Question for those who say just hunt the wind, what do you do when the winds are calm or no wind, stay home?
Assuming they trust the weatherman and hunt the stand that is going to work best with the predicted wind direction.
Bingo... I stated in another thread about playing the wind that I remember my Step Father who smoked like a chimney would smoke up in the stand and still got deer season after season...do you really think that in the 70’s hunters were waking up and looking at their apps and checking wind direction, were spraying down with all the latest and greatest sprays that were tested and proven to bring success? Hmm I seem to remember hunters wearing blue jeans and a flannel shirt and jacket... imho hunting has gone Hollywood... every thing under the sun is commercialized and guaranteed to give you success and people go leaps and bounds over board thinking it will bring success... as many stated I won’t and don’t bash anyone who goes the extra mile and does such things as were mentioned above... but for me Hunting is enjoyable and the day I have to work at it by going overboard then that’s the day I’m not going to Hunt anymore... that’s work not pleasure... just my opinion though
The success ratio of Minnesota deer hunters is 30% I assume it is around the same in most states as far as success rates. As long as the success rates are low hunters will spend until they find the magic bullet.
Do as much or little as you want, but if you have to hunt based on wind direction b/c you stink, then you are essentially rendering 30-50% of the woods useless and ensuring any deer that comes form that direction will bust you. I enjoy regularly shooting mature downwind deer, it is a much bigger accomplishment that shooting upwind deer.
I've shot many deer before I took any scent control but I educated SO MANY MORE!! I kinda like having them old does walk under me now without blowing the end of their noses off. Remember, big bucks follow does
I think anything you can do to reduce your human odor is a good thing. Some have more time and money and choose to do more. To each his own. I consistently have deer downwind without getting busted. I've found a system that works well for me and gives me confidence.
In the 30 plus years I have been bowhunting whitetails I have used ozone to clean my clothes the last three. I have been wearing carbon containing clothing for 5 years. Over the years I have used baking soda and hug my hunting clothes outside and stored them in leaf bags with pine needles. I have killed deer from ground blinds made of burlap and natural brush in a few minutes on public ground all without modern scent control amenities. I have killed way more deer without using them than with. Do I need them? No. The difference is I have used them. I'm of the opinion that they help me get closer to big mature whitetails. I don't care what you or anybody else does. Some seasons I am hunting for one particular deer and I'm going to pay attention to every detail. Thats my choice and for me thats fun.
Whatever floats your boat. There are no rules. I take a scent free shower, gargle with doe urine, dry off with my towel in a sealed bag. Then I climb out the bathroom window and slide down the vacuum sealed shoot I built (with earth scent blowing into it) to my yard. I grab my rack of clothes hanging outside and place in the back of my truck. I drive naked to my hunting land. Get out and spray down. Jump in the back of my truck and put my clothes on and hit the woods.
I actually shower before I go in the woods in morning with scent free soap, wash my hunting clothes in scent free detergent and spray my clothes down with some form of scent eliminator so I do take some precautions. That is what my regimen is. I hunt an area that the wind swirls almost all the time, at the head of a steep, deep hollow near the top of the hill. Predominate wind directions don't mean anything there you will always get swirls out of that hollow. That being said I am 20 feet up in a tree and have had deer downwind and not been busted but if the right swirl comes along I have seen the older mature does start getting antsy and get that nose up in the air and since it is gone so quickly have had them blow but not move. They look and try to locate but can't because the wind direction changes so much. If I had a plastic suit it might help but with the way the wind is there you cannot eliminate all of your scent. My brother told me about a test done with tracking dogs where hunters hid in the woods without any scent control. Turned the dogs loose and of course they found everyone. They timed the dogs tracking them and recorded. They then asked the hunters to use whatever scent control that they wanted and then go hide in the woods again. Turned the dogs loose and they found the hunters faster after the scent control routines. I know that is not scientific and I don't know what scent control they were using but I do know that a deer's nose is more capable than a dogs. Interesting discussion and one that I go back and forth on and guess that I am middle of the road on.
It might make a difference depending on where you hunt. We hunt public land which is used by lots of people, even non-hunters during deer season. I think the deer are so accustomed to the scent of humans, that it would be a waste of time and money to do any scent control. We go very deep into the woods to get away from other humans, including hunters. Most hunters set up within about a hundred yards or less of the parking area.
Got back to reading again last evening. Wow !! What a mistake that was. Now some say not to eat meat for a couple weeks before hunting season as it makes your breath smell like a predator to deer. Then the "fact" that hair is big release of human odor so keep your hair cut real short and shave your face and arm pits during hunting season. I skipped the rest of that chapter and went on to something else. Sure took a lot of interest out of that book.
It has become second nature for me personally to have tote of towels/transportation clothes only used for hunting seasons...totes that hold my hunting clothes which have ozone pumped into before hunts....scentmaster (carbon filtered warm air forced through) box for drying boots and clothes after hunt (bummed they went out of business)...shower before every hunt....baking soda toothbrushing....everything sprayed down each hunt...carbon powder in boots, on armpits after dead down wind deodorant.....carbon filtered mask worn while on stand at minimum over mouth sometimes nose too....evercalm used occasionally when access/exit trails I suspect will see immediate deer traffic...some but not all of my clothing has carbon or silver incorporated in them (baselayers though are just quality merino wool)...baselayers get worn twice at most unless sweat than once before washing...transportation clothes also include socks.... Seems crazy but it truly is just second nature now for all these steps....and is norm. Is it all necessary...no...but everything I do lessons the chances of detection (doesn't eliminate it) and that is all I'm going for.
Research how your body processes red meats especially...what we ingest can and does impact our natural human odors released by our pores. Is it a detectable difference to a deer's nose directly? Who knows...doubt could be proven either way....if they small human they will treat it and react to it the same way whether meat eater or vegetarian is my bet. The hair thing is true as well...but in my mind it is sweat related more than anything. I shave my armpits and keep head trimmed short and have gone away from big bushy beards due to I want any sweat to evaporate as fast as possible....not to mention wife loves the shorter length beard anyways.
Whoa if you are shaving other than your face you need to just simmer down and the very best oral odor deodorant I have found is skoal long cut straight.
Same here. I have what I feel Is a pretty good regime, and it seems to work. From washing everything in scent free soap, including myself, scent free deodorant, storage clothes in air tight containers with Cedar chips when not in use, spraying down every layer has it goes on. Douse boots in doe pee or deer dander before walk in... have not been busted the last 5 seasons that I can remember. I try and hunt he wind as best as Possible, but with such a small property there is only so many places to sit... gotta try and make the most of it when the wind is swirling... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
One thing I'll add to save you fellas money is, quit buying that expensive soap. I use unscented ivory bars to wash with. Had 6-8 deer downwind at under 25 yards tonight. Nary a stop n sniff
