I think it works to some extent. I do think it probably smells like something.
The bloodhound thing doesn't prove to me that it doesn't work, here's why.
Bloodhounds track things. Even the faintest scent, if it trips their trigger they're on it. Whitetails, on the other hand, have to co-exist with humans. They smell us all the time. Heck, here where I live they can't possibly get more than a half mile away from a human. They have to decide (for lack of better words), when we are threats to them everyday. So all the stuff has to do to "work" is trick the critter into thinking you are farther away than you really are. But that bloodhound, if he can smell you, here he comes.
Is it traditional? Probably not. Neither are my woodsman broadheads, my store bought fletching, my carbon arrows with push in knocks, all the high tech glues and epoxy that holds it all together, my dawg ware quiver, my camo, my rubber boots, what about my head cover, my hang on treestand, is my laminated custom longbow traditional, the Indians didn't have them.
What if I smeared mud all over me from head to toe and found that it worked. Would this be traditional? Heck, I bet some Indian some where tried it. I wonder if he felt bad about tricking his quarrys keenest defense.
I love to shoot my longbow.
I love to hunt big bucks.
I'm content with where I've drawn my lines.
I prefer to be called a traditional "sucker".