As the years have progressed I have paid less attention to product-based scent control and more to behavior-based scent control. I still wash my clothes in baking soda and scent killer detergent and shower with hunter's scent killer soap, and spray down before heading out, but the most important things for me now are the wind and my approach to the stand. If I don't consider these factors I might as well just be taking a walk in the woods. Even in the areas I hunt that are highly suburban, those deer know the difference in the smell of someone 100 yards away and someone 20 yards away. They also know where those smells should be coming from. If that scent pattern isn't what they consider "normal" they are gone. With a favorable wind and an approach that they will not cross I have had much greater success.
I am with Greg entirely on this. You cannot trick a deer's nose, all you can do is avoid it. If a deer walks down wind of you and doesn't smell you, it is because he wasn't really down wind (thermals effecting wind from you to him, etc).
Wind, wind, wind, wind. It does not matter what precautions you take, if you don't pay attention to this one then you might as well stay home. Could not agree more.
If I waited for the right wind to hunt I'd never be able to hunt. Being from Kansas the wind can blow out of all four directions at once, especially in the canyons where I hunt. Not to mention the thermals I have to deal with. This is the rule not the exception. The deer I hunt don't come from one direction either but can and do come from all directions. I hunt whatever stand I want regardless of the wind. Do I get winded? Yep, but not as much as you would think. I wash my hunting clothes and shower with scent soap. I also wash all of my regular clothes in scent free soap too. I make sure the lint trap is emptied if any scented fabric sheets had been used recently. I don't allow people with perfume, cologne, or other such things on to enter my hunting vehicle. I don't own any animals and stay away from others pets during hunting season. I scent down before every hunt and change clothes in the field. I then put all my clothes in a bucket that can be completely sealed. I don't drink alcohol and watch what I eat. I also use the breath spray. If I'm hunting where there's no shower access I bring my scent shampoo and shower in the field. It gets a little cold sometimes but what the heck. Lastly, I use scent blocker clothing. This system has worked for me but there's always more that can be done. One I'm seriously thinking about is cutting my hair off before season. Don't know if I'll take it that far or not. Do you have to do all of these things to be successful? No, but you might try some of them and see if they help. There might be something little you are doing that the deer are picking up on. Good luck with whatever you try, the deer will let you know if it's working or not.
Similarly, I use scent-free laundry detergent, softener, and dryer sheets. I also use a low odor soap, and Mitchum Scent-Free deodorant. If any of you guys want a deodorant, rather than a "cover scent,' Mitchum is the BEST I've found. Sure some of those deodorants smell nice to the ladies, but in the end, they don't really keep the stink down nearly as well at the end of the day!!! My lifestyle is adapted to what "should" be the most scent-free year round, from my laundry to the toiletries I use. Beyond the "lifestyle" stuff, I also wear a silver ion base layer and socks for hunting, keep my "hunting boots" in the box I bought them in (help reduce outside/foreign odors from getting on them, and even in the warmer weather I ALWAYS wear a facemask to suppress some of the scent from my breath. After doing all that, I still "TRY" to hunt best w/ the wind, but some of the properties I hunt dictate how I can enter, and where I can set-up, and if I'm on a time budget, I'll still hunt against the wind as long as it's not extreme. I've also killed more than a few deer that came in from the downwind side that never had a clue I was there. Is all that effort worth it??? Ask my two little girls when they're eating jerky this weekend what they think......:D
r u sure you didn't move or make a noise? shower b 4 each hunt, keep your clothes outside. I even hang mine in a pine tree in the back yard for a few days before the hunt. sometimes, they just bust you, no matter what you do.
