Scent control, My foot!

[tannermark]

Ok here's a subject everybody is familiar with. We all do our best to control our scent in the woods so with that in mind, Did anyone happen to catch the mythbusters episode where they tried to fool the bloodhound? If you have any sense at all you should be questioning everything you think you know about scent control after seeing that show. If you didn't let me summerize what happened. Basically Jamie's 1st attempt was the standard. Wash with scent killing soap, spray with scent killing spray, Put on a scent controlling suit with rubber boots and take off into the woods. The bloodhound nailed him. I wasn't that surprised. fast forward to the last test. In true mythbusters fashion they took it to the extreme. They actually set up a very controlled area where Jamie once again used the scent killing soap, etc. The whole 9 yrds. Then, he put on not 1, not, 2 but three differnt layers of scent controling suits, a gas mask(with the filter inverted to control his breath) sealed the whole thing up with some kinda tape and off he went. He even used a backback sprayer to disperse his scent in an opposite direction from where he was going in an attempt to throw off the dog. I'm Tellin you they took it way, way, way beyong anything we as hunters will ever do in the field. Guess what, The dog found him without incident. Here's my point and question to all of you... These guys did far more than i will ever do hunting deer and it wasn't enough to fool a dog. A deer has more scent gathering capabilty than a dog. Far more! Do we really think we are fooling the deer? Secondly and most importantly are we bein "dooped" by scent killing product manufacturers? I have tons of the stuff and i still try to hunt down wind. Maybe I should save my money and just hunt down wind. So what's your take?

[SPAR]

Ive used alot of differnet scent killers. I mainly do it for peace of mind that atleat i tried. Im not sure if it really helps. Ive seen alot off big deer killed without any use of scent control... not to mention guys that smoke, eat and drink in the stand. So does it work? maybe maybe not... just something else we can blow some cash on.

[Cottonport]

I spray doe pee on me,.to mask my scent.....nevermind the warnings.

I smoke and drink when hunting,.......


I see and kill deer pretty regular,.........dunno,..maybe luck?....

[tannermark]

Cotton port! Have you lost your mind? Smoke while you hunt I get. I've done it many times. I've had to put a cig down so I could shoot but DRINK?? Man I hope you mean water or maybe a gatorade.

[Tony204ing]

I have killed deer with no scent killer or camo on.And have been busted in full camo after taking every scent control procedure possible.But i try not to make it a habit to go without either.Anytime i start to question this stuff i tell myself the more u put into it the more you get out of it.

[Bang4bucks]

its funny i read this today. just this morning i was out hunting watchin a small 6pt feeding in the field all by himself. not even really paying attention to what i was doing, i lit up a cig. it just so happened that the buck was down wind of me, smelled the smoke, and actually came in to me to investigate. purely out of curiosity i would imagine. i mean if you were sitting at your kitchen table eating and you smelled smoke, would YOU get up and go see what was causing it????

I dont wear any scent protective suits but i do spray myself with scent killer and i do use doe estrus. like it was said before, prolly more for the piece of mind.

[Jaypo]

My take on this- you'll never fully get rid of your scent. But you can take steps to limit your scent. I personally use homemade scent killer after reading the tests that were done using all of the major brands. It actually outperformed brands like Scent Killer, Dead Down Wind, Carbon Blast, etc. It was right below Primos and Scent Away (which was the best). And it only costs about 5 dollars to make a half gallon. I also have some scent lok gloves and a headcover. I use silver lined base layers. I bathe in scent free soap and only dry off with towels I washed with scent free detergent. And my clothing is No Trace camo that has fibers that filter scent and don't need to be reactivated. And I've still been busted! But I've also had a deer run to me and only turn away when he got 5 feet from me because I jumped!

You can't mask your entire scent. But you can limit it, and I guess the less scent you leave out there, the better!

[DouglasSpear]

Well to prove otherwise, I was once walking to my stand in full camo (face included) with cover scent sprayed on my clothes and boots, and I had 2 dogs and a couple with a child walk right past me at 10 yards away and had no clue I was there. I was standing ON the path. I've also had family members comment that they've had deer step over their legs when sitting against a tree on the ground. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't, not much any of us can do about it.

[backwoodsman]

I try to figure out where the deer are going to come from and play the wind. I quit using/buying all the commercial sprays/soaps etc. Baking soda is all we use now. I smoke, eat, drink Diet Dew, play video games and read with my kids or kids hunting with us and we kill plenty of deer. Too many rely on buying hunting success instead of learning/relying on good woodsmanship. For the majority of us if a deer comes in downwind we're busted no matter what we washed our clothes with, slathered on ourselves, wiped our rears with etc. Only cover scent avaialble when I started hunting was cow pies or real deer pee you saved from deer you killed. Theres money to be made on selling some of these scent killer products and other gadgets to some people and as long as theres money to be made the market will be full of it. Now before someone tells the story of a booner that came in downwind for 1/2 mile and came right up smelled the tree steps and they still killed it after dousing themselves in half gallon of non scent stuff theres exceptions to every rule.