Human Scent

[dan]

So a few years ago I did a season long journal publicly. I noted every deer that crossed my path down wind, and every deer that busted, that showed signs it smelled me, showed no sign etc... So did several scent control nuts... It was funny cause I dont do anything to minimize my scent and I got busted less than they did when comparing similar data. The notion that small deer can smell the difference in quantity in scent and spook based on quantity is hard to swallow... I have down wind small bucks and the occasional mature buck that dont care but obviously smell me and I usually smell strong enough for me to smell myself.

I think people dont want to admit (even to themselves) they were tricked by marketing. Everyone I know who did scent control and then quit has similar stories of being surprised there results did not change. I also think people who choose to try scent control do so when they 1st start getting serious about hunting and at the same time they are starting to set up better and do other things that make them think the scent control is working when guys like me are having the exact same results.

Scent control can indeed be proven not to work, and it has been proven over and over. If you think its helping you, more power to you. It don't effect me in any way. And as long as you dont use it for an excuse to set up sloppy thinking you have magic powers, it probably wont hurt you with the exception of all the time and money wasted. I do just fine without it, and I hope they are never successful in taking away a deers ability to smell you. In my opinion if scent control actually did work it would be unfair and to easy.

[aprince1536]

I know scent control is not a secret weapon, just another tool to possibly help. If it keeps a young deer from blowing in your area right before the big guy steps into range, it’s worth it to me. Again, I don’t use scent killer sprays, just scent free detergent, a little baking soda, and scent free bar soap.

I also understand the flip side of the coin, as beast-style hunt often require tons physical exertion to reach your hunting spots. I’d be very discouraged with a huge scent regimen knowing I’m gonna sweat like a pig both in and out of the woods every hunt. What a waste. Eberhart must hunt 100y off every access road, haha!

What’s everyone’s take on this? Is walking through the woods in sweaty tennis shoes, touching branches and trees with bare hands gonna do the same or more damage than walking through with clean rubber knee boots, touching nothing?

[purebowhunting]

I know scent control is not a secret weapon, just another tool to possibly help. If it keeps a young deer from blowing in your area right before the big guy steps into range, it’s worth it to me. Again, I don’t use scent killer sprays, just scent free detergent, a little baking soda, and scent free bar soap.

I also understand the flip side of the coin, as beast-style hunt often require tons physical exertion to reach your hunting spots. I’d be very discouraged with a huge scent regimen knowing I’m gonna sweat like a pig both in and out of the woods every hunt. What a waste. Eberhart must hunt 100y off every access road, haha!

What’s everyone’s take on this? Is walking through the woods in sweaty tennis shoes, touching branches and trees with bare hands gonna do the same or more damage than walking through with clean rubber knee boots, touching nothing?

I don't think it will have any difference in effect, in both scenarios the deer crossing your path will know you were there. Main difference is the guy in sweaty tennis shoes will accept the fact their entry/exit effected the area and adjust, the guy who thinks they're fooling the deer will hunt a subpar set thinking the deer didn't detect them on the prior hunts.

[aprince1536]

This is not to prove much of anything, probably a 2yr, 3yr at best, but interesting hunt last Oct nonetheless! Passed on him.

https://youtu.be/uXTVsaj4qgA

[dan]

I know scent control is not a secret weapon, just another tool to possibly help. If it keeps a young deer from blowing in your area right before the big guy steps into range, it’s worth it to me. Again, I don’t use scent killer sprays, just scent free detergent, a little baking soda, and scent free bar soap.

I also understand the flip side of the coin, as beast-style hunt often require tons physical exertion to reach your hunting spots. I’d be very discouraged with a huge scent regimen knowing I’m gonna sweat like a pig both in and out of the woods every hunt. What a waste. Eberhart must hunt 100y off every access road, haha!

What’s everyone’s take on this? Is walking through the woods in sweaty tennis shoes, touching branches and trees with bare hands gonna do the same or more damage than walking through with clean rubber knee boots, touching nothing?

I don't think it will have any difference in effect, in both scenarios the deer crossing your path will know you were there. Main difference is the guy in sweaty tennis shoes will accept the fact their entry/exit effected the area and adjust, the guy who thinks they're fooling the deer will hunt a subpar set thinking the deer didn't detect them on the prior hunts.

YEP

[dan]

This is not to prove much of anything, probably a 2yr, 3yr at best, but interesting hunt last Oct nonetheless! Passed on him.

https://youtu.be/uXTVsaj4qgA

I have mature deer down wind of me and crossing my scent trail every season on pressured public land that show no signs of reaction... I also have deer that show they noticed, but still go about there business (like sniff your track, or lick there nose) and I have some deer that react harshly. If scent control made any kind of substantial difference guys like me would not have dozens of mature bucks on the wall and we would fail more often than those people who think they are not spooking deer.

[briar]

I feel like the words scent control in and of themselve say a lot Its gives us a feeling of something we can control in an otherwise very uncontrollable activity like hunting

Here is my, .02 im not out to prove it has value or it doesnt. I dont hold killing deer while smelling horrible as some kind of achievement or to prove a point.

If your playing the wind to the best of your ability, being aware of your entrance and exits and being mobile, staying clean certainly will not hurt you at all. Do i go crazy about it? Nope, do i feel better taking a shower during the season using my special green soap and washing my clothes once a year...i do. There is a lot of hype out there...you do you and use a method that brings you confidence. Dont however use it as a crutch to cut other corners.

[Groundhunter@1]

Here is my 2 cents. Bob Fratzke and Myles Keller were guys I learned alot from. I also admire Dan and others who take good deer off pressured public land. With that said.......

It's not so much about How You Hunt but Where You Hunt. Deer are all not the same as some believe. They get conditioned to the environment where they live.

Bucks I hunted in the true wilds of Canada and let's say the Bad River Reservation of Ashland County in the day, were extremely more sensitive and aware of scent and set ups, than in let's say Waupaca County.

With a trapping background I am aware of scent and control. To me its more important to execute your entry properly, than to execute your scent process.

There are areas you can out of your tree, and I can assure you there are areas that doing that would ruin your spot.

I am old school. I stay clean. I utilize hip boots and gloves. I use a pee bottle. I never defecate in my area. I hunt as remote at times as I can.

But I never forget that Wind Is King

[Ol Split ( ) Toes]

I typically try to go in as clean as I can too, generally I'll shower prior to sitting, usually have my hunting clothes hanging outside on the clothes line, but as far as the sprays you ain't getting a dime out of me.
Now that being said I also wont hesitate to go in and do a hunt straight from work when time starts to become an issue when the days start getting shorter, even in work clothes as long as the wind is good, hunt..

[purebowhunting]

Humans can relate to scent by intensity, yet animals can small horrifically to our nose yet having a better nose not seem to care. My dog will roll in dead animals, get sprayed by a skunk and appear as happy as a lark. My understanding is a deer can distinguish up to 6 smells at once, the only way I can see that working is to not be effected by the intensity of those different smells. I used to be a scent control guy, but when I gave up on it I saw no difference in reactions to the deer I encounter. I now can't wrap my mind around how scent control could work.

[Ol Split ( ) Toes]

Humans can relate to scent by intensity, yet animals can small horrifically to our nose yet having a better nose not seem to care. My dog will roll in dead animals, get sprayed by a skunk and appear as happy as a lark. My understanding is a deer can distinguish up to 6 smells at once, the only way I can see that working is to not be effected by the intensity of those different smells. I used to be a scent control guy, but when I gave up on it I saw no difference in reactions to the deer I encounter. I now can't wrap my mind around how scent control could work.

Well now just maybe there is a way it could work, if you take someone who couldnt stand the smell of there own stink and got down early, compared to the guy that showered up and sits till dark.... Jk lol

[Dewey]

I could leave the truck showered and be completely scent free (in my mind) but by the time I get to where I’m hunting I’m a sweaty stinky mess. Rarely do I have easy enough access that I could remain “scent free”.

I’ve walked in during heavy rain wearing hip boots and head to toe rain gear that didn’t breathe very well. You would think that my scent would have been largely contained. NOPE. First deer that crossed my exit trail from the cattails about 4 hrs later while it was still raining heavily completely freaked out. So much for rain washing your scent away. You can’t beat that nose. Wind is your only friend.

[dan]

Here is my 2 cents. Bob Fratzke and Myles Keller were guys I learned alot from. I also admire Dan and others who take good deer off pressured public land. With that said.......

It's not so much about How You Hunt but Where You Hunt. Deer are all not the same as some believe. They get conditioned to the environment where they live.

Bucks I hunted in the true wilds of Canada and let's say the Bad River Reservation of Ashland County in the day, were extremely more sensitive and aware of scent and set ups, than in let's say Waupaca County.

With a trapping background I am aware of scent and control. To me its more important to execute your entry properly, than to execute your scent process.

There are areas you can out of your tree, and I can assure you there are areas that doing that would ruin your spot.

I am old school. I stay clean. I utilize hip boots and gloves. I use a pee bottle. I never defecate in my area. I hunt as remote at times as I can.

But I never forget that Wind Is King

You can micro that down a little too... I have far worse reactions to my scent near bedding areas and in areas where deer do not expect humans than I do along human trails, at food sources, or at places humans frequent. When I hunted conservancys that had winding tree hugger hiking trails thru them I learned quick the mature deer often freaked out on my scent if I got 20 yards off of a human trail but the trails that winded everywhere often crossed the deer trails within 100 yards of bedding and if I set up right over the top of the human trails the bucks took no notice to my ground scent... Your statement makes a good point that every hunter reading or responding to this post will have a different set of circumstances and therefore different results of deer reactions.

[G-Patt]

I'm a pretty clean guy, use non-scent detergent, scentless soaps, try to avoid stinking my clothes up at McDonald's just before a hunt. I've even used a ozone machine for my clothes. I know how to access my spots, on which wind and watch where I step. I've also gone hunting without showering for days, stinking like I ran a 10K race in the sweltering sun to the point I grossed even myself out. It didn't matter either way, and I have no evidence to suggest the cleaner one is is marginally better than stinking like a homeless person despite that argument sounding logical. I've blown deer out with both methods and in between levels of funk. Hey, some days you win, and most days you lose. I can live with that.

[tim]

I don’t use any type of scent control, I also don’t have any means of washing any of my clothes while hunting for weeks at a time when I’m away from home so I embrace it lol. This year during a a 5 week period none of my clothing was washed and I only used a total of 3 pair of socks during that period. I wore each pair like 5 days in a row then gave them a break I only hung them on a chair to fry till next morning . I’ve actually been doing this last 5 or 6 years cause I have my favorite pairs lol . Every year I bring a bag full of socks but never wear them every year I’ve killed a mature buck so the moral of the story is play the wind ……