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Example: This season, I was wearing leather boots earlier in the season and walked to my tree on my trail is cut through the brush the last 45-50 yards. I had 2 different deer, a 6 point buck and a mature doe, walk directly on my trail not more than 30-45 minutes after I walked in with absolutely no reaction.

I store these boots in the garage during the season and I make sure I spray them before entering the woods.

On same topic of scent control - the morning that I shot my buck I absent-mindedly sprayed fabreeze while leaving the bathroom and walked through the mist on the way out. As soon as I did this I thought I should re-shower, change my underwear, etc, but said the hell with it, it's too late to delay departure. The wind was perfect that morning and the buck never knew I was 15 yards away when I shot him.

I have very large calf mucles and have troble finding affordable rubber boots (key word affordable).

The two deer I arrowed this year both crossed my trail before they died. They never even stopped to sniff where I walked in.

I have the same problem but not with my calf muscle and boots, but with my underweat and pants :)

Here's the bottomline to me. If you do the right scent control with rubber or leather, it will work. If you leave your rubber boots next to a garbage pail and bacon grease, tuna fish oil, etc drip on them, they will stink! If you leave your leather boots outside and spray them with odor eliminator before going into the woods, they won't stink.

I agree that safer is always better with deer, but if you're sloppy hunter the best gear in the world won't help you much.

By the way, I got the buck of my 46 yr bow career wearing leather boots. However, I would tell a new hunter that rubber is the way to go if you want to reduce the risk.

ohh man, you got me good on that one!! Now I feel bad about my self image. At least I can throw out the seat warmer cushion, don't need that any more.

I believe it makes a difference. I also break them in by scouting in my new pairs in the off season to get rid of some of the new rubber smell, but have not had any bad reactions to it. The last couple years have been using Dead Down Wind boot and foot powder inside them every few times they are worn.

I agree with your statements and I have stated the same comparison before about a good hunting dog. If there are dogs that can smell a human body that's 90 feet below the surface of the water, then a deer can pick up your scent that is left in your boot print (rubber or not) or on the brush you touched with your scent free clothing.

Do I always use scent control, absolutely. Do I think it's going to eliminate my scent and keep every deer from detecting me, never. I have seen deer hit my downwind side at 100 yards out and stop dead, like they hit a wall, turn and walk back the way they came. Other times I've seen them walk directly in my foot prints mere minutes after I've used the trail without so much as sniffing the ground or looking around.

I also think that a buck in full rut will walk past you if he's after a doe and not react the same as he does outside the rut.

Minimize scent and hunt the wind is about all we can do in my opinion.

Deer will react differently depending on the area you hunt or it could be a particular animal. For the guys that hunt backyards in the more populated areas, you may be able to get away with the scent more so than hunting the bigger woods.

Second thing, even though you have rubber boots, it doesnt mean that you are not dropping scent from other areas of your body. Walking with rubber boots through brush is an example. You may not be placing much scent on the ground, but you can be on high brush and vegetation via face, hands, etc.

The number one cause of human odor that we can't control is what our bodies naturally emit, like our breath, sweat, dead cells, bacteria, gas, etc. So even if you ELIMINATE every possible scent from your boots, hats, gloves and clothes, you're still laying down a trail that is pretty clear for a deer.

With that said, if the scent trail is minimized the deer may ignore it as too old to worry about and go on about his/her business. But a wise old deer might think, I'm not taking a chance and alter their route.

Years ago I watched my springer chase down a pheasant in fresh snow with his nose to the ground on a dead run. How much scent do you think the foot print a pheasant leaves in snow? To a dog it was like street lights leading him directly to the backside of that bird, and I was running after him wondering, "How in the hell can he smell that?" And that bird didn't have a stitch of clothing on either.

There's no doubt that minimizing our scent is a MUST if we want to be successful, but don't think you're eliminating it to the point where the deer can't smell you.

Heck, I can smell some of you from here!! :)

I never tried the Under Armour Men's H.A.W. Mossy Oak Break-Up Infinity 800g Rubber Hunting Boots, but they are on clearance sale from $169.99 @Dicks for $160.97 plus 25% off sale brings them down $120.73, use $10 off coupon for spending over $50, and that's a great price - $111, cheaper than what I spent on the uninsulated ones. They only had men's size 8 & 9 left however. (Attached supporting link)

Bucks now come right up to me and compliment me on how they couldn't smell my track!

never sure what to believe in these articles any more. I read you should NEVER put any of your hunting clothes in a sealed plastic bag/container with any organic matter, like dirt, tree branches, grass, etc because the moisture promotes mold spore growth and that will impart a strong odor that the deer can smell.

I always used to put some hemlock branches in with my clothes because a couple of my stands are located in or near hemlocks. Now I just hang them outside a couple of days before the hunt (unless it's raining) or leave them in the bag without the branches if it is raining.

never heard of hydrogen peroxide before?? That's a disinfecting/oxidizing agent that has an odor, so......

When I snow plowed I had a guy come walking across his lawn with 2 plastic garbage bags on his feet this was back in 1978 he asked me to plow his driveway I told him 30 bucks he said that's a lot of money I told him its a lot of snow this was in Westport and the house was in the millions then .Still laugh when I think of him .

I'm going to take your word for it, never too old to learn. I'd be a bit worried if I got in my hair, it might bleach it white,.....never mind, too late for worrying about that.

Is it also a floor wax? :)

There are two ways that a deer will bust you when crossing your trail.

1. They smell your stinky boot human odor when they hit your trail and immediately blow up and take off.

2. They smell a disturbance to the ground from some nice odor free boot walking activity, ie. turned up dirt or broken foliage. Disturbances that in the deer world give off more scent than we are aware of. They know something has been there and upon investigating they usually end up following the tracks up to the base of your stand looking up at you then eventually work their way down wind picking up your human scent busting you and your spot.

Either way, that spot is usually a waste of time to sit in for the rest of the season (at least where I hunt). Best bet to avoid this is to try to set up a stand in a location where you are downwind of where the deer will be, and enter that stand from a direction that does not cross a deer trail that you expect deer to use when they come by. There are always exceptions to what we think or expect deer will do, but we can only do our best to put the odds in our favor.

smile man, just trying to make a joke.