Human scent masking
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Nature Boy
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There's only one way that I know of: Be (down) wind of your quarry
All products touted to block or mask your sent are generally gimmicks
All products touted to block or mask your sent are generally gimmicks
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Covering your scent has been practiced by hunters for thousands of years. The practice isn't a gimmick. The difference today is that we can buy products instead of making our own like has been practiced as long as humans have hunted. Lots of ideas have been tried with varying degrees of success. Wind and game can come from 360 degrees and both can change unpredictably. Being upwind is great if possible, but it is rarely so.
Nothing is 100%, the best you can hope for is to limit the scent so that instead of smelling you 200 yards away an animal may only smell you within 20 yards. And it isn't always necessary. If you're hunting in many crowded areas or on farms etc. game animals smell and see humans constantly. Smelling or seeing a human doesn't always cause a deer or other game animal concern. In a remote wilderness setting it is more of a concern, especially when hunting with short range weapons such as archery or handguns.
I think that most of the clothing sold to trap scent has proven to be less than successful. Buying covering scent out of a bottle can be effective. Just remember it isn't 100% and you'll smell like deer pee, skunks or other wild animals. Only you can decide if it is worth it. I'm not so sure about the apple and other fruit scents. I guess in specific locations. I've taken hands full of leaves, dirt and other forest debris and rubbed it into as much of my clothing as possible in the past and it seems to help. If hunting on a farm with cattle stepping in some cow patties will help cover your scent and be a natural smell game is used to.
Preventing odors on your clothing is probably the best approach. Avoid eating or gassing up your truck wearing the clothes you'll hunt in. I've known guys who stored all their hunting clothes and gear in plastic garbage bags all season and not washing them till the end. Depending on the area some pine or other tree branches are stored inside for the scent. I've known guys to hang their clothes near a campfire for the smoke smell. Forest fires and smoke are not unusual and would not alarm deer. It is strong enough to cover human scent pretty well.
Nothing is 100%, the best you can hope for is to limit the scent so that instead of smelling you 200 yards away an animal may only smell you within 20 yards. And it isn't always necessary. If you're hunting in many crowded areas or on farms etc. game animals smell and see humans constantly. Smelling or seeing a human doesn't always cause a deer or other game animal concern. In a remote wilderness setting it is more of a concern, especially when hunting with short range weapons such as archery or handguns.
I think that most of the clothing sold to trap scent has proven to be less than successful. Buying covering scent out of a bottle can be effective. Just remember it isn't 100% and you'll smell like deer pee, skunks or other wild animals. Only you can decide if it is worth it. I'm not so sure about the apple and other fruit scents. I guess in specific locations. I've taken hands full of leaves, dirt and other forest debris and rubbed it into as much of my clothing as possible in the past and it seems to help. If hunting on a farm with cattle stepping in some cow patties will help cover your scent and be a natural smell game is used to.
Preventing odors on your clothing is probably the best approach. Avoid eating or gassing up your truck wearing the clothes you'll hunt in. I've known guys who stored all their hunting clothes and gear in plastic garbage bags all season and not washing them till the end. Depending on the area some pine or other tree branches are stored inside for the scent. I've known guys to hang their clothes near a campfire for the smoke smell. Forest fires and smoke are not unusual and would not alarm deer. It is strong enough to cover human scent pretty well.
Nature Boy
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So has being (down)wind of your quarry. Guess which one is more effective?
When I pick my deer hunting spot for the next morning, the FIRST thing I'm checking is what will be the prevailing wind direction.
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luffy100
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243winxb
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Wash clothes in free/unscented laundry detergent . Shower with Ivory unscented bar soap. Apply arrid extra dry unscented deodorant. Never sweat when walking in. Place musk scent buck lure on a 2" square cotton patch, pin to jacket that been outside for a week. Some lure on shoes dont hurt. Main problen is finding the lure that works. Some do, some dont.
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Fine Figure of a Man
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It has been my experience that breath is what usually gives me away. Walking through manure and scent free stuff helps a little but your lungs pump out scent 24/7. A frosty morning helps, your warm breath rises and dissipates reducing the chance of being busted.
If you are a bird hunter you may have noticed how much easier your dog can find a crippled bird than a dead one.
If you are a bird hunter you may have noticed how much easier your dog can find a crippled bird than a dead one.
Flintknapper
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Don't you mean 'DOWN wind'?
If you are upwind...your scent is blowing right to your quarry.
But yes, having the wind in your 'favor' is very important.
Nature Boy
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Yes yes yes! DOWN WIND! lol
A guy I hunt with swears that the best sent camo is diesel fuel and fertilizer because where he hunts the deer associate that smell with the farmer that works the land all year long and pay him no attention.
A guy I hunt with swears that the best sent camo is diesel fuel and fertilizer because where he hunts the deer associate that smell with the farmer that works the land all year long and pay him no attention.
buck460XVR
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The elimination or minimizing of human scent generally works better than trying to mask it. Keep yourself and you clothing clean with scentfree products ad avoid sweating going to your stand. Use products like baking soda to absorb and/or neutralize your scent. If you do need masking scents, don't use a lure type scent that will attract the deer's attention to you, but use something as Nature Boy says, they are used to smelling all the time in the area. Smell like a cow if hunting on a dairy farm or like wood smoke if folks in the area heat with wood. Fresh cut wood is a good one when logging or firewood gathering has been going on. My son has horses on his property I hunt. I sometimes hang my hunting clothes in the horse barn.
Nature Boy
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I'm not advocating that anyone slather on a bottle of Polo like you did on any Saturday night back in 1985 before heading to the club. My point is that a deer has such a keen sense of smell that the only sure way not to get busted is to know the wind direction and be DOWN WIND (hahah) of where you expect the deer to come in from. I hunt with guys who have gone all in on sent lock clothing, special laundry detergents, sent free deodorant.....you name it. Most (all) have given up on it. At best, they're marginally effective. But hey, if it gives you an edge and you killed that monster buck that one time when you smelled like a raccoon with an incontinence problem, then I'm rooting for you. I had a lucky hat that doesn't work anymore. I looking for an edge too.
Glockula
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I am in the camp on use the wind. Try to hunt with the wind in your face or down wind of your area. That said I use a cheap spray on my clothes and nothing for equipment. I get busted on the ground a lot more than in a tree or tower stand. I Also use unscented bar soap but with all of that said I will play the wind almost every time.
nmlongbow
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The cover up scents are gimmicks but people won't stop buying them. Animals will just smell human scent and the cover scent. Keeping the wind in your face is always the best. When I'm elk hunting or after other big game away from civilization I take chlorophyll capsules during the hunt and a few weeks before. I have no proof that they work but they virtually eliminate my own scent to my nose. I can sweat in UA clothing all day then not be able to tell if it's been worn the next day. One of my coworkers that usually has bad B.O. started the chlorophyll regimen and he had no smell that I could detect after a week or so of taking it.
Chlorophyll seems to help when I've been hunting but it may just be coincidence. I only hunt with a trad bow so all shots are close.
Chlorophyll seems to help when I've been hunting but it may just be coincidence. I only hunt with a trad bow so all shots are close.
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luffy100
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down the wind it is then
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luffy100
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are you saying animals can separate the human and fake smell and distinguish the difference?
buck460XVR
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Drug sniffing dogs are a prime example. Search and rescue dogs are another. They can distinguish one human from another by the scent. Just because a human can't smell something doesn't mean a deer can't, but less scent makes for a smaller scent cone downwind and decreases the range of the scent cone.
Omaney
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I'm in Texas. I just make sure to step in a fresh cow patty and I rub some cedar brances all over my outer layer every so often. Seems to work fine. Fresh cedar is powerful stuff. I also keep a few cedar twigs in the hunting clothes bin. I make my own soap and have a special deer season scent. I use some of the scent free hygiene products mentioned already. I also use the hunters laundry detergent. Gimmick? Maybe. Makes me feel better though.
Orcon
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It's kind of like spraying Febreze in the bathroom after you "drop off some timber". The next person to go in there is going to smell Linen and Sky scented crap.
Nature Boy
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Deer have a keener sense of smell than dogs (look it up), so if you can't fool a drug sniffing dog with various sent masking techniques (look that up too), good luck with fooling a deer.
Flintknapper
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YES! I continue to be surprised that many hunters don't understand a Deer's olfactory system (297 MILLION scent receptors) is capable of detecting/recognizing DIFFERENT scents at a rate as low as several parts per million!
You can NOT 'mask' human scent (overwhelm a deer's sense of smell) to a point where it can not detect human scent. You are wasting your time and money IF you are buying into that marketing ploy.
But...what we CAN do...is 'minimize' scent. You do that by getting (and staying) CLEAN...first and foremost. There are certain products that can be used to 'suppress' scent particles and those are of some value, but 'masking' scent (using one or more scents to overpower another) just isn't possible as far as deer are concerned.
The value of 'minimizing' your scent is based on the simple way a deer (prey animal) 'processes' the scent and what that MEANS to a deer.
Basically:
1. A strong/abundant scent (many fresh scent particles)= An immediate threat in close proximity or a threat that has recently passed by.
2. A weak scent (few scent particles/diminished strength)= A possible threat, but NOT near by or has passed by long ago (not an immediate threat).
How a Deer reacts to either stimulus will depend upon circumstance (hunting pressure, association of human scent with danger, prior experiences, etc). Certain other 'needs' or instincts may cause a deer to ignore the scent but it will be because the deer CHOSE to and not because it couldn't smell you after you slathered on that Coon Piss, Skunk Scent, Pine Extract/other.
Guys, just get as clean as you possibly can. Do all you can to use the wind (AND thermals) to your favor and save your money. Forget about 'masking' scents, use scent 'suppressing' products only.
Flintknapper
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^^^^^^^^ Agreed.
Not always possible, but desirable. In the absence of any 'detectable' wind....it is well to be mindful of 'thermals' as well.
At certain times of the year, large temperature swings can occur over a period of hours. Cold/cooler air will settle and carry your scent with it, where it can 'pool' or worse....spread out. Terrain features often make things worse.
But even IF you play the wind/thermals 'right' you still leave a certain amount of scent behind when approaching and leaving a hunting site. Many an unsuspecting hunter has been 'busted' by wary Deer/game after the hunter has left the area. Again....a good reason to get clean and leave as little scent (of any kind) behind.
Admittedly...I sometimes sound dogmatic about scent control, but it is the product of 45 years of traditional bowhunting (I need to be close). You learn a lot under those conditions....I am sure you know.
Best of luck to everyone this Season.
Flint.
Omaney
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