Scent Control, on the ground testing!

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Alright guys. A while back, Knawbone put up a scent control thread. Many opinions were ventured, but the general consensus, with some notable dissent, was that you can't fool an animals nose.

Well yesterday, I spent over an hour within 20-100 yards of ~40+ elk. I had elk on three sides of me, and the wind would shift to a different quarter every five minutes or so. Not a single elk buggered out from scent. I know, because I could watch them straight upwind from me, without reacting as they did the funny things elk do.

The secret? natural carbon molecules (smoke generated by green fir branches). You CAN fool an animals nose.

P.S. I had an elk tag in my pocket... and... I'm not ready to tell the rest of the story yet.  

[dhermon85]

Oh come on man! Tell it! Did you find a taxidermist?

[Phrogdrvr]

Malachi,  please explain your method of application.  Did you smoke your clothing, boots, etc?  Did you just stand near the fire?

Thanks.
Tom

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Phrogdvr,
you build a small fire(very small) and throw green pine boughs right on top of it. Then you stand in the plume of smoke, and do your best to saturate your gear and yourself with the smoke. I suspect it is only effective for a few hours, but it is deadly.

dhermon85,
I couldn't reach any of them today as it was Sunday. But tomorrow will hopefully yield results.

[NOMAD88]

That's a great idea...where I hunt they do a lot of controlled burning and just walking through the woods you can smell burnt pine. I will have to try hanging some hunting clothes near a pine driven fire. Now let's hear that story  

[Phrogdrvr]

Thanks Malachi.

[Russ Clagett]

that's what the Indians did too...

[Legolas]

Good reading on this at: Scentsmoker.com

Been busted using special detergents and sprays but since using scentsmoker (like a beekeeper uses) have not been snorted at.

And I hate being snorted at- specially by my wife.

Paulie

[Mudd]

Originally posted by Legolas:
Good reading on this at: Scentsmoker.com

Been busted using special detergents and sprays but since using scentsmoker (like a beekeeper uses) have not been snorted at.

And I hate being snorted at- specially by my wife.

Paulie

Paulie you crack me out!!!...lol

                   

[beaunaro]

A friend of mine always "smokes up" prior to hid bowhunts and got me doing it whenever I hunt with him. OK...OK ...not that kind of "Smoking Up"

He uses an old charcoal grill, but puts dried Oak leaves in it in lieu of charcoal. Get them burning, then close the lid and stand in the smoke, offering up all that you carry into the woods to the drifting smoke plume. Claims some professional TV Show type hunters told him about it and according to them it works even where Oaks do not live.
I don't do it when I'm not around him, but maybe I should.
Can't say if it really is the cats meow in scent control or not, but I've never been busted using it, so I am assuming it does no harm, at least.
Irv Eichorst
 www.truesouthadventures.com

[Knawbone]

At a boy Malachi, With other measures, I believe the smoking effect can last several hours depending on physical exertion,ect. Two years ago I killed a nice buck that was tagging a Doe. The Doe was 20 yrds directly down wind of my ground position. She stoped and smelled the air for a few seconds, but didn't get enough human molecules in her nose. I killed the buck that was with her after she continued on her way. He was staying 30 yds behind her. I know I never would have killed that 16" wide 8 point without scent control. I know she smelled me but thought I was a lot further away. She let that Buck down and so did I.

[Knawbone]

I forgot my main point was the fact that I killed that buck after 7 hours of hunting.    

[shirikahn]

I want to bump this because there is another thread of someone asking about smoking clothes...Thanks Trumpkin for the great description of your technique

[Green]

We have a lot of Cedar here in Texas.  I will cut several green boughs, then twist, bend, break, and rub them between my hands to release the oils.  I then throw them in a kettle of boiling water.  I let the pot sit in the garage overnight, then reboil the mixture the next day.  Once the mix has cooled, I strain it into spray bottles.  It does a great job and lasts well over a year.  The odor is strong enough to permeate the plastic bottle, so I store one bottle in the plastic tub with my hunting clothes and another in my backpack....only needing to spray it on the clothing after a few hours or when odors/sweat build up.  

Just before Christmas last year I was in a ground blind on top of a bluff.  The wind shifted and I started to think about gathering my things to change locations.  Before I could get myself out of there the feeder went off and within minutes 7 deer came running in.  The wind was blowing directly from me to them and I watched them feed for well over 15 minutes with no shot opportunity ever presented.  They walked off in a direction where they had ample opportunity to smell me with each step they took, and they never knew I was there.  Moral is that you don't have to "burn" local flora to get the benefit of it as cover scent.....and you can make it more portable.

[Jeff Roark]

I've thought about buying another thermocell and tearing the guard off and taking little bits of cedar crumbled up and putting it on the plate and see if it would sort of make a "gnat smoke" and would act as a cover smoke. It would follow the wind and thats what a feller needs. Heck, my borther swears up and down that the deer love Marlboros. Claims he sees deer everytime he his puffin on the cowboy killers.

If anyone has already thought of this and tried it tell us what you think.

[DaveT1963]

Think some are missing the point of burning hardwood chips for scent control.... it is NOT for a cover scent.  It actually has a couple substances (phenol being one) that destroys bacteria and thus scent (at least to some degree).  The smell of wood smoke is an added plus.  

Cover scents will seldom confuse most animals.... dogs, which are for the most part far less sensitive smellers then deer) can break down smells into individual ingredients..... thus using pine, cedar, etc., as a cover scent from a deer’s perspective is probably more like …. human standing over there in the cedar/pine trees.  Thermals probably attribute to cover scent success far more then realized.... in most cases when a deer downwind does not detect you it is simple because the thermals probably carried the scent over their heads or hit the ground before they got to them.  I do believe every little bit helps but don’t be fooled if a deer or elk’s nose hits your scent stream, and there is enough molecules present to warrant a danger response,  they will smell you - even if you rolled and wrapped yourself in pine burroughs and/or  smoked a turkey the night before.    

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Dave hit it on the head. The smoke does more than cover your scent, it eats it!

[Knawbone]

Dave, Granted, a lot of things going on where wind and thermals are shifting ,twisting and turning. That said, the more you can do to lessen your scent, the less chance the ungulate will smell you. Or I should say, the less chance they will be able to detect enough scent molecules as to trigger a flight response.