I just purchased a new Sitka suit, and am wondering how you guys store your hunting clothing? Im sure this topic has been covered before. I have a wardrobe i keep all my hunting clothing, trail cameras, range finder, accessories, etc. in, and am wondering if you have found any way to help with scent, such as Wildlife research dryer sheets or scent wipes placed in the wardrobe? Thanks for any advice
wash in a scent killing soap and ill store in a plastic bin with some earth or acorn scented wipes at one point i even put leaves and sticks from the woods in with it but it was annoying so be picking leaves out of my cloths the fist hunt.
Wash in scent free soap, dry, seal in a vacuum bag and placed in a Scent lock duffle/bag. Hadnt tried the vacuum bag until recently so cant speak to it helping/hurting but it did get rid of a lot of the bulk of the Sitka Fanatic stuff.
I wouldn't use wipes since they're moist, it will cause mold and mildew I would believe. If you're talking end of season. Wash and dry in scent free, place in tote or hang up. Then just rewash at start of next season. Gonna try using Ozone this year as well.
I've got my expensive stuff in scent lock totes with carbon filters, cheap stuff in cheap plastic bins. I'll take it all out and zap for a couple of mins with ozone machine before I hunt
Store all mine in those really large vacuum bags. Throw in one of those dryer sheets and suck out the air and store everything in a large tote.
I wash them with scent killer laundry detergent and dry with some earth scented dryer sheets, then store them in rubbermaid bin with earth or acorn scent wafers (not wipes as I don't want to add the moisture).
This works well for me too. Been doing it like this for 30 years. The only thing I do different is air dry them on the clothesline before packing in the totes.
I have never used any detergents in my washer/dryer other than scent-free stuff. I don't use hunting brand detergents but I make sure they have ZERO fragrances or brighteners. Brighteners can actually make the clothing literally glow in the dark (phosphorus will do this. They use it to make whites look whiter). After the washer I dry in the dryer. No cover scents. All that does is add detectable scent to the fabric. Cover scents do make you any less stinky to deer and it just adds to the scent left behind. When the clothes are dry I hang them in a wardrobe I built that has an ozone generator running 24/7 from August to January. The ozone kills odors both natural and synthetic. It works quite well and hospitals and colleges use them for deodorizing locker rooms etc. On the way to the field I'll put my gear in a weather tight container and get dressed at the tailgate before the walk to the stand. I wash everything from gloves to pants to backpacks. It's not so much about eliminating scent while you're in the stand, but how much scent you leave behind. If your outer shell is clean and odorless, you will limit the amount of deer you alert even after you leave the woods.
Hey Chris I am not telling you how to live your life but step away from the ozone machine, there is no need to run it 24/7 from August to January.
You're probably right, but it's a small unit and works well at reducing odor so there's no real reason not to either.
The way I see it is, your body is constantly producing scent. You can only minimize it by so much. Once you put your clothing on, it has picked up your scent regardless of how scent free it was previous to you putting it on. I also think about how my grandfather and others that hunted previous to scent eliminating products were successful. I'm not exactly trying to be any less stinky using the wafers in the bin I store my hunting clothes. My line of thought here is i feel it's some what of more normal smell than just sitting in a bin. Granted, these wafers probably aren't created using a "natural" scent but it makes me feel better about it and that's all the counts. If you can justify spending that kind of money on ozonics and all these other high dollar products and it makes you confident....great, use whatever you please! If you do some research on dogs and their abilities to pick up and track human scent, you will find there is very little you can do to hide yourself from a well trained tracking dog. Now just imagine how much better that wild deer nose is compared to a domesticated dog's nose.
I agree you that there is no way to completely eliminate human odor, but why not do what you can? The ozone generator I bought was a $35 unit so it wasn't a large expense at all. Research using dogs also suggests that using ozone is one of the most effective ways of eliminating odors.
I wash in a scent free soap and then store in a scent loc sack that i got off of amazon. That sack then go's in a storage bin for easy carrying. I also keep my safety harness and pack in that bin as well. Eventually I usually drop a few pine cones, or pine tree branch in the bin as well for a week as its a natural smell in the area.
While I agree we can't eliminate our scent, we can certainly do things to cut it down or provide stronger scents to distract deer. I talked to 3 people who said the products worked when they should have been busted by deer. I am going to be on the ground without a blind and I am going way overboard on scent control this year. While I fully recognize I will never completely eliminate I can do a lot to cut it down and mask it and I will do all I can. I am a weak, novice hunter and need all the help I can get and I will take advantage of any edge I can find.
I'm discrediting these types of products nor saying they don'the help. All I am saying is it seems like many people think you won't be successful if you don't use every scent eliminating product available. I am also not saying don't use anything either. I just keep looking back to the deer that have been taken in the years before all these scent products. I just keep thinking how there is so much more to success in the stand than just using every scent eliminating product available.
I'll usually put all the clothes out in the rain during the early fall then let them air dry outside. From then on I leave the clothes hanging outside until I go to wear them. I store them during the off season in large zip-lock bags. Seems to work for me.
