Where does your scent control start?

[DSheetz]

Where do you start your scent control? Do you start it at home before you even put on your hunting clothes?

 

[DoneNOut]

After I watched a police K9 demonstration where they put crates in a field and then timed how long it took the K9 to find:

Sweaty guy no scent control, actually strong human scent
Normal guy no scent control
Guy washed and clothes treated with scent control shampoo and detergent, cover spray.

Took the dog about 3 second longer to find the dude with all scent control.

I just air out my clothes the night before, and hunt he wind correctly.
I will spray my face with scent cover to kill food particles in my beard that might be present.

 

[del2les]

Decades ago, I was a dedicated student of various Native American styles of hunting, survival training, trapping, scouting, etc, etc, so much, I even tried hunting with spears (lances). I followed various teachings on washing clothes with unscented types of soaps, natural and otherwise, rinsing those washed clothes with backing soda added, outside air dried, and then taking those clothes and placing them in unscented garbage bags with pine needle, cedar branches and woodland dirt/leaves rolled in cloth and included.

The morning of the hunt, I would rise early, shower with natural soap, use liberal amounts of baking soda as a body deodorant, put on clean clothes and if not near my home, drive to the hunting area and then put on my hunting clothes from the sealed garbage bags and boots similarly treated.

Avoiding raising any sweat during my slow walk to my stand or ground blind, I would enjoy the starry morning and night sounds in the woods or other. Once I settled in to my hunt and watched the slowly reddening morning sky, often, I would be amazed how close some animals would come to my body, and some climbing on me, and seemingly unaware I was there. There were times I had whitetail does walk down a trail so close I would reach out and poke them with my weapon, and one time, I feel asleep in the warm early afternoon sun, and awoke to the sound of a breaking twig. As I slowly raised my eyes from behind my camo net mask, there was a doe deer looking at me and sniffing from about three feet away. What a sight that was!

Those were some of my early years of hunting, and as time went by, I began to lose interest in taking such extreme scent reduction methods, but even to this day for certain types of closer woods/stand/blind hunting for some game, I do treat my clothes the same as then and avoid certain types of smelly foods before the hunt.

More open country hunts, I follow basic scent reduction and wind discipline.

 

[SupressYourself]

For coyote hunting? Just mind the wind, including covering the downwind if possible. Anything else is a waste of time.

 

[K.E.C.]

YEA, I practice scent control. I setup down wind of the area I'm hunting and smoke my cigarette there. And watch the deer walk out from behind me. This deer walked out 50yds from me. And headed my way. I sat my cigarette down, waited for him to get past me, to raise my gun. When I got the crosshair on him he stopped and looked straight at me. I said thank you after I shot. D.I.T. 40yd shot. 264.Wm, 130gr Accu Bond. And finished my cigarette. I'm not suggesting you take up smoking. Nasty Habit.

 

[Hand Skills]

I suppose 'scent control' starts at home for me; I avoid scented products (body products, laundry deturgents, aftershave/cologne) as a matter of course.

Other than that, I try to manage the wind - get a handle on local weather rhythms, timing the inversion is probably my biggest focus when it comes to scent control in the 'real world'.

I believe that any attempt to hide/disguise the scent I leave behind is an excercise in futility.

In my paradigm, urines and lures are a separate topic, and 'scent control products' are a scam.

 

[atepointer]

I don't use detergent on hunting attire and step in cow poop on way to lock on. If no cow poop no prob boots are permanently giving off poop scent at this point.....or maybe it's me?

 

[DoneNOut]

I would like to add that the Ozonics system does in fact work. It works to the point deer 15yds away look deep trying to figure out the scent. Meaning that they know something is up, but they think the threat is much farther out. They look like Ozzy Osbourne s they duck their heads up and down looking far, as I am giggling in the stand.

 

[K.E.C.]

I don't use detergent on hunting attire and step in cow poop on way to lock on. If no cow poop no prob boots are permanently giving off poop scent at this point.....or maybe it's me?

That's what I did when we had our farm.
Best scent control in that area.

 

[Sealesniper]

I do all the normal scent control. Shower with scent killing soap, tooth paste, clothes wash, scent bags, scent killing spray, and then I watch the wind. Does it matter? I have killed some nice deer and bears this way? But I know nonmatter what I do, I am still breathing so I am releasing scent. But I feel if I am going to spend the time in the woods, I might as well give myself every advantage.

 

[just_jon]

Scent control is a good thing but not a substitute for good woodsmanship skills. Many I know think scent killing sprays and carbon clothing negates the need for such skills. Same can be said for camo in my opinion. Watch an old Fred Bear video and you will likely see him sitting by the campfire at night and hunting grizzly bear in the same clothes the next morning. I've read that a grizzly can smell the scent of other animals, including humans, from 20 miles away.

 

[dfanonymous]

My scent control starts and ends with wind.

I'm a western hunter. 3 hours into a hunt/hike, everything smells. The only way to do a stalk is to get the wind right best you can.

 

[Muddyboots]

Easy, no hard boiled eggs, beer or beans night before. Wind management is only true scent control.

 

[59FLH]

I am allergic to perfume and artificial fragrance, I live a scent free lifestyle. Fragrance free soaps, hair and personal products, no candles, sprays, floor sprinkles, laundry, etc… It ****ed off the girls I date/dated because they had to comply, but the + side is it keeps my scent in check. I don't play the wind.

Edit: I hunt the same stand, I let others play the wind, it seems to move the deer in my direction