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- - Scent Free (https://www.huntingnet.com/forum/bowhunting/209039-scent-free.html)

This year I was told about going into the woods completely scent free
I bought a scentlok suit and the scentfree clothes wash and scentfree body wash
But in years past i have used cover scents...fallblend spray and earth wafers
but this year my friend told me about doing away with the wafers and spray
He said to wash your clothes keep the in a container and wash your body before you go out and you will be better off
The deer can differentiate between no scent and your cover scents.

What are your thoughts fellas!!!

I think being totally scent free is impossible. Play the wind after making your best efforts at scent reduction.

While I agree with your friend to a certain extent.....I DO store my clothes in earth scent wafers. "Scent Free" to me should be changed to "scent management". We'r enever going to totally eliminate it....and what we all should be striving for is diminishing the amount of human scent we put forth. So.....I don't think we're fooling the deer. I think Rob/PA gave me about the best analogy we as humans can understand when he explained it to me this way.

It's kind of like US smelling a skunk. If it's REALLY close....we can determine that ....HEY....there's a skunk, really close!;) What we attempt to do when we "manage" our human scent.....is to make the deer think we're further away from him than we really are. If we humans smell a "faint" smell of skunk.....we're LESS inclined to think he's right there with us. We likely won't give him too much thought.

WHERE you hunt will be a HUGE factor as to how much human scent a whitetail "might" tolerate. I hunt near humans.....within 1/4 mile of houses.....a barn.....etc... Iknow I get away with a little more scent dispersion than the guy who hunts big woods, but it doesn't stop me from trying my best to "manage" it.

Good luck.

While you're never going to be 100% scent free, taking all the precautions is a must, no doubt. I don't use cover scents, I personally feel it's better to smell like nothing than some chemically induced odor.

Quote:

ORIGINAL: mobowhuntr

While you're never going to be 100% scent free, taking all the precautions is a must, no doubt. I don't use cover scents, I personally feel it's better to smell like nothing than some chemically induced odor.

I agree. I wash my hunting cloths a few days before the hunt, then hang them outside to air dry. I leave them outside until i go hunting. Also shower in sent free soap/shampoo. Sent free deoderant. Rubber boots. The only sent i use is a sprits of deer pee on the bottom of myboots. I also dont put any of my hunting cloths on until i get out of the truck. (that can look silly sometimes if someone is driving by at the wrong time). When i get home, the cloths go right into the wash, then hang outside and start all over.

Impossible to be scent-free, regardless of how much money you spend. Also, deer can smell many different scents at one time. The concept of a cover-scent makes no sence as they just smell it and you! JMHO of course!

It's funny how no matter how much I think I'm sent free, the deer can still see me. lol
I never much liked the smell of autom or earth scent. Smells like mold in a bottle. Ya wanna smell like dirt, go roll in the dirt. Many hunters shower with hunters soap and shampoo then dry off with a towel that is Bounty Fresh, comb or brush there hair with the same old comb or brush. No good. Wash your towels with your sent aliminating detergent and use it after you shower. Keep a hunting comb or brush in a container of some sort and spray it with scent eliminator once in awhile. There are a lot of tricks and routeens people go through, just a mater of getting clean and getting your cloths and gear clean and keep them that way til you get to the woods. Carbon suits are a great tool if used properly. Useless if not.
Otherwise the guys here got it pretty well covered, the skunk thing is right on the money. lol

I do the shower thing and scent free deodorant..store my hunting clothes in a container with fresh earth scent wafers and my scent-lok under garments in a air tight bag by themselves. I will not put any clothes on after my shower (shorts thats it and they are in with my hunting clothes) And the towel I use is kept outside no scent on the towel either! I try to do everything i can to be succesful call me a freak I guess!

I agree that you will never be able to be totally scent free no matter what, but to reduce as much scent as possible is wise. I only use one scent on occassion, "deer dander." I spray a little on my boots and I think that deer are curious about it.

I play the wind to get a shot at a buck, I go the extra mile being clean to not make my first hunt my last in his area..