Scent control hunting clothing

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kscardsfan

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I'm new to bow hunting this year (with my job and not having any kind of scheduling, I would rather hunt unsuccessfully in bow season then not get to hunt at all during rifle season) and want to know what, if any benefits people have had with scent control products. I am curious if anyone has noticed a genuine improvement in their hunting or if the deer are moving any closer to your stand etc. Or is this all a very well run marketing gimmick? Thanks in advance guys.
 
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kscardsfan said:
I'm new to bow hunting this year (with my job and not having any kind of scheduling, I would rather hunt unsuccessfully in bow season then not get to hunt at all during rifle season) and want to know what, if any benefits people have had with scent control products. I am curious if anyone has noticed a genuine improvement in their hunting or if the deer are moving any closer to your stand etc. Or is this all a very well run marketing gimmick? Thanks in advance guys.
Click to expand...

I am a newbie bow hunter (just started last season..no deer yet), but have questioned some bow hunters I know who have had excellent results for many years running.

The consensus is that, YES, the scent-lok type clothing does help a great deal.
Of course, you gotta work the wind, etc..but overall, because of the much closer distances in which we bow hunters work...every advantage works.

Now, if you cannot afford any right now, I would just leave your hunting clothes in a plastic bag, and change into them just before entering the woods...in other words, not allowing your woods clothes to pick up human scent from vehicles and houses.... they might get kinda skanky smelling, but it will be natural skank!

They make some really effectice scent-block spray as well, and you could spray down with that just before entering the woods.

Of course, I also know guys who smoke cigarettes just before entering the woods, and smell like a brewery from sweating off their hangover....and they get deer too...:rolleyes:

Getting out in the woods is the most effective strategy, no matter the clothing or equipment.
Have fun, good luck!
 
I use unscented Tide and unscented dryer sheets and shower with unscented Dove soap and use ban unscented roll on, and kill as many (or more) deer as anyone that hunts where I hunt. And I use a pistol while they all have scoped rifles.

Some of these guys look like they just came out of the Gander Mountain catalog. I've been wearing tree bark camo that I bought at WallyWorld many years ago. OH - And an orange vest.

It's all about the wind and sitting still. Oh - And leave the cell phone in the truck....
Back when I smoked I worried about the cigarette smell - Hah - I've had several deer come right up the smoke with their nose in the air sniffing.
My only concession was that I only smoked outside after my shower trying to keep the stink off of my clothes. I doubt that it worked :o

***********

My friend Trapper leased some land to a guy from Memphis. Seemed like a nice enough guy and also *seemed* to be pretty smart.
Trapper put the guy on a super hot trail and figured he'd kill his deer on opening day and then we could hunt that area again.
The guy came almost every weekend and lamented that he hadn't even seen a deer and he was doing everything that he could think of to cover his *human scent*.
We were baffled.

Deer season ended and we went out to take the stand down. There were incense sticks all around the tree and dryer sheets hanging from bushes along the trail in both directions.
Baffled again.
So
Trapper called the guy and he said - I told you that I'd done everything that I could think of to cover my scent.
 
opposing view?? I hunted in a camp with guy's from both schools,(super scent conscience, and get dressed have breakfast (bacon eggs homefries coffee) and hit the deer stands). I'm from the bacon&eggs group. Tim is in the other,he'd put his clothes in a plastic sack hung outside and put cedar boughs in too!!. he'd get dressed out side sprayed hisself down on watch,everything he thought he could do.
I was on the afternoon watch posted on a big boulder about 9 ft. high 'cause i'd been driving the morning hunts, in my wool pants,wool jacket, flannel shirt,and wool crusher hat. this was a Sunday (and we'd hunted all day Sat. also) and I was a bit "ripe". Toward the end of the hunt 2 doe came wandering toward my stand, (and i was standing) the older doe walked within 8 ft of the rock and froze, sniffed the air, snorted, sniffed a few more times, then stepped to the side and grunted to the younger one as if to say, "you go first now". and the little one walked in front closer to my stand. they stopped 5-6 times in that 8 ft span and tried to figure out my smell ( I even had a small breeze come from my back) as i never moved anything but my eyes they didnt sense any danger and walked slowly around the rock,and continued on their way.
I dont believe in masking sents.
 
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A lot of good information on scent control so far, all I can add is to spray yourself down with some kind of cover scent. I deer and hog hunt in Southern pine plantations, I buy a can of turpentine and put it in in a spray bottle mixed with water and spray my clothes with it before entering the woods.
The number one thing is NO movement!
 
true that!

sipowicz said:
Irish Spring works well....
Click to expand...

Ahhhhhhh, and does like it too!:eek::rolleyes:

But seriously I have had people tell me that the scent masking clothes work well, never tried it my self. I gave up on the long gun deer hunting and bow hunting. I hunt exclusively with a 4" .357 magnum. I have had deer walk within 5 yards or so and not notice me. I hang all of the clothes that I intend to wear hunting, out on the tree in the back yard about a week before season and every time I get done hunting for the day. Usually around here it freezes at night around Nov. 15th and I think that has a lot to do with it. I think I'll try a tree stand this year. I usually just hide in the brush or walk very slowly with gun in hand.
Good luck with your bow hunting sir.
Gordon
 
G.T. Smith said:
Ahhhhhhh, and does like it too!:eek::rolleyes:

But seriously I have had people tell me that the scent masking clothes work well, never tried it my self. I gave up on the long gun deer hunting and bow hunting. I hunt exclusively with a 4" .357 magnum. I have had deer walk within 5 yards or so and not notice me. I hang all of the clothes that I intend to wear hunting, out on the tree in the back yard about a week before season and every time I get done hunting for the day. Usually around here it freezes at night around Nov. 15th and I think that has a lot to do with it. I think I'll try a tree stand this year. I usually just hide in the brush or walk very slowly with gun in hand.
Good luck with your bow hunting sir.
Gordon
Click to expand...

Too Cool Gordon :cool:

I too hunt almost exclusively with a 4" .357 Magnum (686) and belong to the bacon and eggs group. However I don't put my cloths outside - Just on the back (enclosed) porch.

My favorite way to hunt is to find a rather tall stump with it's log laying next to it. I sit on the log with my back against the stump and there I am - essentially invisible :)
And I wear an orange vest.

A few years ago a guy was walking right down the deer trail that I was a huntin' and (it seemed) was looking RIGHT AT ME. He even stopped right next to me.
I said, "See anything?"
The poor guy almost had a heart attack! He never saw me.
 
Being disciplined about scent certainly doesn't hurt. I've had close encounters deer when walking to my stand and still hunting and remained undetected even when the wind direction isn't favorable. I put my hunting clothes on when I get to the woods. When it's time to head for home I change to street clothes and my gear goes back in a storage bag. I usually add a few handfuls of leaves from the hunting site so everything has a natural, earthy smell...
 
I have never bothered with the scent masking and such. Always seemed like more trouble than it was worth. Generations of hunters didn't have it and they made out just fine.

There was an article in Field and Stream or Outdoor Life (can't remember which) in which they tested the methods vs. a police dog. Didn't matter whether the guy bathed or not, used scent free products or not, hung his clothes outside or not, etc. The dog picked up his location very quickly either way.

I don't know if deer have as sensitive sense of smell as a dog but it would seem to me that all our methods to mask our scent are ultimately futile.
 
I've actually read articles concerning scent versus sight in deer and it seems to argue that deer use scent to confirm what they've seen. I'm not a deer so I have no idea what does or doesn't work. I'm just enjoying playing with this bow so I want to try to get a good deer with it this year.
 
Just my opinion but I believe that having the wind in your favor and staying still & quiet is more important that high tech clothes and masking scents. Putting stands in the correct location also helps.:D

Bruce
 
BruceM said:
Just my opinion but I believe that having the wind in your favor and staying still & quiet is more important that high tech clothes and masking scents. Putting stands in the correct location also helps.:D

Bruce
Click to expand...

I have to hunt on public land a lot, so sometimes stand selection is kind of limited. I'm also looking for a good tree stand to use that is easily portable. The main advantage of living in Kansas is that the wind is almost always blowing so you can almost always hunt the wind with a minimal amount of effort.
 
I can dress like "Slappy" the clown with a hot cup of Joe in the am or
an adult beverage in the pm, smokin a good stogie and still tump
over something close to this...every year.
My cousin is a bow hunter. He learned to whisper in a saw mill.
Looks like a ref for the Indy 500 in the bow stand.
Whacks good deer and countless pigs time and again.
Scents ? Camo ?......wish I'd thought of that.
horns.jpg
 
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