Washing your hunting clothing

[Big John]

Brayhaven say's : scent blockers are the second biggest hoax perpetrated on hunters. I think the first biggest hoax perpetrated on hunters is people telling hunters that scent blockers don't work.

[Partikle]

The only scent I buy is Skunk scent and only use a few drops of it as it really sticks bad, but I know nothing will smell me with a wall of skunk scent going down wind.

Hey Terry,

How do you use skunk scent? Do you spray it on your clothing or on the cover around your blind and stand?

Nick

[Big John]

What I meant to say was "Scent Killers" not scent blockers(carbon act.)
This you can do after you arrive and settle in at your spot even, just keep a small spray with you, especially if you sweat on the way to the stand. Wind is always changing.

No offence meant to Brayhaven. However Deer smell extremely well. And anything you can do to help control "non wild odour" will only benefit.

If I ever come off as to rough, feel free to put me in my place guy's.
I may be big, but sometimes I need to be humbled.

[brayhaven]

brayhaven; Washing your hunting clothes, IME, does nothing to make you easier to detect to a deer.

You kill alot of deer A ?

Several hundred. I quit counting about 30 years ago.
Greg

[brayhaven]

What I meant to say was "Scent Killers" not scent blockers(carbon act.)
This you can do after you arrive and settle in at your spot even, just keep a small spray with you, especially if you sweat on the way to the stand. Wind is always changing.

No offence meant to Brayhaven. However Deer smell extremely well. And anything you can do to help control "non wild odour" will only benefit.

If I ever come off as to rough, feel free to put me in my place guy's.
I may be big, but sometimes I need to be humbled.

No offense at all John. This is a forum where we should feel free to express our opinions and the basis for them. That's how we learn. How much fun would it be if everyone agreed on everything ? Anyone who is offended by someone offering a different opinion has no business on the internet. As for scent maskers & blockers, if you are upwind of the deer they will smell you, no matter what you do or wear. In fact, I think the suits probably cost people game by making them think they are invisible, scent wise, and they pay less attention to wind movement.
One scent product I use is called wind floaters. It's milkweed fluff that shows exactly where the wind is going even after it leaves your immediate vicinity. I use it when still hunting or when setting up my stand to show me where my scent is going.

Greg

[mdcrossbow]

Several hundred. I quit counting about 30 years ago.
Greg

We have something in common then Greg.

The wind is the only true way to insure a succefull hunt. Scent blockers are confadence builders for many who haven't mastered Woodsman ship.

[Hoss]

washing my clothes is just for my satisfaction...It doesnt really matter to the deer...Even if your clothes are clean and new it is double tough to get your body scent free...well impossible....carbon or scent clothes to me our a joke...seems no matter how hard we work at being scent free if your on the ground and in a tree and a deer gets down wind you stand the likely chance of gettin blowed at or busted what ever you wanna call it...SO I play the wind and try to get up in a tree about 15- 20 ft...aint sayin you cant harvest from the ground cause ive done it..BUT...you best play the wind and not the clothes...my 2...

[mdcrossbow]

Hoss, I usualy get 22' up and I carry a de-scent spray bottle with me. Washing my clothing often and showing befor a hunt , usualy the spray I have had deer walk in with the wind in their face and I go undetected. Hundreds of deer have fell by the way I hunt. I do prefer to use the wind but many times the deer are unpredictable in the thinkets. My avg shot is 7 yards and many times I don't see the deer till they are 20 yards away as they come through. Rubber boots and managing to not touch scrubs or walk through high grass is also a must to leaving no scent.

[Partikle]

Hoss, I usualy get 22' up and I carry a de-scent spray bottle with me.

What do you use Dave? What is a decent de-scent spray

[brayhaven]

Hoss, I usualy get 22' up and I carry a de-scent spray bottle with me. Washing my clothing often and showing befor a hunt , usualy the spray I have had deer walk in with the wind in their face and I go undetected. Hundreds of deer have fell by the way I hunt. I do prefer to use the wind but many times the deer are unpredictable in the thinkets. My avg shot is 7 yards and many times I don't see the deer till they are 20 yards away as they come through. Rubber boots and managing to not touch scrubs or walk through high grass is also a must to leaving no scent.

I believe deer spook based on the strength or freshness of the scent though I've never tried to prove it. I think the further up the tree you are, the more your scent is diluted by the time it gets to the deer. If deer boogered every time they smelled humans no matter how close or fresh, they would be in perpetual nervous breakdown in many areas . How many times have you been sitting in a stand and had a deer walk across the path you took coming in a couple hours before and not even flinch but then get down wind & take of from you? I think they can also distinguish between trail scent (where you've been) and body scent (where you are) in terms of danger to them. These are just based on almost a half century of deer hunting and not a real scientific study.
I did do a study on scent blocker suits using a bloodhound. A local archery store owner, who swore by the stuff, put on all the goodies including socks & underwear boots etc and walked through a shopping mall in FL. @40 hours later my boss' bloodhound followed the trail he left, precisely on the map. This was after thousands of people had walked in and around the same places he had been. I think he still believes there was a spy writing down where he went.
Greg

[brayhaven]

Brayhaven say's : scent blockers are the second biggest hoax perpetrated on hunters. I think the first biggest hoax perpetrated on hunters is people telling hunters that scent blockers don't work.

John, go read the article Stalker pointed out. It's accurate.

http://www.fastestbows.com/articles/cor ... _suits.htm

Greg

[Hoss]

Dave H I know you take alot of deer and I didnt want to sound as if I know better than you my friend.. I just was statin my belief...Its really all in what you are use to..I do what Terry-1 does I use cedar... I pull cedar berries of the tree and crush them on the ground then roll in it...then when I get to the woods If there is cattle on the property I step in you know what and then walk to my stand...It boils down to what makes you confident in how you hunt..the wind is my best friend and at times worst enemy..I put to much time and effort into my hunt to try to trust down wind deer lookin at me...and we all know if a wise ole buck smells you down wind or smells something outa place you may never see him..and he may change his pattern...and for what its worth i think some deer are just down right stupid.( uneducated ) I had a doe who was bedded down upwind about 25yds see a buck that I didnt see bust me...what did she do? she got up wondered why he ran off in a hurry she decided to come and investigate...she worked her way down wind of me and then nose to the wind kept coming closer and closer till she was right under my tree..I know she smelt my presence and she knew I was in the tree. she kept lookin and smellin and lookin..I was hopin she would just leave. I didnt want to have her blow at me..well she kept on lookin up at me I got tired of her getting educated at my exspence so I put her in the freezer..so I do believe a guy could make all the mistakes in the world and still get a deer..BUT when you are tryin to get ole mossy you better play the wind..my pennies...again not knockin scent blockers, sprays, but no matter how good they say a scent suit works it aint good enough for me.....just sayin what ever makes you confident go for it...that whats important!

[mdcrossbow]

Hoss, I hear what your saying and your 100% correst. But one thing I do a little different is I don't want scent where that scent is not normal. Their are only a few natural scents that are trails. and their the sex scents of animals. Or that's what I have come to learn. I may be wrong ?

Guys, this is how I do it; I wash all my clothing in Arm and Hammer or a scent free hunting detergent. More so for my own confadence. Socks, underware, work paints and shirt. Anything I ware. I store it in Plasic tubs or scent free bag. I never use scented waffers. I will put Ceder clipping in my bag's. As far as I have figured, their are a few natural scents that will work to cover your scent.
. wild onion, I will pull up the onions and rub them all over, I like doing this when I'm hunting in or near bedding areas. Bedding areas around here always have onions in them and when a deer first gets up he relieves himself , hunting down wind of a bedding area I usualy know when the deer are moving. The strong urren and musky smell is strongest when a deer 1st gets up. I don't know why just is.
. Ceder; to me is the best scent blocker in the woods. I can sit in a ceder tree after wooking all day and not showering but just spray my neck , arms, hair , beard and outer clothing down , break a few ceder twigs and scread them, Make a few doe bleats for locator and have bucks walk dirrectly under me around my stand, walk cross over my trails and not spook. I do take very close attention to where I walk and what I touch. Wareing knee high rubber's. I don't or try not to let anypart of my body brush up against scrubs. I have watched deer walk in the same trail and sure enough, that darn leaf I touched the deers nose went stright to it. Usualy a low grunt will distract them if that's all the scent I left. LOL hopefully.
.Another good thing to do is ; if you find fresh deer dropping, don't walk in it but rub it on your pants legs. Deer will crap up to 40 times a day. A good conscentration of dropping is a good location. If I'm not hunting one of thses areas I will collect the dropping and replace them, useing a rubber glove also, in the area I'm hunting.
.I know alot of guys say that ATV's will spook deer out of an area. If the deer are local which all deer are territorial and have there area's. Once the ATV is turned off it's not a bother to them , in my area anyways, I use it many times to get to my stand. Alot of time I park in under my stand. Leaving no human scent. Over the past few years I would park in 50 yards or more away when I'm hunting open woods and will watch deer walk with in 20 yars of it. So I started parking it at my stand if I'm hunting an out back area and have taken many deer that pay no attention to it. Sometimes when hunting thickets near a creek I will park it in the creek where a creek back will conceal it.
. Hunting hights; depends on your location. Hunting a hill side, 1/3 down from the top I have always found to be the best. But I try to get to the level of the hill top. It makes a steep shot if the deer are walking the bottom but I usualy find the trail where the deer are angeling from bottom to top where they are heading to the fields. 18' of higher is good. If the wind is slight and it morning you scent will rise it's the evenings you have to realy pay attention too when the pressure is dropping also befor a rain.
. Right after a heavy long rain is premium time for a good hunt. You notice the strrem on the street rises, so dose your scent. A good thicket is the place to set up early. Deer tend to seek secure places to lodge durring long rain storms. I will get in just befor it will stop raining to ensure a good clean entry. If the moon fase is right even better !
>Some of you know I have been hunting the moon fase for years and these days that's what I do all my hunting by on my lease. Up till the rut and after the rut. Bucks tend to egnor any theries about the moon fase when the rut kicks in.
>My observations of bucks durring the rut; Bucks will tend to walk up wind of bedding areas to locate hot doe's. Doe's are still bedding and feeding to the moons fase and will move accordingly. Once the doe's get moving the bucks will follow their trails. Mainly thickets for the young doe's that are trying to avoid detection from a presueing buck. That's one of the reasons I hunt thickets mostly.

[brayhaven]

DaveH says, "I have watched deer walk in the same trail and sure enough, that darn leaf I touched the deers nose went stright to it. Usualy a low grunt will distract them if that's all the scent I left"

This is a good example of the value of a call (and knowing how & when to use it). I teach several deer calling seminars a year and have people come back and tell me how much calling added to their hunting expoerience. Even if a deer smells some human, or any, scent that shouldn't be there, the presence of another deer (or perceieved presence) will often (not always) convert alarm into nervousness or even complacency. They are herd animals. Depends on the individual & the hunting pressure. I've called deer back in to me that I've busted while walking, though not often. BTW, Dave, the urine is stronger when they first get up, because the kidneys have been concentrating it while they rested.
Greg

[mdcrossbow]

Bray, What knid of area are you hunting ? What part of the country ? I'm hunting 19 miles outside of Wahington D.C. The deer run the parks which are off limits to hunters and my lease is 125 acers nessaled in the Y with large homes to the left and right of the Y and the park starts at the leg. The Y is also a large creek to the right and a small feeder creek to the left. with 300 yards of woods on all sides. The top of the Y on the right opens to a field where I put my main food plot with homes on the side of it. A road is at the top of the Y.

This is my lease but the pic is 1988 the creek to the left is the left side of the Y and it's all grown up with persimmons and lager trees now.

http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T ... 39.0796343