Scent free is impossible, all you can do is attempt to reduce your scent. Hunting with the wind in your favor is a must.
Yep what he said. One can never be scent free, it's impossible. But you can reduce your scent by quite a bit with some of the scent control products available today. The animals you hunt will always have the ability to smell anything out of the ordinary. Hopefully they have not been educated with a scent that tells them danger is in the area, such as human scent. All you can do is reduce your scent as best you can. Play the wind my Friend. Best of luck.
First, don't take scent reduction technique tips from "play the wind" guys b/c they don't take scent reduction seriously and they bank on wind to consistently carry their scent in one particular direction.
I do what ever it takes! I wash all my cloths in scent controul detergents, even my towel that I am going to dry off in. I put them in a storage bucket with a lid. I leave the bucket out side. depending on where I hunt I will put pine limbs in my bucket. I spray my boots and cloths just before entering the woods. I wear scent blocker jacket and shirt. I put on scent free deoderant. I also play the wind I agree that you can't make yourself scent fee. Your ph has a smell to it it is imposible to stop your body from producing this PH cent.
What Mako said. I do that plus a few extras AND OZONICS. Yes I relaize not everyone can afford one but I was amazed at what you could get away with. The results of fooling the nose was not done in warm weather. They were in cool weather, steady light wind and good humidity for scenting conditions. No fluke there. In other words...no rising thermals, I live/hunt in very flat land.
Playing the wind is always important. I always wash all my clothes in a scent killer wash then let them air dry. After that they go in scent free bag or a tote with a lid. I wear scent blocker jacket and pants for most of the season. Shower with scent free wash before the hunt. Then spray everything down that you're taking in the woods with a scent killer spray. I also wear rubber boots. Another thing is don't drive to you're hunting spot wearing your hunting clothes.
I agrea with not wearing your cloths before you get there. I strip down to boxers and dress up when I get to where I want to hunt.
We keep all of our hunting clothes in a bin that has those "nature" scent wafers in them. Honestly, it smells like dirt. When I shower I'll wash my hair with the "scent free" shampoo. I don't really push drying off on a scent free towel or things like that. Just try to keep any extra human scents to a minimum. My outer layers stay in the tote until I am outside ready to go to my hunting spot.
Love how you are getting ripped but guys this dude speaks 100% God's honest truth. If one simply relies upon the wind to beat a deer's nose please inform me where you live where the winds never switch, sway or change throughout a given day?!?! Sit around a campfire for just one hour and log how many times the smoke gets blown into your face and switches off into other directions....what makes people think up a tree in the fall is any different?? I for one will do everything I can to minimize my scent from transportation clothes and shoes, dress at the truck on the hunting grounds site, keep boots in activated carbone totes as I do with all my clothes, ozone machine in my truck during season ran every night....and other things. A mature bucks nose is far too advance to conquer...but trick briefly or for a moment is 100% possible and relying solely on the wind is not something this guy will do. Obviously pay attention to the wind and use it as a weapon against the deer you are hunting! I mean seriously I rarely expect a mature buck to tailwind so why expect deer to do so with my set ups....now some terrain traps or habitat situations can cause deer to not be able to always walk into the wind and I HUNT THOSE HARD!!! But please don't assume just "hunting the wind" is all there is to being as scent free as possible.
I don't think anyone assumes that "hunting the wind" is all there is to it - It is a huge part of it, and there is no denying it. Play the wind first and take scent free precautions next - They go hand in hand.
If you have the mindset that you CAN "play the wind", and that playing the wind is the only thing that will beat a mature deer's nose, then every other step towards scent reduction is of lesser importance. Like is stated above, "Play the wind first and take scent free precautions next". Classic example. But is it really a "huge part" that there is "no denying"? Well of course not, otherwise I never would have harvested a mature buck dead downwind at 20 yards, twice. Both of which smelled something (me) but didn't think I was in a tree 20 yards away, they thought I was a lot further. If, on the other hand, you hunt (or build a campfire) somewhere where wind direction shifts constantly, and deer come from every direction imaginable, then "playing the wind" is not possible and taking scent reduction steps is primary. So again, my advice to someone wanting to learn about scent reduction techniques is that they should learn it from someone who believes in it and takes it seriously. Anyone who's auto-reply is "play the wind" doesnt take scent reduction seriously, they take wind direction seriously. People who understand activated carbon science don't think it eliminates 100% of all odors, but know it reduces it and is effective.
I use Nose Jammer on opening day and forget about the wind. You can't use it all the time cause it freaks them out to much. But use it for the first week or when you move into a new spot, or when you got a buck patterned and want to surprise him. Just be ready cause he will be really nervous when his sense of smell locks up on him.
^^Great post!!! My story of Kicks' from 2013 would have never happened had I played the wind as the "normal thought" is. I never would have killed my biggest to date back in 2010 on October 1st if I'd played the wind as I was "supposed" to. I don't rashly ignore the wind because it is a HUGE factor in why and how deer move...but I also know it is a flirting with danger game of utilizing the wind the most that helps me get in closer and have more chances at pressured bigger bucks.
I wash my clothes with baking soda and will usually take a shower with scent-free soap if I have time, but to be honest, the best hunters I know of do not use any scent control other than using the wind to their advantage. This season I think I'm gonna skip the scent control completely and focus on hunting.
Being scent free is probably the best way to go, but it's difficult to achieve. For scent control I bathe prior to hunting, keep my camo in a sealed tote with earth Scent Wafers, spray down with spray beforehand. I also use unscented deodorant from Arm & Hammer, use unscented shaving cream (I used to not shave during hunting season, but hello Army), and wash my clothes in baking soda. However, if I'm hunting cattle land, I'll also purposefully step in cow crap as a cover scent for my boots. Deer don't pay any attention to it. I killed a deer last year after I'd accidentally gotten cow crap all over my tree stand.
