Not worrying 'bout scent control?

[AkDan]

ever read about some of the Wensels talk on how big bucks move around.....or they dont till the wind changes.  I'm not a huge proponent of scent control....but I have noticed seeing more deer back home when I do get the chance to hunt.....  I think the more you do, the more likely you up your odds of seeing mature animals on a more regular basis.

[wetfeathers]

I never noticed a difference either.  scent free soap and and my lucky hat.... and a good dose of prayer.

[SERGIO VENNERI]

Wind control...not scent control !

[deaddoc4444]

To me it depends on where i'm hunting. IN  SE PA    your hunting  sometimes   less than 150 yards from houses or other buildings in small plots . I just picked up a new place to hunt    and its about 22 acres   completely sorrounded   by homes .   To most of these home owners the deer are a pest  subsisting on their expensive shrubbery .  
     BUT Human scent is EVERYWHERE   and they are USED TO IT . These deer are bedding down sometimes,  within  40 yards of the houses.  Absolutely no reason to worry about scent control.   BUT when I go to my place up state in the mountains    Scent is  important .   SO I try to watch the wind .

[Easykeeper]

I keep my clothes clean, clean base layer every time, wash with unscented detergent.  Shower before I leave, and avoid getting sweaty on the way in.  Just normal everyday hygiene.

I do leave my outer wear and layering gear outside if it's not raining.  I put everything in tubs if I bring it in the house...more to avoid getting my nice wool covered in dog and cat hair though...lol.

The wind is the maker or breaker.

[KentuckyTJ]

Originally posted by Rob W.:
I use sportwash so they don't smell like flowery crap and I shower with an unscented bar soap thats about it. Gave up the full spectrum scent control routine a couple years ago and haven't noticed a difference.


Rob

X2

If I am in a stand or get to a stand and the winds wrong for where I think the deer will come, I change locations. I do wear knee high rubber boots and I think that helps quit a bit.

[Jeff Roark]

Over here in Southeastern Kentucky in these hills, playing the wind is just about as big of joke as scent lock.

The wind will change directions 10 times within a minute sometimes. I just sit still and if the wind is at my back, sides or face, I just hope one is dumb enough to come right on in.

I've never hunted anywhere flat, so I assume playing the wind works there, but its about useless here with our odd swirling wind.

[Bldtrailer]

In years gone past we used baking soda for clothing and bath/showering/teeth and IT still works(but it can fade camo) up wind they can't smell you, even if you took a bath in diesel. PLAY THE WIND

[Mojostick]

If you deer hunt in very heavily pressured area's, scent control AND hunting proper winds is critical.

If one uses stinky shaving cream, stinky soap, then applies stinky deodorant, puts on clothing his wife washed in "spring clean" laundry soap and then pumps gas in his hunting clothing and boots, he's more apt to be the guy that has all the "ones that got away" stories.

Successful deer hunting isn't about doing things right, per se. Being a successful deer hunter is more about eliminating all the little things that can and do go wrong, one by one. And scent control and entry/exit are two of the big "little things". Don't forget, your scent can linger long after you've left the area, thus still spooking deer hours after you've walked out, if your exit is done improperly.

[KevO]

Do any of you use fox urine at all?  Experiences w/ it?

[Pat B]

It doesn't matter how much scent control you use if you are up wind of a deer it will smell you.
  I used to use fox pee I got from a GA G&F friend of mine and used it successfully for many years. I've tried the store bought stuff and it never worked as well...or the deer have gotten used to the smell.
  I've had deer follow my trail into a stand with their nose on the ground and have had foxes trail me to my tree when I used the stuff I got from my friend.
  I don't use much commercial scents today because everyone else does. I'm sure deer have figured that with some commercial scents comes danger. I've never had luck with any "doe in heat" scents unless I took it right from the doe. For me the commercial stuff runs deer off.

[RkyMtn Joe]

I try to stay clean, wash my hunting clothes and hang them out to dry when I can, and always watch the wind.  Seems deverytime one of these threads come up, someone always has a story about how they violate all the principles of good hunting and kill huge deer.  Some even advocate urinating on scrapes and around their stand area.  Just makes no sense to me.  I try hard to avoid being spotted because of my scent, but I still get busted a lot, and I am a good hunter.

Joe

[koops4]

I really do not worry about scent control either.  Just play the wind and pray.

[Ferg]

I know its hard to control scent when you got out on an evening hunt and it is over 90 degrees, I agree with most stay clean hunt the wind.

[2Blade]

Ive never stored my clothes in tubs or anything. I shower with scentless soap and use scentless deodarant. I do however ALWAYS spray down with some form of cover scent, I prefer Earth but have had great luck with Deer Dander. I killed a buck down wind of me at 10yds in 07 while wearing DD.

[beachbowhunter]

The dumbest thing I can imagine are all of the liquid sprays guys use on TV. I have a science background and can't think of even one plausible way they can possibly work. Unless it is a full body latex spray  

[wapiti792]

I used to be a fanatic about it...so much that if my wife was cooking something good I wouldn't come in the house for lunch for fear it would wreck my "scentlessness". What a load of crap. I missed some damn fine hot meals  

So now I NEVER hunt a stand with a bad wind and wash my clothes in baking soda only. I use no cover scents. I think my success rates are better since dropping the wheels and spray-down bs and started hunting smarter!

I was out doing a little glassing to check the deer activity on the farm. While there I saw the farmer and a couple of others, so I drove over to them.  We sat around and emptied a Thermos of coffee for his neighbor along side the corn field that was going to get picked the next day. Afterwards I went out to the back fields to check along the creeks and from a hill looking back at the exact spot we were all parked and eating lunch was a nice 8 pointer with four lesser bucks milling around and picking at the fence line brush and in no hurry to go anywhere. Apparently, coffee remains, butt prints on the grass,chew and cigaret butts don't scare deer.

[huskyarcher]

I dont care who you are, wherre your from, how much money you make, who you vote for, if the deer are down wind, particularly good deer, theWILL smell you. All this junk we hunters pay for is worthless if you hunt when the wind is wrong.

I dont spend money on scent stuff, i think its a gimick. It may lessen a small degree of your infraction, but i garuantee you that they can still smell you.

I choose to blow my money on bows instead  

[Littlejake]

Keeping me and my clothes clean and as odor free as possible is just another part of my hunt I enjoy doing it.I don't dress till I get to my hunting spot,don't wear my boots into the local
convience store. Can you remain absolutely scent
free no,but I think any little bit helps. I've
seen all to many times just how good a whitetails
nose is.