Oh dude, I'll be the first one to admit - I get winded ALL THE TIME. The difference is that we show it in our videos, the other guys edit it right out. Heck, I can't even go out filming velvet footage without a doe appearing straight down-wind, blowing, and ruining my sit. Happens all the time, if there was only something to eliminate this - I would be the first one to try it. Here is my problem with the "scent reduction / elimination" industry. A whitetail has the capability of smelling down into the single digits of "parts per million" of human scent. This can be proven very simply by looking at the whitetails nose at the cellular level. I don't need to be shown any of this evidence because I've witnessed enough "freak" scent encounters in the last 19 years to know what a whitetail is capable of smelling. As soon as one of these companies produces scientific FACT that their products reduce the level of human scent below what a whitetail is known to smell - I'll be the first one in-line. The second problem I have is with my style of hunting. I hunt everyday - it is simply impossible to keep my clothes clean. In-order to truly keep yourself "Scent free" - you would need to wash EVERYTHING, including all the other equipment you have contact with everytime you come out of the woods (pole pruner, hand saw, back-pack, all surfaces of EVERY piece of equipment - grunt calls, treestands, climbing sticks, rattling antlers, bow, quiver, arrows, etc...). This isn't possible for me, not enough time in the day. Besides, when I used to be "ANAL" (before knowing any better), I still got winded just as much on first sits wearing clean clothes, scent-lok, and all equipment sprayed. I actually find this topic extremely hularious because it shows how marketing and advertising can alter the truth to whatever you want. It is unbelieveable to me how many people believe what is being said out there by people who have done NOTHING in the whitetail woods to prove beyond reasonable doubt that a particular does anything that actually helps. People listen anyway - which doesn't matter to me one way or another! I've had the oportunity to hunt with some of the best whitetail hunters in the country (record books that back this). They knew mature whitetails better than anyone I've ever talked with - and they told it like it was about the scent industry because they had nothing to loose in doing so. They weren't sponsored or using any products and having to say something they might not believe 100% just because they have sponsorships to worry about. Take away the $$$ and products all these "pros" are getting, and you'd just have another gimmick product that doesn't increase any odds of killing a "big deer" - like so many of the advertisments say. Knowing what I know of hunting mature bucks, if someone had it figured out, they would be killing FAR more monster whitetails than they are currently killing. It would be "easy" if I didn't have to worry about scent. I'd be able to hunt the other 50% of the properties that I currently can't get away with hunting. Complete scent elimination would change EVERYTHING, but I'm not worried about that anytime soon! Next time you hear someone pimping some product, ask yourself what they have to gain from the success of the company. TV is expensive, got to pay those time slot costs! I don't see any one product producing anything beyond what "nothing" has done for years.
Todd, I don't disagree....but I will toss this out there. Do you think that if you could eliminate enough human odor to make it appear, to the deer, that you aren't in the immediate area, because the scent isn't as strong.....Do you think it would help or hurt? Are we ever going to be able to ELIMINATE it completely? Hell no. GMMAT said it pretty good once.....it's like us smelling a skunk. If it's really strong, we believe it to be in the immediate area. But if it's just a whiff....he could be a ways off, with no immediate threat. I understand what you say about hunting every day. It would be damn difficult for you to maintain that "scent free" environment. I also know that playing the wind is critical, and I also know we're gonna get winded now and again. But...if you were to decrease that odor and put another....let's even say you've added 1% to your chance of scoring..........Why not? Why not use it as part of an overall system? Everything we do is done to increase our odds, right?
Todd, What if the CEO of Robinson Labs came to you tomorrow and said "Todd, I notice on your videos that you get winded a good bit and I think we can help.......we love the production and would love to be your primary sponsor! We'll cover all your expenses, how much do you guys need?" All that you'd have to do is wear and promote Scentblocker Clothing and Scent Shield products........ You're friends with Lee and Tiff right? Do they believe in their Scent Lok or is it just a gimmick paying the bills for them? I'm just curious what's real and whats not out there. I subscribe to the same theory Mobow alluded to, reducing the human scent cone as much as possible for bad circumstances like a swirl or wind shift or a deer crossing downwind. MAYBE this will give the appearance of old scent or a human far enough away as to maybe take notice but not just turn inside out getting away because you basically pounded him in the head with a big ol' stink bath. ??? I agree there is no way you're gonna get away without a deer at the very least noticing your presence if the wind hits him just right, but HOW MUCH he might get is what I bank on with trying to reduce it to realistic levels through hanging clothes, washing and sprays etc.
WOW, I guess I stirred up a hornets nest. All I was saying is this stuff does work, to some extent. Spray some scent eliminator on something smelly and it does reduce the odor. Eliminate it no, but like the others have said. It may not have to be completely eliminated to get you the shot. Just make the deer feel like you aren't in the tree right above him. I'll take that little edge!
As far as "reducing" so you don't necessarily get nailed everytime? Well, here is my take on it, based on what I've encountered in the wild. Generally speaking, the reaction you will get from a deer depends on two things - #1 - pressure. #2 - age. We hunt some of the least pressured ground of pretty much anyone(within reason). We get winded by immature deer all the time, sometimes they freak, other times they act as though they are more confused than concerned. Throw a little "rut" in there, and we'll have 3-1/2's wind us (that we've called in), and continue searching for what was making the "sound" that attracted them. Sometimes they just don't care about danger as much as tail. I've been lucky enough to hunt farms that had litterally never been hunted before. I've watched mature does catch my wind, follow it to the base of my tree, and just be absolutely curious as all get-out. Because they had never really been hunted before, she had associated the human oder with the only thing she knew was human on the farm, the old farmer who tinkered around on the farm every day. Stikbow 26 was also lucky enough to hunt this same farm. He could have killed the buck of his lifetime - but I'll let him tell you that story! Let me put it this way, when hunting unpressured deer, you can appear to be getting away with murder at times. They will always smell you (if the wind is reaching them) - sometimes they don't see it as a threat (as much). If I was sponsored by a scent company, I would have dozens of encounters per year that would allow me to say "boy - they didn't smell us because of....". I think it has more to do with unknown thermals and wind changes that we can't figure out sometimes. One day I'll get away with everything; the next from the same stand, with the same wind - I'll be getting snorted at like crazy. You just don't know exactly what is happening to your scent around your stand. Too many variables for anyone to claim "they were straight down wind"! I won't even mention the idea of trying to fool a 4, 5, 6, or 7 year old bucks nose. That's a whole nother ballpark. Pretty much bloodhound gang brother! You saw mythbusters right? When an animal can track human scent on-top of water - now we're talking about a keen sense of smell. I have no comments about any particular people. Everyone has opinions that differ. Remember, this is only what I believe based on what I've seen and experienced. Maybe others have different experiences that I'm unable to duplicate due to my "heavy sweating". If a scent company came to me and wanted me to represent them I would require that the product did what they said, and they had the proof to back it up. I just don't agree with promoting products that have claims like "Kill bigger bucks". Wearing a particular garment has NOTHING to do with killing bigger bucks. Hunting the right properties, in the right ways, and putting TIME in is what kills big bucks. To me, that's preying on the inexperience of alot of guys around the country. I was once that guy who spent thousands on junk that didn't do ANYTHING to help me kill a bigger buck. Moving to Iowa, spending more time pursuing properties than most spend in the woods each year - now that is what "can" help you kill bigger bucks! The "kill" part will always be up to the individual. I believe the perfect product or series of products that will eliminate your scent enough to actually make a noticable difference doesn't exist. I hope it does some day - but it would almost be like cheating! Wind is everything! BTW - this is part of the reason I started WKP. I wanted to show what does improve your odds at killing trophy bucks. That is why you don't see me promoting anything I don't believe gives me some advantage. I can use every-bit I can get! The thing I think most people forget is that our sense of smell is basically "useless" in the world of the whitetail. We have no idea what it is like to live and die litterally by our senses. The world they live in forces them to become masters at
I'm sorry Todd, I respect you and love your productions, but I'm gonna call BS on that one. If a company were to approach you about covering your expenses, or at least a big chunk of it....You'd do it. Hell, you would be down right STUPID not to.
Todd also knows that I do use scents and body wash's, Do I believe in scent cloths no but I do believe in staying as clean as possible and pretty much what was stated above by some that if you can decrease your as much as possible it can't hurt. So if I am am going to shower everytime before I enter the woods which I do morning and afternoon I might as well use a product that might increase my chance by 1 %, I also believe that if you believe in something and it increases your confedence you are a head of the game also. Like Todd said nothing out there will elimante 100% and I really hope they never do so If I could market one piece of advise it would be "hunt the wind not your heart" Walt
No, A wild one while getting to your stand and not dead stick, LOL I have slap a deer in the face, I was that close
I slapped a wild 4X4 mule deer buck in the ass........ Honest to God's truth, and it was a spot and stalk too. I'm the stealthiest big SOB you'll ever meet.
