The Hunting Beast

I was once a scent control freak...showers...sprays..totes...getting dressed after I park my truck etc etc.



Long story short I got busted more then than I do now.

Now....leather boots. Dressed when I leave the house. No sprays. No showers. Nothing.


Learn to hunt the wind. You'll be far ahead.

I like! Do they preserve well if you collect enough for the season

Dressedtokill wrote:I like! Do they preserve well if you collect enough for the season

I actually put a couple handfulls in the bottom of the tote and leave them in there all year. Every so often, I go out in the yard and grab more. At the end of the season I leave them in there all winter. That tote & cloths smells like "fall" all year.

tgreeno wrote:

Dressedtokill wrote:I like! Do they preserve well if you collect enough for the season

I actually put a couple handfulls in the bottom of the tote and leave them in there all year. Every so often, I go out in the yard and grab more. At the end of the season I leave them in there all winter. That tote & cloths smells like "fall" all year.

I think he maybe talking about the milkweed. Of course you could be putting milkweed in the bottom of a tote. That just seems like a mess

If you're talking about the pods then yes you can preserve them. I have a huge ziplock bag full. I just make sure to remove the seeds. I put a good chunk in a little pouch and use them every time I scout and hunt. I'll also pluck the pods a few weeks early and take the fluff out while it's still holding tight. I then place them in a paper bag and keep them in a dry place.

Welcome!
Thistle works excellent if you can't find milkweed. This time of year sometimes you'll see cotton wood seeds floating in the air, just watching it will help you understand more. Here's Dan's milkweed tutorial video
https://youtu.be/6IklHk8zgRc

tbunao wrote:

tgreeno wrote:

Dressedtokill wrote:I like! Do they preserve well if you collect enough for the season

I actually put a couple handfulls in the bottom of the tote and leave them in there all year. Every so often, I go out in the yard and grab more. At the end of the season I leave them in there all winter. That tote & cloths smells like "fall" all year.

I think he maybe talking about the milkweed. Of course you could be putting milkweed in the bottom of a tote. That just seems like a mess

If you're talking about the pods then yes you can preserve them. I have a huge ziplock bag full. I just make sure to remove the seeds. I put a good chunk in a little pouch and use them every time I scout and hunt. I'll also pluck the pods a few weeks early and take the fluff out while it's still holding tight. I then place them in a paper bag and keep them in a dry place.

I store mine in old pill bottles. Stuff them full and have them in my room for deer season. Only have one right now since I arrived late to the party last year. Then when you go hunting, take a container with you and you should have plenty. Getting low, bring a second. Going to drill a small hole on top, and cover the bottles with stealth strips.

As a heads up. Milkweed can be a pain to work with. Especially if you have some air movement. Not that I would know or anything Still finding that stuff in my room now as I type this

tbunao wrote:

tgreeno wrote:

Dressedtokill wrote:I like! Do they preserve well if you collect enough for the season

I actually put a couple handfulls in the bottom of the tote and leave them in there all year. Every so often, I go out in the yard and grab more. At the end of the season I leave them in there all winter. That tote & cloths smells like "fall" all year.

I think he maybe talking about the milkweed. Of course you could be putting milkweed in the bottom of a tote. That just seems like a mess

If you're talking about the pods then yes you can preserve them. I have a huge ziplock bag full. I just make sure to remove the seeds. I put a good chunk in a little pouch and use them every time I scout and hunt. I'll also pluck the pods a few weeks early and take the fluff out while it's still holding tight. I then place them in a paper bag and keep them in a dry place.

Ah...sorry! I let them dry out and then the pods will split. Then I empty them all into a brown paper bag and store them in the garage. I use an old 35mm film container to carry it in while hunting.

I have found it easiest to pick the pods when they're still a little green (meaning they've got moisture in them). I pick all the seeds off and put them in a plastic bag with holes cut in it so they can breathe and dry completely. THEN transfer to a pill bottle.

If they're dry already it's much harder to get the seeds out without big "tufts" coming out and making a mess.

I threw some of the seeds in the strawberry patch. Perfect companion planting, as the strawberries fruit out in early June and the milkweed does not get in the way.

Dress to kill, being a newbie, watch as many hunting beast shows on you tube as you can dan has some great stuff there,even on milk weed. Then i suggest buying some of dans dvds, there awsome, buy them all even if it doesnt fit for your terrian theres some to learn from all of them that will work some way or another for your area!

I myself was a scent control junk, probally even made a few of my buddys mad over it, but im not worrying about it any more! I just wish i found the beast along time ago and made it stick in my head. I could have gone on some out of state trips i wasted!

As far as milk weed, ive seen some making pods now but most i have not made pods just yet, here in kentucky anyway, bout mid august is when they have there pods and are getting ready dry thats when i would pic them. I can see its the best tool to use since i learned about them, it will help you way more than a scent bag or gear ever will!!

Good luck and welcome to the beast!!!

I started using empty containers from my grandsons pellet gun.
I found the screw tops work best. Drilled a 1/2" hole in the lid and can fit 3-4 pods in each container. I too pick the pods while still green, let them dry a couple days so the milk is gone, then split them open to remove the seeds. I leave the floats attached to the core leaf, unscrew the lid, set the core leaf with the tip gently sandwiched between the lid and base, then slide the core leaf out so just the floats are in the container. Once the container is full, I leave it on the dash of my truck or on a window sill so the sun dries them out while their in the container. The 1/2" hole allows moisture to escape.

I now have 3 containers. One for the fanny pack, one for the safety vest and one for the backpack. Now I do t have to worry about transfering from one to the other.

First off welcome!

Yea like others in recent years I haven't attempted much in terms of scent elimination. My success has skyrocketed since then.

The reason for this is that I quit trying to squeeze an extra hunt or two or three out of spots instead of looking at when the best time to hunt a spot would be and only hunting it that one time, then working on down my list of spots.

More work yes, but a whole lot better results. I was careful with the wind back when I was a scent control freak, and am careful with it now. What changed was that strategy and now I stink

As far as storing clothes a tote or two works pretty well. I do throw a moisture absorber or two in there to keep things from getting musty. An unscented one. These days my scent control regime is to avoid the super strong synthetic stuff like the smell of gas, perfumes, fabric softeners, hand lotion, scented deodorant etc because I think all those last a lot longer than human scent. They are MADE to stick around a long time. Beyond that I think its wasted effort in most circumstances.

I have used ozone for killing the odor in stinky boots, that worked fairly well. For a road trip hunt I might do all my clothes now and then like Aaron mentioned. You don't need to buy the brand name stuff though. Get a tight sealing tote and cheap ozone generator, they are widely available and used for deodorizing all kinds of stuff. You just "crushed" it and don't have to pay the hunting mega-companies your hard earned dollars.

I have used something similar (scent-lok enforcer) and find it to be effective at taking the smell away that I can smell. As far as a deer is concerned, I'm not sure it works too well, but how could you know. Anyway, I do try to keep the scent down by just washing my clothes. I don't think the sprays do anything at all, just my opinion. I quit using the enforcer on anything with elastic, I've just spent too much money on my camo to be replacing it in a year or two.

Thanks for all the help! Trying to find milk weed here in North Carolina! When's the best time to find the "pods"

Dressedtokill wrote:Thanks for all the help! Trying to find milk weed here in North Carolina! When's the best time to find the "pods"

Late August is usually when I pick them in Wisconsin.