How crazy do you get with scent control??!?!!

[GoInLight]

I'm not a scent guy either, but I do think if you keep your Oder to a minimum it might give you the extra time needed to make a shot. For example if a buck did get downwind of you, maybe he thinks you're a little farther away than you actually are because your scent isn't as strong. I have no proof of this just thought it might be possible.

[Tennhunter3]

We could use tweezers and pull all our hair out that would reduce our scent some. kidding kinda not really.

Seriously though I shower before I hunt if I can not shower I carry some hunting wipes.

Over 90 percent of human scent comes from your mouth and hair. So mint toothpaste and herbal essences shampoo is not a good idea.

[PUBLICbowhunter]

I'm a scent control guy to the max, and no it probably doesn't do anything but it's in my head I guess. New brown Jersey gloves very sit, new hat, shower before every new hunt dry off with new towel and new underwear. I take pills starting in August to deodorize (Nullo), along with scent free deodorant and shampoo. I have ozonics and scent crusher. I also sprinkle carbon pellets in totes and soak gear in carbon powder then let air dry.

[OHBB24]

I followed Jim ward with a little Jim brauker extreme tactics this past fall. I used carbon synergy powder, a blend or carbon and silver. I shower scent free soap a month out and went as far as using a dermatologist antiflake shampoo weeks prior to season to kill any skin crud, same method u would use if u had dermatitis or dandruff, knowing we reproduce cells daily I still did it due to my OCD. I also bought a cheap portable cloth closet that seals via zippers and ran an old ozone unit from the top thru holes I cut b4 and after hunts. Also used a carbon filter mask but they get damp and wear out quick so wasn't always on. Followed braukers mouth cleaning regimen also in morning and prior to afternoon hunts.

i had deer down wind of me and shot my biggest bow buck to date just down wind of me. Do I believe this approach was responsible for my success, absolutely not but it likely helped a little. I'm sure I was at the right elevation and had some natural factors like thermals in my favor but I get 4-6 days a year to hunt due to my job and proximity to farm I hunt so I'm going to do everything possible to up my odds. I know I easily can get picked off by one I don't see but it's worth putting the time in for me. I'm going to be the same crazy scent control freak again this fall, sticking with same set up. All in all my scent co trol this year will run me under $50 which I'm okay with.

That said I have a scent Lok suit and I've been winded in past, numerous times. I have used ozonics and my deer don't like it, more harm than good in my eyes but have buddy's that swear by it. I work with police canines and know I'm not fooling a deer when on any given nite the dog finds a tenth gram of whatever in a sealed vehicle.

So I'm crazy, a little ocd, but it's worth it to me

[MikePerry]

I've evolved over the years to just play the wind and learn how to set up using thermals wind currents structure, terrain, water thermals ect to keep deer from winding me, I'm a slow learner I guess because I've wasted my fair share of money over the years on scentblocker clothing, still wear my sentbolcker wind blocker rainblocker gear for the elements but I don't believe carbon suits work much after the first few washings

[headgear]

I'm a scent control guy to the max, and no it probably doesn't do anything but it's in my head I guess. New brown Jersey gloves very sit, new hat, shower before every new hunt dry off with new towel and new underwear. I take pills starting in August to deodorize (Nullo), along with scent free deodorant and shampoo. I have ozonics and scent crusher. I also sprinkle carbon pellets in totes and soak gear in carbon powder then let air dry.

I use to be here, it was like OCD on steroids. Once you experience the freedom of just hunting the wind it can become a lot more fun, at least it did for me. I wouldn't hunt because I was smelly, it was like a job and really took the fun out of it for me. Worse of all I was getting busted by public land mature bucks and does, for me it just wasn't worth the trouble and very liberating to finally stop worrying about my smell and start focusing on my scouting, entry routes, wind and thermals.

[Rich M]

My scent control consists of rubber boots, clothes washes in scent free soap w UV killer.

Last year I watched 2 deer scent me in short grass and in pine needles.

My primary scent control is wind direction and distance - I'm deaf so I make noises I can't hear so archery hunting is extremely difficult for me - I prefer gun or crossbow. If I can sit off 100-150 yards, it helps with entry, exit, and scent control that way.

[justin84]

I've shared the links before, but if you search field & stream's website you'll find 3 articles from 2014 where they tested scent control, cover scents, and ozone compared to someone using no products in a variety of scenarios with a drug sniffing dog.

Bottom line was there was virtually no difference in the amount of time it took the dog to find human scent, with the exception of a short delay with cover scents.

[Brad]

I've shared the links before, but if you search field & stream's website you'll find 3 articles from 2014 where they tested scent control, cover scents, and ozone compared to someone using no products in a variety of scenarios with a drug sniffing dog.

Bottom line was there was virtually no difference in the amount of time it took the dog to find human scent, with the exception of a short delay with cover scents.

Correct to a degree, the ozonics confused the dog for like 45 seconds before finding him. I can make a shot in 15 seconds......

[Sam Ubl]

Just how crazy do y'all get with it? Even if the wind is perfect, what measures do you take? I started thinking about it, and you'd have to spray cover on your climber(if used), sticks and stand, your weapon, and bag if you take one to be completely covered. Also, for people like myself that can't justify spending 400$ on an ozonics unit, what do y'all use that is good for the price? I had a buddy tell me baking soda works great. Any thoughts?

I'll walk a mile to circle way downwind of where I want to hunt to access the spot, won't hunt a stand with a bad wind, and avoid bad crosswinds by never approaching a stand with an entry route upwind of known bedding areas - would hate for the deer to know I'm in the woods before I'm set up to hunt. As for sprays, soaps, gum, detergents, and deodorants - I use my regular stuff I use every day. I used to think the scent "eliminating" products helped, but then I realized the sprays just make me damp, cold, and uncomfortable. By playing the wind and using different entries/exits, along with a hang & hunt approach to different trees every other time out, those are the scent control measures I take to keep the deer guessing and give myself an edge for opportunity.

I fought it for years, but you just can't beat science. Scent control is free, you just have to adjust your approach.

[Redman232]

My beef with scent control is, it's sold as a starting place for new/unexperienced hunters, when in reality it is a tiny detail at the end of the spectrum of things that may contribute to killing a deer. There are literally dozens of things that the time/effort/money would serve folks better as far as killing deer. I'm telling you guys, if you are just getting started or are transitioning from killing deer to wanting to kill mature bucks, master the first 24 tactics, concepts, observations and then worry about scent control. Literally this past sunday I was in an orange T-shirt and jeans squirrel hunting and watched a mature buck in a bed down hill from me with the wind blowing from me to him, for 45 minutes. Out comes the milk weed and even though the wind was at my back, the milk weed went about 10' down the hill and took off up and to my left. The buck never looked up my direction, eventually dropping into the creek and walking off. Did he at some point and time catch a wiff of me? Maybe, but I could have shot him for the better part of 45 minutes. Now on the other hand I've had a doe blow at me from 300 yards across a field after sleeping next to a campfire over night, before the hunt. I literally have almost zero concern for what I smell like when I enter the woods. Access is so, so , so important. Knowing where you scent is going is infinitely more important than trying to mask it. Go slow, keep your hands to yourself and don't cross anywhere you expect your buck to come from before you have a chance to shoot him. Rant over

[Lockdown]

I've shared the links before, but if you search field & stream's website you'll find 3 articles from 2014 where they tested scent control, cover scents, and ozone compared to someone using no products in a variety of scenarios with a drug sniffing dog.

Bottom line was there was virtually no difference in the amount of time it took the dog to find human scent, with the exception of a short delay with cover scents.

Correct to a degree, the ozonics confused the dog for like 45 seconds before finding him. I can make a shot in 15 seconds......

Brad do you know which article that was? The article I read had the hunter hiding under boxes and using various scent control methods. The Ozonics test basically caused the dog to pause but still find the hunter more or less in the same amount of time as the other methods.

IMHO everyone should have the same approach to deer hunting regarding scent control: whether you use scent control tactics or not, realize that he's going to smell you/know you were there. Tactics and access routes should not differ because you're using scent control.

If you are an OCD scent control freak and are doing everything right, I'm sure it will help SOME. But there will not be a night and day difference.

Just my .02

[stash59]

Bowhunting for elk is one of the toughest hunts when it comes to fickle winds. I started out using a scent control regimine. But soon gave it up to feel more freedom. Less time monkeying with it all. Carrying less stuff. Saving money.

That all led to more time scouting and hunting harder. More time/longer days actually on my feet out in the field. True I was getting more experience, but my opportunities went way up. Just because I wasn't worrying about my scent control. But trying harder to get the wind right.

[Wlog]

Gave it up years ago. I won't go back.

[woodswalker]

bowfreak, it doesn't matter if you shower with scent free soap, you will very quickly shed scent molecules and once you wear your clothes, your body will impart your scent on the clothes and keeping and keeping them locked up in a scent free container simply keeps your scent in the container which will deposit your scent on anything you put in the container, even if you didn't wear it.