SMBowHunter97

Hi everyone,

I've had back to back instances in the treestand where a deer got within sight but got spooked before they were in shooting range due to catching my scent. I try everything from washing clothes in scent control detergent, wash in scent control bodywash, and even use scent controlling deodorant but sometimes it seems to still not work. I do usually wear my clothes in my car, rather than dress outside of my car at the site, which I've heard could harm my ability to stay scent free. I've also heard using campfire smoke or baking soda to mask human scent on clothes, as well as keeping scent washed clothes in sealed bags with dirt and leaves to make clothes smell more natural.

Any thoughts, tips, or techniques to help keep my scent under reps, as I'm bowhunting from a twelve foot tree stand so I'm open to anything now that the rut is coming up.

mrbb

I think you nailed it, wearing your clothes in your vehicle and then hunting, all that time sitting whole driving, is them sucking up scents a deer will find NOT natural
the same will be said on your boots/footwear you wear while driving/hunting

NEXT is, do you break a sweat while walking into your stand?
this is a HUGE deal IMO, as all your scent control work/steps go out the window if your sweating when you get to the tree/stand!

and YES, I am also a guy that keeps things in my scent free toes where I keep my clothes and gear, I add things like pine tree branches acorns, and some fresh soil/dirt!

something else to keep in mind, scent can attach to you at any point in time and this also includes scent can attach to things besides you, your BOW< arrows, and so on

so, if you target practice with arrows you hunt with in summer time and be all sweaty and using hands to pull them out of targets and such
YOUR now using them same arrows to hunt, and odds are they have SCENT on them, that could be alerting things

SOME deer are WAY less sensitive to smells and human order's
BUT some are extremely sensitive to them
this is why, some folks do little to NO scent prep and kill deer, and some well, get busted all the time
its due to ALL deer do NOT react the same way!

I personally used to go thru extremes to control scents best I could, and I seldom if ever got scented, or that I KNOW of, LOL
I have had deer bed in all directions of me under 10 yards away for hours, and often would have 20-50 plus deer in front of me with winds blowing right at them!
I hunted all across the USA and Canada for deer too, several states a yr.
so I THINK what I did worked rather well, or made me feel like it did!

if anyone cares, here was my way of working best I could to control scent
First off, ALL my hunting clothing was used for hunting ONLY< it never ever got worn for anything else, never in a store after I bought it, never get fuel, never eat in it(well minus maybe something while on stand), and all items were kept in a scent controlled room, and in scent free totes, that never held anything but hunting gear
I dedicated a whole large room just to hunting clothes and some gear in my house!
the room smelled like the forest I hunt, had tree's branches and other natural smelling things, that existed in the area's I hunting, NO foreign smells
all my hunting cloths and gear gets washed with scent controlling detergent, and UV treated
I sprinkle baking soda on lots o things too
before I will wear after a shower( using non scented shampoo and detergent, all wash clothes and towels will also, ONLY be used for hunting like showers and such, and get washed after every use!
I will then have non hunting clothing, but it also get treated and washed as if hunting gear, BUT I will shed it after I park and get ready to walk into my stand, and into my REAL hunting gear, I tend to PACK most of my gear in as well, as to wearing it, this lowers my odds of breaking a sweat
I also use scent so called eliminator sprays, on walks in, once at the stand and so on?

I also stop often on longer walks in, to also help NOT get a sweat started!
I also like to stop often to look and listen for things ahead of me that I might jump, I just have never been a guy to walk non stop in the woods hunting,as I don't think any wild life that walks, does so, they all stop often and look/smell /feed or??
NOW< again all my hunting gear gets cleaned and I use as many NON scented things as possible ; on things like guns, bows, range finders binoculars and such, as IMO< you being as scent free as possible and your rifle or bow smelling like a heavy oil or solvent, defeats the steps you tried to make!


I am NOT saying my ways are perfect or for all folks, as I know there is a lot of work and costs to doing so, but I do know I have been very successful at filling tags every where I went, very very very rarely would I ever have a deer bust me/snort/blow, or seem alert when about me< ans also have other things like coyotes and such, bed near me down wind too on occasions!
I feel it works well!


I Won't say its 100% , but its helped me in MY mind!
AS IMO<some times, just believing in something helps too! as it might keep you on stand longer

mackesr

I firmly believe that no matter what you do, if the wind is blowing from you to the deer, it will smell you. You may get lucky and the breeze blow over their heads, but that is just what it is. Luck. Now I do use scent free detergents, soap and shampoo and I do put my clothes, boots and backpack out under my covered front porch for a couple of days prior to hunting. That is just to keep my scent down but I know it will not eliminate it. 12' is not very high and is probably your main problem other than the wind direction. I hunt out of 15' stands myself as that is as high as I wish to go, but have been very fortunate in that I have not been busted but a couple of times. All my buddies go up to at least 20' which is way better for scent control. I also pay close attention to the wind direction before deciding on which stand to use. That also helps alot.
Are you sure they are smelling you and not just seeing movement or that you are sky lined for lack of cover? That could also be a problem at that height. Best of luck to you!

rogerstv

Are you drying with a scent free towel after scent free shower?

SMBowHunter97

Hey everyone, quick update. I think I found my solution to the issue of scent control! I decided to try a process and it seemed to work out in my favor, I got a doe to walk within 5 yards of my stand without smelling me, even when the wind wasn't in my favor. This was only one time but I'm pretty happy with the results and am going to keep trying this process until it doesn't work (as well as pay attention to the wind and try to keep estrus trails upwind of me). I washed my clothes with scent blocking detergent, then I throw them into unscented plastic trash bags with a lot of baking soda. I shower with scent blocker and dry off, jumping into some clothes that I'll swap when I get to my hunting site, brush my teeth and use scent blocking deodorant. I drive to the site, jump out of whatever pants I was wearing there, switch into my gear, and heavily spray with scent controlling spray (especially under my boots) and then move to my stand, slowly so that I don't work up a sweat. At the base of the tree I'll spray the ground up to eye level with scent spray and sit very quietly in the treestand.

Thank you all for your help! Hopefully I'll be posting with my first deer today or Friday!