# scent control.



## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

I have always wondered if I am doing enough or wasting my time so I want to ask here what everyone thinks about scent control. Especially scent control clothing and wierd rituals. Lets hear some stories about success or failure and what not. I will add mine. 

I always wash my clothes and body before a hunt with scent free hunters soaps and detergents. I try not to fill up the jeep with gas while wearing my hunting clothes. I used to smoke a cig in the trees every morning. I used to use alot of scent killer sprays. My experience thus far has been this. When the wind is right they dont smell you and when its wrong they do. so I dont have much faith in scent control.


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## clean pass through (Nov 26, 2007)

IMO Sent Killer is a wast of money. Just keep track of the wind and be quiet and you will get chances. Some people really believe in it though I guess I am just naturaly to stinky or something for it to work.


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## Renegade (Sep 11, 2007)

Cover scents work better than scent eliminators. However, scent barriers will help, but they will not make you scent free, you still have to be smart about it.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

> Cover scents work better than scent eliminators.


Sorry dude, gotta call bullsh!t... When you stink already and you add more deodorant and cologne to cover up your smell, you just have a stronger stink than you started with. I used to have a friend that liked to just wallow in camp fire smoke. :? He said it made him smell like a camp fire and the deer were used to those and never alarmed. :roll: All it did was make him smell like a big stinky human that had been fighting fires all week. Retarded!

NO SMELL is the only way to go. I use and believe in all the scent control soaps and washes. They work to help reduce your scent. But nothing works like pure simple woodsmanship. You can bathe in all the soaps, use the scent sprays, wash your cloths in it, and brush your teeth with baking soda, but the bottom lie is, if you're up wind from a critters nose, you're F'ed. Plain and simple! Keeping clean and reducing your smell will give you an edge, but it aint 100 %!


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## Renegade (Sep 11, 2007)

TEX-O-BOB said:


> > Cover scents work better than scent eliminators.
> 
> 
> Sorry dude, gotta call bullsh!t... When you stink already and you add more deodorant and cologne to cover up your smell, you just have a stronger stink than you started with. I used to have a friend that liked to just wallow in camp fire smoke. :? He said it made him smell like a camp fire and the deer were used to those and never alarmed. :roll: All it did was make him smell like a big stinky human that had been fighting fires all week. Retarded!
> ...


I'd say your buddy is a moron-but you already determined that. I'm talking about other animal scents, btw.


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## TEX-O-BOB (Sep 12, 2007)

I think using animal scents like doe estrus type stuff is smart when applicable, but they should never be used to "cover" your scent up. that's just NOT going to happen. You can poor all the doepiss and pine oil on yourself you want and those deer are still gonna weed your stinky butt out and bust you. I catch your drift though...


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

Stay clean, try to reduce the sweat and "camp smells", scent eliminators work good, and watching the wind is EVERYTHING. All of these combined will make for an awesome hunt!


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## flyfisher117 (Jun 29, 2009)

wana know the best scent control? save your money on that $500 scent lok stuff what i do is take my clothes and put that in a garbage bag with pines needles and branches because i hunt in that and leave it in there then it has a natural smell and no smells from my house.

second i do shower before i go but all i use is water no soap and no deoderant just plain water my pits may smell a bit at the end of the day but this all works just as good if not better then scent lok stuff


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

Lets here from the people who wear scentlock type clothing. Is it worth it?


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

10yearquest said:


> Lets here from the people who wear scentlock type clothing. Is it worth it?


No its crap! It doesn't work!

Here is my experinece with sent control products. Take it for what its worth Free info!

pros 
you will be a trendy hunter.
You will look like you know what you are doing

cons
expensive
camo is crap for out west

If you want to do an experiment too prove me wrong on why its crap just let one of your buddies put it on then hike to the top of the front. Then U smell his butt. If you are still standing and conscious id be surprised. If you only smell poo through his clothes it still doesn't work! If it smell like fresh mountain air buy as much as you can. Hey what do I know the bone collector pays his bills with it so it must be the shizz!

I however will use sent free
soap
laundry detergent
deodorant
My feelings are you want to be clean but you don't want to smell like you are going to a country dance drenched in Brute cologne.

Just stay down wind


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## bwhntr (Sep 12, 2007)

+1


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## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

Dont bother with any of the scent control sprays or clothing.

Use generic unscented soaps/deodorants and use the wind to your advantage.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

LOL check this out. I didn't know sent control would grow your willy! -_O-


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

so far you all are confirming opinions I already have. I asked because sometimes when people have spent alot of money on trendy crap they tend to give biased opinions. I think the wind is number one. You cannot cover or totally eliminate and animals can smell so well that one little particle sets them off. Thanks.


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## Nueces (Jul 22, 2008)

I bought one expensive "scent control" suit when they came out. Can't really tell the difference. I remember one time before I ever thought about using scent control I was on the ground so my scent should be every where. I had a deer literally walk up behind me (heard it coming), then stared me in the eyes from about 10 feet if that far! I was squinting my eyes to prevent from blinking and showing signs of life (motion) that close. It seemed like 2 or 3 minutes but was probably only a half minute or so. The deer started to walk away, then would do the quick check back and see if I would move. It knew something was there, but it never was alarmed. This deer came from behind and continued in front of me, so there was plenty of opportunity for being scented.

What I did at the time and still do is trying not to build up any heat that may create the body to sweat and increase the scent.

A friend of mine gets scented ALL the time. He has sinus problems, so maybe that is what they are smelling. He gets busted 200 yards away and he has to religiously hunt the wind.

I do find the body soaps since you have to take a bath any way. If you shop around they are about the same price as other soaps. I will wash my clothes in the "hunting" soaps also.

I have purchased some of the silver thread garments, probably caught up more in the marketing but if it helps, I'll fall for it.

I think you diet is also important. I'll avoid eating onions, I know I can pick up a slight scent frrom eating them the next morning.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

After hunting big game for over 40 years this one still has me baffled.

I backpack in for deer and elk, a week at a time, so bathing is out of the question. Never have a campfire untill we fill our tags or get soaking wet. Tried campfires, but it seemed to scare the animals, especially elk away. Ah, by "away", I mean hundreds of yards away. I still get elk in camp especially the first night or two and this year was no exception.

For years I smoked. Didn't seem to bother elk much and I have had to put out a cigarette to shoot three different bulls.

Deer are fussy, black bear and coyotes have fooled me often, coming in when I know they could smell me. 

I just do my best to hunt downwind and use cover scents.

I have an interesting story about scent control from this year's elk hunt. Think I'll start another post.


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## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

Bottom line...................I don't care if you was your clothes in scent free mumbo jumbo or in rose odored super smelling detergents. I don't care if you dump a gallon of that scent free odor eliminating crap that cost you a bundle. I don't care if you left your clothes in a bag of pine branches for a week. Your body sweats, your butt reaks! Your breath smells of onions and you smell like a HUMAN! 
Hunt the wind. Sometimes it swirls and sometimes it works. That is part of the game. Do you think the native americans that were shooting peices of crap bows used scent free non static dryer sheets. They hardly took baths. This industy of scent free odor eliminators has done the same thing as the camo industry. They have made millions on people with something that doesn't make a difference but only in your mind it makes you feel the confidence that you tried to do something that would overcome the animals senses. Sorry it doesn't work. Save your money and practice good hunting skills. 
BTW if I hear TEX use the word "woodsmanship" one more time, I am going to puke! :mrgreen:


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

elk22hunter said:


> Bottom line...................I don't care if you was your clothes in scent free mumbo jumbo or in rose odored super smelling detergents. I don't care if you dump a gallon of that scent free odor eliminating crap that cost you a bundle. I don't care if you left your clothes in a bag of pine branches for a week. Your body sweats, your butt reaks! Your breath smells of onions and you smell like a HUMAN!
> Hunt the wind. Sometimes it swirls and sometimes it works. That is part of the game. Do you think the native americans that were shooting peices of crap bows used scent free non static dryer sheets. They hardly took baths. This industy of scent free odor eliminators has done the same thing as the camo industry. They have made millions on people with something that doesn't make a difference but only in your mind it makes you feel the confidence that you tried to do something that would overcome the animals senses. Sorry it doesn't work. Save your money and practice good hunting skills.
> BTW if I hear TEX use the word "woodsmanship" one more time, I am going to puke! :mrgreen:


Yeah!...except don't puke.

I get a kick out of (us) Wyoming people.

Wait till you hear the "stinking" story I'm gonna post.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

I must add I find elk, deer, and antelope are attracted by the scent of a 4-wheeler. I have seen literally dozens of whole elk on the back of wheelers. They must smell them on the road and run up to them. Surely those hunters aren't getting off the road to load the whole elk.......ah......maybe the're dragging the whole animal up to the road. What do I know. Even if they are dragging the whole carcass out, the elk are still coming close to the road, attracted by the sweet smell of a wheeler.

I don't have a 4-wheeler. Do they make wheeler scent?


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## Hoppy (Oct 10, 2009)

Here's my take on it all. I have bought the scent lock suit, gloves and face mask, bathed in scent eliminator soap, used the scent eliminator deodorant, and brushed my teeth with baking soda. Not only that but I kept my hunting clothes (underwear too) in a sealed container with pine limbs and needles. After my shower I would go outside where my clothes were but naked and get dressed outside, only in one layer of clothes (tee shirt and shorts - they where also washed in scent free detergent and stored with hunting clothes) I would put my actual hunting clothes on once I got out of my truck. You would think I was invisible to the nose. NOT!!! I have been busted lots of times doing this and ignoring the wind.
Now check this out, my buddy washes his clothes in tide with all his other clothes, stops at the gas station and fills up and smokes while walking to his hunting spot. Before he puts out his cancer stick he looks at which way the wind is blowing his smoke and hunts by the wind, nothing else! He shoots so many deer he should not be allowed to hunt!
Simple, hunt the wind, I wish I had learned that hundreds of scent free dollars ago! I still use the scent free spay and soap and all to give me an edge but I hunt the wind!


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## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

Hoppy said:


> Here's my take on it all. I have bought the scent lock suit, gloves and face mask, bathed in scent eliminator soap, used the scent eliminator deodorant, and brushed my teeth with baking soda. Not only that but I kept my hunting clothes (underwear too) in a sealed container with pine limbs and needles. After my shower I would go outside where my clothes were but naked and get dressed outside, only in one layer of clothes (tee shirt and shorts - they where also washed in scent free detergent and stored with hunting clothes) I would put my actual hunting clothes on once I got out of my truck. You would think I was invisible to the nose. NOT!!! I have been busted lots of times doing this and ignoring the wind.
> Now check this out, my buddy washes his clothes in tide with all his other clothes, stops at the gas station and fills up and smokes while walking to his hunting spot. Before he puts out his cancer stick he looks at which way the wind is blowing his smoke and hunts by the wind, nothing else! He shoots so many deer he should not be allowed to hunt!
> 
> Simple, hunt the wind, I wish I had learned that hundreds of scent free dollars ago! I still use the scent free spay and soap and all to give me an edge but I hunt the wind!


The guys one and only post and he speaks perfect sense! (except for his buddy smoking............that's just plain dumb!)


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## idiot with a bow (Sep 10, 2007)

it's called stacking tolerances... Never hurts...


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## elk22hunter (Sep 7, 2007)

idiot with a bow said:


> it's called stacking tolerances... Never hurts...


It just NEVER seems to help either. :mrgreen:


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## Duckholla (Sep 24, 2007)

I agree with what has been said about hunting the wind. Short story: A good friend of mine, maybe one of the best hunters I have ever had the pleasure of hunting with shows up to camp every year with sent-lock clothing, washed in sent-free detergent and has everything wrapped up tight in sent lock bags. He is crazy about getting dressed in the mornings with zero scent on his clothes, like many others who have posted on this thread on the issue. However, everytime he kills an animal, and he has killed far more than I can count, the story told at camp the night of the kill ALWAYS includes this phrase: "Once I got the wind right." Its a long standing joke between all of us...at the end of the day his success stories include the same line as everybody elses success story. "The wind was right."

My opinion on this topic is simply this: doing everything I can to minimize my scent helps me deduct the responses I see in my quirry, thus helping me determine the best way to approach the animal. If I have the wind right, I am clean, my clothing is clean and minimal of scent and the animal still spooks...the reasons for that animals reaction can be easier determined if I have less variables to consider. Perhaps I was too loud, perhaps another animal spooked them, or perhaps the wind did swirl and I didn't notice it. But by doing what I can to control what I can, helps me learn how to read the animals I hunt and I beleive make a more accurate judgement call when I persue them. I try to minimize my scent the best I can, that said I bet I spend $20 a year in scent free laundry detergent and a scent free deoderant and soap. Nothing more. If I could spend $1000 dollars a year on a bottle of "A day with perfect wind" I'd spend that money every year as every success I have had I can say, "The wind was right."


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