Scent Control!

[Herd Bull]

this past weekend i scent preped all of my hunting gear/clothing. i was just wondering what other bow hunters do when they prep their gear? just thought i might be missing something...

[7 REM MAG]

dont rewally do anything, the animals know your there its a matter of properly choosing your stand location and picking the correct stand for the wind of the day

[interceptor]

G' Day Herd Bull,

First off I only ever wash,,,,,, well Kathy :rolleyes: only ever washes my camo gear in plain soap flakes or with out detergent of any kind and when hunting I use unscented deodourant. The only other thing I do is stay down wind and I believe that is the most important thing of all, mind you I have never really done stand hunting I always stalk hunt.

Walk slow look often.

Cheers Noel

[bowman077]

I believe you can not completely eliminate the odour coming off your body. To a deer we stink. So setting up with favorable wind is key. I wash everything I own in scent free detergent to increase my odds a little bit but I really focus on my boots and gloves to leave as little residual odour on the path into and out of my stand. Especially if you have to cross where you think the deer will be coming from.

This means wearing my boots (and other clothes) only when I get out of my truck at the location.

[SugarCreek]

Spent a bit of time in a ground blind (Ameristep) this past fall and on a day where the wind was blowing in excess of 40mph from the north, we had two nice whitie bucks come from the south right up towards the ground blind. It was the last place I expected to see deer that night due to the wind direction. The deer had no idea we were there until I went to draw my bow and they silouetted me against the open windows where we expected to see deer on the north side of the blind. We had to pop open a window on the south side to be able to shoot......unless you were my hunting partner who figured that he could shoot 5 arrows right through the blind:lol:. Anyways, the long and short of it was, the blind held our scent even in high wind conditions. I would have never believed it unless I saw it and I am sold on ground blind hunting!!!!! That night, I shot my first whitie buck with my bow......one of the two that were coming in.

Marco

[BigRackLover]

I wash my clothes in that scent free soap and keep them in a sealed rubbermaid container with cedar/spruce branches. I always dress at the hunting site (outerwear) and never wear my camo in the vehicle. I put my clothes right back in the rubbermaid after hunting. I use the spray scent killer on my boots but this year I was thinking about riding my mountain bike in cause I think rubber tires won't leave any scent (of course my bike probably stinks).

Think of yourself as covered in wet paint, add some scent control and some paint comes off, put you'll never get all of it. Then as you walk through the bush, the paint wears off you leaving traces of your stink everywhere you go. The rain, wind and other elements eventually cover up your paint (whether that's 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week). Always keep this in mind when entering you area (whether its scouting, checking your camera, whatever).

Either way, I do this and deer still smell me.

Always watch the wind and pick your entry / exit / hunting routes accordingly ... nobody can ever be 100% scent proof.

In my experience hunting from a stand is a real advantage as opposed to a blind (wind swirls), but I only have a cheap blind and not the expensive double bull blinds with shoot through mesh.

I also use those scent waffers (cow elk urine, fresh earth, etc) .. I like them cause you don't spray anything on your clothes.

anyway, that' smy brain dump

[kissacoyote]

A bow-hunter friend of mine uses this stuff, and every year he fills his tags. Comes in handy for coyotes too.

http://http://www.scentlok.com/science.asp

http://www.scentlok.com/shopping_list.asp#

Not exactly low-buck, but, in his words, "It's part of the hobby, and if you take care of it, you only gotta buy it once".

[s_buffalo]

This means wearing my boots (and other clothes) only when I get out of my truck at the location.


Heh, don't mean to offend anyone, but I always raise an eyebrow when I see guys trundling around in their vehicles wearing their camo... Esp. if they are eating a burger, sipping a Timmie's, having a smoke, etc... What good is that camo going to do if it's impregnated with all those human odors, hotboxed in the vehicle, as it were?

To a deer we stink.

Absolutely! And some of us stink more than others! (S.B. raises his hand...) Heh, how do you think I got my own office? :lol:

Some great ideas here guys. Keep 'em coming.

Stinky

[Jester]

I'm just shaking my head here...I mean come on..:D


Tye a six inch piece of thread to the top limb of your bow and you will always know which way the wind is drifting..even in the calm.

But you being a bowhunter...you already knew that...right?

[Herd Bull]

sometimes the wind &/or the animals don't always co-operate. i hunt in an area (northern alberta) where there is almost always heavy cover/foliage. i usually hunt on the ground (elk & moose). i like to try & scent proof as much as possible, just to try & swing the odds a little more in my favor. i don't wear my hunting clothes in my vehicle, i keep them in a rubber maid container, with spruce bows. usually if an animal comes into my calls, they almost always circle down wind. i guess if i were to do all of my hunting from a tree stand, it wouldn't matter what i wore up there, as some are suggesting? was just asking about what some people do about scent control. always looking for more/better ways to do things. if you dont do anything then you probably do alot of hunting from a tree stand....good luck with that. thanks!

[guidehunt]

just put clothes in sent free bag with spruce brows till hunting then hang out side when camp.

[Hoochie Papa]

Sounds like I am the only one that sweats while hunting. I could have my clothes invisible at the start of my day, but all the walking I do quickly works up a nice ripe odor. Since I can't wash them every night in odor free soap out in the bush, I need to carry 5 gallons of scent control spray with me.
I guess that's why I tend to rely on wind direction to hide me.

[SugarCreek]

Sounds like I am the only one that sweats while hunting. I could have my clothes invisible at the start of my day, but all the walking I do quickly works up a nice ripe odor. Since I can't wash them every night in odor free soap out in the bush, I need to carry 5 gallons of scent control spray with me.
I guess that's why I tend to rely on wind direction to hide me.

Hoochie.....if I were packing 5 gallons of scent control spray with me walking in the bush, I would sweat buckets too:) Just having a bit of fun:lol: Try scent control sheep hunting going up and down some of the most rugged country out there. The last time I checked, there were no elivators and I'll be darned if I'm going to pack 5 gallons of spray with me:).....Marco

[JohninAB]

I just wash my camo in baking soda and a bit of unscented soap. Other than that, a couple of wafers pinned to my hat, a bit of scented spray and I am good to go.

[g-tard]

well I have a camo truck and it doesnt matter what kind of soap I wash it with, the animals still seem to smell me.:lol:

[Stinky Coyote]

i believe scent control works but don't let it stop me from hunting, if i get lazy and can't keep up on it then you gotta hunt the wind, but i've found with washing the clothes in scent free and dragging some carbon blast up the tree with me and spraying down everything i seem to get away with a lot more downwind than when i don't, i use a neck warmer over my mouth and spray the crap out of it with the blast and it makes a difference....where i really noticed a difference was when using a ground blind, if i do the above mentioned stuff i can have whitetail deer 10' downwind of the blind and i'm good, but only when i do that stuff, when i spray down i hit the obvious areas the most, openings (neck, wrists, ankles into boots etc.) the hands, gloves, boots, inside and outside of the hat/toque and then that neck warmer trick....or i see they have some camo carbon dust masks available now....i think those would be good for blind or treestand hunting as the breath must be the worst offender...

[huntinggr81]

Here we go...... August 20th! Starting today & to the end of my bow hunting season sometime in October I will establish my scent control strategy as I have for the past 5 years. I will only shower & wash with Scentshield shampoo & soap. I will only use unscented Scentshield pitstick. My hunting clothes have never been inside the house other than to wash, which I do at the start & sometimes middle of season. They are then air dried outside hanging in trees, followed by a spray down with White Lightening & some more drying. I pack them in a large heavy duty duffel bag with fresh willow cuttings. When I start hunting I spray down once a day with scent killer. I use odourless foot powder once or twice a season on my boots. I control my sweat as much as possible by dressing in layers & then removing as I warm up. I have never worn any of my hunting gear in a vehicle, but I do ride my quad with my gear on - followed by a quick spray down with scent killer. I dress outside even when raining. I could continue on with many other little things I do & precautions I take during bow season to control my scent when hunting, but I think you get the picture. From my own personal experience I believe you must adhere to a strict scent control program if you want to be consistently successful. AS WELL AS WATCHING THE WIND.

[Hunter Trav]

Wash everything once before the season in sport wash, dry them and put away in a large rubbermaid container. If its a warm fall and I sweat alot, I may wash my garments again midway through the season. Other then that, I put baking soda in my boots EVERY time I go out, before and after. My feet get smelling something awful, and baking soda is cheep. Other then that, I mix baking soda and hot water in a spray bottle for my scent killer if I'm sitting on a stand, if not I just play the wind and hope it doesn't betray me... :D

[Hunter Trav]

Oh, I forgot to add, I use a box of baking soda in the rubbermaid container, the kind you can open the sides on for use in the fridge, helps to get rid of odors that may build up while everything is sitting in the tub.