[25ft-up]

Only took 1 post to turn around a topic on sharing scent control methods to "just play the wind, scent control doesn't work". Wish you guys would stop turning these threads into arguments and stay out of what you all know little about. Get yourselves some milkweed and learn what winds and thermals do around your stands. Powder only shows what it's doing right in front of you. You all think deer only come from upwind because you'll never see the deer that would have come from downwind if you didn't stink. Or you only hunt over a feeder that's in front of you with no trails coming from the direction of your house behind you. Deer come from the most unlikely places when you're actually out in the woods hunting them, from any direction. Bucks have no set patterns here, and they don't follow trails during daylight. Winds gust in one direction then there is a backdraft. They change direction during the day, or by the minute, and so do thermals. Milkweed will drift out in one direction, float still for a few seconds, rise, then return and fall at your feet, or goes in a different direction when 10yds out.
Good luck with playing the wind, but thinking that playing the wind is the only option just shows your lack of knowledge on the subject the op wants to learn about.

 

[reddogjack]

Hi,

in the 80's i lived near by an shot trap at Boxhorn trap 9

on muskego lake shot league friday's. always did

fish fry. hope it's still there, was good time.

Yep, I have a turkey down feather tied to the top limb on both of my bows. Some days it has no idea which way it wants to blow.
Ches.

 

[reddogjack]

[QUOTE="25ft-up, post: Get yourselves some milkweed and learn what winds and thermals do around your stands.


Hi,

milkweed pods are the "BEST". and free

one pod will last for years. i'll put in med's bottle.

or whole pod in zip lock.

 

[Ches]

Hi,

in the 80's i lived near by an shot trap at Boxhorn trap 9

on muskego lake shot league friday's. always did

fish fry. hope it's still there, was good time.

Boxhorn is still there but I have never dropped in.

 

[AjPUNISHER]

I hunt the wind as much as I can, use unscented deodorant... and baking soda on my myself and my gear. I've had too many experiences with shifting winds and/or deer coming from unexpected directions that suggest my odor reducing tactics are having a positive effect for me, so I will keep drinking the Kool-Aid.

I think being as undetected as possible while accessing and leaving hunting areas is just as important. If your bumping deer coming and going your not doing yourself any favors. Limit the ground scent you leave behind as well by NOT brushing up against or touching any bushes or trees, or atleast as few as you can, on your way in and out. As easy as deer can at times be to pattern, they will certainly pattern and avoid you.

 

[EJP1234]

Only took 1 post to turn around a topic on sharing scent control methods to "just play the wind, scent control doesn't work". Wish you guys would stop turning these threads into arguments and stay out of what you all know little about. Get yourselves some milkweed and learn what winds and thermals do around your stands. Powder only shows what it's doing right in front of you. You all think deer only come from upwind because you'll never see the deer that would have come from downwind if you didn't stink. Or you only hunt over a feeder that's in front of you with no trails coming from the direction of your house behind you. Deer come from the most unlikely places when you're actually out in the woods hunting them, from any direction. Bucks have no set patterns here, and they don't follow trails during daylight. Winds gust in one direction then there is a backdraft. They change direction during the day, or by the minute, and so do thermals. Milkweed will drift out in one direction, float still for a few seconds, rise, then return and fall at your feet, or goes in a different direction when 10yds out.
Good luck with playing the wind, but thinking that playing the wind is the only option just shows your lack of knowledge on the subject the op wants to learn about.

So your only tip is to wash with baking soda? Because clothing smell doesnt scare deer, it would be the human smell that does.

Do you truly think baking soda eliminates or minimizes human odor?

 

[Foxrun22]

Thats rather commical to me… Middletown as in just south of Harrisburg? If so…. Come on man….. I can show you several large deer killed in that area from this year from people hunting wind… some indians hunted, others got firewood….

At what point did I say I hunt in this area?? And thanks for the offer, but I do just fine on my own.

 

[25ft-up]

So your only tip is to wash with baking soda? Because clothing smell doesnt scare deer, it would be the human smell that does.

Do you truly think baking soda eliminates or minimizes human odor?

Yes it does, absorbs, neutralizes odor. I also shower with it before a hunt and leave some on as a deodorant/talc. It's all I use. It absorbs and neutralized my odor before it penetrated through my clothes which also have been dusted with baking soda and stored with natural scents. Scent free detergents/soaps only means fragrances weren't added to a base that has an odor of its own. Baking soda has no odor. I have many stories and great memories of being surrounded by deer that were so close I could have hit them with the bow, stepping over my feet, stalking me from behind as I was crawling on all 4s stalking another buck with a hot doe. Best one was laying under the trunk of a blowdown waiting for daylight to make a blind there, and a deer came up from below me, ate acorns a few feet away, snorted me just inches away from my ear, circled around the top above me to the other side and then came back to eat acorns again in the same spot, just a few feet away. You won't have those encounters just playing the wind.

 

[Dafis]

Do you truly think baking soda eliminates or minimizes human odor?

I do and it has been proven that baking soda when used properly eliminates all types of odors.
Quite a few bowhunters have been using baking soda for odor control since the 1960's

 

[EJP1234]

So then, what is human odor, and where does it come from… and how long does baking soda neutralize it?

Not using it, why do I and others have so many regular encounters and stories that could be told just like 25ft up?

 

[vonfoust]

Human odor is mostly bacterial, sodium bicarbonate neutralizes it. Nothing is foolproof but baking soda is a cheap helper. Google works here.

 

[Seadonist]

I don’t believe in any of that stuff. Hunt with the wind in your favor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Use your normal soap, shampoo, deodorant and hit the woods. Enter, hunt and exit down wind of expected target area.

Nothing will cover the scent of human odor and human odor is what spooks deer.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B Roberts]

What have been your best scent blocking secrets? Been seeing an add for a little blender you put pine needles, sticks, leaves etc and make your own and spray yourself with. Looks cool.

Watch some of the John Eberhart videos he has his system dialed.

 

[smokin x's]

.....and how do you do that in areas with ridges and normally calm winds that swirl which you cannot control. I want to know how all you folks just make that simple statement.....please tell me your secrets.

I DO believe in that stuff and after bow hunting 40+ years half of that without anything and half with the scent control stuff I no doubt see improvements in using them.

They will NOT make you disapper like the adds they might gain you an edge.....and as a bowhunter that extra 20 or so yards could make all the difference in the world.

I really believe the people that mock scent control either live in KA and have a 20 mph winds normally that blow in their face, do a lot more rifle hunting than bow hunting OR are in the Cam Hanes 120 yard shot crowds.

Most of the deer I kill are at 5 - 12 yards in conditions where the wind is very unpredictable and I have learned to routinely get close so I while I don't buy into all the hype and I don't have an Ozonics I still KNOW you can cut down your human scent signature to some degree if you try but you will never go undetected.

I use thermals to my advantage every chance I can get, they are MUCH more reliable than the wind. Thermals drop in the morning until the sun breaks over the hill, then they begin to rise and will do so until the sun sets, then they drop again. Mornings I try to set up in ways that no matter what direction deer are coming from or going thermals will carry my scent stream above them. Evenings I love setting up directly on drainages, small ditches, or moving bodies of water as long as they are not areas I expect deer to be coming from or going to. Evening thermals will always pull down to moving water and travel the same direction the water is flowing. The ONLY thing that will negate thermals is a strong consistent wind. Study the way that thermals work and how they actually flow over land and certain terrain features and you will be able to look at the lay of the land and tell where your scent will pull to, or flow over without even having to check.
It's not 100%, but much more reliable than anything else that I have done. The only things I do that could be called scent control is wash my base layers with baking soda - no detergent, and hang my late season outer layers next to the wood stove. I have outer layers that I haven't washed in 3-4 years. I shower with regular body wash and shampoo, and wear my every day deodorant. Since i've started taking notice to thermals and using them to my advantage I've been busted less than I ever have before, even during the period where I went to crazy lengths to minimize my scent.

Use thermals when you can, do everything in your power not to walk where you expect deer to walk. That's the most effective "scent control" of anything I've ever done.

 

[jleitheiser]

Appreciate all the responses. I guess I should have reworded it, as best scent block in addition to wind m, thermals ect. Always rifled hunter out of a perm any stand that smell was no objective, so im still learning in the close combat stuff.

 

[leftee]

Human P helps mask the bad human odors.I try to P all the way in and out of my stands.I try to P as often as possible from stand.I carry a lot of water.Of course,distilled water.Heck my middle initial is 'P'.Ignore the wind.

 

[horsehands]

I don't see any advantage to a feather on your bow if your stand hunting. If the wind turns wrong, do you climb down and go home or what?

 

[basnbuks]

i will beat this horse, coming from a guy that use to not hunt if i couldnt shower or was outta dead down wind, used a fresh bottle of billy bobs premium, while wearing my scent lok layers and outer suit. now this was when i hunted the mountains of VA. i wrecked my brain trying to "play" the wind. now that i live in the midwest i ditched everything and i do play the wind. come sept my house goes scent free and i will shower with scent free soap. no sprays no scent whatsover unless im making a mock scrape and i use my own urine, and a forhead scent. i cant remeber the last sit i had and got winded. its not rocket science unless you hunt the hills lol.

 

[Doebuster]

I’ll stick with woodsmanship over a gadget. It’s more satisfying than using a machine to take out a deers #1 defensive mechanism if you believe it works. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it! 😉
I’ve killed 95 % of the big ones way before I ever investigated using ozone ! I’ve killed quite a few with a longbow and wooden arrows ! Everybody has their own deer hunting gadgets , like a compound bow with 90% letoff , release aids , fiber optic sights the list can go on and on ! So the “ gadgets” are up to the individual ! We all agree playing the wind and staying clean all help ! The reason we buy the “ gadgets “ is that we’re hoping it gives us an edge , just like playing the wind does ! And just because u use a “gadget doesn’t make u a bad woodsman !

 

[Boom0]

I heard a podcast of a guy who makes a smoky fire and gets all his gear smoky. His thought is that it is a familiar scent. But maybe that only works during fire season. I’m no expert