Contributors to this thread:
Hello fellow bow hunters. I hope you all have had a chance to make it out into the woods this bow season already. I'm looking for peoples opinions on what scent killers to use, or what ones work the best to spray on your hunting clothes before entering the woods to go to the stand. Thank you for your advise!
Lets face it,once you put your hand in your glove, once you put your feet in your boots, once you put your hat on your head, all of these items that you washed in your magic detergent now all have human scent on them. Companies make all these so called coverup products because they have us convinced that we need to buy and use all of their products in order to have a chance to shoot that mature giant racked whitetail buck. I personally hunt the rut and don't let wind direction dictate what stand I sit in, because unless the deer on your property or on public land that you hunt all have radio collars on so you can tell their location, wind direction only makes for a good magazine story! A person can try and stay scent free but everything that you come in contact with eventually end up with your scent on it. Enjoy your stand time...
10 Bucks makes a good point. With private land I hunt, and with pre hung stands, I play the wind as best as I can, since there is some control to do so......
however on public land, its another story. during the rut, I have been busted a lot, but I was hunting the freshest, hottest sign I could find, and just took a guess, on where to hang the stand.
because in all reality, I have no idea of knowing which way that buck is coming, on the other hand, I was also lucky a lot of times too....
in some very special deep woods spots, that seem to stay regular, there I have a better chance of playing the wind, from known bedding areas.....
I stay as clean as I can, wash with a non scent soap and use baking soda, and went to rubber boots once Lacrosse came out with the aerohead......
I believe the mouth gives out the most scent. I do the best I can, I have fun, and do not make much work out of it.....
going to more serious mobile ground hunting in the last few years, have put more deer in the zone,,,,,,
when I can I use natural materials I find in the woods
I have also found that a concentrate apple powder, which I put some in a nylon stocking, and tie it off on a tree, deer seem to calm down and like the smell
10 bucks explained it well. Except in my opinion I believe playing the wind to be the most crucial. Just walking out to the same stand on anygiven wind most likely will cause in less deer sightings. I believe it is easy to play the wind and I don't understand why some make it out to be a big deal. If your trying to kill a mature deer. By all means if you have a hot spot. DO NOT go in unless you have the perfect wind. Spraying down with scent killers just cuts your scent down and most the deer will tolerate it if they do happen to catch your scent.
Ask 100 people, get 100 different answers.
Personally, I wash my hunting clothes with the powder. There's two main brands, don't think it matters. Would hate to endorse one and get the mods upset.
I don't believe for one minute that those products eliminates all my scent. What I do know is that my hunting clothes don't smell like traditional detergents afterwards and that can't hurt.
I store my clothes in a plastic bin with leaves and pine needles. Does it help? Again, it doesn't hurt.
Sprays?? I always spray my boots and bottom of my pants before I head out to my stand.
Regardless of my routine or anyone else's...there is NO SUCH THING as scent free. Like 10Bucks said, once you put your gear on, we leave a scent trail/pattern.
I do play the wind as best I can, but that's never a guarantee for seeing deer either.
Bottom line is it still goes back to TOS (Time on Stand). It's the only method I've found for increasing the number of deer I see on stand and have encounters with.
TOS is better than any hunting product/gimmick on the market. We learn through our mistakes...and I've made PLENTY!!
Good Luck
I think it just makes me feel better. Kind of like camo, not sure it really matters what "brand" you use.
I wash my clothes in Scent Killer soap.
I let them dry outside.
I spray them with Scent Killer - whether it works or not is unknown but I do it.
I store my clothes in plastic boxes.
I hang my clothes outside between am and pm hunts.
I wear different underwear and socks each hunt.
I spray down with Scent Killer before walking out each hunt.
I wear rubber boots.
I try to remember to take an apple to eat on stand for my breath.
This is all simply what I do and what seems to work for me.
I don't know that any commercial scent killer or cover works as advertised. I save my money and keep the wind in my face, sweet-fern in the chest I keep my hunting clothes in, and bath with Ivory non-scented soap...about 1/5 the price of the so-called scent free soaps marketed to hunters. Oh, and Arm and Hammer scent free deodorant too.
I can't tell you about my first Ozonics moment because I will never have one! LOL!
I wash my clothes in borax and arm and hammer. I wash after every three hunts. I use non scent soap, and non scent spray. I rub the soles of my rubber boots in wild spearmint. I have a very good supply of it. I wear the lightest clothes possible when walking out. I take breaks while walking out, because I SWEAT! My feet and hands and head have always sweated, and that means less steps, and more stops. I typically wear shorts and a T shirt while walking in, right up until the rut I get dressed on stand, only after I'm cooled down. I hunt 20 feet high on average. I play the wind. I still get busted, but most of the time it will be a wary doe, and she was straight downwind of my scent. I think does with fawns amp up their defense mechanisms even stronger than when they're alone.
Some of those claims that suggest the product covers 99.9% of all human odors might be an accurate claim. Deer on the other hand have an olfactory gland that can detect .0000000001% of that .1% that product doesn't stop lol! I had deer cut my track where I walked in. Stop dead in their tracks! I was walking in through liquid manure! They can detect my human scent in fresh liquid manure, means WE STINK WORSE THAN COW SHIT!
Cigarettes! I'm a smoker so no matter what i do for scent control I'm gonna stink. I just go with it, I smoke while I'm hunting and imo it smells so strong it covers my human scent. I've never met a deer that seems to be bothered by the smell of a Newport. I do not recommend my approach as its a terrible habit. Just use the sign you see to help play the wind, the other guys on here are right. There is no better scent control than the wind.
The (wind) I get it! I hear a lot about the wind and the truth is that in an open field the wind direction stays traveling in pretty much a steady direction, but in the woods merely watching the leaves blow around in one direction for 10 seconds and then another direction for 5 minutes tells me that if you think you're not going to get "winded" simply because the prevailing wind is out of a certain direction you may be disappointed. Wind follows power lines,openings in the woods, valleys, ridges, pine groves,ponds etc. So I think the wind is important, but not important enough to keep me from hunting a certain stand or area. Good luck this fall and enjoy your stand time!
I try to minimize my odor by washing clothes, keeping them in scent free bags, wash and spray myself as well. Relying on the wind in your face can be very fickle. It changes, swirls. Thermals travel up and down. Take some powder spray with you, and check the wind periodically while on stand. You'll be surprised all the directions it goes.
Back when baiting was legal in my area and I was still learning, I used to spray apple juice on a few scrawny apple trees I hunted near. I tried to keep the trees wet while I hunted to maximize the scent that went into the air. With scent killer spray, I worry I am doing the exact same thing. Maximizing the scent I am putting into the air by spraying my clothes immediately before hunting. Now, I spray down my clothes after the hunt and then put in a tub. They are dry by the time I put them back on, but the spray should have reacted with the scent molecules while in the tub. That maximizes the time the SK can react and minimize the scent it puts off while I hunt.
I do find that the earth scented wafers and autumn or earth scented scent killer works well. Probably more for the earth scent than the scent killing aspect.
Read this month's Field and Stream. Scott Bestul did another Sniff Test using a drug sniffing dog. (I tired to find article online so I could link to it, but all I found were some of his older Sniff Tests.)
He did 3 tests with different sprays. None of them worked. They sprayed the guy down, who then hid the dogs little toy in a baseball outfield under grass. It took the dog between 13 and 17.4 seconds to find the track and follow the trail to the toy.
He also points out that a dog has about 100 million fewer scent receptors than a whitetail.
Bottom line: Hunt the wind. Find stands where wind is more steady and hunt them when the wind is right.
Edited: Corrected numbers above after reading article closer.
He found the track... did the guy spray down his boots, were they rubber boots? Dog knows the guys scent also...?
Play the wind, #1, and do what I can to minimize human scent on body, hair and clothing. I also take some "internal camo" (chlorophyl, mint and zinc combos) to help reduce odors in season; whether it helps with deer or not, who knows, but my wife probably appreciates it!
Exactly. They found the track. Isn't that what spray should be masking?
"The first tester did not spray his rubber boots or camo clothes. When Erickson brought Chance into the outfield, the dog locked onto the trail instantly and found the ball in 12 seconds. We ran the test three more times, each identically to the last except for the liberal use of a different spray. In every case, Chance found the trail with zero hesitation. In the second test, it took him 13 seconds to lock on and find the ball. In the third, it took 17.4 seconds, In the fourth, 14.2."
In one of his earlier Sniff Tests I found (See Link), the author tested rubber boots he had washed in baking soda versus old stinky leather boots he had lying around. Dog had except same ability to track the "hunter" in both cases.
They also tested two cold tracks. He walked to one location with leather boots, intentionally touching a bunch of vegetation. Another location he wore the rubber boots washed in baking soda and walking on path carefully avoiding touching any vegetation. They then waited 2 hours. Dog couldn't pick up either trail. It was dry and windy and the handler attributed the failure to those poor scenting conditions.
Seems to support the "get to your stand early" idea.
I've never believe that any scent killer spray can be 90% or more affective.
But I certainly believe that using them CAn'T hurt.
So I wash my clothes in Fresh earth detergent.
Dry them using fresh earth sheets.
Store them in Plastic containers, and hang them outside at camp, near the wood pile.
I spray down before every hunt, then again at the stand, and periodically during the hunt.
I try to play the wind, but sometimes I stay put even when the wind changes.
I try to also walk in mud and deer poop when heading to my stand.
I see a fair amount of deer each fall, get many close by, and even kill some. So I think I'm doing ok.
I've seen the tracking dog tests before and I believe that they can smell right through the scent killer spray BUT I also know that if I spray it on something that stinks I either can't smell it or smell it much less so it has to do something. If a deer is straight down wind odds are they will smell you regardless but if there's less of your scent in the air because of the scent killer I have to think there's less of a chance of them smelling you.
If you live by a hog farm you got the best coverup that is out there, up wind down wind it doesn't matter with pig.
Zinger +1 I agree the sprays reduce the scent they contact as well. That should logically mean that your scent should dissipate faster/sooner down wind. Just because a dog can track you soon after leaving a trail, if you were sprayed down could he only smell you 30 minutes later, versus 90 minutes without spray? Hard to know. Perhaps a more exhaustive test next time??
I have always wondered about the "fresh earth" and other such manufactured scents. Just because they smell like that to humans, do deer interpret them that way? Or can their nose pick apart the chemicals and sense "human" instead?
I always go as scent free as possible and hunt the wind. Seems to work for me.
This is the old live2hunt. Most times, your going to get busted if the deer gets down wind of you. Public or Private land, you need to watch the wind. There are always places Public or Private the deer use for bedding/feeding, and your stands will/should be set for the deer to move to or from those areas. The wind will tell you when to sit those spots. Cover Scents? I agree, you can't be 100% scent free. But, anything to cover your scent may give you that extra moment for the deer to get through your scent trail, wind or ground, so you can get the shot.
I have tried almost all of these tricks and regularly get busted on private land with little human intrusion. The problem is our breath. Think about all that steam rising every time we exhale. Can't eliminate all the odors from mouth bacteria and definitely can't cover it up. Gargling with vodka helps, but don't swallow and then climb twenty feet up a tree.
These things always give me a good laugh. Even better when you get to watch 2 guys argue over it. Makes you wonder how man ever survived. Surely it must have been near impossible to get something to eat without all this modern tech.
Got a good friend that is super anal on this. I love to remind him I have harvested more, and bigger deer. Than he has overall, with a cigeratte hanging out of my mouth when I shot. Even more said when overall numbers are compared. Just in what is seen. He even plays this game when coyote hunting. Makes me laugh harder.
Wind is about the only thing that might help. Even then it's still your enemy for reasons already stated. Unless they are high and steady. Never are they completely constant.
Nothing more than gimmicks for the feel good society we have become. So if it makes you feel more confident then it's probably a good idea to use it.
Bottom line - if "you" think it works and it gives you confidence...I say go for it!
If ya think it's bunk...don't and play the wind the best ya can.
It's your hunt, hunt it the way you feel you have the best advantage.
On other hunting forums I have read deer heard cover sent works. I bought a stick of it and will be giving it a try myself this weekend.
As noted, I use Scent Killer and spray down before each hunt and so does my friend. My friend's father does not spray down and he shoots more deer than we do. That says something, yet my friend and I still use Scent Killer. Perhaps that says something too - dumb a$$es :).
I tried Nose Jammer last year and I think I might have sprayed too much because the deer that came in seemed afraid of the smell. They had their noses going like mad up wind of me and reversed their track. I don't think I'll finish the can.
Some of those eye buggin bucks do not like hitting odd scents while coming in. Believe me, I've had some very disappointing nights watching a beautiful buck freak out when hitting those scents. Especially doe scents. I used to use skunk, fox, and even raccoon for cover scent. Again, it's just something to maybe give you that split second needed for them to get through your scent trail.
After fifty years of bow hunting and buying/using most of the products already mentioned, I have come to the conclusion that if I can smell it at six inches, a buck or mature doe can smell it at thirty yards. And they don't like anything out of the ordinary. The ones that survive to old age are not curious. Keeping your clothes and body very clean and not using scented products, and using clear rubber boots are the best advice I could share with a new hunter. Hunt the wind and hope for the best. And I have been busted many times in spite of following this approach.
Use what gives you confidence and Always use the wind to your advantage!!!!
Find a friend that has bagged a deer already and rub your clothes all over that animal. I use or have used all the scents as well. While I believe that it doesn't eliminate It cant hurt. My grandfather always said to hang your clothes by the camp fire. I do my best to not smell like I am right there, maybe fool their nose long enough to get a shot. But like many others I have been busted as well as have had success
The new Trinity works great
Amazing what some hunters will buy. 60 years ago Gramps said hunt the wind and carry an Apple and drop it on the ground about 100 yards from your stand. Mash the Apple into both boots and walk to your stand.
Gramps was a local legend for shooting big bucks when he passed away. Many of those bucks were whavked following the apple trail.
Put on your hinting clothes and boots and sot by a campfire. The Indians used this 100 yrs ago and it still works fabulous. Don't believe me tey it a d you will change the way you do things. The above mentioned techniques will work but no better than this. Easy on the wallet also. Enjoy a fire and a deer the next day.
Do we even need magic spray anymore now that we have scent-lok suits?
My car gets ____ per gallon, I'll respect you in the AM and "Forget the wind, just hunt".
if you get a chance, read the last field and stream, excellent article on scent sprays, and if they fool a dogs nose.....
professional k-9 handler was the guy running the dogs, and yes not one spray fooled them, except one brand, dead down wind, fooled the dog for about 5 seconds,,,,,
the sprays are made to give you and edge, but no way they will do, that much good.....
a deer has 100 times the smell ability of a dog, according to the article......
I stay clean, have used them, but watch the wind, and get a little lucky......... I use as much natural materials, as I can..........
also hunting on the ground mostly, you really have to watch the thermals as best as you can, but I like hunting on the ground, when I can.......
I like tree stands for the central farm land, but hunting on the ground in the big woods of the north, I believe is more effective,,,,,,
Totally agree with Razorhead. I don't use any scents and almost never wash my stand clothes. I air them out after every hunt and run them through the dryer if they get wet. Have thrown a few balsam boughs in my Tote on occasion for a bit of natural woods blend, but really like to get high in the tree, and then get lucky. Doing this I no longer get busted at 75 yards, but in shooting range, all bets are off.
