Scent Control Not an Ancient Chinese Secret

As promised in a previous blog, I would lend my experience and best practices in scent control. Some of my tactics come from reading, some are from doing, and some are things that make sense to me. As you there are a variety of commercial available scent control detergents and soaps. In addition to that, there is a huge amount of scent blocker or controlling clothing. They may be great but again, you will pay for it.

My first outing this year, I purposely didn't go to the extreme of my scent control steps. I wanted to see want I could get away with first. With that being said, three deer came right into my downwind direction. At 2o yards, I could see and hear the lead doe trying to feel me out. A grunt wease and stomping her feet like Dirty Dancing. I found it hilarious. But with nothing to link the scent with a predator, they kept moving closer. At five yards she finally locked eyes with me and knew something wasn't right. The three deer turned away and disappeared into the thick cedar forest. I could have taken her or the other two deer at different points, but I needed to know what I could get away with. If this was a trophy buck situation, that buck would have been down before I got busted.

So here is what I do for scent control. All my hunting clothes or cloth material gear which I feel is capable of absorbing scent gets treated in my scent control process. So lets start with your hunting clothes, as they are most used item in the field besides you. Start from scratch, you buy a new hunting outfit (T-shirt and pants). Its been sitting in the store, with possibly hundreds of folks touching it and walking past it, the little kid with ice cream on his hands or the over baring wife with too much perfume on. What I am getting at, is the clothing or media that you are wearing is constantly absorbing the smells it is subjected to. So every new outfit gets washed right away utilizing a commercially available scent eliminating detergent or you can use baking soda.

So washing is the first step to neutralize and clean clothing. This can be used for new clothing or clothing from the field that was used. When drying the clothes, you can use the dryer but skip any fabric softener or drying sheets. My endpoint on scent control is to end up as neutral or matching the environment. So then your clothes are dry, what do you do with them? You have to block any smells that will start absorbing back into them. Now you will be wearing underwear, socks, and most likely an undershirt. All of these items need to go through the same process. So storage is you next step.

Storing you clothes is just as important as washing them. Plastic binds or seal able storage bags are usually the best choice. My hunting clothing and gear spends 8 months of the year in the attic, in plastic totes. Sealed with some carbon packets to soak up any smells that could infiltrate my plastic totes. These are available at any fish store or pet store, you can also you baking soda but it is bit harder to keep from spilling. If moisture is a concern then a few silica packets can also be placed in there. These are aspects of staying neutral but what about matching the environment that you will hunt. My colleague at work got me interested in this aspect. Throwing in some oak leaves or oak chips in your clothing storage can help you smell like a tree. But if you are sitting in pine trees, then oak scent may not be a good match.

Think about going out to the bar for an hour or two. It takes not time at all to smell like the bar. But you don't know it until you leave there, you typically find yourself sitting at breakfast the next morning with family and wreaking like cigarette smoke and adult beverages. The same situation would apply to a deer that is coming into from the downwind direction. Now you think you don't smell but a deer has 10 times more scent receptors than a human. So don't assume you are in the clear, know you are. Any food or drink you bring in the field should again go neutral as possible, water is an easy one. In the winter maybe make it tea. Food is harder though, try to fill up before the field, avoid aromatic foods like bacon. Take in snacks like trail mix or granola bars. My favorite is the variety pack of crackers. Something quick and doesn't draw much attention.

It's now time for your big day in the field. your clothes are coming out of the plastic totes to be worn. I wait until the last possible second to put on my field gear. It may mean leaving it all in the truck rather than in the lodge with grandpa and the good ole boys smoking cigars or cooking greasy foods. Avoid what can -- smells that is. You should be fresh out of the shower by using a scent control soap or body wash. Why is this important?... Well besides the overbearing smells from the good ole boys, your body has bacteria and natural scents that build up. You want to clean and become as neutral as possible. Then stay that way from your lodging spot to your stand. I try to scent control my truck also, on your long trip to your hunting area can experince road food, cigar smoke, and gas from fueling up. Hunting gear is kept separate or sealed up in containers still. Multiple cartons of open baking soda are placed in the truck as well.

I wear my base layer out to the truck and then gear up with the rest of my outfit depending the temperature. I use a stock spray scent controller on my base layer, then add on my outer layers and spray again. Don't forget about your boots. It is ideal to have a pair of boots you only use in the field for hunting. The material of the boots is important, leather can carry smells into the field. You can spray them down but its hard to cover up like fuel from the gas station (gas up the night before). Its best to go rubber here. I own a pair of insulated muck boots. They are easy to wash down, they carry minimal scent, and can be put on in a heartbeat to go into the field.

Make your way to the stand, everything should have been placed a week to 10 days such as your stand or blind. It provides time for deer to get used to the new object and for scent to dissipate. Use wind to your advantage to get to your hunting spot. This may not always be the case so don't fool around and get into your spot, quickly and quietly. You should have cleared pathways of leaves and sticks to make it super sneaky. Once in the stand give another spray of cover up before settling in. I know I sometimes work up a sweat which I try to minimize. There are even deodorant sticks that you can use to mask you sweat smell from your armpits. I find my feet sweating, so a bit of deodorant there can help that.

Know your wind direction at your hunting spot and it should have been checked prior to getting there. You should have planned ahead. If wind direction is unfavorable, than make a judgement call. You may have went for it anyway and ended up not seeing anything. Think about, you know your spots the best, should you have seen a deer. The deer can smell you from pretty far away, maybe even out of your sight line depending upon the setup and topography. Take notes when you do get busted because it can help bring down the big one later on. Don't let your smell risk your trophy of a lifetime.