I used to hunt in eastern Washington state for mule deer, and I frequently used apple scent as an attempt to throw off these deer's noses in and around the apple orchards and old homesteads that are prolific there. However, now I'm thinking its better to go scent-free and want to use some 3D camo that still has that apple smell in it. I am not sure if the smell can be completely eliminated, but I'd like to try. What do ya'll use to get persistent odors out of your gear? Granted, not letting a deer get whiff of you downwind is #1, but I don't think smelling like a red delicious apple helps my chances at all, especially in an area where there are none to be found. Thanks in advance for your ideas!
Wash in no scent then hang it up outside for a few days Repeat Right before season treat with ozone whether with bag or homemade room
I agree with Fix, but I don’t use ozone. I hunt in Missouri, we have lots of cedar trees. After making sure clothes are completely dry, I put them into an airtight tub with some cedar branches and clothes come out smelling like cedar. I just add fresh branches as needed, and sometimes I throw an earth scented wafer in as well. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Agree with PSE, if you have any cedar trees in your area, cedar is very strong and they make cedar sachets (small bags of cedar wood) which you can place in your hunting clothes bag. Another option is smoking your clothes, people swear by it and there are lots of archery forum posts about it.
regular pine boughs can be used in place of cedar if you don't have any of those near you. Might get some sap on your clothes but no big deal.
We have a large hay barn that sits close to a pond and inevitably always gets a few skunks overwintering in it so come spring somebody always ends up getting sprayed. The old timer on the next farm over told me to dig a hole and bury the clothes you got sprayed in for three or four days and then wash them, it works. So a couple of years ago I got to thinking about my hunting clothes. I bought two cotton linen bags with drawstrings and would put my hunting clothes in them to bury in a shallow hole under a cedar tree where I get dressed. Works like a charm, just remember to check the forecast and not leave them out if it's going to rain.
A wash or 2 with baking soda works wonders. the pine branches have worked well for me the past 30 years or so
Baking Soda wash Scent Free/UV Free laundry soap/Air dry outside Smoke your clothes. It worked for me on some doe, wind blowing right into their faces. Cannot confirm with mature bucks though.
Smoke your clothes! Thats some next level **** right there. Back in my high school and college days I tried smoking a lot of different things, but I can't say I ever tried polyester or rayon.
Scent free detergent and washing soda should do it. Ozone does work too. Then I use Whitetail Alchemy Scent Eradicator (shameless promotion).
Update: I put my musty, old apple-scented clothes into the washing machine using Wildlife Research Center Scent Killer Gold Laundry Detergent and a cup of vinegar. Ran the machine using hot water and the deep water wash setting. After the cycle was done, I ran it through the same process a second time. They came out wonderfully! No smell on them at all. Thanks, everyone for your great suggestions!
Why anyone would want/ like to smell like ANYTHING that would get a deer to break stride is beyond me. I wanna smell like NOTHING!
Anything you can do to change the human smell will help. I don't necessarily think smelling like an apple where there aren't any apple trees is a giveaway to a deer. They aren't thinking apple smell + no apple trees = human. If you don't have an ozone generator I'd wash your clothes in a non scent detergent, hang them outside to dry, put them in a container until you get to your hunting location. Then spray a little scent killer on you and use the wind as much as you can. Keeping the wind to your advantage is the big thing and the rest is hope the other preparations work if you can't.
Empty hot washer load first to try to clear any residual detergent. Scent free, UV free (Atsko or baking soda), clothes dried out doors in similar oak trees as I hunt. When dried, sprayed with permethrin and again allowed to remain and dry on the same trees.
I agree with one exception. If I am walking into a stand that requires me to move through any deer areas I like to put a few dabs of fox pee on my boots. No matter how good your scent control is there is still going to be some residual scent that will get tracked in with you. While the scent might not be enough for them to tell it was a human, they are still going to smell enough to know that something living came through there earlier. If they don't know what passed through that area they are going to assume it could be danger and will be on edge. By adding the smell of a fox it lets them assume that the unknown smell also came that same harmless fox and there is nothing to worry about.
I have found that washing clothes (two cycles through the washer) with Wildlife Management Center's Scent Killer Gold works well. I also use WMC's scent killer on my clothes after getting out of the truck before I walk to my stand. It can't hurt to add some doe estrous or deer scat to the bottom of your boots-it covers scent and also puts out deer sign at the same time. Just my two cents, I am by no means an expert.
Good idea. Remember when people used skunk scent? One hunter pointed out that skunk scent could indicate that something spooked the skunk. Therefore, a deer getting skunk scent will be more cautious or vacate the area. Ideas on this?
I dunno how skunk scent would affect the deer but I know how it would affect me. I doubt I would be sitting in the stand very long if I was covered in it. That said, I don’t think that the deer would assume skunk scent meant that a skunk was spooked - skunks pretty much emit their special brand of stank regardless of whether or not they’re spooked. As strong as that stuff is I would assume that they leave enough of a scent trail behind them that a deer would certainly smell it. Maybe if you sprayed the place down with a bunch of it they might think it was spooked, but I’m guessing putting a few drops on your boots before walking in would just leave a trail similar to what a skunk would leave behind if it passed through. One thing I would wonder about is if the deer might actually avoid the skunk smell simply because it stinks. My nose is nowhere near as good as a deer’s and I would definitely avoid hanging out in an area with a skunk nearby because I just don’t like to stand around smelling skunks.
