Funny we talk about what deer tolerate in their area as far as scent. Where I live the deer bolt out of the fields when you drive by, can't imagine what they would do if they smelled you.
I’ve done it all…and still do, largely. I think most of it has very little affect, and any seemingly positive results are just anecdotal anomalies. I’ve ditched carbon clothing. Ozonics seems to work decently at times. Other times it does not. Cover scents are hit or miss. All the tests I’ve seen with trained dogs finding people by scent, shows only ozone generation helping make it more difficult for the dogs…but even that just delayed them for a while. Carbon, scent covers did nothing. I’ve watched hogs walk up to my footprint, smell it and bolt away—and that with rubber boots and scent killer sprayed all over them, at the truck, and after walking thru woods and dirt for a while before getting there. I’ve hunted whitetail in urban areas where I can get within 10 feet of them when I’m running on the trail. But when I’m 30 yds off the trail—they tolerate zero human smell. But I still take as many steps to minimize and cover my scent as much as possible; why not? I base my entry into the woods and stand selection 100% based on wind direction. My only real confidence is to play the wind correctly. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Some of your comments are interesting and I can echo most of your sentiments. I think the idea of a product or routine delaying being picked up by an animal is the best case scenario and what we all would want. If for example ozone delays being winded and allows that buck to walk another 20 yards before he slams on the brakes.. maybe that 20 yards is all you needed to get the shot. Thats a win. I also have seen, just like you mentioned, that as long as the human scent in in a place where its expected, all is well and normal. But yup, you step off the trail or areas that have scent routinely and they absolutely know it. I have also watched deer and turkeys stand in a field as I drove past them from a distance and they watched me go by but never spooked. I parked at the top corner of that field and as soon as I got out and went to the tailgate.... they gone! haha. Turkeys especially seem to operate that way. As I mentioned, I don't use any of that stuff simply because I don't believe its enough of an advantage to warrent the cost and need to lug additional gear with me. I do spray my boots down with fox or coon urine to help cut down on my scent trail where I walk and I think it does help. But once in the tree or blind, I'm making a ton of human scent and nothing I can do about it.
Save your money… Hunt the wind…. You’re welcome… pay the receptionist on your way out Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
And what the Hell do you even know??? Have you ever even killed a deer??? Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
My two scents for what it's worth....I wash my clothes and take a shower in no-scent...usually dead down wind. However, I think it's more area specific. If I hunt where on the 10 acres where I live then I don't worry about it as much. I hardly ever hunt my own property just because I have neighbors who aren't big on hunting and it's just not worth the headache. I'm on and around my property every day so why would I use cover scent? They are so used to me being out there I think it would almost do more harm than good. The area I just got access to hunt has quite a few cedar trees. What I do is I'll wash my clothes and put them in a bag. I'll grab some limbs off cedar trees and put them in the bag just to help with the scent. Does it help? I don't know but it's free "cover scent." I just try to keep the wind to my advantage. Lastly, I do quite a bit of duck hunting on the property I used to deer hunt. We constantly have deer come right up to us while we are duck hunting. We've had deer swim through our decoys. In our duck blind we drink coffee, cook eggs, are constantly shooting, etc. and the deer just move all around us like normal. So I said all that to say this...I don't have a clue. I just hunt and do what I think gives me the best advantage. In the end, I pretty much added nothing to this conversation but had a blast typing all of this...LOL.
Good to see you chime in Lusk. A " Cover scent" is a scent. Don't matter what kind. A deer knows it home range and every smell in in it like you know your home. If you have a " Cover scent" on you and a deer smells it, they can also smell YOU!. They know that cedar,spruce,ect ain't supposed to be there. They will stop when they hit that scent cone and you are in that same cone. I go in SUPER clean as I don't want ANY deer to go downwind and stop for ANY reason. And yes, it can be done. Takes an EXTREAME amount of discipline though.
Do you like the idea of pulling cedar tree limbs off of the property you hunt? I guess it would be a cover scent but it’s from the property you hunt. Just curious on thoughts…
I haven't found any cover scent that works very well. I do use scent shower soap and wash my clothing in Atsko Sport wash detergent. What I have noticed is that I get busted much less hunting in a ground blind than I do in a tree stand. Maybe the ground blind contains scent better? I hunt on my own property so I can set them up a month before the season starts and they have plenty of time to air out and take on the scent of the surrounding area. They tend to smell faintly like cedar inside by the time I use them. The spots I hunt all have several cedar trees in them and my blinds are placed close to them so that may help as well. I've had deer and the resident grey fox come extremely close to the blind and not give it a second glance or act like they know I'm there at all.
I’m a big fan of hunting out of ground blinds. I hunt with my son quite a bit so it really helps him because he moves around quite a bit. On this new property we have 5 ground blinds and 5 stands.
