The Cover Scent LIE
 

I posted this on another thread.
Here is a bit of truth for ya! Over the years people in the hunting industry that sell "scent control products" have convinced hunters that you NEED to do all this stuff that involves using their products to be successful hunting. They have done their job well because as you can tell from this thread, hunters now-days believe you NEED this stuff or your are not going to successfully kill your intended game animal. While anyone who spends time in the field (and I don't mean 4 hrs a couple of days a weekend) Know the truth. I wish Fred Bear was still around to be able to tell people the truth. If you watch footage of the founding fathers of hunting you will not see them spraying, dipping, or washing with any scent control products. Heck they didn't even have camo! And some of the trophy animals they took are still records today! You guys have blown this scent control thing way out of proportion. It's all about making money and some of you are buying into this lie. You can flame me if you want saying I only hunt a certain area or whatever else you want to say about me but the truth is that if you are being busted by game animals it is because you are doing something else WRONG like not playing the wind, or being seen or heard.... instead of worrying about animals smelling you change your hunting tactics, sneak, stealth, ambush, the element of surprise, know the animal and how it lives,what it does where it eats, sleeps. Because I'll tell you the truth you can go out in your sponge BOB pj's after not showering for a month and if you know how to HUNT you'll kill an animal. This is the truth we as hunters need to keep alive. Not all this scent control crap! Now say what you will.
Live it up! Doug

One more thing before the flaming starts! Answer this question! How many of you KNOW what actual fox pee smells like? Can you say when you buy a bottle and spray it on your boots "WOW this is really good pee" or maybe "WOW this isn't very good pee"! How many ACTUALLY know? If the answer is anything other than YES Doug I KNOW what real fox pees smells like... how would you know what your spraying on your boots, or clothes? Thus you have bought into the LIE!
Live it up! Doug

No complaints about my scent killer. When I was a kid I used fox urine and raccoon urine on my boots and I think that did worse then good but I use "scent away" mainly on my rubber boots and outer clothing now a days. Haven't been busted yet this year "knock on wood" I have had deer downwind, upwind, licking my tree steps, whatever. I still hunt the wind and use extra precautions because that one time that big boy is going to sneak in when I don't see him first and in my head I want to be a ease!! Plus I feel better knowing that I have it on me and its so cheap! Why no use it.

With scents, there are actually 3 different catagories that get lumped together by most - they ARE different. None are needed, but 2 of them can have an effect, but 1 can never work.

1. Scent reducers - these can help to reduce your scent.
2. Attractrant/curiosity - things like vanilla and other deer pees. Deer do smell them and react in different ways.
3. Covers scents - Earth wafers, pine smell, skunk, different animal pees, etc designed to cover and hide your scent. A deers olfactory sense allows it to process multiple smells equally at the same time. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to cover one scent (ours) with another one. Deer simply smell you AND whatever else you add to the mix - no hiding or fooling them a bit.

I tend to agree...for the most part...but, then again, (as 420 says) I've never talked with a deer before. I think one factor is how close you need to get to an animal to kill it. If it's 75 yards or more, then maybe you can smell like a hobo and be okay, as along the wind is in your favor. BUT, the wind isn't always consistent, is it? Sometimes it fluctuates in its direction, and in THOSE times, I think your chances are better if you don't smell like hell. I think moderation is the key. In other words, I don't think it's a bad idea to wash your outer clothes in Borax and Arm & Hammer and keep them in some type of container to keep them from smelling like the hamburgers or pizza you cooked the night before. I also don't think it's a bad idea to shower with unscented soap instead of using Irish Spring.

But I would also AGREE that a lot of the scent control products are marketing hype, because I think that if a deer can smell you, he can smell you. I think the issue of them being alarmed, etc if they catch wind of you is HOW MUCH they can smell you. I don't know if they are more or less alarmed if they catch a little bit of man scent vs catching a ton of STANKIN' man scent. I'd like to think more alarmed if you're stinkin', but maybe not!!

Good information

http://www.bowsite.com/bowsite/features/articles/deer/breakingwind/

Doug,
I agree with you on a few things but disagree on a few as well.
I feel it is misleading to the younger hunters to say its ok to disregard scent.
Here in the area of North Carolina where I hunt, You have to hunt from a stand. Stalks, deer drives and such are illegal. I am fortunate enough to have a fairly large track to hunt with probably 12 different and equally good stand locations where playing the wind is possible. I sometimes head out relying on the wind to protect my scent from the deers noses. I whole heartedly agree that wind control is the only way to protect yourself 100%. I pick my routes into and out of the stand locations as to minimize the impact on the hunt. Its all part of sound hunting principals but,
its irresponsible to tell these young guys just getting started that scent control doesnt matter. It does. A responsible hunter will do everything in his or her power to minimize his impact on his surrounding environment. You dont have to spend a fortune on scent blockers but washing your clothes in scent free detergent is sound advice. Washing the blood and stuff off your rubber boots before you walk into your stand is sound advise.
during the rut, estrous lure on the heal of your boots works like a charm.
I have a property that is extremely urban if you know what I mean. Deer could care less what smells they encounter as they smell it and hear it daily. On another property, the smell of your boot on the way in will send the deer into a frenzy. On this particular property, our best stand location in the middle of an 80 acre track of timber. Right in the middle of this old timber is a deer oasis of oaks, acorns clean water and grass. It has been hands down the most productive stand locations I have ever hunted. Problem is that the route in and out is long, thick and crossing many trails. The wind swirls in this opening no matter what direction its blowing in the adjacent field. If you smell, your busted quickly. We climb up as high as possible to minimize the impact but get busted on occasion from our entry scent.
Long story short,
If you think scent doesnt matter, your not doing any up close and personal hunting. Any regular bow hunter will confirm that someone that minimizes his scent will outkill one that dissregards his scent 3 to 1. If you can play the wind, which is the soundest hunting principal of all, your golden. If you cant then you need to try to minimize your smell.
I spend 40 hours a week in the field and know the truth as it pertains to where I hunt. If it walks, swims or flies I have probably hunted it. I over the years have developed the ability to ignore all the gadgets, gizmos and new products that hits the shelves each year and have learned to stick to what works but would never tell a young hunter to ignore his scent control.
To a hunter that hunts from a box stand on the edge of a field with a rifle, this post means absolutely nothing but to a hunter that bow hunts thick timber, he knows what Im talking about.

That is a Great article and only reinforces what I say about playing the wind! Thanks for sharing stabnslab.
Live it up! Doug

It is a good article and it supports everything your saying! Nothing I can really do about my thermals. But my boots I can do a little extra to prevent a big buck from detecting where I walked in if he crosses that path. Which I have had them do before. Good luck everyone.

Well Doug my friend, you make some exellent points.I've never wasted money on the stuff exept baking soda which I use on my everyday work clothes as well.I have been successful without it in the past.Between salmon and a a moose that my brother shot I got
enough meat to last till spring. That's when Im out trout fishing, so I'll be ok for meat..I am gonna hunt Whitetail this year we have a three week open season, any whitetail goes.Game department is finally worried that the whitetails will take over the mule deer pop. We are getting alot of crossbreeding.I have never hunted Whitetail before, I have seen many but never hunted or shot one.Although I did call one in a small spike the first and last time I tryed using a call on a big mule deer. Im gonna try it your way against these animals. I am also gonna try the scent free thing on mule deer.It's been six years since I shot a big big buck. But I really don't need the meat.I just want the rack and do my part in trimming down the whitetail pop.I consider whitetails pests myself, but I hear it great tasting meat and I hear the can endure alot of bullets and they have a high threashold for pain.I have never missed or lost an animal I've shot. I'll let them walk before I shoot. But this will be a great test on my hunting skill.I'll put it to the test starting now.

Patrick my friend, I AS A BOW hunter know exactly what it takes to get close to deer in almost EVERY conceivable condition. Look I'm not trying to make myself out to be a great hunter that's better than everyone else BUT in 45 years of hunting I have learned a few things, seen a few things, and done a few things ... it's called experience. If I can bow kill a deer at 20 yards while standing on a 4ft high log leaning up against a tree with no cover and absolutely no scent control, just by playing the wind... then anyone can do it. And I do think it's right to teach the kids the TRUTH. The truth as you believe is different from mine. That's OK, I'm not trying to change what you do, think or believe. But as long as I have a voice or fingers to type with I will continue to spread the the truth about REAL hunting and it's roots... and not this commercialized spectacle the hunting community is being fed today which includes the use of scent control. I do thank you for voicing your different view :wink:
Live it up! Doug

Again Sound Wisdom! Best of luck to you! If you have not yet read the article that stabnslab posted here please go back and read it because it is full of good information on playing the wind which is the cornerstone in forming a successful hunting strategy.You MUST know what the wind is doing and going to do through out your hunt, so check your local forecasts to make sure you know what the wind is supposed to be doing and form your plan of attack accordingly.
Best of luck! Live it up! Doug

You should start a thread titled "the great camo lie".

i agree with u ks,iv never used cover scent,but yet i manage to take a 150+ buck almost every year.iv learned that deer are more concerned with movement then anything else.and yes i agree its a money makeing scheme,its not something thing that is nessary.like u said ask fred bear.im not trying to affend anyone,do what gives u confidence.after all confidence will get you more critters that any scent or new device on the market today.

Your right!
Live it up! Doug

Well Said!
Live it up! Doug

Here is my $.02, I do not use a cover scent early season, but do usually use dawn dish soap for hair and body. But as of last yr I did fill a spray bottle with Deer Cane and soaked myself in it. The fifth day of our bow season last yr here in Indiana I took a buck that scored 150, not sure if the scent was the cause but did make me a believer. Now during the rut, I do believe in Tinks 69, as for I do go through about 7 or 8 bottles a yr, with last yr being an exception,, taking my buck so early. Did I mention,, I LOVE THIS SITE!!!!!

Congrats on the BUCK! Like I said on another thread what I say about scent has nothing to do with lures and attractants. Which may or may not work, depending on the hunting situation. What I talk about is strictly about trying to cover human scent. Thanks!
Live it up! Doug

Im too chicken **** to use deer attractants because I don't want to tick of the doe's. This is my $.02 and people might laugh but doe's are protective of their area too. If I put a bottle or doe urine from a doe not in the area, I believe the does that hang around get worried and more causcious. There is a group of 10-15 "old" I mean "OLD" mature does that I swear have to been over 10 that rule the area that I hunt. I would shoot them but they are my mom's pets and well I'm still a mama's boy. Any ways IMO I try to do everything and anything not to disturb the area and deer attractants isn't normal to the deer.

Since he brushed the topic in his initial post, I don't see why we can't hit both at the same time.

I think that NOT BEING BUSTED BY MOVEMENT is number one, no questions asked. However, lets say you are still-hunting and are in open timber and you are spotted by a deer while holding tight. REGARDLESS of what you are wearing (assuming the deer is in familiar territory), the deer is going to notice that SOMETHING is out of place, and will check you out thoroughly. Now, one thing is for sure, is that they are not going to mistake you for a Real Tree, lol. But if you are wearing solid clothing (or camo that looks solid from more than a few yards away), I feel like the deer are MUCH more likely to make you out as a HUMAN than they would be if you were wearing camo that actually BREAKS UP YOUR OUTLINE (ASAT, Predator).

You're not really going to find a set of hunting worthy clothes without camo for any less than you can buy a cotton pair of ASAT bibs and jacket. Call me silly, but if I'm spending the money to stay warm, etc anyway, I might as well spend it on something that has a better chance of breaking up my outline than not.

That's a good point, I don't believe a deer can see the patten on your clothes. I do not believe any kind of camo clothing breaks up your outline other than something like a ghillie suit and it's not because of the color it's because it is constructed in a way to hide your outline and blend into your natural surroundings. Your outline is your outline no matter what clothes you have on. Blending into your surroundings is the only way to go undetected UNLESS the deer are not paying attention. I think I will get some Sponge Bob pj's and film myself killing a deer in them with a bow at 20 yrds under natural fair chase conditions. Would you pay to see that? LOL I have to add that camo only makes US think we are hid!
Live it up! Doug

#1- I don't believe that cover scents work
#2- I think that doing things to help reduce your scent work (i.e. rubber boots, stepping in a creek or cow crap, not washing your clothes in tide)
#3- The golden rule is to hunt with your face in the wind. PERIOD. And being aware of you entry and exit with reguards to the wind.
#4- Scent blocker suits and sprays and special soaps and gum and all that is just crap. It may help a little but not for the amount of money you spend on it
#5- Camo helps if you are perfectly still and it is good camo that blend to exactly where you are sitting (not likely). Even if you are in a ghillie suit made of stuff you are laying in and you snap your head 90 degrees to see something, bye bye deer most likely.
#6- I really liked that article even though it was a little long and went back and forth
#7- If you believe everything you read on here you are a tard, but its good for entertainment! hahaha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBgydeR9I70
This is hunting and if you watch the whole 9 minutes you will see very little camo. With camo being available why would hunting Great Fred Bear choose not to wear it much? On this footage you can watch Fred bow kill a huge Alaskan Kodiak bear from behind a rock! Although Fred did have on a camo jacket at that time I think it was more for wind protection and staying warm than it was to break up his outline. Just my opinion! You can decide. Here is the point how fun would hunting be if you knew all you had to do was walk out into the woods or fields wearing whatever you had on and not get DRESSED UP to go, put paint all over your face, and spray yourself down with hundreds of products and go through the rituals some do to go hunting. If all you had to do was Play the wind, be still and quiet and you could kill a deer. No fancy clothes, fancy bows, scent control,and all the other gadgets they try to push on the hunting community. That would take all the fun out of hunting. But really that's all there is to it. It's really just that simple.
Live it up! Doug

i completely understand everyones opinions about scent control and non scent control. I myself was my clothes regularly, use scent free soap to wash with, and use a scent eliminator (my brother does the same). I can tell you first hand just that twice this year we had a couple does within 10 yards of myself and my brother. we were both on the ground. the does knew something wasnt quite just right but they were never spooked or alarmed. they ended up just walking away. on the other hand i hunt with my brother in law alot. he is a stong believer that scent control does not matter. he never washes his hunting clothes and sometimes uses a spray on a scent eliminator. him and i have been out numerous times this year so far. mostly in our treestands atleast 20 ft at a minimum. we have yet to have any deer come within 60 yards of us. when we are in the car i can litteraly smell his hunting clothes and if i can smell them you cant surely bet the deer can smell them. i dont complain about his scent control by any means i respect his opinion and he respects mine. so if you ask me scent control acts a huge part on how close you get to deer. deer are going to smell you no matter what, but how much they smell you determines how close they get and feel comfortable around you. if they smell you just a little bit they dont feel you as such a big treat. but if your odor is strong they are going to keep their distance.

Welcome aboard! Glad you could join us! We are just having fun here. Stick around we might just be getting warmed up! But I can tell you that scent control products play NO part of how close I get to deer, and I get close! :biggrin: Good luck this season!
Live it up! Doug

If it is contrasting enough, why not? What DO they see? They have to see well enough or they'd be stumbling through the woods like morons. I guarantee you that if you are standing against a tree in a single solid color and I'm standing against a tree in ASAT, the deer will make you out first.

And don't lie. WE KNOW YOU ARE WEARING SPONGE BOB PJ'S RIGHT NOW!!! Like you have to go "get" some. Ha!!

I am with you Doug. First, cover scents don't cover anything. Dogs can track a person through all different scents and I am sure deer can too. If you put fox pee on your boot, they smell you and a fox.

As for scent blocker clothing and sprays, I don't buy into those either. People smoke, drink coffee, eat, etc while wearing their hunting clothing and that clothing absorbs all of those smells. So even if a scent blocker suit can block smells from internally, it isn't going to block the smells on the outer layer. Also, the sprays claim to kill human odor, not food and drink odor.

Hunting the wind is the only sure bet and it is free.

Sent control is the biggest black eye in hunting. It is without a doubt a waste of money. I am a guide and I hunt almost every day of bow season. I use no sent control I kill big bucks every year and sometimes they even come from downwind. Don’t waste your time or money with it. It does not work. Or don’t believe me listen to the people on the hunting shows that make money off you by hunting in pens and telling you if you just had a $1000 carbon suite $20 detergent $100 bag to transport your gear and $20 spray. You could kill big bucks like them. Sorry for the rage but when you see thousands of people getting ripped off it makes me mad.

SHHHHHHHH (whispering) Don't tell anyone about my sponge Bobs! :) But the question still stands would you PAY to see it?
Live it up! Doug

Welcome to the community! Glad to have you!

I'd say the jury is in and the verdict is scent control DOES NOT WORK! Now your hearing it from a guide and he makes a living from hunting and a pretty loud statement about what the hunting industry vendors want you to purchase. They will tell you, you MUST have it because there is BIG money hocking all the products. You could easily spend $1500.00 dollars on CRAP you don't need. But ultimately it's your money! Thanks moducks!
Live it up! Doug

I myself have tried scent blocker before just for my boots, but I realize it is most likely all a gimmick and marketing scheme. When I was little we went straight from doing chores to hunting at night and in the morning we just wore whatever was warm and had more luck then than now. I don't think that most of the examples of those who are scent blocker nazi's really mean anything whatsoever because most of them are examples of getting close to deer..I have been with in a couple yards of 3 deer last week at my house while in my school clothes with cologne and deodarant on while sitting perched up in a tree to scout. I think these 500 dollar scent blocker suits Ive heard about are absolutely insane, save your money and worry about how you hunt.

This is quite the debate we have here. :)

I've always said cover scent is a crock of bull. However, I do like to keep clean if I can and keep the foreign odors down. I always play the wind but it seems to swirl and shift in the hills and hollows where I hunt. This makes it tough to hunt. Also just getting to my hunting spot is tough without leaving scent for deer to spook. The best I can do is not over hunt it and use the wind the best I can. The deers nose is something special and not to be taken lightly.

My scent control involves climbing high and playing the wind. My Dad purchased some 99% last year and gave me a bottle. I told him to save his money but he insisted so I sprayed myself down, walked into the woods making sure the wind was in my favor, climb my tree to 20-25 feet and saw deer all day.

He asked how it worked, told him I saw lots of deer but no more or less than what I saw yesterday.

I am new to hunting and have not bought into all the high dollar stuff but I do like washing my gear in the scent free detergents before I go out each time. But I think what I've learned so far is that the wind is king and that little movement movement is queen. The gimmick stuff are the court jesters. I do use the Doe pee Buck Bomb stuff to get them curious it seems to have at least that effect on the does. I've been busted because they have seen me in the dark or heard me and the wind has shifted on me once. Got in OK this past monday by staying out of the open fields with good moonlight to help them see me. I built a nice ground blind 100 yards from where I park and get in it quickly. Great to here some input on this issue,keep it coming.

I think the real question is not do scent blocking sprays and clothing work, but are your chances EXACTLY THE SAME if a) you smell like a big, hot heaping pile of human crap, or b) have taken reasonable precautions to reduce your scent?

Nothing beats the sound advice of playing the wind and learning all you can about how it carries scent. But I would have a hard time believing that reducing your scent doesn't matter at all. Perhaps the stronger the odor or the more foreign odor a deer smells, the more alarmed or on a alert they might be (or just completely spooked). Whichever path you take to GET INTO the woods or your stand, etc, most of the time you aren't going to be able to look back and SEE every inch you walked on the way in. What if a deer crosses your path...one that you MIGHT get a shot at sooner or later that day...and picks up a mild human scent? Or what if they pick up a very strong human scent plus other foreign scents? I just don't know if I believe that their reaction would be the SAME either way.

Exactly. No one will ever convince me that precaution doesn't help.

I'm not going to spend $500 on a scent-lock suit, but I do take precautions. I try to shower before hunting, and I don't use any soap or deoderant (don't normally sweat too much anyway). I keep all my hunting clothes in a tupperware with plant material.

Maybe it makes a difference, maybe it doesn't. I think it does. But given the fact that I have to drive about an hour each way and invest an entire evening or morning to hunt, I am going to take the little extra precautions.

Woah! Back up Jack, I like that!

I'm on the 3rd page and had to reply now, but I'll go back and finish and maybe later share some more truth.

I've been using ASAT since almost when they came out. Quarter Master Brigade! Stuff works and there isn't a person on this planet that can get me to think otherwise. :biggrin:

Hey, but I'll throw something out now... One man's 45 years out in the woods may not be someone else's 20 years if the 20 year hunter has been hunting more days of each year than the other. I know what it's like being in the woods trying to kill deer for over a 100 days in a single season. Now that's a lot longer than someone's 14 day deer season somewhere else! That's equivalent to his 1 year to my 7 years.

One person's time in the woods may not be as productive as another who has spent the same amount of time. I don't mean the kill, but the ability to absorb everything around and learn from it.

iSnipe

If your talking about being in the woods longer than I have, I would have to say that unless you work in the woods like I do there is no possible way Cause I'm out there working minimum 300 days a year and have been for the last 30 years and started hunting 15 years before that, thats 10 years to your 0 and I know you didn't start going out at birth. I hunt, fish and trap every day of every season. So in the experience department I've got your 20 years beat hands down I was out there doing this before you were ever thought of. If you've only been hunting 20 years.
Live it up! Doug

Doug, your on the computer all day everyday. Not in the woods