Explain again why I NEED cover scent
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnMl5NTX4Ks
Watch this vid! Tonight these 2 deer came in to my tree stand to about 20ft. I had just got in it 10 minutes earlier. No cover scent, I washed my camo coveralls after skinning and butchering the doe I killed a week ago But I washed them in regular detergent. Everyday when I get home from hunting I take them off and throw them beside my desk. No putting them in a plastic bag. Heck I even had on the shoes i wore at work all day! I'm just sayin boys this vid is proof you DON"T NEED any special gear or rituals to get close to deer or have the deer get close to you! I also watched them when they crossed my trail coming to my stand and they acted no different. I could have killed them both. Any questions?
Live it up! Deerwoods Doug

I haven't used cover scents for over 10 years.
In this vid the little buck cuts my entrance trail, you can tell when.
I'm only 12 feet high and he passes within 8 yards straight downwind of me.
I toss all of my clothes in those comforter bags with pine/cedar boughs in the bottom.



I reality it all depends on the deer, they all react differently to human odor, course you know that.
I've seen plenty of deer cut my trail and turn inside out, some never even react.
Same with catching my wind, some proceed with caution, some turn tail and some big ole herd does stand just out of range and stomp and snort for an hour.
And of course there are those deer you never see/hear that have winded you.

Wind direction. Cover scent is critical IMO. Usually you never realize how bad your scent messes you up because the deer smells you before he reveals himself. I've also had deer standing 5 yards from me and even a coyote walked up give feet from me on the ground this season.

Love the vid! If I didn't know better I'd say that buck tipped toed over your scent trail. lol I can tell by your reply you've spent some time in the woods because your answer is spot on! Have a great season!
Live it up! Deerwoods Doug

Shot my first deer(7pt) in 1984.

Oh and for sure he tip toed, little buck in vid.

I've probably got 20+ hrs of video, but it's all on 8mm and I don't have a way of converting them to up loadable content.

I went through a decoying phase when I hunted some property that was conducive to deek set ups.
Man that was fun..
Nothing like watching a puffed up crab walking buck thrash a deek.

@ Master Chief
I disagree, it's not critical or even necessary imo.
I've harvested more deer in the time period that I quit using scents than the time period I was spending paychecks on bottled whatever.
I'll admit that I have had success with attractants, my first archery buck came in on a Tink's scent trail.
But I've also seen deer react negatively to scents, more than I've seen positive reactions.
Therefore I've made the decision to go scentless.

Onion-

I do agree with you that Cover Scent is not a necessary however it typically will be a critical part of your hunt when the wind is blowing wrong. Even with it the wind can mess your hunt up. Last weekend I got winded by a group of young bucks and I was using scent cover. That of course just shows how true your statement "it depends on the deer" is. But To me it's better to be safe than sorry.

And about scent attractants- they do help but definately aren't needed

If the deer didn't smell you, it wouldn't have smelled you under any conditions. In certain conditions, they will smell you, no matter what you do, and other conditions you can get by with anything. Try to keep your clothes as scent free as possible and take a shower with scentless soap before you go hunting. Keep your clothes in a container until you are at the hunting area if possible and change clothes there. Or do nothing and you will still kill some deer, but you'll get busted a lot more.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. You don't NEED to do any of the things you said and you will STILL have deer get close to you. People selling scent free products and cover scents have convinced you of the need to do all the things you stated above when in reality doing all that stuff is worthless. I get busted no more than the average hunter and kill just as many deer if not more deer than someone who is convinced they need to do all those rituals just to get close to deer. The more time you spend spraying yourself down with those worthless concoctions means LESS time in the field actually hunting. Take it for what it's worth. Just saying! BTW you may THINK your scent free but there is no such thing as Scent free!
Live it up! Deerwoods Doug

Cover scents are a myth - nothing else.
It is impossible to hide one smell from a deer by adding another - they simply smell them both.

I have to agree with Steve. Deer can smell far better than we can. It's just the way it is.

I do agree that in some cases using cover scent (wind blowing towards where the deer are coming from) can be very beneficial.

In most cases though, it's really not needed when you do a few minor things to keep the gear not from being saturated in human smells.

Really, my family and I have seen better results by keeping our hunting gear outside in the hunting season so the different smells that we create (mostly from cooking) don't soak into the gear. Doing that alone has made a tremendous amount of difference. More than using, or not using, cover scents does.

Depends, I think, on where you hunt
 

If you hunt near a human environment, it can be different than way out in the boondocks.
Deer can scent anything; depends on what they get use to in their daily lives. I once hunted on a small former farm surrounded by apartments, condos and homes. Lots of perfumed people going to work with smelling detergent laden cloths. As for noise, those leaf blowers and lawn mowers sure made a racket that the deer could endure. Saw that first hand for a couple of years.

Where i hunt there is alot of horse riding trails, so i think the deer are used to humans. I can say that I have never been busted by a deer smelling me. I had to babys and a spike come 10 ft from me yesterday with out ever knowing i was there. I was in my stand about 12 ft up. I do use cover scent but i wash my clothes in regular detergent and I dont store them in special plastic bags.

Play the wind!!!!
 

I don't want to add something that is not native to the environment, just me being there is more than enough. i wash my clothes in baking soda and hang them outside, why? Because I have to wash my clothes anyway. I take a shower using surgical soap, why? Because I have to shower anyway. All these products do is introduce MORE non-native chemical compounds to the environment. If all this stuff worked as advertised the white tailed deer would be on the endangered species list.

As long as they don't cross the trail you used walking in and they don't get down wind of you, you don't...

You don't NEED anything.

Everybody say's whitetails are the smartest creature in the woods. Wrong they are scared, and anything outa the norm alerts them.

Stay scent free, that's all I do, no cover.

Let's say me and Mr. isatarak from the first page ride together to our hunting spot. Upon arrival I hop out and immediately sneak in to my treestand. Meanwhile Mr. isatarak has to retrieve his container with his hunting clothes strip down and put them on which takes 15 minutes and makes ALL kinds of racket, after that he takes another 5 minutes spraying himself with who knows what, so I've been hunting for a full 20 minutes while he dresses himself. Then to top it off the spooks a big buck right over me on his way to his stand. The buck never knows I'm there since I've now been in my treestand a good 1/2 hour before Mr. isatarak ever gets ready. Plus he smells like a plastic container walking around! But remember he's scentless!
Live it up! Deerwoods Doug

That's when he needs to learn to leave half an hour earlier and to park a good distance from his hunting area. You should never park your truck close enough tht getting out will scare the deer.

I do agree that putting clothes in boxes and all that is to much though. Also, Spraying yourself with scent cover only takes about ten seconds.

I would not be caught stripped down at 4;30 in the a m out in the middle of the woods in 30 degree temps. I really don't care that much if a deer smells me or not.

You don't. In 45+ years of hunting white tail deer, been through about every cover scent and scent elimination routine imaginable. Noted no difference to amount to squat. Down wind ... you're are smelt. Upwind, you ain't. But I still do the scent free detergent and anti-bacterial soap and the spray down with "Dead Down Wind". Some fools like me never learn !

I'm not knocking it Mojo if that's what you wanna do. My point is PLAY the WIND! Trying to give some of these youngsters just starting out something to think about. Hunting is NOT like you see on TV. That's what I want them to know. You don't NEED it to get close to deer! Have a great season!
Live it up! Deerwoods Doug

My uncle uses right guard as a cover scent.

i play the wind as best as possible but you cant always be positive where the deer is going to come from. But i wash my clothes in regular detergent and use regular fabric softners, but i do spray all my clothes down with scent away earth blend, just a habit. But as far as boots i wear lacrosse knee highs and i spray either fox pee or doe pee on the bottom and havent been busted yet, if anything the deer follow my steps to the tree stand and then walk away. saturday i had a button head and a big doe walk right to my tree, then stand around for a few min. then walked away and never knew i was there and didnt even look up and around. i took a pic with my cell phone of the deer right under my stand i will post

here is the pic, i was about 25ft up and you can see the deer was standing and smelling my foot tracks where i put my treestand on the tree, he finally walked back towards the big doe and they both eased off and never knew i was there. this has happened many times but this is the only pic. i have gotten of this

I don't know so much about cover scent (fox pee, earth wafers, pine needles, etc), but I have noticed that I see a lot more deer and closer when I spray with scent-proof spray. Nothing works 100% of the time, and there are other times when deer just seem plain suicidal. Like most know, wind direction is the biggest factor.

I get far fewer days deer hunting than I would like, and it takes me over 1.5 hours to get from my front door to my closest tree stand. So if I am improving my odds by only 5%, it is still worth it to me.

Its like the saying "I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it." I'd rather take the precautions knowing it might be pointless than not do so and risk getting busted by the biggest deer I see all season. At least when I get winded I know there is nothing else I could have done.

Cover scents are a waste. Read up on deer and canines, they can process 7 different scents at once. Try to shower and wash your clothes in scent free detergent and hunt the wind.

I believe in reducing the odds of getting busted, and for me that means showering before going out (if I can) and keeping my clothes in a bag with pine cones and leaves. This doesn't cost me anything other than a little time, so I am afield earlier than most hunters in our camp.

With that said, wind direction and how that scent is carried and flowing through the trees or up/down ridges and how you position yourself in relation to the prevailing winds will lead to more deer being seen and higher kill rates, all other things being equal.