nromaker

I stomp around in a couple fresh cow pies for a little natural cover scent. just interested on what you all might do for different cover scents?

Wingbone

Bergamot. cut a bunch and stick it into a tote with my hunting clothes. The scent lingers for a couple of seasons. It grows all over the state of WI.

nromaker

what is bergomot? Im in the kc missouri area

SteveBNy

I don't bother - you can reduce your scent, but it is impossible to cover or hide it from a deer. They simply smell you and whatever scent you added to the mix

wild at heart

Not true. I like to get under an oak tree where there is a lot of dirt and old leaves and such and rub it all over me. I wear scent lok and take showers with scent elimitating soap and stuff but I still like to smell like dirt. It's my favorite cover scent. Very poignant.

kickin_buck

This is very true. I use to wear cover scent until I read an article about how a deer smells. They explained it this way; you walk into a kitchen where someone had baked an apple pie. You (humans) smell the apple pie as a whole, a deer can and does smell each ingredient used to make the pie. Deer have the ability to smell several different odors at the same time, so a cover scent really does not “cover” or mask anything.

BvrHunter

So basically I need to hunt the wind and not worry about my scent because no matter what I do, weather its using a cover scent or taking a shower with sent eliminating soap, or wearing scent eliminating clothes its not gonna help because they deer are just gonna smell me know matter what??

kickin_buck

For the most part you are correct. However, I take all the steps in the world to reduce my human odor as much as possible. I never hunt a stand unless the wind is "right" for that stand, but we all know that deer don't play by the same rules.

While it is impossible to eliminate 100% of your scent, you can (not every time) reduce it to an "acceptable" amount. The stronger your human odor is, the less likely the deer will tolerate it and flee the area. An acceptable amount really depends on where you are hunting. If you are hunting in a very rural area, let's say out west where deer do not encounter human scent often, a small amount of human scent will alert the deer to danager. If you are hunting in the suburbs where deer encounter human odor all the time, a small amount will not be as likely to alert them to danager.

The only way to beat a deer's nose 100% of the time is to keep your scent down wind of the deer.

Kybuckhunter

So if dirt covers scent so well how does a deer smell where you or another deer stepped on the ground? I'm pretty sure the ground is made up of dirt. What has the strongest smell...the ground or your footstep? If a deer can smell where another animal or person mearly stepped hours before then doesnt it make since they can smell your entire body with just a little dirt rubbed on it.

Yes its good to keep the odors down as much as we can but covering up is a waste of time.

deerdart

i hunt in a tree stand thats about 15 to 20 feet high does that help with sent