I know you can never completely hide you scent,.. but I was hoping to put some scent on my boots for the last 100 yards of the hike in.
Is Tarsel gland scent what you would recommend pre rut? Isn't that deer foot smell? What would/do you use?
Where is a good place to get fresh stuff ?
When do you order it? How old is no longer fresh?
Thanks all,.. any opinions appreciated.
Ya Noteme,.. I got a can of that Nose Jammer this year and plan on trying it. Still have my EverCalm from last year so maybe I will try that combo,.. thanks.
I also remember many here who say all this extra stuff just tips em off something is amiss and the best is no scents at all,.. As usual ,.. this sports often leaves me questioning my own sanity! LMAO!!
Um ya BC,.. I am not there yet! LOL
Thanks all,..
I tried ever calm last year, not sure if it worked or not, but still have it and will probably try again.
I have tried nose jammer and think it does something. A buddy of mine, sadly he passed away a couple months ago, which sucks, such a good guy and an early hunting mentor for me... Any way, he was MDFW's photog for years and was a complete WIZARD at getting into close proximity with any and every animal. He almost always shot a few deer and turkey every year. He just knew how to blend in. Any how, he gave me a bottle one year at out super bowl gathering and said he used it, and that raised my confidence. I have had deer down wind, that knew something was up but didnt freak since using it. Could have been luck, but it gave me enough confidence to spend money...
I used to wash my stuff in no stink soap (still do this part), hang dry outside, then store in two trash bags filled with dry oak leaves and hemlock needles. My gear smelled awesome! Just like fall woods. I'm 100% certain that helped. I saw deer walk cross my path or come in down wind many times doing that. I suspect they could smell me, but it seemed like a day ago or further away in their mind (I anthropomorphize) and they just carried on.
If I find myself really dialed on a big deer, I'd go back to that.
But until then... I'm playing the wind and using a few things that may only work in my head :)
I'm sure to step in sh*t along the way. **It happens.
anthropomorphized; anthropomorphizing
transitive verb: to attribute human form or personality to
intransitive verb : to attribute human form or personality to things not human
Geez i thought thats when you wear womans clothes and dance around like buffalo bob..whod a thunk it!!!
As for tarsal glands and doe pee and all the other stuff; I feel it's like fishing lures - fishing lures are designed to catch fishermen, not to catch fish. The best smell is no smell. Stay clean, play the wind, don't get all sweaty going in to your stand.
Anyway, the other day she ( the dog) was barking at a little rock, about the size of an egg. Playtime. I threw it, she got it. repeat. Eventually, I chucked it into the woods and she didn't see where I had thrown it. (Playtime over or so I thought) Crossing the yard several times, she honed into where it was and retrieved it from the thick undergrowth. All nose work.
If you have a dog you have likely done the same. Some are better at this than others but here is the point. Deer do it even better, much better.
I'm beginning to think that a multitude of decoy smells spread randomly in the woods may be equally as effective at normalizing our inevitable scent that they can easily detect. ( not saying don't try to be very clean and minimize it ) Any thoughts on this?
Pi, my sisters family got a puggle a year ago. Rocky, he's awesome! I'm convinced if I could train him to do it, he'd be a great antler finding dog... But they are to freaked he'd run off or something so no luck. He's a total lap dog who just wants to sleep and play. Great little bugger. (he's a huge one - 32#... turned out his mom was puggle and his dad pure beagle - not what they'd thought. so he's basically an all black stubby faced beagle :))
That multitude of smells thing is the idea of Nose Jammer. A strong odor that just messes with the ability to quantify scents. So they still smell you, but hopefully assume you were there yesterday or what not...
Next wild guess?
BB
I will bring one this season too! As a novice,.. I know it is best to be prepared!
Will, That would be called a Peagle I think... I love our little puggle "Moxie". She is all muscle and can bushwack through the woods all day. I never had a dog that went off on there own and got lost. I always trained my dogs to be afraid of being left behind. A little run and hide practice when they are young gets the message across. Natural instinct makes them want to stay close enough but I would think that their ability to track smells gives them more freedom than worry. About making a shed finder out of one ... next dog for sure.
I would use a tracking device until I was sure if that is an issue. Kids should have one on them too... Till their married.
Will,Pi...them dogs got great sniffers,its in their dna.. getem used to deer blood if you can..when my sisters beagle was a pup me and my bro in law would give it a fresh deer leg to play with while we butchered off the kids swing set...slowly we'd give it small bits of meat and let him lick the bloody tarp a little..if a live deer came in the yard he could care less but if we dragged a freshie in, man hed go bonkers!!!
I started taking him on track jobs even if i could see the deer, hed be right on the blood..i even took him for "walks" to help out a couple of the ct guys..like i said, its in their dna
Will, from what i understand the chemical make up of nose jammer is suppose to replicate the natural smells and overload the senses (not sure where vanilla comes from but maybe to an animal on a molecular scale the world is vanilla ?) Ive heard of guys down south putting out vanilla scented candles ( not the cheap purfumey ones) around their stand.i might try that for ha ha's...
I have no scent regime what so ever.my truck reaks of beer, coffee and smokes..most of the time i have my work clothes on..as long as i have my bow in front of my face and some spritz of jammer behind the ears i havent been busted yet..i even smoke on stand with the smoke blowing right at them, no problem.i spray the limbs behind me first though...maybe its the area..maybe the deer are used to people smells..ive used it in the nw corner of ct with the same results..maybe its me..lol
I'm a non smoker, but I've heard guys say that often - I think Spike has noted that too. I'm not going to take it up to find out, but, it does make you wonder if the extra smells just confuse what they smell enough that it eases them from "Wholly s**t I'm gonna die" (the deer default state :)) to "Maybe Ill die tomorrow", and that helps as a hunter :)
Im not advocating be a slob hunter but i guess do what works for you.i know old timers that tell me they dont understand all this camo stuff and scent control.like why am i dressed like a bush with no smell, if the deer in a certian area are used to certian smells then why not smell like that area.
One old timer from maine said he used to smoke his cherry flavored pipe tabacco while hunting and scouting..every once in a while he would dump some fresh stuff while he walked around to get the deer used to it..that worked for him..another guy where i hunt in the nw corner has apple trees by his barn..the deer are used to the smell of oil and wd40..so i keep a set of clothes in the barn..its what works for that perticular area.hell if i saw deer next to a micky d then i guess ill be stankin of french fries..lol
We hunters are a weird breed.
