silentassassin

Rack, if you'll start dropping the hammer more often you won't have to worry about that

shed33

Mantis,

First off, thank you in regards to those critters. Second I have no affiliation for sucker suits ..thats forsure... I just having been using their product and like their product and feel as those that have their opinions negatively about it, I can give some credit where I feel credit is do........and about me feeling that I wouldnt have harvested those critters without it.... I hope this answers it below.....

100% sure , heck no.... I could never prove that it does 100% ....all I can do is share the bucks and bulls and bears or whatever that I feel this scent free approach and scent lok suit combined has helped out on..... thats it. Definately enough to give credit. Do I think my chances would have been much worse with out it. Yes

I have had so many close encounters with NO negative affects that I could "SEE"...... and I hunt specific deer that I know pretty well from a lot of scouting. This isnt a ranch hunt either or private hunt. This is public ground out here.

In 98 when I first bought the scent lok and changed my entire approach to scent elimination because I was sick of getting busted. I was very very skeptical at first about how well this would reallly help....but figured for 100$ (that was the price for the first liner system scent lok suit I bought) I would give it a chance. I am pretty open minded and if something has good sound science behind it I will look into it. I read all the literature behind the suit and how it was suppose to work. It made sense to me I liked the concept but still for me.....real life proof...would only make me confident in it.

So the first day I get to hunt in it (August 30th 1998) I go through my routine of washing, spraying down etc...still very skeptical and wonder if this is gonna be worth it, but I decided...I made the commitment and spent some money so I figured I would not cut any corners.... anyway I am all ready and trust me at first....it was like starting over...I get within 50 yards of my stand and whoa.....I stop..see movement...down the trail comes a doe and fawn. I am like OH CRAP.... so I just freeze, bow in hand, scent lok suit on and I had my 3-d cover all over it with the head cover and gloves... I am thinking .......her she comes right too me, I guess I will see if this works!!!!" first day out... ever in this stuff... covered head to toe, rubber boots the whole nine yards...pretty much feeling like an alien.

Well what happened next totally blew me away. She (the doe) walks up towards me feeding... Looks at me really funny, I was squinting my eyes sho she wouldnt look me in my eyes...just so I can barely see her. I do not want her to bust me.... She then walks right up to me and I am thinking.....SHES gonna take a bite off this 3-D suit. LMAO ... anyway she gets so close that I can smack her on the nose. She stretches her neck out and sucks in a big ole SMELL of me like a buck flemming... then drops her head and looks for a second, and feeds on by with her fawn in tow who paid no attention to me. I didnt move till they had walked about 50 yards by I turned really slow to watch her feed off over the ridge. Right then and there I knew...something WAS definately OK with this suit and the entire wash up, spray down approach, rubber boats ..everything....

Since then I have been amazed at how close I have had bear, elk and deer directly downwind and NEVER witnessed one spooking. I can say this I am very disciplined when bowhunting in regards to my scent inhibiting preperation. I never get sick of it either, its never work and I enjoy the process, its like riding bike, once I got used to it I wouldnt do it any other way. Its not for everyone tho, especially if it takes the fun out of a persons hunting. I have "fun" seeing the bucks I am after.

The 8x8 I had wind blowing to him in his bed for 2 hours... before got up and came out 1 hour before dark.

The 4x4 He came in ....following a doe who walked right by me.

The bull 7x7. I honestly didnt even worry about the wind, it was swirling in the grassy draw he was feeding in with a 6x6 and rag horn.

I would say the 8x8 old feller... aged at 7.5 shot him on a 100 degree day...afternoon... having that wind blow into his bedding area was enough to make me feel its worth it...

I had a friend tell me once.....this is not intended for you Mantis...but it has always made me think twice..... "open your mind....your arse will follow" I enjoy testing stuff for myself, I tend to only believe what I see work in the wild as far as products go. These days I don't mind feeling like an alien anymore, I enjoy seeing the animals I am after in their natural state.

Shed

Mantis Mayer

Shed, thanks for the response! Well done. If you say your not affiliated with the company I believe you, but damn you should be there salesman![8D]

You know I’ve always felt this way.

The only way to see if this stuff works is to test it. That is the kicker that holds me back I suppose. I guess I’m just too skeptical to take it that far. Maybe someday I’ll give it a shot.

slobbyrobby33

Well the next time my girlfriend tells me that I am off my rocker at the very least I can tell her I am not the only one.

I am like Shed, I cannot say for 100% if the scent lock works. I do know for as much as I swet Deer should be smelling me from down wind but they don't.

idahoelkinstructor

I have question's for shed33. First of all, were those animals taken all in Idaho? If so congraulations on drawing the second whitetail tag, I have never have been lucky to draw yet.. Was that the Elk was taken with a rifle? Which is cool if it was. Do you ever hunt elk going in on horseback? Do you do most of your elk bowhunting out of stands, or are you moble. And lastly don't you ever get super hot and sweaty in the september elk rut. The reason I ask this is I mostly hunt in the backcountry. I hunt out of wall tents. I pack in the works in august to set up camp. I bring a small rubbermaid water basin, that I use for a portable bathtub. I heat the water on a turkey cooker. I use different scent lock soap's and scent free spray, never tried vanishing hunter, I will try it sometime. Of course I wash my clothes in scent free laundry detergent. And I store them in a bag with natural vegitation and dirt from the area that I am hunting. I do not have a scent lock suit, my hunting buddy tried it once on our hunt and was getting sick because he was way to hot. He dosn't bring it elk hunting now. I do have horses and use them to pack in, but from there we hunt on foot anywhere from 4-10 miles a day. Our average shot is under 20 yards I am proficient with the calls. My strategy is try to locate the animals stalk in under 100 yards using the wind, and then use the calls. I am not trying to say the scent lock suite doesn't work. But for the type of hunting I mostly do it doesn't. work for me.

shed33

Idahoelkinstructor,

Thanks for the ?'s I'll do my best to answer them for you.

1. ALL taken in Idaho yes. You must be from central or southern Idaho, the reason I say that is.....Up here in the Panhandle we can buy up all the left over NON RESIDENT TAGS, elk or deer. BUT we pay the Non-resident fee. My brother and I buy a NON-Resident left over tag each year, so we can hunt a second whitetail. They cost 235.00 but are well worth it to us.

Elk..... yes, In the panhandle if you check the regs, I can use my archery "A Tag to hunt elk with a rifle for 1 week in late Oct. This is a bull that outsmarted me with his cows in archery season, I was able to catch up to him feeding in late Oct (29th) after the rut with two other bulls. We can also buy a LEFT OVER NR-ELK Tags up here in the Panhandle.. it would cost me 338.00.

The Scent Lok Liner system works very well in early archery season, I hike all over in mine its much lighter and more breathable than any light weight camo I have. Would it work in your kind of hunting? This past season my brother hiked in cow calling occasionally and carefuly on a herd bull this Sept. Snuck through all his cows, bugled over the top of the bull once he was within 40 yards of the bull and could see him....the bull instantly came unglued ...... and charged at him....Rob arrowed him at 8 steps. He swears by the scent free/scent lok approach. He counted 12 cows he sifted through before getting to the 6x6 300 class bull. He hiked several miles on this hunt. He lives in Salmon River country near Riggins, you know how steep that country is. The only thing about the liners system is....... its not as tough as your regular camo material is gonna be but every bit as tough as a tee-shirt type camo shirt. I wear the liner in early season. Its just too darned hot to wear anything else. Do folks need scent lok, nope, guys have been killing bucks and bulls and everything else for years. Do I think it helps.... yes. The way I look at it is simple. If a 119.00 investment makes a difference on 1 mature buck, boar or bull in my life time. It's paid for itself. Since I started using it in 98 and following a strict scent free regimen, I have witnessed a huge difference in NOT spooking mature animals while being "bow" close even when rifle hunting.... 20-30 yards... also while scouting. I wear the stuff all summer in the evenings while glassing whitetail bucks and bulls for the up coming archery season.

It sounds like you stay very clean on your pack trips in regards to hunting the elk you hunt. I think that is very important. As for the Vanishing hunter I like it because you can not only spray down with it, you can spray it in your mouth.

Just curious where your located, Take care, best of luck with your job of instructing youngsters, I used to teach Hunters Ed in the mid 90's. Best of luck hunting to you and yours in Idaho.

Shed

Dirt2

Okay, I haven't been yelled at for a few days, and I'm starting to feel all warm and fuzzy. Yuck, feelings like that will make you soft so you don't want to get out in the woods when it's 33 degrees and raining sideways.

So, I am not a scent fanatic. By time I backpack in on an elk hunt I smell like Sasquatch, and I'm in for 4-8 days at a time.

Now for the part where I get yelled at, I wonder where some of this scent control nonsense originated. (Okay, I know, the hunting magazines done it.) I'd like to make a couple wagers with those of you who avoid regular laundry detergent and pit stick like it's the mark of the devil. I'll bet that if a guy were to pour a pile of Tide laundry soap on the ground in front of his stand, it would serve as a mild attractant for whitetails. Seriously, I'm going to try this some day, I think the smell is going to trigger that curiosity instinct in whitetails and make them want to come over and sniff that stuff, see if it tastes good. I'll make the same bet for deodorant.

That said, I do wash my clothes in a hunting type detergent, don't remember what it is. I store my clothes overnight in camp in a sealed garbage bag with a couple of pine scent wafers.

Bird Hunt Dog

I'm slold on the spray on sent killer. I've never had so many deer come from straight down wind to my stand! You can tell they smell something but it doesn't seem to scare them, now thats does and small bucks I think the big boys a little smarter than that!

shed33

Dirt,

Tide? hmmmm wonder if the critters will come running with their dirty socks and scivies too? Better get the extra strength Tide incase of "bacon strips"

davidmil

All the way.