How vital is scent control?

[pupchow]

I Tried Eliminating Diaper Odor with a Scent Crusher Gear Bag, and This is What I Discovered

I tried eliminating putting a Scent Crusher gear bag through an oddball test. Thankfully, I had plenty of dirty diapers on hand.

www.wideopenspaces.com

Empirical evidence:

"After the timer stopped I pulled out the diaper, and yes, I smelled it. Or at least I attempted to. The dirty diaper odor no longer lingered. It was completely suppressed by the Scent Crusher ozone gear bag. "


ETA, cross-post:

Ozone and Sitka

Does anyone here use ozone on their sitka products? I took a plastic tote and cut some ventilation holes on the sides and fashioned a way to hang my...

forums.bowhunting.com

 

[rocket500]

You’ll do a lot better paying attention to the wind in your hunting spots (and how you access them) vs spending a lot on scent control products.

I think at best they might shrink your scent a little at the edges or maybe confuse your scent a bit but you can’t totally hide your scent from a deer. A deer has more scent receptors in its nose than a bloodhound.

But you can manage your wind such that deer are unlikely to go into it and this beats any product. Case in point I set up my stand a few weeks back next to a river, with my wind blowing out over it. I had deer all around me all afternoon, some at 5 yards. None ever knew I was there.

 

[SgtHal75]

My grandpa went out in the field wearing his work jeans and a vest, no spray.

I hear from a lot of veteran hunters the spray isn’t going to do anything if the animal catches a whiff of u. Learn which way the wind is going and be on the right side of the wind direction

 

[HuntMaine]

Not hunter but mountain biker, but just got into a discussion about my extremely stinky riding gear and my ability (despite noisy bike) to ride up to deer:
Looking in NH for A place to Retire Need feedback on some locations

Bow hunting, scent is king for both Deer and Bear. Rifle hunting not so much unless you are W/S

 

[Coyote33]

This is just my opinion so take it for what its worth. I grew up deer hunting in MN and WI.

Deer camp was the opening weekend with the family and close friends. It consisted of drinking, smoking, telling dirty jokes, staying up until 1am and wandering out to our stands 90 minutes before sunrise. I don't even think we had heard of scent control back in the 80's and 90's.

The midwest does have a very large deer population but we also hunted up north, literally in the middle of no where. Where the smell of someone hung over of whiskey and cigar smoke would not be the norm for white tail. We always did well every season. While I do think an unusual smell will make an old buck change his course a bit, I think wind direction on breezy days is more important than scent control.

Use a laundry detergent that doesn't add scent and skip deodorant when you go to the stand and you should be fine.

Yup, agree all the way through here.

This is true......but if they smell something funny they will "continue on" at warp speed.

I hunted a great bottle neck for years, deer would get pushed out of mountain laurel, then head down to a narrow patch of woods between two beaver ponds. Deer would come from either direction off the hills, so we hunted it on just about on any wind. But if deer got pushed off of the hill the wind was wrong and got your scent, they had no problem swimming across the beaver pond.

See posts #147. 158, 23.

 

[pupchow]

A couple of days ago, I managed to stalk within 30 yards of a deer by using the wind, 2 times. I didn't get a clear shot though. But I'm still getting that scent crusher.

 

[In God We Trust]

A family member of mine is a hunter and we he told me once that he showers with ivory soap and puts a bunch of dead leaves in a trash bag and seals it up with his hunting clothes for a couple days before going.

 

[peterk123]

Wind. Nothing else matters. I did not read the entire thread. I doubt I am the first one to come up with this brilliant idea

 

[Noreaster13]

I've had deer walk in front of me at 10-20 yards & I was smoking a cigarette with the wind in my face. They didn't know I was standing there till I moved.
No I wasn't hunting, just out looking for sheds