covering your scent.

[Boar]

Hello, I'm pretty new to bow hunting white tails and cant afford those expensive scent lock suits, I was wondering what measures you fellas go too to get as scent free as possible. I baith with scent killer soap use the same brand in arm pit deoderant and spray with scent eliminater prior to walking to stand, pretty much your basic details in trying to remain as stinkless as possible, storing clothes ect.. I would like to hear about personal tricks that also might help. What would anybody think about storing clothes in ash, I burn wood in the winter and we used to pour ash into laterines at pub. landings to absorb the odor and it does work for that, it is primarily charcoal. I took my first bow kill last season on a 200 lb bear (what a rush) now I want to concentrate on deer. Thanks later, boar

[walleyeking#8]

Depending on what kind of area you are hunting, I keep my hunting clothes in a oderless garbage bag and mix in a little corn leafs and ear corn along with a few different types of weeds found in the areas I hunt. Along with this, I keep my cover scents and my clothes in a large tote that is sealed all the time and is always stored in my truck box all season long. When I open the tote my clothes smell like earth scents and natural pine,oak,or deep woods smell. I have done this for about 5 years now and have had no trouble getting close to deer. One thing to remember that is more important than cover scent is wind direction. But you need to remember to take proper care of your clothes at the end of the season, because they will get moldy and full of mildew if left in the garbage bag until the next season. I also apply small quantities of cover scent to my hunting boots as I walk to my stand. The cover scents I use are the ones I find at walmart on the clearance shelf for about $.50 to a $1 each. They seem to do the job. Good luck hunting!

[BLACKJACK]

I'm still not sold on those scent-loc suits and cover-up sprays. You still have the odor from your hands, head, breath, etc. if the deer get downwind of you, you're busted. Even the rubber boots I think are overrated, early on I used to wear them, but then when I saw two deer stop dead on my trail, chucked the boots. I think that the key is the wind direction, approach your stand from downwind, plan your shots on the upwind side, don't hunt a stand if the wind direction is wrong, don't overhunt your stand. Again, the key is the wind!

[Finlander]

I put baking soda in a big plastic bag with my outer hunting clothes and shake the soda into the cloth. The baking soda absorbs odors
and eliminates them before they exit your clothing.
Works for me. I usually shoot 2 deer a year. One by bow and one by gun.
Had deer walk within 5 feet om me before he figured I was'nt a tree!

[metrojoe]

I think all that scent stuff may help to some degree. I use a scent killer spray before I head into stand, but if the wind is not in your favor your busted. I don't care what your wearing.

[Bushwacker]

I have a layer of acorns on the bottom of my storage tote. That along with scent begone( or whatever its called) seems to work a little bit. My grandpa, who shot over 100 deer in his life, used to chew grass during the archery season, he swore it made his farts smell like a deers--maybe something to that!

[huskminn]

I would check out Hogeye's link on another thread in this forum....very interesting.

Wind direction and thermal currents are all you need to concern yourself with, keeping clothes in the aforemention manners helps, but you could smell like a smoky bar and if the wind is in the right direction, it wouldn't matter.

[Boar]

Thanks fellas , I really appreciate it. I also think paying attention to what you eat and drink plays a big roll in your scent, like laying of the coffee and greasy food helps. If I pound the coffee in the morning boy do I reek. More natural foods will produce a cleaner smell. Thanks again for the input. Later, boar

[Riverratpete]

As I've gotten older I've become a little more superstitious about my deer hunting clothes and I've come to the realization that all that "scent lock" stuff is just a bunch of snake oil salesman stuff. I do wash my cloths in earth scented soap and store them in air bags when travelling, and I do use coon [PoorWordUsage] on my boots. With that being said, I have had to put down cigerettes to shoot deer at under 50 yards and have had deer walk to within 10 feet of me standing on the ground next to a tree. The only thing I can come up with is......wind direction plain and simple.

[Mayfly]

BOAR: The truth of the matter is that you will never eliminate your scent. If you realize this you will become a better hunter, Meaning, hunting accordingly. The wind can be your best friend and it can also be your worst enemy. I suggest becoming good friends. Use it in your advantage and be patient..Its a long season. Only hunt areas and stands which are favorable according to the wind.

Tree stand height is also another important aspect to masking your scent. The higher you are willing to go and can go the better your chances of not being detected.

So beyond all the precautions of masking your scent ( Washing clothes, isolating clothes, Scent maskers, and so forth)concentrate on wind direction and the height of your stand. This helps alot. One more very important part is being sure not too leave a scent trail of human scent to your stand. What you need is rubber boots! At least to the upper calf. I've seen guys wear them to their hips. Now just becasue your wearing rubber boots doesn't mean you aren't leaving scent. You need to wash these boots immediately before entering the woods. Bring a couple gallons of water in old milk containers or if there is a hose near use that. This may seem silly but it is very important. It only takes one time that you spook a nice buck and he may not be back. And when it comes to bow remember how close you need this animal to get. Take these tips into consideration and I feel confident it will give you better odds.

Mayfy AKA DeerSlayer

[This message has been edited by Mayfly (edited 09-09-2003).]

[korn_fish]

Ditto on the rubber boots....I have heard people cuss at them saying it was a wasted effort. But as the prior post stated, these things need to have the scent of rubber taken out of them. I dont think just washing them works the greatest, but its better then just walking into the woods with a new pair of boots, rubber or leather!!!

I "season" my rubber boots by going out and wading through river mud and muck and let the sun back everything. Wash and repeat. Store the boots in a "breathable" bad but have leaves, dirt, branches etc. to negate some of the smell.

There are some companies that market an oderless rubber boot. Can't remember who made them.

Rubber boots, if not properly used can be worse than human scent.

There is no short cut in eliminating scent. Take the time and effort, (which doesn't necessarily mean extra $$$) and everything should be fine.

[Mayfly]

FiveBucks: Thats great you told that story. The same thing happened to me! I Bow Hunt near Taylors Falls and I park in the guys drive way and go into the woods. well he has a dog that hangs around the garage and sometime wanders into the woods, Well one afternoon the dog was inside when I went in the woods for the afternoon hunt. so here I am all situated in my stand when I hear something coming through the woods. The stand I was in at the time was about 15 feet up and remember i'm dressed in camo and have plenty of natural cover with the branches and all. So here this dog comes trailing my scent. He walked the same path I took to my stand and walked right up to my tree and looked right up at me!! I left!

Thank You Dog for educating me on my scent!

[This message has been edited by Mayfly (edited 09-10-2003).]

[TUMBLEWEED]

You don't need all that stuff.....
(rubber boots, cover scents, odorless soap
scent lock suits,etc). Just hire a
plane and parachute into your favorite
area!!! Hopefully you hang up in a
grand ole sized oak tree, and can take full advantage of your position. Once you bag
that totally unaware twenty pointer, you
can pull the quick-releases and drop down
to the ground, doing a couple sommersaults
on the way. After a quick field dressing
you could then pop smoke and wait for
the chopper to take you and your trophy
outta the extraction point and back to
the real world. Yep, now thats what I call hunting.Easy as ya please.......

[fivebucks]

Just to reinforce the rubber boot deal here's a story for you. Years back when I lived in Alaska I was moose hunting at a friends place about 15 miles in from the road. One afternoon his girlfriend let's the dogs out of the cabin and my dog tracked me about a mile away following my path the whole way. She even went out about 30 yards where I walked out into a meadow and turned around. She got to where I turned around and so did she and got back on my trail right to me. I didn't see any moose that day. This goes to show you that if your dog can smell you like that certainly a deer can also.

[Boar]

Hey thanks for the info guys. anyone stick one last night? Wind was wrong for my stand so I left. Mabey tonight things change. Later, Boar

[BigRoy]

Didnt get to stick one but did get a good show. Watched the red squirrels play "tag" for about an hour. Seen a few honkers fly overhead and watched a big doe about seventy five yards out feeding.It was a great hunt!