Is my husband wrong on scent control??
 

Don't drag us into your arguments! :D

LOL...I have to agree with Oldtimr.
But......If there is no fir or juniper where he's hunting it definitely would throw up a flag for any deer. And secondly, even in a fir or juniper grove the smell isn't that strong unless there are fresh cuts.
Man has been killing deer for years without any scent control and watching the wind. I use the detergent, bath soaps and shampoos, and spray down before I go out too. But I also am watchful of the wind direction. (Some things you just can't make neutral like your breath.) I am totally convinced that the best scent is no scent at all.
I've had them work for me on occasion but I am very cautious even using any of the various deer scents.
Want to have some fun with your hubby? Go buy a container of Evercalm (it looks like deodorant) and present it to him. Then he'll smell like a herd of deer....!!!

I'm pretty regimented about my scent control as well as using the wind. But I even gave up using the earth scent products years ago, because as bronko stated I believe the best scent is NO scent.

Ot has said it on here many times: until you can stop breathing for the duration of your hunt... Theres going to be human scent in the air.

Somebody else in a recent thread mentioned using all the shower soaps and washes. Then they probably get out and dry off with a towel from their regular towel closet.

I still occasionally use a scent spray. Its better to just be smart about the wind imo.

-Jake

Just be thankful that he hasn't started using skunk scent.:deer:

Though I do love the smell of cedar wood, and so do bucks who love to rub their antlers on cedar tree trunks.

As bears have an amazing sense of smell, I take scent control very seriously. Scent control detergent, soap, shampoo, and the spray.

I agree with most posters here - no scent is better than any scent, including the "cover scents". Wind direction is more important, but why not hedge your bet and try to make yourself smell as little as possible?

any scent foreign to the area will alert things, and get there attention
SO< the answer could be YES and or NO
as there is also the fact, deer IMO will be more alert to the scent of a HUMAN< over the scent of a tree(be it what ever type)
so, there could be some value to being over powering of a smell of a tree, over just the smell of a human?

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.

Probably the best response on this thread.

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.

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.

That applies to scent in all areas of life 😂

Not just hunting

-Jake

If he left happy, I don't see what the problem is.

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.

This is an excellent thread especially looking at it from this angle.

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.

Scent control
 

[QUOTE=reyn;4364185][/QUOTE

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.

Best scent control costs nothing. Check the wind and always hunt down wind of where you think deer will come from. That is the only scent control that works for me.

....ask Him how well it worked when He gets home? ;)