Hiding your stink

[BrentM]

They help, they don't "Work". Also, be sure and apply deodorant to behind your ears, and on the back of your legs at your knees. There are scent glands there. They are not just under your arms. Feet too. But, this will only make you more popular with the ladies and your hunting partners. Won't do much for downwind game. Don't believe all the marketing hype. Show me ANYTHING that will work on a downwind Coyote, even for just long enough for a shot, and I will buy it.

You must not have read my post.

you can shower, put on fresh clothes, and never elude a predator nose. That's not the ops general question. He already knows to play the wind. You can cover a little, can smell better, or you can stink like an outhouse. Your call. I'll stick to my method as it works just fine for me.

 

[Ucsdryder]

Merino wool. As soon as you get out of the shower put it on. Don't wear anything else for your base layer until you're done hunting. Underwear, socks, under shirt. I can chase elk for 3-4 days straight, warm weather, lots of miles, tons of sweat and not smell. Try that with cotton or synthetic!

 

[gbett308]

Just keep in mind folks, some of these areas talking about being hunted by the OP is like 115F (-+5F) possibly.

Layers are probably not an issue and deodorant is of small comfort as one could be naked as a jay bird and still be scorching IF the OP is hunting where he's from.

Hunting the Mojave area I could only imagine would still be almost 100f at night.

Hunting at over 100 degrees, no thanks!!! 40 and below and frosty for me...

 

[Old Rooster]

When I was younger I would pack for a few days and start walking to my area.
I can not walk it in one day so I take a light sleeping bag and camp one night and by noon the next day(day before opening elk day)I am there.
Like others say most don't work for long.I take a full bottle of Scent-A-Way with fresh earth and use it every hour.Since I am alone I strip completely and air my clothes and myself out.99% of the time I got my elk within a couple of hours of opening day.
Most important don't go with anybody that smoke's.That smell will not leave you until years after you quit.
I bring extra socks,underwear
,extra tee shirt,soap and Scent-A-Way and never had a dry year but I can't do that anymore.
For those that can, walk slowly so you don't build up sweat.It is usually chilly so I bring a light jacket and 2 knives.

 

[BrentM]

Merino wool. As soon as you get out of the shower put it on. Don't wear anything else for your base layer until you're done hunting. Underwear, socks, under shirt. I can chase elk for 3-4 days straight, warm weather, lots of miles, tons of sweat and not smell. Try that with cotton or synthetic!

That's me too. Once I started using it, I don't use much else.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I use the wipes so I have to smell less of myself. You can use all you want but you ain't a gonna fool a coyotes nose. They can get sprayed in the nose by a skunk and 5 minutes later pick your scent out of the thousands that they smell every day

 

[Deleted member 107796]

I plan on playing the wind more then relying on a fancy spray

Sounds like you've already learned what an old, cig smoking cowboy and master elk guide told me decades ago, "if you aren't working the wind, the elk will sense you."

 

[Orange Dust]

You must not have read my post.

you can shower, put on fresh clothes, and never elude a predator nose. That's not the ops general question. He already knows to play the wind. You can cover a little, can smell better, or you can stink like an outhouse. Your call. I'll stick to my method as it works just fine for me.

Oh, I'm with you. Pretty easy to get smelly enough that an animal can smell you 50yds away UPWIND if its nearly calm, and the wind often lays or nearly does during the very best hunting times. I'm just saying do what you can, but ASSUME they will smell you if they get downwind.

 

[dfanonymous]

So what's your solution? I think deodorant does work. Wipes work too. Sweat is something that happens but stink comes from bacteria. Control the bac and you control odor to some degree.

I already said my solution. I was one of the first post. Deodorant is fine. It just won't be off much use for long. Period.

 

[WeekendWarrior]

I know I smell after a couple days in the woods. Do any of you rely on anything to cover your stink? I know there are all sorts of gimmicks but do they work? I have bought the Sent Blocker spray and some fancy deodorant before but I haven't used it for years. I am planning an archery hunt this year and just wondering what you all think of this stuff and things like it to mask the "from under cheese" smell that comes out after a few days of hiking and no showers. I plan on playing the wind more then relying on a fancy spray

I use scentless deodorant that relies on baking soda to neutralize smells, and I wash all my clothes in baking soda before going out on a hunt. It helps a lot. Its not just your BO the animals will smell, the smell of baby wipes or scented deodorants also trigger animals to run.

I tend to stumble across more game this way. I'll come over a ridge and find myself staring face to face with a herd of elk whereas without the above tactics they would have smelled me and taken off by the time I got there. Same thing happens in reverse when I'm glassing, animals will stumble upon me instead of smelling me first.

Brian Call did a podcast where he discussed a noticeable difference in how close he could approach elk before and after he took a shower. It should be the one titled "solo elk hunting" or something like that. It works 100%.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I use scentless deodorant that relies on baking soda to neutralize smells, and I wash all my clothes in baking soda before going out on a hunt. It helps a lot. Its not just your BO the animals will smell, the smell of baby wipes or scented deodorants also trigger animals to run.

I tend to stumble across more game this way. I'll come over a ridge and find myself staring face to face with a herd of elk whereas without the above tactics they would have smelled me and taken off by the time I got there. Same thing happens in reverse when I'm glassing, animals will stumble upon me instead of smelling me first.

Brian Call did a podcast where he discussed a noticeable difference in how close he could approach elk before and after he took a shower. It should be the one titled "solo elk hunting" or something like that. It works 100%.

I wouldn't get my tips from Brian Call. Lol

Stink is for you and your camp mates, not for elk. Anybody that thinks they can approach an elk up wind whether they're fresh out of the shower, covered in 10 days of stink, or anything else hasn't been elk hunting very long (ever).

 

[WeekendWarrior]

I wouldn't get my tips from Brian Call. Lol

Stink is for you and your camp mates, not for elk. Anybody that thinks they can approach an elk up wind whether they're fresh out of the shower, covered in 10 days of stink, or anything else hasn't been elk hunting very long (ever).

I made no comment about approaching elk upwind. Not sure why you think I said that or Brian said that. Brian is a respected hunter, and I think his experiences are worth hearing. Reducing my scent helps me get closer animals, period. Ive been doing this for a couple decades and I notice the difference. The assumptions you are making about me, and the wrong context you are placing on my comment, says more about you than it does about myself or Brian Call.

 

[T3ninja]

I definitely use deodorant, and I use it everywhere. another thing that works great for chafing, is a stick called body glide it looks like a deodorant stick. I believe it's actually for surfers, but I could be wrong. It will prevent chafing better than anything I've found. Last year I took nightly rag baths from the creek water, heated it up over the cooktop stove. I use the "hunting" body soap. It kept me from being so rank. None of this is going to keep you from being busted by a nose. But will keep you tolerable to yourself.

 

[Ucsdryder]

You just said he did a test about approaching elk before and after showering and the effects. Unless you're saying he was approaching down wind? Then of course it wouldn't matter. So please explain what I'm missing.