i've decided to try and get as scent free as possible. i'm still not ready to pay a ton of money for the stuff that they sell at basspro or walmart. what i did is, bought some all brand unscented detergent to wash my close in; i got the dove unscented body soap; i bought sure brand unscented deodorent. i do have a bottel of scent killer spray that i have used in the past with very little results.


with all that said, where do i stand? i know none of the stuff i bought will kill any bacteria that causes odor but i figure it's got to be better than my habits of scent control that i've been using.




i'm also going to try and mix baking soda with water and see if it kills scent.


anybody got any other ideas of what i can do that is low cost

Ok, listen up, and take notes.... this is going to take a while to explain...

You need:
a garden rake
a shovel
goggles
swim cap
camo


Directions:
Go into the woods, pine thickets with rich black dirt work best... Scratch the ground with the garden rake and remove all debris from the ground. Make the area about 6x6 . Now take the shovel and turn it all up. Now, put on the swim cap and the goggles also the camo... walk in front of a trail camera, and then go back to the scraped area. Heres the complicated part. Stand with your left foot parallel to the hole, and the other at a 45 degree angle. Then tilt your body 90 degrees forward and slightly hop and lean forwards. Land in the scraped area and roll around. Then get up and head to the woods. But don't forget to remove the goggles and swim cap.

no such thing down here, all we got is sand

Good luck Lug. Deer have sharp noses and with all the scent free stuff you still need to play the wind. I have on occasin had deer come in directly downwind while wearing a scentlok suit, but if you've ever ripped up a small cotton ball and sent the small pieces into the wind from your stand and watch it waft along the currents you know it plays a huge part in not being scented. The thing goes all over the place avoiding small limbs and saplings from the air current around everything growing in the woods. Let us know how it works for you.

I've let this scent control thing drive me crazy over the last few years. I can see how this issue alone could take the fun out of bowhunting if a guy's not careful. There is a part of me that thinks there is no way to fool a whitetails nose without having a bubble boy suit. Here's what I'm doing these days to help control scent without making myself dread getting ready to go hunting.

1. Wash clothes in unscented detergent as you purchased and hang out to dry

2. Store them outside as they get that great smell of the fall woods

3. Put them in air tight containers before they go into the truck, Ziploc has some huge bags that are made better this year than in the past because they have two zippers now.

4. Shower in scent free antibacterial soap, dry off with a towel that's been washed and line dried with the rest of your clothes, only put on the under clothes that you'll hunt in and a pair of those warm up type pants and shirt (both washed and dried as above) and flip flop type shoes that have been washed scent free cause old sneaks stink for sure

5. Floss teeth and brush with baking soda

6. Drive to hunting location and put on the hunting clothes and boots.

7. Try to hunt the wind taking in account thermals and geography.

I know this isn't "scent free" so I call it "scent reduced". I could be convinced to give it all up though cause it sure was fun back in the day to just throw on some camo and go!

I dont think there is a suck thing as scent free...just scent "reduced" like cclingma said. but i pretty much do the same things he stated and if that dont work you can always try "masking" your odor with some sort of scent stick or doe urine of some sort. And if that dont work, try taking an extra shower you stinky man good luck!!

i'm certainly not going to the extent that you guys are. i don't even shower before going to the woods. i shower the night before. that probably doesn't do any good but like the C man said, i want hunting to be fun and not a chore.


i have quit smoking too, unfortunatley cope has taken the place of that but that can't be as intrusive as smoking is.


the bubble boy suit is an option i may have to look into

i just got done smoking my clothing and hunting gear. i'll let you guys know if i get winded or if it works for me.

I wash my clothing everynight in regular Era detergent and don't pull them from the dryer until I'm getting ready to leave. I was using some specialty detergent but tried the Era when I ran out and haven't noticed any difference. Shower and brush teeth before every hunt. Tone soap, not sure of the scent (I believe the current bar is cocoa butter) and Degree "cool rush" anti- perspirant/deodorant I can't rememeber the last time I got winded by a deer, that I know of. Had two of them directly under my stand last night, feeding on the very spot I set my bow down while I used my climber to get up the tree. Then they browsed around downwind at 20 yards for at least a half hour. Very common. If they can smell me, they sure don't seem to care. Had four deer directly downwind of me at 20 yards this morning that just minded there own business. Another thing I do is make a forest floor welcome mat. I always grind my boots down into the earth and get them covered with fresh dirt before I make my walk in. I often have deer walk right over my fresh tracks without a second thought, just like last night. Oh yes I wear gloves to and from my stand and try not to touch anything with my bare skin or touch my face or any other skin with my gloves. I wear a lot of layers of thin clothing starting with a base layer of Under Armour, only piece of Scent Lok I own is the head cover and that's just because it's the best one out there in my opinion, not because of the charcoal gimmick...

Maybe I'm just not a stinky guy, I get extremely close to deer quite often and they don't have a clue. I'm not changing anything, it works for me.

steve, that's most of what i've done in the past and had deer roaming under my stand. for some reason the deer on this managment area in florida are tough. those rascals will smell you a mile away. i'm sure why i've never run into this problem before in other states. maybe the pressure is greater here or something.



after my buddy and i smoked our clothing; i didn't see anything and he saw 2 does and killed one. he said that he though it worked. the deer didn't smell where he walked in and didn't smell him in the stand. the wind was circling when he shot the doe.

i may keep doing this until i can rule it out as a decent form of scent control

Just picked up a suit from Cabelas, Scent Blocker. I needed rain gear and this is water proof and well made. I shower washing my hair with Dead Down Wind shampoo, I use the scent killer liquid body soap, dry off with a scent free air dried towel, apply scent killer deodorant and slip into my under armour turtle neck and long underware. When I get to the woods I dress in the Scent Blocker suit and spray my self including boots with Carbon Blast. On the way to the stand I wear gloves and cover my mouth with my face mask. I get up the tree as fast as possible and settle in.

This year I have noticed a big difference in following this routine. I have had 11 deer within 30 yards and although not mature, I have had 3 seperate bucks down wind. I noticed a change in their comfort level but they seemed to be more curious than nervous. In past years they would have blown and been out of there. I'm not sure if it's the Carbon Blast or the suit but it's like they know I've been there but they think it was hours ago and their not threatened.

Small world - I use the scent smoker to smoke up all the hunting gear and it worked for me. Really simple, quick and no special routines....good stuff - you could even use a campfire to get it done but the smoker works great.

I'm not a believer in being able to block scent to the extent deer can't tell you are there. Been in the Deer Biology business too long to know the true story. Their noses are way too well developed to let that happen. IMO, the best you can hope for is to have your scent reduced enough by other factors (ie attractant scents or luck) so they don't get alarmed and still let you get close. I've been using Stumpy's all season, and had extremely good success with not spooking deer downwind. That's not scientific evidence, but it is something my 47 years of bowhunting experience says is worth looking at in the future.