For an animal that can take a whiff of a sand granule and come to a conclusion that a human was there, I think the answer is obvious, yes. Yet, we must ponder to what degree or to what extent.

     For years there has been much discussion and controversy within the outdoor industry to how effective a ‘magical potion’ or ‘invisible powered garment’ really is when faced with the nose of a whitetail.

     From technologically advanced carbon-lined suits that absorb odor molecules like a sponge soaks water, to magical mists that capsulate and kill scent on contact, we’ve literally seen and heard it all...or have we…

   There’s truly no telling what latest scent elimination business will launch next year or how the latest marketing strategy will be used to lure us in to spending our hard-earned money. I’ve been taught, just like any other hunter across the country that trial-and-error is the only method to personally test your week’s salary on products that mask, cover, or ‘eliminate’ human odor.

     It is from these tried-and-true life experiences in the woods hunting, that we brew our own assumptions and conclusions. Personally, I’ve always believed that a deer will smell you 100% of the time once downwind of your location. I don’t care what you wear, or how you wear it. I do happen to think that using products that help minimize your odor is important, but not totally exclusive.

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     A very logical example is the average Joe that fills up his truck with gasoline and walks out of the gas station with a 99-cent hotdog in hand. From there, it’s into his ‘invisible suit’ where he sprays down with his scent eliminator and to the tree stand he goes.

     Although a whitetail will typically pick you off once it’s downwind of you, it doesn’t give you any reason to skip on the crucial steps in your scent minimizing system. My opinion is based off of several deer encounters and invaluable lessons from veteran hunters. The keyword to scent control is ‘minimize’, not eliminate. I don’t believe a person can be scientifically able to achieve the state of, ‘scent-free’. A person can never totally eliminate every human bearing scent particle that escapes your body, but on the other hand you can severely minimize it.

     I’ve had deer directly downwind of me that never spooked, blew, or stomped. Although, they did lick their nose and toss back their head sniffing the foreign scent. They sniffed me out like we smell freshly baked cookies, yet my scent wasn’t overpowering. Deer seemed to deal with the foreign odor and accept that a human was in the area at one time, but not specifically knowing when. I believe that is the difference between smelling like a human and smelling like a minimized human that sat in the stand a few days ago.

     The moral of the story is that you cannot fully rely on using powder-based, plastic wrapped, next generation styled products that promise the world. I think we can all agree on how sometimes marketing and advertising can be deceiving, but that is how the game is played. It is our duty to make the better judgment and put our own seal of approval on a product.

     The only tactic I do rely on is my old farm trick I use when hunting back at home. Considering the whitetail where I grew up were used to the potent smell of manure, silage, and tractors, I spent the afternoon at my uncle’s dairy farm before walking to my tree stand! Not only did it help me stuff meat in the freezer, but also arrow a few exceptional bucks.