Probably a silly question...but...here goes

[wannafish2]

So, I finally invested in some of those expensive carbon scent eliminating clothes last year and I mean $$$ invested. Anyway, my question is, I figure I'm not supposed to spray them with cover scent right? I mean, won't the carbon be wasted on eliminating the cover scent? I should only spray down my boots, gloves, hat and exposed skin? I know this is probably a silly question, but try not to make fun of me asking...lol Thanks!

[Archerysniper]

It's not a silly question, the carbon clothing will absorb the cover scent and keep it from absorbing you human scent. When I used carbon clothing I would keep it separate from my other clothes. I would spry down with scent killer and cover scent my boots and hat and add a earth scent wafer to my hat.

[surewood]

What if you used the carbon based scent killer sprays? Seems you'd just be recharging your clothing.

[Dave S]

What if you used the carbon based scent killer sprays? Seems you'd just be recharging your clothing.

I don't recall where I've seen it but I've heard that once the clothing with the "activated carbon" is run through a wash cycle, the benefits are gone. In other words, the carbon activated stuff is nothing more than a marketing ploy for a nice set of camo.

You can use all the cover scent you want but your body expells enough natural scent that any deer can still smell you IMO. I'm not saying the scents won't help, but there's no guarantee. I know of people who smoke in their tree stand and some will go so far as emptying their bladder below their stand and are still successful.

[Archerysniper]

I dont buy into the carbon clothes anymore either, I haven't bought any for 5 years or more.

[deerminator]

Did you see the one carbon clothing manufacturer that loks in scent : )won the latest stage of their ongoing lawsuit? The appeals court lifted the injunction and dismissed the plantiffs core allegations regarding the clothing's ability to control scent. Just found it interesting. I don't own any but may buy some in the future. Who knows. Thanks for the information in this post.

[mrklean]

play the wind and keep your cloths clean and your fine

[Bear55]

I don't even keep my clothes clean or shower any more. Keeping clean can help you get on deer but you are not going to fool a mature buck IMO.

[surewood]

Never got into the carbon clothing. never believed it myself. I wash my clothes, spray down, and shower with scent free products. Then play the wind and hope for the best.

[bigbucks]

Never got into the carbon clothing. never believed it myself. I wash my clothes, spray down, and shower with scent free products. Then play the wind and hope for the best.

+1

[RangerJack]

I don't even keep my clothes clean or shower any more. Keeping clean can help you get on deer but you are not going to fool a mature buck IMO.

Just have to hope you come a cross a h0rny mature buck...then it might not smell you

[goblueM]

+1 to the anti-scent elimination guys on here (and you, surewood, love the Aldo Leopold quote)

even in the best scent-killing outfit there is, they can still smell you. been proven many a time, even by mythbusters and field and stream

[Bear55]

Right on goBlue, I have been showered, had washed clothes, carbon'd up, sprayed down and still been busted by a mature bucks. You can fool all the does and young bucks you want by reducing your scent but if you want to shoot a big one you need to have the wind in your favor. You pay much more attention to detail when you go in after a big buck and you know you stink. Wind, thermals, terrain all come into play, the setup has to be just about perfect to get a shot with your bow.

[archerystud]

My understanding was that a dryer doesn't get hot enough to recharge the carbon in them for you. So if they have been sitting on a store shelf for 3 months, how much scent have they already absorbed???

I used to think they worked well but I think it had more to do with me washing them and keeping the clothes as scent free as possible. I still use my old carbon clothing but I won't buy any new stuff.

[Archerysniper]

My understanding was that a dryer doesn't get hot enough to recharge the carbon in them for you.

+1000 I just get naked in the field and put my hunting clothes on and when I get back change out of them before I get into the truck.

[Farley]

The way I look at it there is no way to get rid of\mask all your stink. But if you are religous\OCD about scent control you may be able to fool a buck into thinking you are further away because the scent isnt as strong as it would be if you didnt do any scent control at all.

Rubber boots are the best thing I've bought for scent control IMO, I've had deer walk right over my trail when using rubber boots and have had them bust me when not using them.

[Froggy4371]

Archerysniper,

I agree with you 100%. I get to the woods strip down naked (almost) and put my clothes on that are in the hunting box and when I am done hunting I strip down again and put them back in the box. I box never leaves my truck and all my boots/shirt/pants/jackets and scent killer spray all stay in there.

Has worked for me!

Froggy

[Bear55]

You guys are reminding me of all the extra work I don't miss.

Hey if you think it helps I say go for it, you really aren't hurting anything. I will say scouting and finding new areas to hunt has put me on far more mature deer than scent control ever has.

[Finlander]

I always hunt a stand that will be downwind of any aproaching deer and my main concern about scent is your walk into the stand that will make or break your hunt.

I try not to touch anything on my walk in and make an extra effort to have my high top rubber boots as scent free as possible. The boots can leave alot of scent so be sure to eliminate and cover up your boots!

[deerminator]

This is all very interesting. The regeneration issue is a good point and the loss of effectiveness by the time its been sitting on the store shelf for months. I would agree most probably go overboard on the scent control versus just playing the wind. I used to keep my clothes in big ziplock bags in my hunting closet. Now I just keep the door shut and have an open box of baking soda in there to help absorb anything too offensive.

I do buy the scent killer spray, but I mainly use it for two purposes, to spray down my rubber boots before I walk into my hunting spot and to spray down my clothes and hang them out on the line if not washing them afterward. I've found the store bought spray is really not any more expensive than homemade if you get it on sale each fall and easier to use. And I wonder if won't just limit this routine to spraying down my boots next year. I would agree, it's the walk in more than anything that might bust you versus scent control on the stand or blind if you're playing the wind right. Good luck guys, whatever you do or don't do for scent control.

[Bear55]

I'm not even sure rubber boots help all that much either. We had a good discussion on here last year and a few guys kept getting busted on their entrance trail. A lot of it came down to how wet the ground was (holding scent) or how windy it was that day. I read a good article one day about how a dog would track an animal, what I found most interesting was the dog would not track the actual footsteps of the animal but anywhere from a few to 10 feet downwind of the animal. Basically whatever they were tracking was shedding cells and other scent molecules and they were landing downwind. So if you were walking to your stand it's probably not the boots that are giving you away if they are clean, it's the cells and other molecules falling off of you. Now even if you a clean I don't know that you can control this kind of scent shedding. I also think groud disturbances like say walking through mud could kick up plenty of scent to let a deer know you were there.

Again a lot could depend on the evnironmental conditions around you, if its dry and wind they might not pick up your scent because it was scattered and not sticking to the ground. However if it is wet and fairly calm out I think they will bust you every time.

[401TE]

To answer the original question, do not use cover scent on your carbon clothing. As others have said, put it on your boots or on a scent wick tied to a string and drag it.

Regarding the effectiveness of carbon clothing...the only thing I'll say is I've been using it religiously for the last 9 years with a strict scent proofing procedure. I used a similar procedure with non-carbon camo prior to buying some carbon stuff. With my old stuff I'd get winded a number of times a year. Since I bought carbon clothing I've been winded a total of 3 times that I know about...and two were due to new boots.

[wannafish2]

Wow! Alot of info from everyone. I won't spray a cover on my carbon clothes, I will still activate them in the dryer (as much as I can) and wear them. I will also make sure I keep doing the rest of my routine...shower with scent killer, scent free deodorant, etc. Since this is only my 2nd bow season, I don't have alot of history to draw from, but I can say this...after buying my carbon clothes and using them last season I had 2 instances where deer bedded down within 20 yards, the first was a single doe, the 2nd time was a doe and 2 fawns and one of the fawns was within 10 yards of me. Could be he was the stupidest button buck ever though for all I know.

I did get busted once...and I have no idea what busted me, but had a deer blow super loud a few times - I never saw it. It didn't sound like it was on my trail, but was on the downwind side of my walk in.

I guess I just won't put all my hunting eggs in the carbon basket...

GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE ARCHERS OUT THERE!! OPENER IS NEAR!!

Thanks to all of you for the info. See you in the woods.