Anyone ever use Ozonics?
 

I have a 100 acre track all bottom ground that is prime during rut but the problem is the deer come from every direction. It's hard to play the wind so i was looking for ways to contain my scent and came across ozonics. Was wondering anyones thoughts or exprience with this product. Thanks!

Ozonics offered me a unit to test and I've been on the fence about taking them up on it because of mixed reviews I've gotten from some of our hunters and other guides I know. I had a client last week that brought one to the ranch and used it in one of my stands. Now, the wind was blowing from his 10 o'clock to his 4 o'clock and he was shooting out into a sendero (ranch road, for all you Yankees!) about 15 yards from the blind. Does kept coming in, walking down the sendero, from his right side; and every time they did, they would blow and haul butt outta there. Now, I'm borderline obsessive about brushing in my popups (especially since I just had an article published on the subject, lol!) so I KNOW they didn't see the blind. Since the wind shouldn't have been an issue, and I made sure to spray him (and his gear) down before I put him in the stand, the only thing I could figure has spooking them was the smell of the ozone. I told him, via text, to shut the Ozonics off and see what happened. 30 minutes later he had 3-4 does and 2 young bucks standing within 20 yards and he killed a nice mature doe. Right before dark he shot 2 decent (140 pound) hogs at 10 and 15 yards.

Was it the ozone smell or coincidence? Who knows. I suspect the ozone, though.

Given the mixed reviews, and considering who posted some of each side, I think it's usefulness depends on the deer (or other game) in the area you're hunting. If the game is pressured, I think the ozone smell will spook them; because they are wary enough to alert to ANYTHING that's out of the ordinary. If you're hunting a private property that's very low pressured the deer are far less apt to be spooky about that odor and it's certainly better than human odor.

Is it 100% foolproof or God's gift to bowhunters? Definitely not. Especially not for the price tag. A $5 bottle of scent killer from Walmart is at least 90% as effective without any other smell tagging along; and it's a lot easier on the wallet. If $450 is "pocket change" for you, then it's something that's probably a great tool to have to play with and use in the right conditions. Otherwise, I think most hunters can find plenty of better things to spend that much money on.

Since I have access to one to try out, I may give it a shot on some hogs after deer season. But, given what I've seen happen and the mixed reviews, I'm not going to take a chance on it ruining one of my (or one of my clients') hunts. I'll stay somewhat open-minded until I run it past some hogs' noses; but I'm sure not scrambling for the phone to accept a unit to review.

Remember, the very best scent prevention is the wind in your face and a well hidden stand! We've been killing big deer with bows like that since LONG before Ozonics was ever dreamed of. Hunting has become a victim of advertising and you can't believe the hype 99.999% of the time. Products don't make you more successful, experience and the knowledge that comes with it does.

Hope this helps. Have a great season!

Thanks for the info!

I bought one before season last year. I was not happy at all with its performance toward the end of hunting season last year. Since they advertise as moneyback guarantee, I wrote to Ozonics and told them how poorly it performed. In my letter to them, I wrote in detail about how I take great care before I go into the field to be clean and am as sent free as possible. I always hunt with the wind in my face (their webpae suggests you should set it up facing downwind and let te ozone flow over you). My intention has always been to use it to cover my backside just in case something comes in from behind. As I mentioned, I take great care to be ordor free before going into the woods. I shower with scent free soap, use deodorant, floss and brush teeth, wear Scentlock head to toe, and wipe any sweat with scent free tissue I carry with me after I walk in.

Depending on the tree you are going to mount the bracket on, it is sometimes difficut to position the Ozonics unit so the ozone flows down over you all the time. That's because the wind rarely blows directly in front or behind you. Rather, it will blow on an angle and the bracket just isn't long enough to position it out over you. Regardless, even when the unit is positioned exactly correct with the ozone flowing down over your "scent profile", I have only observed about a 2 in 10 effective rate of covering scent when a deer is downwind of me and sometimes I wonder if those 2 just would have walked by without picking uo my scent anyway.

This year, I have not had any luck whatsoever with Ozonics effectiveness. Every downwind encounter has resulted in a bust. The exception was yesterday when an 8 point buck walked right past my stand on the backside about 8 yards from the tree. But, I wasn't using the ozonics machine at the time anyway. He was just geeked up with testosterone and could have cared less.

I really believe in the effectiveness of ozone to eliminate scent. Google searches have shown that the technology has been around a long time. It has been used by clean up companies after a fire to elimate the smoke smell for a long, long time. Either the Ozonics machine doesn't produce enough ozone; it distribution sytem doesn't throw the ozone out far enough; or the wind disperses the ozone erradically; or some combination of the above, but it has just not proven effective in my opinion. Maybe it would work better inside of a blind...I don't know and haven't used it in that type of setting. I have only used it in my treestand. If you are considering buying one, I would suggest waiting and seeing if an upgraded model or different manufacturer comes into the picure in the next few years. And to all those celebrity hunters who have slapped their endorsement on Ozonics.....shame on you for prostituting yourself! I seriously doubt you have had any real time experiences different than mine.

PS. I did send my unit into Ozonics last year. They sent me a different unit that had been checked out by them. There was no difference in the performance between the two units.

I just searched for forum for this subject to see what others had to say. But here is my experience from this last weekend. I went back home to hunt with my brother. He has had an Ozonics for a couple years now and he really likes it. We have an area where deer will come from anywhere so scent control is every important. We shower with scent soap and spray down heavily before we head to the stand. With all that being said. My brother had the wind switch on him Friday night and had minimum of 30 deer downwind of him for more than an hour and a couple were mature bucks. He actually couldn't even draw his bow on a buck because of how close the does were to him. I know for a fact without it he would have been busted.

Last night was my turn in the stand that deer come from everywhere so I had it the Ozonics with me. I had about 5-6 does come in the downwind side and they never blew or ran but did get a little excited and didn't stay around me very long. Also grunted in a nice buck that circled around me and got down wind 60yds. He did trot off a little ways but then calmed down and started looking for hot does.

So does it work, I believe so. How well? I am still not 100% sure. Maybe my brother had it positioned a little bit better than me. I do know in the food plot that we hunt that once a doe or 2 blow at something they are gone and the hunt is pretty much over. This weekend that did not happen. With the rut on we were both able to hunt even though one of the stands was not set up perfect for the wind and it didn't get us busted. But will I drop the $400 on one so I have it where I hunt 3 hours away from my brother? Probably not this year but next year when I have $400 of Cabela's buck saved up I will probably own one.

I use an ozone machine that cost $40 to keep my hunting clothing and gear scent free in a cabinet at home (I think it's called scentpurge or something). It uses a charged ion method to create ozone and over a couple of days it will kill the scent on your gear if you keep it running continually since it has to fill the cabinet with the charged air and give it time to do its job. However the idea of having an ozone generator trying to kill your scent on-the-fly sounds tricky. Ozone doesn't mask but kills bacteria, and other odors. I'm thnking it is killing the scent on YOU while you sit there which would work to some degree. (Not to mention you are not supposed to inhale the ozone as stated on government health websites)