SteveBNy

You asked about cover scents, but then talked about attractant and scent reducing sprays - 2 different things .

A drag with deer scents or vanilla, etc serve as attractants or curiosity.

Most sprays are to reduce scent already there.
Both of these can help to some extent.

Cover scents are things such as earth or fox, skunk (etc) pee used in an attempt to cover human scent. I say attempt because they flat out cannot hide human oder from a deer. Deer have the ability to process several odors simultaneously - add an oder to yours, no matter how strong and they simply smell you and the pee you added.

crenshaw

Your lucky to have a constant wind.. Where i hunt its not the case, so i have tons of set ups to counter that problem. As far as walking in goes it depends on the terrain in which you hunt.. Sometimes the most obvious way isnt the best. Also take a look into your set ups, each time of the year requires different set ups. THis is important cause in the early season when the deer arent pressured you can get away with being closer to certian things like food and bedding where when the pressure kicks up those deer are gonna be in there early before light and holding up all day. I have a spot where the only good way to get in is to have a buddy drop my off on this road and i jump a fence and walk in that way, i take the chance of blowing one or two out, but the majority arent in there yet. Also, i have another spot where the later in the season it gets the closer to the two track i sit cause i will blow them all out if enter the woods, which is not a problem in bow season cause there all still out in the fields till just after light. You got to learn what there doing and act accordingly, its easier said then done.

jrfrmn

What is (dead down wind)?

warbirdlover

I don't believe in putting estrus scents and other stuff around the stand that aren't a normal part of the terrain. That can alarm the deer just as much as human scent. If you're going to put scent down the stuff that smells like dirt is probably the best.

OldBuckstalker1187

I think that Im going to have to agree a little bit with warbird on this one. I too have tried them all, from cover scents to attractants...ect, ect, ect. I remember when I was first learning to hunt and was being taught by my mentor. This was when I could not go out in the woods carrying a gun because I was only about 9 or 10 years old. I would watch my mentor, how he walked, what he touched, what he wouldn't touch, how he wore rubber boots, and sometimes rubber gloves when putting down attractants. Needless to say, I learned ALOT from that man. Many things I have learned from him, I have yet to this day seen published in ANY book or magazine. This man was probally the best hunter I ever knew, and I consider myself blessed to have learned from him. Anyways; After folowing him around for about 6 years and learning his every move and motives. I was finally ready to go hunting for myself. I remember showing up to his door one day to go out and set up some tree stands. I had my newly bought cammo outfit, boots, gloves, ect. And I also had a couple bags full of cover scents, attractants, and the latest scent elimination on the market at the time. He asked me to come inside where he and some other old timers where sitting around chit chating about the up coming season. I sat down with them and they introduced themselves. Then they asked me what was in the bags. I excitedly opened the bags and showed them all the goodies I had inside. It was then that my mentor started to chuckle as he walked down his hallway and came back from his reloading and casting room with an old round hat with 3 feathers on it. He tucked the hat down over my ears and said, "there you go!" "You got so many bottles of that stuff that you look like one of those old witchdoctor traveling salesmen. " All of his freinds started to laugh also. Then my mentor looked at me in my eyes and said " how much did you spend on all of this, if you don't mind me asking?" I cant remember how much I spent, but I remember saving up quite a good amount for it all. It was then that they told me about making " tincures and actual tonics" that could be found in your house and in the woods. These would end up saving me a whole lot of money. each guy seemed to have a couple recipes of his own, and depending on the area he was hunting, it had different ingredients. They explained that day ALOT of things. But the lesson that they stressed the most was to hunt the wind. And that pehaps " SCENT ELLIMINATION" was far more important than scent cover or as we call it cover scent. Because they all seemed to feel that we could not cover our scent 100% without the deer being able to pick out our scent from the scent that was covering it up. Yes I know, It was very confusing to me at the time as well. They strongly urged the use of scent elimination over cover scent. They also had tintures and recipes for scent elimination as well. Some of them also made tinctures of cover scent, but only felt it was far more useful AFTER a good scent elimination tincture was applied. It wasn't until my mentor and a handful of the other guys went with me into the woods that I began to realize what they were trying to tell me was a fact. We made it out into the woods. We found a place to hang a couple stands. After we hung them, the oldtimers had me climb up in the stand. Then one of them looked up at me and said, " Look around you, do you like the way it looks for you up there?" I looked around and said yes. Then he asked me what way the wind was blowing, And I told him. He then asked me, if a deer was to come out infront of you, where would he have to be right now before he smelled you. And I said he would have to be down wind. Then he said, do you feel that if you put some of that stuff on you thats in that bag, he would not be able to smell you from down wind? I said no, I dont think he would smell me if I was wearing the stuff in the bag. And then he asked why? I told him because my scent would be covered by the scent in the bottles. Then he said, what kind of cover scents do you have in there anyways. I took them out one by one. He said ok, you have pine, pine is the scent you have in that bottle. Then he said, you got dirt, dirt is the scent you have in that bottle, then he said you have acorn, acorn is the scent you have in that bottle. Then he said " now, look around again and tell me if you like what you see?" I told him yes I like what I see. He said , " good, you should like what you see, because over your left shoulder you got a good patch of pine trees....ohhhhhh wait, pine cover scent. and over here you got white and red oak trees....ohhhhhhh wait, there is your acorn scent. and wait, whats all this stuff we are standing on right now, DIRT!!!!! thats right dirt cover scent. And you said that you felt that a deer could smell you down wind IF you were not wearing ANY cover scent from those bottles. Well, my question is to you, if a deer can smell you downwind with ALL this coverscent all around you in the woods, then why couldn't he be able to smell you with that little bit of coverscent from that bottle?

Thats why a cover scent to them was useless, UNLESS they used a good scent elimination tincture first. And even then, they stressed that they eliminated or covered their human scent 100%, thats why they said with the use of ALL these tools, PLUS playing the wind ( wind being the most important here) would greatly increase your odds of seeing and harvesting deer, but was not 100% gauranteed. And with because cover scents and scent elimination systems are expensive to buy, thats why they have opted to make their own. And I have too with great success!!!!! Don't always be fooled by the marketing ploys, remember, there is more cover scent in the woods you hunt than you could ever fit in a bottle, and if a deer can pick out your scent from all the dirt, pinetrees, acorns, clover, and grass, dont be suprised if they can still smell you with store bought scents too. Its just a thaught, god bless and good hunting.

IOWABUCKHUNTR

I literally "soak" my clothes in the fertile and black dirt from the farm fields of Iowa during the summer... Come fall, throw em on, spray a little Primos Silver Earth Scent on and hit the woods, first year I have gone the entire season without having even a doe blow on me... Also, first year using the Primos Silver... hmmmm....

Govt Mule

I agree 100%.

Tracker II

I don't know what High School gym is like these days, but "back in the day" there were always a couple of guys who didn't shower and just sprayed deodorant on their sweaty bodies before dressing instead. To me, the smell coming from them was actually worse than if they had used no deodorant at all.

To me, scent elimination is the number one priority. Anything after that comes in a distant second. Oh, and my favorite cover scent? Marlboro Lights.

MD DEERHUNTER

Don't waste your time or money on cover scents.