Scent blocker?

[dprimm]

Going to try again this year on deer. What about scents on clothes and such? Do the deer get bothered by our sent and stuff in our clothes? I've seen the spray on blocker / eliminator. Know you can get special soap for your clothes. And some folks use the soap and then put leaves in a bag with their clothes that they only put on once they are in the field.

How big a deal is this, really? What do you do? What WORKS for you?

Thanks
David

 

[Mgderf]

That depends most on your area.

The property I hunt is so close to houses that I can smell the coffee brewing in the mornings.

Last year I had a pair of electronic muffs on and heard a neighbors alarm go off.

I can **** on my stand and it wouldn't make any difference.

Other places can be a lot different.
In an area that has little or no human traffic the wrong scent can drive deer away. It doesn't need to be a human scent either.

 

[SeaseFire]

I'm not sold one way or another yet. I've gone through the whole none scent ritual in the morning with success, but have also camped outside the night before and had equal luck. The way I see it, it can't hurt to do it, and for $20 to maybe help you be successful, then why not?

 

[HuntMeister]

IMHO...
You are never going to fool a Deer's nose so the number one priority is to play the wind. Always try to be downwind of where you think the deer will be coming from. If they are upwind of you they will not smell you.
I have done all sorts of scent control over the years and here is what I feel works best for me.
Launder all clothes in unscented detergents.
Shower in unscented soap and use unscented deodorant.
I keep my hunting clothes, boots, pack and so on in plastic totes to try and eliminate them absorbing odors.
The only cover scent that I use is the earth scent wafers and only have them in my gear and clothing totes.
I will spray down my shoes, hat, gloves, masks and such with scent eliminator spray as those items tend to smell due to sweating in them or walking through unnatural substances / odors.
I personally do not believe in scent-blocker types of clothing but if it makes one feel better about their hunt than that is what matters most.
YMMV.

 

[phylodog]

We are religious about our scent control and have had three bucks directly down wind of us this week and none of them acted as if they were the least bit concerned. We are in a rural area so the deer aren't used to human odors.

Some say its hog wash but it works for us. We use Dead Down Wind laundry detergent, dryer sheets, field spray and body wash. All hunting clothing is stored in air tight containers after washing and drying and we wash our non hunting clothing that we wear at camp first to clean the scent of other detergents from the washer and dryer before washing our hunting gear. I am wearing Scent Lok suits this year and my hunting partner wears Scent Blocker. Both seem to be effective. We shower twice a day; before we head out to the stand.

 

[swany11]

I like to use Scent-A-Way spray. I'm still a little skeptical about products like this but I seem to have had good luck with it for awhile now.
And also agree about all the non-scented soap, laundry, etc. I try to keep my jacket in my car, as our hunting shack gets overloaded with smoke and BS from all the stories.

 

[phylodog]

Had the biggest buck on the farm and two smaller bucks directly down wind from us during yesterday afternoon and this mornings hunts. We've been hunting morning and evening since a week ago Thursday (except for this past rainy Wednesday) and haven't been winded yet. We've probably had 12-15 deer down wind of us. I'm a believer.

 

[twolfe82]

Like phylodog i like Dead Down Wind products. Be as cautious of your scent as you can. Also try to hunt with the wind in your favor. Good luck

 

[ChootEm]

I use them all the time also. I will also give the tree behind me a couple shot of Fox urine cover up...."Just in case"...I missed a stinky part on me..

 

[ghuns]

Most deer are young and dumb. I usually just open the door to my outdoor wood boiler, get good-n-smokey, and call it good. I am still careful about wind direction as it relates to which spot I decide to hunt, but I have never obsessed over scent control. But I also don't really care if I never shoot another deer with antlers. If bagging the biggest buck is what's important to you, might as well pull out all the stops. You'll need all the help you can get. The big ones don't grow big by being dumb.

 

[ChootEm]

Most deer are young and dumb. I usually just open the door to my outdoor wood boiler, get good-n-smokey, and call it good. I am still careful about wind direction as it relates to which spot I decide to hunt, but I have never obsessed over scent control. But I also don't really care if I never shoot another deer with antlers. If bagging the biggest buck is what's important to you, might as well pull out all the stops. You'll need all the help you can get. The big ones don't grow big by being dumb.

You do raise a good point! It does depend on what you are looking for! I have to say that three-four year old doe is about as good an eating critter as you will find and they don't smell half as bad as the big stinky bucks this time of year. You have to love it when you are down wind of a big buck and can smell them from 80 yards out!

 

[Cam]

I don't use the clothing, but we do spray everything down. I'm not convinced it necessarily helps but it sure doesn't hurt. I've had deer downwind of me who didn't react and I'm sure they smelled me and this has occurred both with spraying down and without. I AM a firm believer in only hunting a stand if the wind is right for it and staying out of it, hard as that may be, when the wind is wrong. I have several stands up in various places in the woods I hunt so I have some options depending on the wind. I also have a small woods of about 2 acres behind my house where the only time to hunt is when the wind is directly out of the west. Any other wind and ya have to stay out of that woods. Period. To me, this is the trick vs spending a ton on scent clothing. But some find it works for them. Phylodog makes a good post above. If you spend the money and take the steps like he does, then you know you have that part covered and it certainly won't cause you any problems!

 

[LUVn40]

This archery season I've had three different deer, one a big mature doe, saunter within 4 yards of where I was sitting on the ground at the edge of a picked corn field. None of them spooked. My #1 consideration when deer hunting is playing the wind. I won't hunt a stand or ground blind if the wind isn't right. I've not used any scent eliminating clothing so cannot offer an opinion and rarely use scent eliminating sprays. I do occasionally use red fox urine cover scent on my boots but have even gotten away from this the last few years. And speaking of boots, I use tall rubber boots exclusively. I've walked the edges of fields or in the woods looking for fresh sign, found some and hunted the spot and when the deer have come through they've been oblivious to my presence. I also launder all my hunting clothes in scent free detergent and fabric softener and place them in plastic bags to keep odors out. I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice here. Just find something that works for you but remember, wind direction is key. Good luck and good hunting to you.