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Post by gillgrabber on Nov 22, 2015 15:00:25 GMT -5
I know this has been posted before, but with the new products coming out every year I wanted to ask if anyone has found a scent elimination spray they believe works best (or not at all). I don't have a lot of confidence in COVER scents as I think a deer's nose is too sensitive to be fooled by them. I was once told that while humans smell beef stew, a deer smells the corn AND the beef AND the carrots AND the potatos AND whatever else is in there.
Rather than trying to cover it up, I've spent the last few years concentrating on reducing my human scent as much as possible. I wash my clothes in scent free soap and then hang them on the line to dry. I spray them down with a good does of scent spray such as Scent-Away, Scent Killer, or Dead Down Wind and allow them to dry before putting them away in a plastic tub or charcoal bag.
Before I head into the woods I take a shower with scent free body soap & shampoo. I change into my hunting clothes & boots after I get to my hunting spot. Finally, before I head into the woods I spray myself down again. When I get to my stand I spray it and my ladder again. I'm not an expert and I'll never have my own hunting show on TV but I kill deer every year so I have to believe it works for me.
I don't think it's possible to always "hunt the wind" as deer often seem to come from a direction you didn't expect. When they approach from downwind they sometimes smell me and sometimes don't. If they approach from upwind I guess you can get by with just about any spray or nothing at all.
Anyone have thoughts on the newer products on the market?
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Post by beermaker on Nov 22, 2015 16:58:34 GMT -5
My friend sat dark to dark last Saturday. He smoked over a pack of cigarettes (I am NOT recommending smoking ), took numerous leaks, and did not go more than an hour without seeing a deer.
Deer are going to be alerted by anything other than their own odor. I have killed at least one deer every season since 1993. I'll spray earth or acorn scent when I think about it, but not very often.
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Post by Genesis 27:3 on Nov 22, 2015 17:00:58 GMT -5
I use dead down wind. It's not going to always work or even mask all your odor. But, it will help a little. I also know guys that whiz, smoke, and never spray or treat their clothes but always connect.
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Post by treetop on Nov 22, 2015 17:09:21 GMT -5
I have used most all the big brands most times dead down wind is what I use the most . I believe they help but from what I have seen there not a fix all.
I hunt a lot of edges and fence rows and small wood lots so I have been able to watch a lot of deer come in. I have had deer come in 30 to 50 yards with out sent covers and most times stop the second they catch the direct wind most times its to late for them. With cover on I still get busted but not as much.
So my vote is yes they help and Dead Down Wind is my choice of brands not new though
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Post by treetop on Nov 22, 2015 17:11:46 GMT -5
My friend sat dark to dark last Saturday. He smoked over a pack of cigarettes (I am NOT recommending smoking ), took numerous leaks, and did not go more than an hour without seeing a deer. Deer are going to be alerted by anything other than their own odor. I have killed at least one deer every season since 1993. I'll spray earth or acorn scent when I think about it, but not very often. I use to smoke in mine all the time always seem to kill deer I still take a leak in mine all the time |
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Post by DUCKMASTER1 on Nov 22, 2015 17:26:49 GMT -5
To be honest, I use raccoon sent. Even when I was using my climber, I just sprayed some coon spray below and behind the tree I was in, and always covered my scent. Now that I hunt out of a ground blind, I still use the coon spray, it is very natural for any woods, and covers pretty good I think. and the deer seem to come right in to my deer scent. It works great for mwe, so I keep using it.
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Post by tynimiller on Nov 22, 2015 17:52:39 GMT -5
I have had fewer deer act edgy or spooky the last few years when I stopped using cover scents like the wafers or urine...the only thing I use from time to time depending on entrance is Evercalm on the boots just a tick.
Here is my scent plan:
-All of my clothes (including boots if dry..if wet get dried and then in) are kept in waterproof/airtight with a seal containers. Inside each container there is baking soda along the bottom and bottles of carbon for fish tanks in containers with holes drilled in them.
-I started using a ScentMaster Box this year and it is the greatest thing ever! My main hunting clothes, boots, safety harness fit in there without an issue. Unless soiled with dirt or I sweated a ton, my exterior clothes on top of my baselayers never get washed during the season and are kept in the Scentmaster box which pumps hours of hot (carbon filtered) air drying out and eliminating any chance of bacteria growth.
-My baselayers will get washed when I sweat, always in baking soda then tossed in the airtight containers or the SM Box.
-As for exterior clothes, I wash everything before the season in a water/activated carbon powder (Carbon Synergy) mix....it will slightly stain your lighter camo patterns (like my vertigo grey) nothing bad just add a dull gray. I then air dry all of these, run them through the SM Box before either into a airtight container or they stay in the SM Box.
-**this is I think the biggest thing I do** I have hunting only towels and transportation clothes and rubber croc shoes. These all only get washed with baking soda and into a tote of just transportation clothes and towels (underwear included as well).
-I always eat prior to showering before a hunt if I am going to...shower, brush teeth with baking soda, dress and head to the truck direct (after kissing wife goodbye being sure to touch as little as possible around the house).
-I get dressed at the truck outside it at site. I use ScentLok's spray, but no clue if it is leaps and bounds above others.
-Little Evercalm on my boots if I want and I head to stand dressed with no headgear ever (let heat escape) and little as possible to minimize sweating.
-I never eat anything up a tree except apples, and only water is allowed for a liquid. I personally never pee out of a stand, although I know not all deer react negatively to human pee.
-Oh and my bow case has activated carbon powder sprinkled in it as well.
-Also convinced the wife 3 years ago to never use scented laundry detergent in our wash machine...I don't wash exterior layers in it, but you better believe all the residual of scented detergents is in there.
-I want to in a perfect world have a devoted wash machine and dryer for hunting and if I ever have a property of my own a shed or built room in a garage as a scent room.
-Oh and I run an ozone machine in my truck (with cracked windows) during season.
**Can one kill a deer without doing anything for scent control? Heavens yes, however I personally want to do everything I can to consistently put myself in a better position at a MATURE buck, not the dumb youngins'. I'm a bowhunter too so a lot less room for error than a gun hunter.
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Post by kevin1 on Nov 22, 2015 20:57:50 GMT -5
I've opened plenty of bottles of so called "scent killer", and every one of them had a chemical odor that even my pathetic little human sniffer could easily smell. I can only imagine what a deer would smell, and from how far. I quit buying them for this reason, and it hasn't changed my success ratio one bit.
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Post by urbanguy on Nov 23, 2015 10:14:54 GMT -5
I started getting fresh earth scent from Hoosier Trapper supply. I killed my buck this weekend after smoking a cig and literally peeing in my stand when he ran in. As I get older...I realize that scent control is so hard to perefct. It's when I'm lazy that I tend to be more successful. IDK
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Post by beermanbrian on Nov 24, 2015 9:50:20 GMT -5
I use a primos spray on all layers as I get dressed. Use an airtight tote for clothing.
As for cover scent, I'm a big believer in using natural stuff. This is why I always carry an empty pill bottle and get all urine from the bladder of my harvest. I then label it with the sex of deer and date of kill and freeze it for use the following year. Saves money and deer possibly smell a familiar deer.
To each their own I guess. Seen people kill with absolutely no scent control at all. Little luck involved sometimes. I guess I would say do whatever you think you need to do. That will help you mentally.
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Post by steiny on Nov 24, 2015 16:40:22 GMT -5
I don't use any of that junk, and don't believe in it. Unless you bottled the stuff yourself, you don't know what's in there anyway.
Keep yourself and your clothing reasonably clean.
Wear rubber boots and try to avoid rubbing against brush and weeds in the vicinity of your stand.
Try to approach your stand from a route where incoming deer won't cross, if possible.
Most importantly ... play the wind and set up so your scent is not blowing where you expect the deer to approach from or pass through.
You can't cover human odor.
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Post by tynimiller on Nov 24, 2015 17:13:13 GMT -5
you can definitely lesson your scent footprint though. You'll never eliminate it at all, and every good hunter I know plays the wind whether they are scent conscious or not.
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