How do you hide your scent while hunting?

Gun season - Scent neutralizer spray.
Bow season - Scent neutralizer detergent. (And keep clothes in seperate bag with some foliage when not in use, until next wash)
 
lister said:
I think other than not hosing yourself down with Axe Bodyspray,;) scent hiding is kind of a waste of time. After 3 or 4 days in the bush you're getting pretty ripe in your own right, which animals can smell just as much as anything else.
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I find the Axe Body Spray really brings in the doe`s in estrous!Laugh2.....I personally gave up on the scent cover up sprays years ago and do my best to keep the wind in my favor. I have found that being in an enclosed blind permanent or portable seems to really reduce your scent signature quite a bit and have had many deer down wind of me while in a blind that never seemed to be able to smell me!
 
Smoke is a questionable area, Deer are used to smelling smoke to some degree, and it can work as a cover scent. I know a few hunters who regularly shoot deer over camp fires. My clothes get to smelling like wood smoke after a couple of weeks in the camp with the wood stove, and it doesn't seem to be an issue.
Cigarette smoke I'm less certain of, it smells different than what they are used to, thus to my mind anyway, it could cost you a deer. But we will never know that, because you will never see the deer turned away by it, so it remains an open question. And there are always stupid deer, those anyone can shoot.
Last year, we were having problems with the wood stove, and my coveralls were absolutely rank with wood smoke.
I went out on what we call the island, and had settled down, when I heard a buck grunt. He was following my drag! I could hear him moving along the curving track I had taken. Grunt grunt..... SNORT!...... grunt grunt...... SNORT.... this went on for about five minutes, and I was well down wind of him, it looked good! then I guess the wood smoke was too much, and he took off. I never got to see him at all.

Scent free is best, wind is a big priority, and as I said earlier, stop moving around! Deer can see the tiniest of movements far better than we can.
 
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45ACPKING said:
personally I think the phosphate free, no UV brightener laundry soap does more than anything else. if yer washing yer hunting clothes in normal laundry soap.... you are walking around in the bush glowing like a neon sign to any ungulate that sees you.
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I totally agree and pay close attention to this also.
Here’s a handy little tip for everyone, Canadian tire sells an 18” black light for $30, product #52-0131-4, that just happens to have the correct BLB type bulb for checking your gear for UV shine.

Check any garment you use with the light in a dark room and if it has UV shine wash it a couple times with a UV free detergent then treat it with UV-killer. For something like a backpack, I don’t wash it, I just spray or brush the UV-killer on any glowing spots.

I have a big 5 gallon pot that I use to treat clothing with the UV-killer, I fill it with an appropriate amount of warm water, pour in some UV-killer and soak the entire garment in the pot. Take it out, squeeze out excess water, soak it again in same solution, squeeze out, etc. Check the wet clothing with the light, if shine remains, increase the amount of UV-killer added to the water. This method allows the UV-killer to go a long ways and treat a fair amount of clothing, the stuff isn’t cheap.

You only have to do this once as long as you wash the clothing in a UV free detergent thereafter. Synthetic fabrics may need re-treatment after being washed a few times, simply check with the light to see if its required.

Get one of these lights and check your clothing, you might be shocked at what you see. To our hunted quarry you might look like a big glowing alien in the bush.
 
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I stuck a solar powered garden light in the snow yesterday to see how the deer reacted to it. The deer looked at it for awhile then walked over and smelled it then ignored it. I'm thinking that glowing like an alien might not be such a bad thing.
 
One of the old guys that I hunt with told me that he use to stalk with a cigarette in his mouth. Still got deer.
 
I used to smoke on stand back when I used to smoke. After many years away from it I can smell a smoker from a long ways off, and that's just from the stink on the clothes without a deer's nose. Its not going to make much difference if its burning or old.
 
Hold your farts in, don't smoke.
on serious note I use the wind to my advantage.
I spend time spreading my stink around the bush the rest of the year so I like to think they know me.
I have horses and deer walk right up to me before they realize I am sitting there and spook.
 
new and novice said:
One of the old guys that I hunt with told me that he use to stalk with a cigarette in his mouth. Still got deer.
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this not so old hunter did the same for near 20 years ;)
I shouldered the rifle once on one deer, smoke in my mouth hit the rifle and the damn cherry fell off and straight down into my open jacket..... I still have a scar on my chest LOL got the buck tho.

you see those shows where the guys always have the little powder puff wind direction thingy..... I just used a cigarette.
this season is the first hunting season as a non smoker..... I quit last December.
oddy enough, for the past 20years, while a smoker, I pretty much put a deer or 2 in the freezer every year..... this year..... while I do have a freezer load of moose meat and some elk on the way....... no deer down. In hindsight, I don't think the deer care about tobacco smoke one way or the other
 
I don't really think a deer know what a "human" smell is they just know that it is a non native to their environment smell which in turn puts them on hyper alert until they identify the source of the non native to their environment smell - this is usually when we get busted - to counteract this I will, for several weeks before the season starts, hang my bed sheets in my stands - in my blind - where ever I plan to hunt to salt the environment with my smell. This acts to acclimate the deer to my non native to their environment smell. One year I even went so far as to dress up a manikin and left it in the stand for 2 weeks straight dressed in full - smelling of human - hunting gear. As the deer no longer see my non native to their environment smell as a threat it makes white tail season a walk in the park.

No really - play the wind - the one thing I will do from time to time is grind my boots in a fresh scrape as a bit of a cover sent - maybe the bucks will start hunting me..
 
canadian hunter312 said:
Just for ####s and giggles, could those who say that de-scenting is a waste of time please state what you use to hunt and your preferred hunting style along with your average shot distance. I'm willing to bet all of you use a firearm of some sort or bow hunt from an elevated stand and none of you regularly stalk within 10-30 yards of deer where even the slightest mistake sends the deer running. I bow hunted from a tree stand for years and scent control is definitely not too important as your scent is carried over the animals usually.

I'm also wondering about the "play the wind" comments. Am I the only one who has experienced sudden and dramatic shifts in wind direction? This is often disastrous when you're 15 yards from a couple deer and the wind starts blowing on your neck right towards the animals. However, being as scent free as possible greatly reduces the chance of the deer winding you and becoming alert or fleeing.


Like I said, how scent free you need to be depends on what your hunting tool and style.
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Bow hunt, ground spot and stalk. I don't buy scent free gimmicks but have had wind in my face and deer 10 yards staring at me....
 
H4831 said:
The greatest hunters in north America were the native bush Indians, up until a period of about seventy years ago. They could sneak right up to game animals and they used absolutely nothing to hide their scent.
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I posted this some time ago, the idea being that if you were a good hunter, you didn't need anything to try and cover your scent, but apparently it wasn't interpreted that way.
I seriously doubt if any of the scents sold will cover your scent so that wild game animals won't smell you through your perfume.
You have to stay down wind from the game, but many hunters don't realize what a light air movement it takes to carry your scent. If you can feel the breeze on your face it is easy to know where your scent is going. It is when you can't feel any air movement that your scent can be carried to the game.
Old time hunters used various ways to determine which way the air was moving, when it was too light to feel by normal means. There has been no end of cartoons about someone holding up their finger to see which way the wind is blowing. But it works! One must first put your finger in your mouth to slightly dampen it, then hold it up for a few seconds and the side that is into the wind will dry first.
If conditions are right, another good method is to use dusty material from the forest floor. Take a pinch of it and slowly rub it together with the fingers of an out stretched hand. The dust will angle with the wind as it falls.
 
H4831 said:
I posted this some time ago, the idea being that if you were a good hunter, you didn't need anything to try and cover your scent, but apparently it wasn't interpreted that way.
I seriously doubt if any of the scents sold will cover your scent so that wild game animals won't smell you through your perfume.
You have to stay down wind from the game, but many hunters don't realize what a light air movement it takes to carry your scent. If you can feel the breeze on your face it is easy to know where your scent is going. It is when you can't feel any air movement that your scent can be carried to the game.
Old time hunters used various ways to determine which way the air was moving, when it was too light to feel by normal means. There has been no end of cartoons about someone holding up their finger to see which way the wind is blowing. But it works! One must first put your finger in your mouth to slightly dampen it, then hold it up for a few seconds and the side that is into the wind will dry first.
If conditions are right, another good method is to use dusty material from the forest floor. Take a pinch of it and slowly rub it together with the fingers of an out stretched hand. The dust will angle with the wind as it falls.
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I Northern Ontario, the hills guarantee that the winds shift constantly. Particularly bad when there are light winds. All you can really do is position yourself in the spot you think least likely to be upwind. I've seen the wind completely switch direction in minutes, only to switch back. A hunter cannot depend on wind direction alone to ensure his scent stays away from game. Minimize your scent, use a cover scent if you're comfortable with that, higher is better WRT to tree stands, but even they are not a guarantee. Distractions for the deer in the form of decoys, or artificial scents can work, but not always, at least for big bucks. They don't get big by being dumb. If they don't like your decoy, you'll never see them, if the scent you are using has a chemical smell to them, same thing.

For me, it comes down to the basics, eliminate as much scent as possible, hunt from down wind, hunt from height where you can, ELIMINATE movement. Leave the candy bars, cigarettes, the coffee, and anything else that will cause scent or cause you to move, back at camp. I even avoid drinking much in the morning so I don't need to piss. (scent & movement)

Western hunters tend to see animals at much longer ranges, and conditions are much different, they can afford more movement than an eastern hunter can. Most of my game has been shot inside 50 yards, much of it inside 50 feet, and a few inside ten feet. For game that close, you best be a statue.

I have fooled deer in bow hunting by ducking down and putting the crossbow up in front of me like antlers, but the wind was near perfect for that and I was in olive coveralls and face mask. I've done that three times now, twice with does, and once with a nice 265lb buck I got with the crossbow at 21yards.
 
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Hiding your scent is impossible no matter what U do. Do not use scented detergents in your washing machine when U wash clothes. Just take a shower with unscented soap. When hunting be aware of which way the wind blows and your direction of hunt. Watching the wind is far more effective than trying to hide your scent. Always approach game with the wind in your face and not to your back. Depending on the lay of the land winds can swirl around in the most unpredictable ways. You must also be aware of this and as others have posted on this forum winds can change direction very quickly and many times during the course of a stalk.
 
I'm sure most of us all agree
pretty hard to cover your scent
For me the plan is provide a desired scent for the animal your hunting ie ( doe)(cow)
I think it's understanding the wind in the area your hunting the wind will traditionally blow the same way and at the same time of the year . Know your stomping ground hunt the wind you know there walking into it
give them want ,there looking for and looks of it so they are distracted
stay in the shadows and remember horns come out in the rain .........


cheers
 
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