Scent Control Study

[SEMObowhunter]

I say do what makes you happy. I can't be clean enough, or have the time to take a shower every time I hunt, and I am not skipping a hunt because it has been four hours since I had a bath. I will take one if time allows, if not I'll just hunt and play the wind as best I can. There will be swirls, wind changes, and enough stuff to go wrong without me worrying about not spraying down, or recharging my carbon clothes, or carrying an ozonics, or not to eat garlic or spicy foods. I just hunt, play the wind the very best I can, and get after them. If I get busted, he's not going to the next county and will be right there close just maybe harder to get. It will just make the chase that much more fun. If we killed every buck that we saw, there would be none left to breed and hunting would be ZERO fun.

[Edcyclopedia]

This is such a funny thread.

People on both sides of the argument are ABSOLUTELY convinced that they are right and can give example after example to back up their point of view. Each side says the other needs to be more "open minded".

I am of the opinion anything, as long as it's not illegal or unethical, that gives you confidence and helps you enjoy your time outdoors a little more is a good thing.

Yes it is comical to me as well...
Scent control & politics bring out the best in people;)

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[Lockdown]

On the flip side, there are successful guys like Jon Eberhard who kill big deer using extreme scent elimination principles. Now, I will admit, this is the first guy I have ever heard of using this method to kill mature deer on a regular basis. I am sure there are probably others.

If deer can't smell john, why does he hunt 30+ feet high?

Valid point, Dan!

You can't eliminate scent. Period. I've seen enough studies... the debate is officially over for this guy.

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[DaveT1963]

Ive always wondered why our deer down here in Texas get so spooky in Nov and Dec.... Must be that's when the north winds chime in and bring all the residual left from those that don't think bathing and regular deoderant use reduces scent..... We're begging please consider some form of scent control.... Your killing us :)

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[Jackson Marsh]

One day early season after a "green soap" shower I headed out hunting. I changed into my camo at the parking area and sprayed everything down. 20 minutes into my hike through marsh grass and cattails, red-faced with sweat dripping off my nose, I decided I was an idiot.

Haven't worried about sprays an scent free bins since. Wind and access route only for me.

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[Dewey]

One day early season after a "green soap" shower I headed out hunting. I changed into my camo at the parking area and sprayed everything down. 20 minutes into my hike through marsh grass and cattails, red-faced with sweat dripping off my nose, I decided I was an idiot.

Haven't worried about sprays an scent free bins since. Wind and access route only for me.

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BINGO

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[SEMObowhunter]

I work as a quality supervisor in a factory the manufactures liquid smoke, which by the way for all you Wisconsin guys we just bought out Red Arrow USA in Manitowoc and Rhinelander. Anyway, I can work all day and go home smelling just like BBQ, take a shower and still smell the smoke smell in my hair. It takes a week of vacation for the smell to leave. If I worried about scent control I could never hunt except on extended vacations. I choose to take my chances, play the wind, and hunt. I quit the scent control game a long time ago, "green soap" works no better at removing the smoke than any other sort of soap. The smell is in my clothes, in my truck, in my pores, and in my hair. I have been working here for six years and can't see any difference in the number of encounters I have with mature animals. Do I get busted, sure I do. I'm human and a deer is going to smell me if he crosses my track or gets down wind. Point being you have to realize at some point that there are certain things that you can not do anything about. I know I cannot be scent free due to the environment I work in and rather than giving up hunting because I smell, I just go and take my chances. I love deer hunting and I'm not going to not hunt after work because I can't run home and take a shower, that won't do any good anyway. I just hit the woods and take my chances.

[dan]

Ive always wondered why our deer down here in Texas get so spooky in Nov and Dec.... Must be that's when the north winds chime in and bring all the residual left from those that don't think bathing and regular deoderant use reduces scent..... We're begging please consider some form of scent control.... Your killing us :)

[ Post made via Android ]

Thats funny, reminds me of some of my north woods hunts where we camped in the wilderness, particularly the bear hunts in norther Minnesota. After a week or two with no showers every body has a special funk about them Luckily Carol started coming and she made a point of finding a place that sold showers and made us start using them every two or 3 days... In the old days we washed in the rivers and man that was cold... You learn to stay down wind of the game, and up wind of your camp mates.

[hunthard26]

I work as a quality supervisor in a factory the manufactures liquid smoke, which by the way for all you Wisconsin guys we just bought out Red Arrow USA in Manitowoc and Rhinelander. Anyway, I can work all day and go home smelling just like BBQ, take a shower and still smell the smoke smell in my hair. It takes a week of vacation for the smell to leave. If I worried about scent control I could never hunt except on extended vacations. I choose to take my chances, play the wind, and hunt. I quit the scent control game a long time ago, "green soap" works no better at removing the smoke than any other sort of soap. The smell is in my clothes, in my truck, in my pores, and in my hair. I have been working here for six years and can't see any difference in the number of encounters I have with mature animals. Do I get busted, sure I do. I'm human and a deer is going to smell me if he crosses my track or gets down wind. Point being you have to realize at some point that there are certain things that you can not do anything about. I know I cannot be scent free due to the environment I work in and rather than giving up hunting because I smell, I just go and take my chances. I love deer hunting and I'm not going to not hunt after work because I can't run home and take a shower, that won't do any good anyway. I just hit the woods and take my chances.

Interesting , maybe SEMObowhunter is onto something. Maybe liquid smoke BBQ flavor will be the next FOOL PROOF scent control product !

I think the Mythbusters study is very interesting, and makes you wonder, for sure. I think results speak for themselves. Guys that adhere to scent control extremes using technology kill mature deer, and guys that don't use any scent control technology kill mature deer. Hearing Dan's thoughts on the matter, while simultaneously looking at his wall pretty much decides the debate for me. But I still say do whatever works for you.

[stash59]

AAAHHH! The annual scent/odor debate.

To me it has alot to do with conditioning. I've hunted low pressure areas where it looked like odor control was really working. Then high pressure areas where it looked like it didn't do a darned thing. I usually chalked it up to not reactivating the suit correctly.

It's kind of like deer's reaction to vehicles. I've driven areas looking in fields for deer where they weren't shot at from vehicles. The deer just looked up and went about their business. Other areas where the deer were shot at (poached) from vehicles and you rarely saw a deer in the open from a vehicle. When you did it was running for it's life.

Does wearing rubber boots create a lower odor profile. I think it can help. I wish I had seen the whole mythbusters thing. My idea is that everything has a smell. Even "scent free" soaps, deodorants and sprays. In heavily hunted areas can't deer get conditioned to these as much as natural human odor. Considering them a threat!

Dogs are trained to RECOGNIZED scents/odors. The smells are always there. They have to be trained/conditioned to recognize them. To react to them in a way that a handler knows what is happening. Same with deer.

I've mentioned this before. I read an experience of whitetail guru Gene Wensel. A farmer friend of his asked. Why do some nights the deer snort and run from my field when I go to the barn. Other nights they act like nothing is wrong and stay and feed. Gene figured that the deer smelled farmer Joe on the nights they spooked. But upon investigation he found the opposite to be true. On the nights that the deer could smell farmer Joe they stayed calm. They knew by smell that it was for sure just farmer Joe. The nights they couldn't smell him they weren't sure what was going on and spooked.

Open a box of new rubber boots and you feel like your in a new tire store from the smell. This smell goes away for us humans but does it for deer? Does the deer relate the rubber smell to danger ( a hunter)? Or is it just thinking that the farmer went through with his tractor!

I know it's much more complicated than that.

But personally I'll use my rubber boots. Prefer to keep my feet dry any way. Throw out the Scent-Lok. Save money and forget the sprays. Have enough health problems already so won't risk an Ozonics.

There are enough hardcore Beast members. Successfully killing mature bucks without odor control. To prove to me you don't need it!

[DaveT1963]

Lets see now...... I'm hunting wrong by focusing 1/2 my efforts setting up morning stands, throwing my money and time away using rubber boots and keeping my clothes clean, I should just walk down deer trails in the evening and hunt beds, i better find a marsh fast, I should leave my calls and scents at home, I should stay out of funnels and forget about buck travel habits and just hunt primary buck beds and their exit routes in the evening, my tail cameras suck and I'm screwing up my chances by using them the way I do, ...... Obviously I'm hunting stupid deer in TX, OK, KS, MT, WA, WY, LA, ARK, KY and Ohio and I should be thankful that I've lucked into the few immature 3 1/2 years old deer I have managed to get an arrow in.....

Got it. Perhaps I should take up checkers and drink tea all day.

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[Edcyclopedia]

Lets see now...... I'm hunting wrong by focusing 1/2 my efforts setting up morning stands, throwing my money and time away using rubber boots and keeping my clothes clean, I should just walk down deer trails in the evening and hunt beds, i better find a marsh fast, I should leave my calls and scents at home, I should stay out of funnels and forget about buck travel habits and just hunt primary buck beds and their exit routes in the evening, my tail cameras suck and I'm screwing up my chances by using them the way I do, ...... Obviously I'm hunting stupid deer in TX, OK, KS, MT, WA, WY, LA, ARK, KY and Ohio and I should be thankful that I've lucked into the few immature 3 1/2 years old deer I have managed to get an arrow in.....

Got it. Perhaps I should take up checkers and drink tea all day.

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Are you being fascitious?
LOL...

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[dan]

Lets see now...... I'm hunting wrong by focusing 1/2 my efforts setting up morning stands, throwing my money and time away using rubber boots and keeping my clothes clean, I should just walk down deer trails in the evening and hunt beds, i better find a marsh fast, I should leave my calls and scents at home, I should stay out of funnels and forget about buck travel habits and just hunt primary buck beds and their exit routes in the evening, my tail cameras suck and I'm screwing up my chances by using them the way I do, ...... Obviously I'm hunting stupid deer in TX, OK, KS, MT, WA, WY, LA, ARK, KY and Ohio and I should be thankful that I've lucked into the few immature 3 1/2 years old deer I have managed to get an arrow in.....

Got it. Perhaps I should take up checkers and drink tea all day.

[ Post made via Android ]

Nobody said any of that... Should I do a rant post about how now I should wear scent loc, hunt funnels, and use pixie dust? I do have a right to my opinion, and to share my observations from all the places I hunt too... No one is saying your wrong, or you should do things a certain way. Just stating how it has been in my travels, from my observations, and from the tests I saw. and I performed. Sorry if some of us have our own opinion upsets you... But, thats actually what I like about the people on this site. Me and Stan don't see eye to eye on scent and rubber boots, but you know what? We are still friends... Can still discuss the matter without having a problem, and because we can air our opinions without worry of someone getting all worked up and making a rant post, we can actually learn from each others posts... Around here open minds rule, and people can have an opinion... Even me, I think I earned that.

[Mathewshooter]

Lets see now...... I'm hunting wrong by focusing 1/2 my efforts setting up morning stands, throwing my money and time away using rubber boots and keeping my clothes clean, I should just walk down deer trails in the evening and hunt beds, i better find a marsh fast, I should leave my calls and scents at home, I should stay out of funnels and forget about buck travel habits and just hunt primary buck beds and their exit routes in the evening, my tail cameras suck and I'm screwing up my chances by using them the way I do, ...... Obviously I'm hunting stupid deer in TX, OK, KS, MT, WA, WY, LA, ARK, KY and Ohio and I should be thankful that I've lucked into the few immature 3 1/2 years old deer I have managed to get an arrow in.....

Got it. Perhaps I should take up checkers and drink tea all day.

[ Post made via Android ]

Nobody said any of that... Should I do a rant post about how now I should wear scent loc, hunt funnels, and use pixie dust? I do have a right to my opinion, and to share my observations from all the places I hunt too... No one is saying your wrong, or you should do things a certain way. Just stating how it has been in my travels, from my observations, and from the tests I saw. and I performed. Sorry if some of us have our own opinion upsets you... But, thats actually what I like about the people on this site. Me and Stan don't see eye to eye on scent and rubber boots, but you know what? We are still friends... Can still discuss the matter without having a problem, and because we can air our opinions without worry of someone getting all worked up and making a rant post, we can actually learn from each others posts... Around here open minds rule, and people can have an opinion... Even me, I think I earned that.

Yep...I think you have to go with what works for you in your area. Confidence in what you are doing out there is a big thing. This is a great place to learn but not everything will work where you hunt. You have to weed through it and pick and choose what works best for you. If you believe in it, by all means do it!

[PK_]

Lets see now...... I'm hunting wrong by focusing 1/2 my efforts setting up morning stands, throwing my money and time away using rubber boots and keeping my clothes clean, I should just walk down deer trails in the evening and hunt beds, i better find a marsh fast, I should leave my calls and scents at home, I should stay out of funnels and forget about buck travel habits and just hunt primary buck beds and their exit routes in the evening, my tail cameras suck and I'm screwing up my chances by using them the way I do, ...... Obviously I'm hunting stupid deer in TX, OK, KS, MT, WA, WY, LA, ARK, KY and Ohio and I should be thankful that I've lucked into the few immature 3 1/2 years old deer I have managed to get an arrow in.....

[ Post made via Android ]

That is the awesome thing about this place. You get to see guys have these 'aha' moments.