# What is you guys scent control routine?



## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

I am always getting in to close to the thermal tunnel and end up getting busted.
I hunt the edge of beds and getting close is important, I mean like setting up 100 yards from a main bed.
I have decided this year I'm going after a big buck and a big bull and I'm going to need all the right moves and a bunch of luck.
What do you guys do about scent control.
I'm thinking washing my clothes in scent free wash, putting them in a bag.
Once I get 100 yards from my stand I"ll strip down, wipe down with scent away rags and change into my scent free clothing. Leave my bag of stinky hike in clothes in the bag and leave it 100 yards from my stand.

What do you guys think?? Also do cover scents and stuff like that work?


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

scent is the first thing that will get you busted. Watching the wind is the most important IMO. We do use scent free wash and cover sprays. Clothes go into bags and we also put sage brush in the bags or clothing totes. Building blinds in the field helps, treestands are even better IMO. As the ground warms in the morning the thermals help lift your scent.

Most important though is wind, wind & wind.

Oh yea. Smoke in a bottle is priceless.


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

What you're doing is exactly what I do. It also pays to be clean in your eating habbits as well. Stay away from stinky foods like a lot of meat, garlic, and spicy foods. The biggest thing that will "F" up a good treestand hunt is leaving a scent trail of human stink into your stand. Try to approach from the down wind side, and try not to touch anything except with the bottoms of your feet that should be in scent free rubber souled boots. People think tree stand hunting is easy. But if you wanna kill a giant buck you'd better take EVERY aspect of it dead serious!


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

I am planning on hunting out of a tree stand and I have done it in the past, I know it is not easy!!
The thing that is tough for me is that at daybreak the thermals are headed down the hill and at about 9 am they start to turn and head up the hill. 
I'm thinking of getting under where I think the animals are in the early morning and then moving up above them once the thermals switch.
No matter what I do for scent control I know if the wind is in their favor they will bust me.
How do you guys deal with that thermal switching direction?


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

I will sit on the ground if needed for a while. It all depends what direction the wind is going and which direction the elk typically approach the hole.


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

hoghunter011583 said:


> I am planning on hunting out of a tree stand and I have done it in the past, I know it is not easy!!
> The thing that is tough for me is that at daybreak the thermals are headed down the hill and at about 9 am they start to turn and head up the hill.
> I'm thinking of getting under where I think the animals are in the early morning and then moving up above them once the thermals switch.
> No matter what I do for scent control I know if the wind is in their favor they will bust me.
> *How do you guys deal with that thermal switching direction?*


In my past experience with elk it really doesn't matter if you play the wind or not. Those things can come in from any direction and at any time of the day. Bottom line is, if you're in a tree, and they come in down wind from you when there is a sinking wind, your toast. If the thermals are rising, no worries. The wind will carry your scent up and away. But if you're sure about their location, and you KNOW which way they're coming in from, you'd better play it safe and get out of the tree when the wind is bad. Good whitetail hunters have several stands that give them options for different winds. You should heed their tactical advice...


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

What do you do with you bodily functions? Lol I fart a lot and have to always pee every time I climb a tree stand. 

I think its best I stay mobile and always walk into the wind. Because ive never ever seen a game animal while sitting in a tree or ground blind.


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

All I see when I blunder around walking is their hind ends running away from me... :|

I fart a lot too. But mine don't stink. ;-) As for bodily functions, I always have a 1/2 gallon Pee bottle in the tree with me. If I need to drop a duce I just hold it.


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

I may have found a solution to your duce stinkage. Its much better then holding it in. Just spray some of this in a five gallon bucket and your good to go. lol check it out

bombs away
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWks4qtrESbtEvrTy0Qt9mQ?v=ZKLnhuzh9uY


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

I carry a pee bottle also and for the #2 I take a 6" pvc pipe with 1 end capped and the other end with a threaded cap. Stand up, place pipe on the seat of the stand, sit on the open end of the pipe. QUICKLY release, wipe and cap the grenade.
I find it works a heck of a lot better than climbing down and dropping a package away from the stand.
Sometimes you just can't hold it!!


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

Wow just wow!! :mrgreen::shock:


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## hoghunter011583 (Jul 21, 2008)

Hey you are either serious about hunting or not!!! lol


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## Groganite (Nov 14, 2012)

You know those little scent waffers, throw one of those in a spray bottle and let it sit awhile(the hotter the water the better, not boiling)...then spray down...!!Caution!!...if you use estrus I cannot be held liable for horny wild animals taking advantage of hunters. It works great for when I'm sweating up a storm hiking around and come up on some animals I want to stalk..and when I run out, hey just add more water.


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## sk1 (Apr 7, 2013)

i just wash my clothes in scent free stuff, but don't get carried awhile like i used to in the midwest whitetail hunting.....the fact is in the mountains if you hike a decent amount you're going to sweat your ass off and your scent free clothes now have a scent. I do wear in clothes that I change out of, at the very least my shirt. This will still smell in your pack of course but I suppose you could put it in a ziplock.

your travel direction is absolutely critical. the area i shot my bull this year, i realized i had been hiking in exactly where they were coming in from. the days i was gone elk would always be there, and any time i showed up.....nothing. i mapped out a new travel route even though it is longer and more difficult, as well as changed where i was sitting. it was a pain, but it just has to be done sometimes. Since then I have yet to go there and not see animals.

i have read from a trusted author that urinating on the ground seems to have no effect on elk, so that is what I have been doing....however, i think with these already over exposed to human presence wasatch front deer and elk i am going to start going back to the old gatorade bottle. why take a chance if you don't have to.

for whitetails i get more detailed such as a piss bottle for sure, scent free containers, dont pump gas on your way out hunting with your bare hand, leaves/limbs from the area in these containers, clothes go on and off in the field, etc. some of these just dont apply IMO to western hunting because of the sweating factor.


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## Riverrat77 (Sep 7, 2007)

I used dead down wind this year... and pine cover scent on my boots. Walked right up on several elk and deer this year before they knew I was there. Checked the wind occasionally but it seemed to be constantly swirling in the canyons I was in so I kinda just quit worrying about it. Elk were bugling, I tracked right through the meadow I shot my spike in and he still came out and fed around for a few minutes before I shot him. The way the elk acted when I did come in contact with them, it was a visual cue that sent them walking off, not that they smelled me and blew out of the county. The deer didn't know I was on the ground next to them until I made a noise just to see what they'd do. I'm sold on the dead down wind stuff. 8)


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