smoke, to humans. Way too many people shoot deer after lighting up. I don't smoke, but think it actually can act as a cover scent for some people.

[Bear55]

. 100 yards away, the deer really should not smell you.

I don't think deer apply any association to cigarettes, cigars, and smoke, to humans. Way too many people shoot deer after lighting up. I don't smoke, but think it actually can act as a cover scent for some people.

I have to disagree with the 100 yards thing, I think deer can smell much much further then that. I have had bucks bust me (full scent control) from 200 yard + away. I also remember reading a Deer and Deer hunting article, Mr Alsheimer's had a hot doe in his penned study area, bucks from outside the penned area were downwind 400+m yards away trying to get into his study area.

I half agree on the smoke thing, the probably don't fear just smoke but a person smoking is going to give off scent and they clearly have the ability to smell many different things at one time. It wouldn't take long for a buck to associate smoke with humans if he had experienced it a few times.

[Bear55]

Just one more tid-bit to add. I also believe a deer can smell how far away something is or how fresh the scent is. Sometimes I see deer crossing my trail in (clean rubber boots) and they get a little un-easy but don't spook. Other times they catch a fresh trail and are on high alert. Again most of my scent stuff is talking about mature bucks/does.

[96trigger]

Funny, when I get busted, it's usually just outside of bowrange. I have had many, many more deer bust my scent trail coming in than bust me sitting in a tree.

[iland99]

I half agree on the smoke thing, the probably don't fear just smoke but a person smoking is going to give off scent and they clearly have the ability to smell many different things at one time. It wouldn't take long for a buck to associate smoke with humans if he had experienced it a few times.

I don't smoke, but do have a wood stove in my stand. I've shot deer directly downwind of the smoking stove pipe. It doesn't bother them at all where I hunt. Of course, most of the people in the area I hunt heat their homes with outdoor wood stoves, so the deer are used to it.