Is my husband wrong on scent control??
11-10-2019, 10:03 PM
#11
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Northern California
Posts: 18,381
Ditto! For the OP, probably the best thing you can do is ask him about what he's experienced so far and what he thinks would help. Just knowing you're supportive will be kind of special for him. It may also involve an extra trip to a hunting store, washing and drying clothes separately or possibly air drying them and just supporting him in trying different things or talking to other hunters in his area and seeing how they handle it. Think of it like a book of crossword puzzles that you like working on. When you finish the puzzle on one page, you move on to the next. It's a lot of fun figuring all of this stuff out and your hubby will enjoy and appreciate your supporting his figuring this stuff out and trying different things. Best of luck for both of you.
11-11-2019, 01:05 PM
#12
Dominant Buck
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: On an Island in Vermont
Posts: 22,589
I used to use lots of natural scents. If I was in camp where there were cooking and other smells I would store my bow clothes in a trash bag and throw a few cut up apples inside to lend a little natural scent to them. If I hunted near cedar I would take a few branches and rub them on my pants and sleeves. Same with spruce and pine if hunting near them but would have to be careful to not get sap all over myself. Personally I think some hunters have more of a problem with scent than others.
11-11-2019, 01:21 PM
#13
Super Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Trumbull County, Ohio
Posts: 9,520
11-12-2019, 10:08 AM
#15
Fork Horn
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: Western Maryland
Posts: 195
If you look it up, deer have more olfactory nerves than a dog and they say a dog can smell every ingredient in a cake separately.
SOO, You are not going to cover human scent if it is wafting in the wind. You might be able to block it with a scent suit, destroy it with ozone, or just hunt the wind. You are correct though, pine scent in an oak forest is going to be a foreign smell.
SOO, You are not going to cover human scent if it is wafting in the wind. You might be able to block it with a scent suit, destroy it with ozone, or just hunt the wind. You are correct though, pine scent in an oak forest is going to be a foreign smell.
11-13-2019, 06:01 AM
#16
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Eastern PA
Posts: 12,745
If it's working for him, then it's right. He's the only one that can figure out what works for his particular hunting area or not. When you ask a question like this on a message board like this, people are naturally going to respond with what they've experienced in the areas that they hunt.
For example, one guy might hunt in the middle of the wilderness where people don't hang out. Critters are going to pay a lot more attention to human scent there because it doesn't exist otherwise. Another guy might hunt on a cattle ranch. On such a ranch, critters are used to human smell and pickup trucks that regularly deliver yummy things to eat for all the cattle and horses on the ranch. The guy hunting in the wilderness is going to be a lot more concerned about scent control but even more so about playing the wind and staying out of sight and making as little noise as possible. The guy on the cattle ranch, however, doesn't have to worry about those things as much because the critters expect to see him out there and only get spooked when he starts acting like he's a predator hunting them.
So the advice you would get from those two different guys in two different hunting areas would be completely correct for their respective areas. Your husband, on the other hand, may hunt in a different type of area with different parameters than either of them and their respective advice might not be exactly right for his area. So asking all of us what we think could end up with a lot of different answers, none of which might be right.
For example, one guy might hunt in the middle of the wilderness where people don't hang out. Critters are going to pay a lot more attention to human scent there because it doesn't exist otherwise. Another guy might hunt on a cattle ranch. On such a ranch, critters are used to human smell and pickup trucks that regularly deliver yummy things to eat for all the cattle and horses on the ranch. The guy hunting in the wilderness is going to be a lot more concerned about scent control but even more so about playing the wind and staying out of sight and making as little noise as possible. The guy on the cattle ranch, however, doesn't have to worry about those things as much because the critters expect to see him out there and only get spooked when he starts acting like he's a predator hunting them.
So the advice you would get from those two different guys in two different hunting areas would be completely correct for their respective areas. Your husband, on the other hand, may hunt in a different type of area with different parameters than either of them and their respective advice might not be exactly right for his area. So asking all of us what we think could end up with a lot of different answers, none of which might be right.
11-14-2019, 02:33 AM
#17
Spike
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Kansas
Posts: 14
I've been busted by a whitetail's nose while standing hunting a few times. I know because I was watching them and it was obvious they discovered my scent.
But then other times I've had them travel the same path I did and not seem to mind. Or be within a few yards of me for hours and never catch my scent. I used to be almost paranoid about trying to cover my scent and I still take precautions, but I don't pay as much attention to it as I used to.
Twice that's been said by Bocajnala, if the wind is right, the wind is right. If not - they could smell (in this case, your husband) anyway.
But then other times I've had them travel the same path I did and not seem to mind. Or be within a few yards of me for hours and never catch my scent. I used to be almost paranoid about trying to cover my scent and I still take precautions, but I don't pay as much attention to it as I used to.
Twice that's been said by Bocajnala, if the wind is right, the wind is right. If not - they could smell (in this case, your husband) anyway.
11-26-2019, 08:49 PM
#18
Spike
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 14
Scent control
[QUOTE=reyn;4364185]
If you are not hunting with him, then whatever he chooses to use for scent control, right or wrong, is NOT of your concern. Now if he was hunting with you and you felt his way was scaring away animals then yes a discussion and compromise would be relevant. If he sucks at hunting and isnt bringing food to the table, get out there and at least put some legal meat on the table yourself if you know so well. Otherwise your argument to be "right" is just arguing for the sake of argument and being above. Let him enjoy how he wants to hunt even if it doesn't make sense. What is it to piss on his happy hunting time? If he wants to smell like a Christmas tree then so be it as long as you are not starving.
Long story short—
my husband uses some mainstream scent control tactics, from washing his clothes with the right detergent to spraying down etc. but when he left this morning he reeked!!
He put on a cedar and juniper scented deodorant that smelled like someone doused him in essential oils. I asked him if he thought that would raise flags for the deer considering he’s recurve hunting and has to get so close for the shot...? He said no. Am I crazy or will this deodorant set off deer in the entire county?? Just because it’s “woodsy” smelling doesn’t mean anything at all, pungent smells are pungent smells am I right or wrong??
just a wife trying to help her husband out!! (& a wife that wants to be right
)
[/QUOTEmy husband uses some mainstream scent control tactics, from washing his clothes with the right detergent to spraying down etc. but when he left this morning he reeked!!
He put on a cedar and juniper scented deodorant that smelled like someone doused him in essential oils. I asked him if he thought that would raise flags for the deer considering he’s recurve hunting and has to get so close for the shot...? He said no. Am I crazy or will this deodorant set off deer in the entire county?? Just because it’s “woodsy” smelling doesn’t mean anything at all, pungent smells are pungent smells am I right or wrong??
just a wife trying to help her husband out!! (& a wife that wants to be right
)If you are not hunting with him, then whatever he chooses to use for scent control, right or wrong, is NOT of your concern. Now if he was hunting with you and you felt his way was scaring away animals then yes a discussion and compromise would be relevant. If he sucks at hunting and isnt bringing food to the table, get out there and at least put some legal meat on the table yourself if you know so well. Otherwise your argument to be "right" is just arguing for the sake of argument and being above. Let him enjoy how he wants to hunt even if it doesn't make sense. What is it to piss on his happy hunting time? If he wants to smell like a Christmas tree then so be it as long as you are not starving.
Last edited by lady; 11-26-2019 at 08:53 PM.
