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Scent Control Question

Old 09-11-2016, 06:37 PM
  #1  
Spike
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OK, So I am new to hunting (starting my third year) Last year I hunted over a field where shots ranged from 25 yards to 125 yards.

This year I have a new area to hunt that is in a swamp. The brush is very heavy and I am thinking that I will need the deer to come within 30-40 yards to see them.

So what is the best way to kill my scent so that they won't smell me before I see them?

I washed all my hunting clothes in the scent control laundry soap from Walmart and them sealed them in vacuum bags.

Thanks in advance for your help.
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Old 09-11-2016, 08:12 PM
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Honestly, you've done just about all that is humanly possible in tight woods at that yardage! You could spend, (waste) lots of money on pretty much useless scent blocking gimmicks but, that's about just about what they are- gimmicks!
Everything else is up to you!
Using any good camo clothing, don't put them on until you are ready to hunt, so that they don't pick up any last minute odors.
Use local, natural cover scents, if at all.
Learn to use the wind to your favor.
Be as still and quiet as possible.
Using the above, I have successfully hunted deer within "baseball bat" range while sitting on the ground, using the available cover! You will undoubtedly get busted now and then! I also have been busted by deer that I know did not see or hear me at 100+ yards, when the wind shifted at the wrong moment! But you will have success if you stick with it! Good luck! Oh, and welcome to the board!
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Old 09-11-2016, 08:20 PM
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Mostly opinion but with some experience mixed in. Deer make associations and some Deer are better at it than others. Some associations are genetic, some learned from their mothers and other Deer. The young ones tend to screw it up more than the older Deer ( the survivors).

Deer seem to associate human sent with danger in a general sort of way, but IMO much of it can be associating any new scent with caution or danger. Just opinion but your deodorant is almost as likely to spook them as your body odor.

If they are used to human scent they are much less likely to spook. But may be more cautious by nature. I sometimes hunt areas with a good bit of human foot traffic, the Deer are more likely to ignore it or to hide, than panic and flee. In areas with no humans around they tend to pick up my scent at around forty yards, some panic and flee some just get more careful.

Fooling them completely is like fooling a blood hound. They can smell really well. A quarter of a mile isn't unusual in a light breeze.

Hunting into the wind is always a good idea.

If you want an idea of what your scent does, set off a small smoke bomb. It goes up and then spreads out, in still air. A lot depends on the weather and temperature. The cold tends to cool your scent and lets it fall to the ground quicker, it may not spread as far or as thick.

A combination of unsettling scent and a sound is likely to spook them. A unsettling scent, a sound and seeing motion is almost certain to spook them. Not necessarily in that order.

I usually wash my clothes in unscented non UV soap and hang them outside. They pretty much stay outside. I wash me in unscented soap.

I've watched Deer come up to the path through the grass I used to get to my high seat and stop like they'd hit a wall. Likely they smelled it before they got that close, but it got so strong they couldn't force themselves to cross it.

Just some generalities and tendencies I've noticed.

I have had some luck with covering scents, stuff the Deer are used to like Sage or wild Oregano, anything that has a strong smell. I rub it on my clothes and boots. I keep a plot of Lovage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovage just for that purpose.

Lovage is good stuff, the Hogs actually love the stuff and may come to you.

Another tactic you might to try is cutting a shooting lane through the brush. In effect making a straight trail. works two ways, gives you a straight shot and yummy stuff tends to grow there.

Good luck, a lot of it is luck.

Last edited by MudderChuck; 09-11-2016 at 08:26 PM.
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Old 09-12-2016, 03:34 AM
  #4  
Spike
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Thanks a lot guys for taking the time to share your experience. Good hunting to ya'll
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Old 09-12-2016, 06:48 AM
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No smoking...shower with scent free soap before putting You clothes on then spray down with scent killer and wear rubber boots...spray them too?
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Old 09-12-2016, 07:36 AM
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all good but as an add on I use local cover scents---example--I rub pine needls on my clothes upon entering forest----I have stepped cow pies while hunting farm country etc. P.S. do not use food cover scents such as acorn on your clothes
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Old 09-12-2016, 03:38 PM
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I've got a lot of respect for what a Deer can smell. Many times I could tell from their demeanor when I was busted. Many times they knew I was around at four hundred yards, not exactly where I was, just that I was around someplace. At forty yards or so it was panic time.

I watched two trophy Bucks, shoulder to shoulder making a bee line (straight as an arrow) across open farm land, late morning maybe 10 A.M. They were moving right on out, not in a panic but covering a lot of ground. They were coming in from a neighboring lease and heading straight for a spot I had heard a Doe Rut bleating early that morning, she always hung out around that same spot. I checked the distance they covered on Google maps .85 miles. Just the part of the run I saw, you can add another quarter of a mile to neighboring lease border. That my friends is a good nose.
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Old 09-12-2016, 03:52 PM
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Hunt the wind, and don't hunt a stand until the time is right. Sometimes you have to wait and wait for the good stands until the right day. But don't ruin it by hunting when the wind is bad. you can't completely eliminate your scent.
-Jake
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Old 09-13-2016, 07:03 AM
  #9  
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I know some people feel cover scents have value, but one observation on the effectiveness of cover scents leads me to strongly doubt their utility. Years ago in the Yukon on a sheep hunt, I mentioned cover scents to my guide who had never heard of them. He laughed and related a story of a hunter he had guided on a grizzly hunt. They were observing a grizzly from a distance of about 200 yards with the wind in their face. The bear was feeding on an old rotting moose gut pile that was putrid and about two weeks old. Suddenly the wind shifted and they felt it on the back of their neck. Instantly the bear jerked his head up with rotting entrails hanging from his mouth, turned and ran like hell!

That bear was able to detect human odor from 200 yards away with a snoot full of one of the strongest "cover scents" I could imagine. I suspect that when a game animal smells someone with cover scents he smells the stench of a human mixed in with the odor of fox urine, or dirt or whatever.

I also read an article by Chuck Adams who has a lot of experience with scents. He also characterized the theory behind cover scents as "baloney". Adams did feel, however, that attractant scents did appear to work on occasion.
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Old 09-13-2016, 07:22 AM
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You cant eliminate your scent, but you can minimize it to a degree. That is about the extent I have taking it. Many people have successfully hunted deer wearing their work clothes and no shower. Our ancestors have spent thousands of years achieving kills on hunts, why, certainly not scent control, but then again their success rate was also not that great either.

Have watched dogs running deer, great dogs, but several times you will see them find a scent trail and start going until they realize they are following in the wrong direction. U-turn and make a track back to the start and pick it up again. Your scent can still be present like with the dogs above, but it is how the deer scents you that will matter most. If you are just passing by, many will lay down, wait for you to pass, then get up and continue across your scent trail. Some times I believe they cross your trail but do not know if you are coming or going. They just know you where there and may become more cautious. If the area they are going into is flooded with your scent, then you can certainly ruin your chances.
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