Mathewshooter wrote:BAS4109 wrote:dan wrote:BAS4109 wrote:Sorry I hit submit on accident.
First post here. I am very interested in the "beast" style of hunting.
I have listened to several podcasts with John and Dan besides these but I just finished these 3 and they were very informative on both sides.
I live in upstate NY in the Northern Zone.
I just thought I would explain my experience with scentlok clothing.
I started hunting in 1988 at 12 years old in the big woods of northern NY as well as some farmland in the Southern Zone. I quickly learned that those big woods deer did not put up with scent at all while the farmland deer seemed to tolerate it to a point.
Fast forward to 2002 and I purchaserd my own 140 acres of basically hemlock swamp in Northern Zone. No farms for miles. Because of the hemlock it was mostly ground blind hunting because you can't see far from a tree. The second year I hunted the land it seemed I would get winded more times than not. So I purchased just a scentlok jacket. That seemed to make zero difference. Then in 2004 it was more of the same, getting winded quite a bit. It seems like the wind swirls a lot in this flat swampy land.
So mid season I purchased the scentlok pants and the head cover. My first sit with that set up was in the Southern Zone with the bow in early November. A doe comes out at first light downwind of course. She gets directly down wind but does not spook. She senses something but she does not come unglued, she continues on. A half hour later a small buck comes through right on her track. He walks directly down wind of me where the doe was and I kill him.
So that was good, a positive result but it could just be because I am in farmland where the deer litterally seem dumber.
Same year, 1 week later rifle hunting in the northern zone. I am in full scentlok, I have a buck come in downwind at 40 yards and I am on the ground. He can't pinpoint me and I shot him after he walked through my wind.
So more good results but they are dumb bucks in the rut so maybe I got lucky.
Over the next 10 years I had dozens of deer walk through my wind and they never come unglued. At most they sense something but almost always they keep heading forward on their way.
That has worked out several times where a doe or small buck rolled through downwind and did not spook. Later followed by a larger buck that I shot.
In 2013 I started to get winded again. Deer would get very nervous when they hit my scent sometimes blowing and going back from where they came. It was like I was back to square one. I did kill a nice buck that year but the wind was right. Scentlok worn out?
So in 2014 I bought new scentlok pants/jacket/base layers and head gear. From then and through this year I am back to having deer pass through my scent and not blow out.
Do I think scentlok eliminates 100% of scent? Absolutely not, that would be ridiculous and impossible. However, from my experience it gets rid of the majority of my scent and it keeps me from spooking deer. That is all I can ask for.
I do not have a crazy hour long regiment to get ready to hunt. I just put my clothes in the dryer the night before I hunt and keep them in a scentlok bag. When I get to where I
park I get dressed just like I would if I wasn't wearing scentlok.
And I DO care about wind direction but if a deer happens to walk downwind it does not mess up my hunt. I always play the wind PERIOD.
I will say this, if you make claims that scentlok does not work, yet you have never tried it, I don't put much stock in your opinion on it. As my father used to say, it is like a priest being a marriage counselor. :)
Im very open minded about everything... I always consider others experiences, and there thoughts. I can tell you this much, your making an assumtion if your saying those people whom no longer believe scent control can beat a deers nose never tried it. You probably did not read all the post on here from guys who used scent control and scent-loc for years only to see absolutely no difference when they stopped. John claims he has never been winded by a deer in 18 years... If its working that good for him, I would say great, continue using it. For me, watching people I know use the same crazy routines he does get busted more than me, and watching them have the same or better results when they stop using it, has told me it don't work at all. Your comment about guys not hunting with scent loc only making claims based on when they did, would be like me telling you not to comment without quiting useing it for a season and look at the difference... To each there own, But Im personally not interested in using trickery to kill deer, I hunt whitetails cause of the challenge. The challenge is beating there nose. Not finding ways to buy success, at least not for me. I would just go to a game farm or hire a guide on some expensive ranch if that were how I felt. Got nothing against it, just not my cup of tea, or why I hunt.
I actually did read EVERY post before I wrote anything.
I don't get how John is so adamant that he never EVER spooks deer with his scent. It seems impossible to me. You guys are both at the opposite end of the spectrum and I guess I am somewhere in the middle.
The success rate in the part of NY that I live in is one of the lower areas. I use every legal advantage that I can get. 2-3 weeks of bow season depending on the year and a 7 week gun season and no ag land. Not a lot of deer and definitely not a lot of mature bucks here.
We could go way down the rabbit hole if we start talking about "cheating". We use treestands to cheat their nose right? Then there is a whole list of gear that we use to cheat their sight and sound that is just accepted as the norm now.
I just bought a nice set of SL coveralls for $100. But since Scent lok doesn't work then I am not cheating anyway right?
I read everything I can find and try it, and form my own opinion. I have been reading and listening to a ton of your info on scouting swamps. I have been hitting a local swamp and it was EXACTLY like you describe. I scoured the hard woods and the field edges and found very little sign. I busted into the swamp and found a long finger of land with some oaks. The thing is maybe 10 yards wide. When I get to the tip, which happens to be on the leeward side, that is where all of the buck sign was. Clear trail into the swamp and a buck bed that butts up to a tree root at the end of the tip. I have picked out a few more spots to check out, it is addicting.
It is wicked fun to try something different and start putting the pieces of the puzzle together. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
You're beating a dead horse around here with the scent control thing....I've already been down that road. I'm convinced it works for me and if you feel the same way just keep doing what you're doing. I can honestly say, I watch Dans youtube videos and the hunting publics videos and it seems they get busted a lot. I can't remember the last time thats happened to me. I guess I'm just very lucky
Would you mind posting some links to all these youtube videos of me getting busted by scent? I don't recall any...