Wind direction is absolutely the most important thing ZERO doubt.

With that said I still practice scent control religiously .
You must hunt deer and many other animals by their nose .
I practice scent control to minimize my scent in the direction the wind is blowing as most all of my set ups a deer could easily come from that direction as well . This way maybe they think I'm simply further away or I was there a few hours ago meaning I wouldn't be as big of a threat .
Wind is the most important thing imo [emoji1303]

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this is exactly correct.

 

Wind and scent control are definitely the most important factors. However, you will never eliminate all of your human scent...impossible. There are ways to help keep your scent down but it will never be 100%.

 

Wind is #1. Scent control is #5 maybe.

Trying to beat the nose is an exercise in futility. With that being said. I keep my clothes in a Rubbermaid with cedar, but I wear my pants and boots in the truck on the way to trailhead. I don’t spray down with anything, but I wash with green soap, wear scent free deodorant and brush with baking soda. I also wash clothes in baking soda.

I wouldn’t call it religious, but there are things I do bc that’s how I was taught. I have no idea if they work and I admit they may not make a difference to a deers nose.

I think all that spray stuff is marketing hype though.




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Good thread


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Good thread

No, it's not a good thread, it only took a few post for an ultra opinionated condescending post to appear, and it will be down hill from there, especially on this subject. It is ok to have a different opinion as long as you respect the opinion of others, but that's the problem with AT, too many people that have no respect for anything but themselves and they try to compensate for their shortcomings in life by belittling others on the internet.

 

Both are important, maybe even equally so. I have stands for different winds but still try to reduce my scent profile as much as possible. Sometimes deer don't play by the rules and come in down wind. I've put a few of them in my freezer. I hunt from 20+feet high in my climbers and hunt downslope in the mornings and upslope in the evening to account for the thermals.

 

In my opinion, wind direction is paramount.
I’m not sure all those sprays, ozone machines help much or not. My guess is that they help some, but if a mature whitetail gets down wind, it very likely going to bust you.

 

The top 5 most important...
1. Wind
2. Wind
3. Wind
4. Wind
5. Wind

You can be as scent free as humanly possible, but if the wind is wrong.... you're done.

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1-wind & thermal.

2-height.

3-still.

4-luck.

 

You say height , how high you need to be? I have killed plenty of good whitetails at 22 feet , with very little problems .

 

Scent control is a myth. The very idea, is absolute hogwash.
The only thing that works at all is keeping the air that touches you, or carries your breath, completely away from their nose.

 

maby you shouldn't take a shower for a month, then see if you think you can reduce the amount of scent you put off .

 

Yeah I was always taught scent doesn't matter if your scent doesn't reach the target. Obviously it doesn't hurt to keep both in mind though

 

Both. Wind plays no roll when a deer snorts inches from your ear as you lay on the ground on a still morning waiting for first light, circles you, then eats acorns a few feet away. If you think that isn't possible, you must be only playing the wind.

 

I love it when a hot doe blows in my ear....

 

You can’t beat their nose. You can keep foreign odors to a minimum but you will always give off human scent. And times it seems your scent is blowing to them and they don’t smell you. It may not be going where you think. Weather conditions can play a role as well. Anyone with a hound or bird dog will tell you this. Cover scent is a complete fallacy. Not possible to cover one scent with another. Play the wind best you can.

 

then why do I continually pull deer in with an attractant scent or sexual scent, obviously the wind is blowing directly to them, yet way more than once Its gotten me a 10 or 20 yd shot ,now would they come in nose first if the wind wasn't blowing directly to them?? Why didn't they bust me before that?? Scent control !! that's why.
and yes I have a hound. Iv learned alot about scent and how animals can wind from him.

 

Scent matters little. Very little. Wind direction and thermals are all that matter. No shower for a year and you can still kill a mature buck every year. Just that simple.

 

Well it's really not that simple. Like others have said if you don't take a shower for a week you smell MORE right? So you can use these products to reduce your scent. If you reduce your scent it lets deer get closer before they get alarmed. As a bowhunter that just might be the difference between a shot or not.

We all hear the stories about uncle joe that always wore the same dirty clothes and smoked like a chimney and kill 1000 B&C bucks but in reality I want to increase my odds not tell story about others that may or may not hold any value.

Have you even seen the tests where they used dogs to find people using scent products? It took the dogs longer to find them.....so they help. I don't think people like us will tell you they let deer run up under your stand from down wind like you aren't there.....of course not but in reality with the thermals and wind shifts it's not that black & white as they smell you or they don't.

If taking a shower with a soap that cost $4, washing my hunting clothes in soap that cost $10, (money I have to spend either way mind you), keeping my clothes in a tub and dressing in the field is all I have to do to increase my odds it's well worth it too me.

PS I'm the guy that shoots heavy arrows and takes 5- 15 yards shots and worries more about a quiet bow than FPS so "maybe" these people that say scent control is a joke are the same people trying to shoot 300 FPS and taking 50 yard shots? Just a thought.

 

I have made every mistake a hunter can make, more than once.... Paying attention to the wind is the most important thing to do IMO. I am so paranoid about the wind, that I will avoid hunting if the wind doesn’t allow me a “good” set up.


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Even if everything is neutralized on a bad thermal day deer would smell your breath. I take every scent precaution I can and also play the wind. Nothing is 100% though.

 

That's actually something I try to reduce as well. They make mouth spray to reduce the odors in your mouth. It helps a lot......Also if I see a deer I try to keep my mouth closed and consciously breath through my nose to cut down that even more. This stuff works so well I use it for coffee breath year round.

Granted you can't eliminate mouth odors but you damn sure can cut down on them...…..anyone that has ran into a person with bad breath knows this. If I use the mouth spray I could talk to you fine.....while other folks that have really bad breath you can smell from several feet away and it's STRONG......again it's not black & white IMO.

Last we all play the wind.....but thermals and shifts are always going to be there. Maybe if you live in areas like Kansas where the average wind is 20mph and strong it might be easier but in the SE where the winds are very light and the terrain is hilly it's not so easy as just play the wind...….I wish it were.

 

It is of my opinion that you will not beat a deers nose. How deer react or don't is up to the individual animal and circumstances involved, as in how much human scent will he tolerate before he spooks. i.e. back 40 deer compared to Minnesota northwoods deer. It's been my experience that if you ain't playing the wind and thermals you're probably better off stayin on the couch.

 

Good thread. In my opinion it can't hurt to do scent control,but it will only change your chances by some percentage points.
It depends on how far you are willing to take scent control and how much attention you pay to details.
I keep my hunting clothes in a tote with pine branches and use rubber boots most of the time,so that is pretty minimal. I just dont have the attention span to go nuts on scent control.
I will pay very close attention to the wind,which makes it really difficult to hunt some stands in this hilly country of NY.

 

I’m just taking the good points of the posts and seeing if it’s something to incorporate into my regimen.


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I’m just taking the good points of the posts and seeing if it’s something to incorporate into my regimen.

I understand your point, I too, keep hanging around because I pick up some useful info from time to time, lots of good, helpful people on AT. Guess I was feeling a little cynical this morning, just tired of the same old stuff.

 

I believe scent control helps. For example, leaving scent on trails and brush. I believe it gets them close enough to make a shot before getting down wind or busted. But nothing beats the wind. I have gone straight from work to the woods wearing my "truck camo for when I'm short on time". I will smell like sweat, diesel, and even grease. When the wind is right I see and have killed lots of deer.

 

I believe scent control helps. For example, leaving scent on trails and brush. I believe it gets them close enough to make a shot before getting down wind or busted. But nothing beats the wind. I have gone straight from work to the woods wearing my "truck camo for when I'm short on time". I will smell like sweat, diesel, and even grease. When the wind is right I see and have killed lots of deer.

Yep!

 

Reason I ask is that I was watching a youtube video with John Eberhart who was raving about not caring about the wind direction due to his scent control regimen and process. He looks to be a popular name in the Michigan area and raves how hard it is to kill mature bucks in Michigan vs Kansas.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FFDUq_bh6A&t=2976s

 

I've seen some hunters swear up and down that as long as you have your scent covered you don't have to worry about the wind direction. This means every part of your body is covered including all your gear has been neutralized in scent. Who here has had success with just a strict scent control regimen and no care for the wind vs playing the wind and mediocre scent control?

NO ONE, period.

don't drink the John Eberhart kool aid.

 

As long as you get rid of all scent.... and do not breathe.....you are good to go. LOL

I once saw a deer react to the scent from my hand where I touched a limb. She smelled exactly where I had grabbed the limb, blew and bounded off a ways.
I had touched the limb 7 DAYS before on the PREVIOUS WEEKEND.

I ran/bred top notch coonhounds for about 20 years. Scent is a bizarre animal, and I don't think there is anything anywhere near "scent free".

I agree that staying as clean as possible is helpful, but WIND RULES.

 

I say it's both. You have to control your scent as much as possible AND play the wind. I never hunt a stand that the wind direction is totally wrong just because I think my scent free regimen will prevail. It WON"T. It is my opinion that you try to minimize a buck's sense of smell. I don't think you can completely beat it. The silly marketing campaigns that say "forget the wind" are just ridiculous. Bad advice in my opinion. I personally am 100% convinced of the benefits of using ozone to mask human odor. Notice I didn't say eliminate human odor. I can tell that deer still smell the ozone, but it isn't alarming to them. And, this will sound crazy, but deer are curious animals. I have had deer smell my ozone and come closer because they are curious as to where that smell is coming from. Yes, I have had both bucks and does put their nose in the air and suck in ozone and approach my stand trying to figure out what the source of the ozone odor is. Now, I'm not saying ozone "attracts" deer, but I have witnessed it with my own eyes that they will sometimes be curious about it.

 

Last year in one of my ground blinds I had the wind in my face with doe's out in front of me. No way they could have busted me on scent, I thought I had my silhouette covered by the woods behind me, but I believe I was wrong and that dang doe busted me every time in that blind. Even after working on the silhouette issue, she just expected me to be there, which was odd, I was only in that blind once every other week. I was never able to even bring my bow up to begin drawing. She won. It was just a bad blind design with enough of a silhouette that she was able to see movement.

Dang critters are smart!