skeeterfogger
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Put them on then roll in the dirt.
Treating clothes before and during season
- Thread starter 9x56MS
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Arkansas Paul
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I usually wash them like normal. Then I go to deer camp and sit around a campfire half the night, and hunt in those same clothes the next day.
We only use unscented detergent anyway, so no difference there. I have a special liquid that renews the water resistance that also has no UV enhancers unlike most laundry detergents.
Now, I have much less experience than many of you but here is what I’ve observed. I’ve always hunted fir meat and not worried about bucks, but two years ago I had two big bucks on the same cam, so I decided to try for them. For the first time I tried doe estrus urine. It had no effect on bucks, but it spooked the does. Three times I had does more than 75 yards out suddenly stop sniff the air and then get out of dodge. Never happened before and didn’t happen again after I stopped using the attractant. This year I sprayed Wildlife Research Center Scent Killer Gold on my clothes and boots. I also wore my camo face netting for the first time (only wore it for turkey before). Twice I had deer look directly at me and not see me. One was 15 yards away and uphill, so almost level with me in my treestand. I am convinced that the camo face net was very effective. The scent killer didn’t hurt, so I’ll keep using it.
Now, I have much less experience than many of you but here is what I’ve observed. I’ve always hunted fir meat and not worried about bucks, but two years ago I had two big bucks on the same cam, so I decided to try for them. For the first time I tried doe estrus urine. It had no effect on bucks, but it spooked the does. Three times I had does more than 75 yards out suddenly stop sniff the air and then get out of dodge. Never happened before and didn’t happen again after I stopped using the attractant. This year I sprayed Wildlife Research Center Scent Killer Gold on my clothes and boots. I also wore my camo face netting for the first time (only wore it for turkey before). Twice I had deer look directly at me and not see me. One was 15 yards away and uphill, so almost level with me in my treestand. I am convinced that the camo face net was very effective. The scent killer didn’t hurt, so I’ll keep using it.
For those of you that are concerned about scent, what do you do about your body? I haven't seen anyone say they bathe with scent free soap the day before hunting, don't put on deodorant, not brush your teeth etc.
Edit: not trying to be snarky, I am actually curious. I have known people that didn't wear deodorant, etc when hunting, and others that hunted out of an idling truck with the radio on, both with equal success.
Edit: not trying to be snarky, I am actually curious. I have known people that didn't wear deodorant, etc when hunting, and others that hunted out of an idling truck with the radio on, both with equal success.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Been there, done that. Again, "scent-free" usually only pertains to what people can smell. You don't really ever see testing done on "scent free" products to see how animals react to them.
So you wash in scent free soap and maybe you don't have soap smell. Great. You can't stop the loss of skin cells from your body. You can stop your breath from leaving your body. You perspire. You may have pheromones (debated subject). You have hormones such as adrenaline that generate odor. You can't stop these things. Your ear wax has a smell to it, for crying out loud. You belch. You fart.
You cannot hide all of that, though may companies will sell you products for that very purpose. A level 3 or maybe level 4 bio suit might do a good job of keeping all that in, but that would be extraordinarily cumbersome and complex.
Aletheia
Member
Every dollar spent and every hour of effort to try to hide your scent is a waste of time and money.
I bathe/wash my hair only with scent free soap for the duration of the season, I use a scent blocker deodorant, and I don't brush my teeth in the morning before I head out.
Fine, but that is not an argument in favor of being smellier. I'm not going to spend $000s on scent-killer suits, but scent free soap is no more expensive, so why not?
Ohen Cepel
Member
My cousin is a chain smoker. He has killed more deer than cars (well maybe not that many, but a LOT). Most with a bow. He is an amazing hunter though and I credit that more than anything else he has going on. He lives for deer season and is working on it all year long. May be the only thing keeping him alive now.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I wasn't making an argument for being smellier. Smellier is in the nose of the animal. People like to make a big deal out of using 'scent-free' soap without a clue as to whether or not the animals smell it or how strongly. What you think is 'smellier' may or may not be smellier to the animal in question.
Maybe that’s correct, maybe not. I’ve not seen a source that indicates deer smell in a different way than humans. My understanding is their sense of smell is just more acute. My approach is if I can smell it then so can the deer. So I will take low cost, low effort steps to reduce the scent that I can detect.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
LOL, you can do whatever you want to do. If you think the smell of soap is scaring the deer, then by all means, you should use a different soap. Of course, that isn't going to stop all the other scents being broadcast off your body in volumes that the soap smell isn't helping cover.
You might want to look into scent-free gun cleans, scent-free gun lubes, and scent-free ammunition as well. Nobody ever seems to worry about how their guns and all those chemicals on their guns might impact hunting.
Again, this is a failure of simple logic. You are basically saying "I can't be perfectly scent free so I'm not even going to try." That just doesn't make sense. Do you make any effort to be quiet while walking through the woods? If so, why bother? You can't be perfectly noiseless, so why not just tromp through the woods? Do you avoid shiny clothing or certain colors? If so, why? You can't be perfectly invisible, so why worry about it?
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
The failure that you are talking about is assuming it makes a difference without any sort of real verification. How do you know the smell of soap won't be an attractant? You don't. You have just bought into the notion that if you can smell it, it is bad. As noted by several posts here, that sort of logical is without foundation.
So, do you really think it is the soap that the critters fear?
Like I said, you do whatever you want if that is what makes you feel stealthy in the woods, good for you.
memtb
Member
If I’m hunting whitetails or bear, where shots may be close range and odors are the Achilles Heel ......I put my (clean clothing) in a plastic bag with some foliage ( crushed, broken) indigenous to the area that I’m hunting. The clothing picks-up the scent of the plants and seems to be a good “natural” cover scent! memtb
How do you know that the plastic bag doesn't make it worse? You don't. Without a double-blind, randomized controlled trial proving that your method spooks fewer deer with 95% confidence, you're just wasting your time. But if it makes you happy, whatever. /sarcasm.
memtb
Member
Well....with my limited experience I’ll not suggest that I’m “95% confident”! Heavily laced in sarcasm! However, having bears inside of 10 feet away.....suggests that my method “may”, I repeat “may”, have some validity! With my unscientific assessments, it appears that many plastic bags absorb odors rather than emit odors! YMMV
If one is obsessed with the possibility of the plastic bag contaminating the clothing.....perhaps placing a charcoal scent absorbent bag into the plastic bags days/weeks prior to placing the clothing with aforementioned vegetation items, may help with scent removal! memtb
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Aletheia
Member
You don't make something less like superstition by doing more superstitious stuff. 
Oh please. Superstition is wearing your team's jersey and eating the same food on game day because they'll have bad luck if you don't. That's superstitious because there is no plausible causal relationship between eating your game day meal and the performance of your favorite team.You don't make something less like superstition by doing more superstitious stuff.
Trying to reduce the prominence of KNOWN smells because deer have a very good sense of smell is not a superstition. There is a plausible causal relationship. You stink - deer smells you - deer avoids you. It may or may not work, but it ain't superstition.
Now neither side in this debate has any hard data on whether scent reduction works. We each have our observations in the field and act accordingly. But for some reason, your side of this debate (you and at least Double Naught Spy) stands atop your lack of evidence and mocks the other side. If I were as uncharitable as you two, I would characterize your side as lazy and using a lack of data as an excuse to not even try to stink less.
It is true that there is a lack of good comparison data on the efficacy of scent reduction products. I won't mock anyone for whatever level of scent reduction they attempt. Personally, I employ a few low-cost, low-effort methods.
1. Wash hunting clothes in scent free detergent - $0 (we use it on all of our clothes).
2. Keep clothes in bin with leaves, sticks, spruce/pine boughs - $0 (need to store the clothes in something portable anyway).
3. Scent-free deodorant - $0 (I'm going to use deodorant during hunting season anyway).
4. Scent-killer spray - $10 for a bottle that treated my gear and my daughter's for the season.
Wow, $10 and 5 minutes of my time! What a stupid, superstitious waste! Except my daughter and I sat in a treestand this year while she put a crossbow bolt through a deer at 15 yards and the three other deer just stood there with no idea we were even there. I'll keep spending a few bucks per year and a few minutes of my time until I see evidence that it is counter-productive. You got any?
OP
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9x56MS
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I couldn't have said it better myself. I do believe in hunting the wind, but also do what I can to reduce and or change the flavor of my scent trail. I have been successful more often than not and so will keep doing what works. Just trying to see what works for others. What I don't believe in is the so called scent free clothing. My dogs tell me they don't work.
I try to play the wind as much as humanly possible.
I understand that anything I do has scent and that a deer smells in so much detail that what ever I do to my body or clothes to reduce the scent may/may not have any effect.
I wash my clothes in scent free AND UV killer detergent, dry them in the dryer with dirt scented dryer sheets.
In my opinion UV is more of an issue than scent, that is another argument for another day.
I also put them into plastic bags and into a plastic bin with a lid.
I used to wash with scent free soap, use scent free deodorant and baking soda for toothpaste, etc...
The last two years I’ve stopped doing that, and have actually seen more deer than when I’ve been trying to wash away my scent.
I also take chlorofresh get caps to help with body order. Two gel caps a day. Start end of August and stop end of season.
Since I’ve been taking them I’ve had close encounters with deer. And the two years I didn’t take them I didn’t see anything....
I do spray my boots and lower half usually with scent killer spray occasionally also.
Too many variables here to do a plausible casual relationship study BUT, I am very superstitious!
The thing I think most about is, in my experience (yours may be different) is that EVERYTHING I use has a scent that I can smell. Me, I smell it.
It may be simplistic thinking, but, if I can smell it then a deer can smell it.
So I try to determine how the wind is working and try to use it to my advantage to the best of my ability.
I will continue to adapt my personal philosophy about this probably as long as I hunt and I’ll use what I believe works best for me.
Opinions may vary....
I understand that anything I do has scent and that a deer smells in so much detail that what ever I do to my body or clothes to reduce the scent may/may not have any effect.
I wash my clothes in scent free AND UV killer detergent, dry them in the dryer with dirt scented dryer sheets.
In my opinion UV is more of an issue than scent, that is another argument for another day.
I also put them into plastic bags and into a plastic bin with a lid.
I used to wash with scent free soap, use scent free deodorant and baking soda for toothpaste, etc...
The last two years I’ve stopped doing that, and have actually seen more deer than when I’ve been trying to wash away my scent.
I also take chlorofresh get caps to help with body order. Two gel caps a day. Start end of August and stop end of season.
Since I’ve been taking them I’ve had close encounters with deer. And the two years I didn’t take them I didn’t see anything....
I do spray my boots and lower half usually with scent killer spray occasionally also.
Too many variables here to do a plausible casual relationship study BUT, I am very superstitious!
The thing I think most about is, in my experience (yours may be different) is that EVERYTHING I use has a scent that I can smell. Me, I smell it.
It may be simplistic thinking, but, if I can smell it then a deer can smell it.
So I try to determine how the wind is working and try to use it to my advantage to the best of my ability.
I will continue to adapt my personal philosophy about this probably as long as I hunt and I’ll use what I believe works best for me.
Opinions may vary....
Oh year, I forgot that I bathe with Dr. Bronner's pure castile soap during hunting season. Just looked up the price at my grocery store. $13 for a quart. I've had that bottle for 4 years and it is more than half full (since it is pure soap, a little goes a looong way). So that's less than $2 per year, but arguably $0 because I would wash myself with something that costs $ (which is likely more expensive actually).
Also imagine all the smells there are on a farm; poop from a dozen different animals, sweat from the farmer's clothes, diesel or gasoline exhaust. We got it all wrong. I gotta start marketing "Spray Poop", instantly smell like a barn yard! LOL
You can take this thread one point farther. How often is it that you have the exactly right camo on that perfectly matches the surrounding foliage? If it doesn't you will stick out and the slightest movement will give you away. Many magazines are now saying solid colors of sand brown, gray and maybe black are more effective than camo, so you can blend in around trees or bushes.
You can take this thread one point farther. How often is it that you have the exactly right camo on that perfectly matches the surrounding foliage? If it doesn't you will stick out and the slightest movement will give you away. Many magazines are now saying solid colors of sand brown, gray and maybe black are more effective than camo, so you can blend in around trees or bushes.
rdnktrkr
Member
I hunted with an older gentleman for a few yrs and he smoked, (coughed, hacked, spit, etc) drank (a lot), chewed tobacco, we always sprayed our boots with apple juice and have had deer follow our footsteps. I had a deer walk up to a side by side and sniff the bed last year while I was rebuilding my blind.
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