Hiding in Plain Scent

FINALLY—FINALLY, IT’S HERE!

After all those months of dreaming about that big buck you’ll take this fall, it’s time to make those dreams a reality—at least that’s the plan.

With so much to do to prepare for the season, I can only hope that you have already done your due diligence. Stands should already be in place, keeping in mind the prevailing winds in your area.

If that wind does not blow in your face, you might have a problem. If you haven’t already made a pathway to your stand to keep the wind in your face, you might have a problem. If you haven’t already scouted out what food sources are available to the whitetails in your area (remembering to keep your scent down to a minimum), you might have a problem.

You might have already guessed what I am talking about. —it’s scent control.

I cannot stress enough how important scent control is when you hunt deer. Hunting with a rifle, it’s hard enough to hide from that whitetail nose. Hunting with a bow, it’s super hard to stay undetected from that deer. But the way I look at it, if it were easy, everyone would just do it.

In my audio book String Theory for Bowhunting, I talk about scent control in detail. Let me just give you a few facts. A human nose carries about 5 million olfactory receptors. Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?

Consider a dog. A canine has about 220 million scent receptors. That explains why police use dogs regularly to sniff out whatever the police are looking for. Now Let’s talk about a deer for a minute. A whitetail has about 297 million scent receptors. How can we hide from that?

You must respect the nose of a whitetail deer if you want to be successful in the field. A deer can smell danger from several hundred yards away. If the conditions are perfect, he can smell you from up to a half mile away. Now that is just crazy!

This brings me to my morning routine if I plan on hunting that day. Many who know me think I am crazy when it comes to scent control.

I already have washed my hunting clothes in a scent-free soap and have dried them with earth scent dryer sheets. (The wife loves that.) I keep those clothes in a clean plastic bin that is kept in my truck until I arrive at my hunting location.

I shower with a scent-free soap, and I do not change into my hunting clothes until just before I head into the woods. I spray my boots and hat with a scent neutralizer, and again once I get to my stand.

Many companies advertise that their product reduces human scent up to 99 percent. Hmmm, I’m not sure whether that really works, but I think it does, and I use it. I use Wildlife Research Center products and have for years. Hey, it can’t hurt!

One product that I swear by is Ozonics. That is one product that really does hide your human scent. I decided one day to give my Ozonics unit a test run early in deer season. I picked a tree stand that was absolutely horrible for wind direction. The wind was blowing directly behind me into a clover field.

It was not too long before I saw three does come out into the field. I just sat there and waited for them to pick up my scent. Every once in a while, one by one they would raise their noses and go right back to eating. I think they smelled something, but did not distinguish it as a danger to them. In any event, the human element seemed to have vanished.

All were well within bow range. One actually walked directly under my stand and never knew I was there. Soon after that, a buck entered the field and never smelled me at all.

I just sat there and smiled. Wow! I found something that really hides my scent.

Now, I am not sure whether it was just the product or a combination of all I did to control my scent. All I know is I never hunt without my Ozonics unit.

The company also has a garment bag that you can put your hunting clothes in and start the unit up. It activates ozone on your clothes. I love it!

The Ozonics people even came up with another product that I will use this season. It is a mini unit that plugs into the cigarette lighter receptacle in your truck. You cannot use it while you are in the vehicle, but I use it the night before I leave to clear out any unwanted scents that might be lingering in the truck. Pretty cool!

One more thing I wanted to bring up. If you haven’t already decided how to get to and from your stands, grab a rake and some clippers to  make  an  easy,  quiet  path  to  your stand. Use the clippers to keep any brush or tree limbs from rubbing against your pants. That will help to keep your scent undetected.

If you really want to go a little crazy, then rake away any leaves or sticks that might give you away. You want to be as quiet as possible. Sneak in and sneak out. 

Hey! Hunting season is finally here, and it is time for you get that big boy you saw on those field cameras. If you go that extra mile and keep your scent down, your chances of success are much greater. Good luck to all this year.

Have fun and hunt safe.

 

Email Lou Marullo at ContactUs@fishgame.com

 

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