Poor folk scent control

[ChuckC]

I keep myself clean as i can and i watch the wind explicitely.

 I don't care what you do, it is little business of mine, but i will ask, of those that go to extremes in terms of gear....at what point is it your skill and your luck killing that critter and not the stuff you buy.

[Doug_K]

When hunting the ground I use local scented vegetation and dirt for cover scent. Early season I also carry a small bottle of earth scent cover scent. When showering during season I use odorless soap as well.

Use to play around with the gimmicks, never seemed to help any.

My experience (Mostly farmland whitetail) shows that as long as you're not too obtrusive, most of the time it takes a combination of two of the deers senses to really spook them. If they scent you, they'll try to see or hear you. If they see you, or your setup doesn't blend in quite well enough, they'll try to scent you. Most of the time if they don't pick you out after a few minutes they let their guard down a bit. The exception IMO is early season does, and of course after the gunfire starts blazing.

To me, wind is the most critical when your entering and exiting an area. Always pay attention to the wind, and set up accordingly when possible, but I've killed around a third of my archery bucks down wind. Two of the closest were 7 and 8 yards, one a young buck in early season from a brush blind, and one a mature 9pt from a 8' tree stand in pre rut.

The young buck was close by down wind of me for a good 5 minutes before I decided to shoot him.

As they say, your mileage may vary, but it  works for me.

[MCNSC]

I use the scent killer soap for body and hair, wash clothes in scent killer soap, and keep them in plastic totes. use homage scent killer spray, and a great everyday deodorant by Arm and Hammer. Be sure it's the uncented. It has less smell to my nose than any of the deodorants marketed as hunters deodorant. It's cheap to.
I also watch the wind like I stink. Really think this all helps more with reducing the amount of residual scent being left as I go in and out of hunting area. So I freel it helps with keeping the deer feeling less pressured.

[Bill Carlsen]

Tim: Tried to send you an email, not sure if it went. I get chlorophyll on line from GNC. On our property deer come in from 360 degrees because we are in the middle of nowhere and the only barrier is the small river than borders us. Anything we can do helps and I very rarely get busted because of scent or wind change. Originally got it because the Wensels used to sell it and recommended it. All I can say is it works for me. But you must be clean and your clothes need to be clean and aired out.

[YosemiteSam]

X3 on the bee smoker. I fill it with pine shavings.

But I'm always conscious of the wind.  Why risk it?  I figure the best I can hope for is for the deer to think I'm further off than I am if they catch my scent.  Better to not let them know I'm there at all.

[Walt Francis]

I use Lavalin year round, because it works.  Use the the "green soap" all the time because it costs less then most other soaps.  Wash everything in Baking Soda.  But most importantly, I do what Pat said:

 

Originally posted by Pat B:
The wind.

[Red Beastmaster]

Downwind is free.

[Doug Treat]

Smoke. For years, I've been purposely building a smokey fire and holding my clothes over it before and during hunts. I have had deer, elk and bear downwind inside of 5 yards and you can tell that they can smell the smoke (nose in the air) but they don't spook unless I move. My theory is that the carbon in the smoke traps my human odor and since they smell wildfire smoke all the time (at least out west), they have no fear of woodsmoke.

[bucknut]

I do whatever I can to minimize my scent. I use unscented soap and deodorant starting 2 weeks prior to season. I never wear my clothes inside and leave them hang on my porch. I never wear my boots anywhere but in the woods and keep them in a plastic bag. I also spray red fox Pee on my boots and pants to cover incidental contact with vegetation. I try to enter and hunt stands downwind of where deer most likely will approach. I have been doing this for 20 years and it definitely helps. My theory is I've never smelled a possum driving down the road, but you can smell a skunk for hundreds of yards. I'd rather be a possum! I know it seems like a lot, but I hunt high pressure public land and this is what works for me.

[TIM B]

More good discussion! Thanks

Bill -I updated my email - did to realize my old one was still showing - will PM you also.

I know ya can't fool the nose....but the difference in a clean hunter and a dirty hunter could make or break ya when the wind swirls when ya have a animal your trying to take nearly in range......

[last arrow]

Woodchucker's experience with the K-9 Officer reminded me of a research abstract I read when I was in grad school.  If I remember correctly, there was a researcher trying to train dogs to detect certain cancers on people.  Any way, the dogs the researcher was working with reportedly could identify the maker of fingerprints on glass slides for well over a week after they were made.  

So while I will continue to rely on airing out my equipment and watching the wind, I doubt we can do anything to prevent an animal from scenting us.  Maybe you can fool the animal into not being alarmed with the use of smoke or cover scents, I can't prove it.  Our sense of smell is so poor in comparison we can not relate to an animal that relies on scent detection for survival.

[snakebit40]

Originally posted by Doug Treat:
Smoke. For years, I've been purposely building a smokey fire and holding my clothes over it before and during hunts. I have had deer, elk and bear downwind inside of 5 yards and you can tell that they can smell the smoke (nose in the air) but they don't spook unless I move. My theory is that the carbon in the smoke traps my human odor and since they smell wildfire smoke all the time (at least out west), they have no fear of woodsmoke.

X2!

This is me to a "T". I don't do it every time but I have tried it and had the exact same results. They smelled something but didn't spook.

[MCNSC]

I think the thing is that everyone has a limit on how much trouble they want to go thru to control their scent to kill a deer.
I guess one could wrap themselves in plastic shrink rap and breath through some kind of carbon filter if they wanted to.  
Would probably help, but is it worth the trouble?
I have known hunters who would pack their clothes and boots in and change into their hunting clothes close to their stand. Probably helps, but to me killing a deer is just not that important. You can take all the fun out of anything by becoming too serious about it. I do some things that I feel help but also forgo other things I should be doing simply because I don't see them being worth the trouble.
What ever you do, you still got to watch the wind.

[Joeabowhunter]

Mature deer are killed at close range when they don't smell you.  Use the wind to your advantage.  You will never fool a deers nose.  Cover scents and minimizing scent on your trail is a good practise but better yet, sneak into your spot without crossing trails you hope to see deer using.

[KSdan]

Actually I think removing sent from clothing probably really works and is an excellent idea. Just don't put them on, because the moment you do you smell like a human.  

[ChuckC]

I like to take advantage of my stench at times and  hang an icky T shirt from some brush along " another" path in my favorite funnel.  If they go that way, they see, then smell "me" and often double around, past my alternate position while really fixated on "me".

[EWill]

I use the wind and limit my bean intake

[TIM B]

So for the guys that take the cloryphyll - how much do you take?

[Buckeye1977]

I used to take it a few years ago and I think it says on the bottle either 1 or 2 pills a day but not positive on that.

[Charlie Lamb]

How much Chlorophyll to use depends on the individual. For me it means increasing dosage over a period of a couple of weeks.

Usually you will take more than the suggested dose. You will be able to tell by the color of your waste... green is good.

There is no doubt in my mind that it's a game changer.