human scent in the woods

[ihuntsnook]

I agree. Most hunters overrate deer, and all the stuff they sell to defeat a deers nose is bull. I do hunt out of a tree stand during bow season, but it's more about getting out of sight than about keeping scent out of their noses. If they were as smart and savy as every magazine would lead you believe, nobody would ever kill one.

 

[Birdman]

one thing I have seen change over the years with deer is "now they look up" I'm 58 n have been in the woods probably since I was 5 or 6(with someone of course) at one time in that ancient historical time deer never seemed to look up very much, but since the advent and popularity of tree stands over the years I've seen deer look up as well as all around. Sort of lends credence to my theroy of they can n do learn with time. Now I can't prove anything that way but just from watching them n other critters, they get spooked one way or another n they learn from the experience, or at least the survivors do any way LOL

 

[hoochiepapa]

All this scent blocker stuff is a gimmick to get the gullible to buy a bunch of expensive anti stick products and clothes. The deer I have killed never seemed to care how bad I smell.

I don't agree. As soon as I started descenting my clothes and taking other scent precautions, I started killing more elk. THere has to be something to it. In my humble (cough) opinion.

 

[Birdman]

I often wonder about all the new techy scent block stuff etc, especially looking at old photos of guys in LL bean boots n Woolrich coats n such, makes me wonder if they were better "hunters" n we now rely more on tricks n gimmics n such. Don't really have an opinion just wonder sometimes

 

[Kentuckywindage]

All this scent blocker stuff is a gimmick to get the gullible to buy a bunch of expensive anti stick products and clothes. The deer I have killed never seemed to care how bad I smell.

I don't agree. As soon as I started descenting my clothes and taking other scent precautions, I started killing more elk. THere has to be something to it. In my humble (cough) opinion.

Any time you can blend into the woods more, you WILL be more successful. I know an old hunter that used to find elk scrapes and wallows, take an old sock and stuff it with the dirt/urine and tie it to his belt while he was bow hunting for elk.

Now yes there are a LOT of gimmicks out there, same with muzzle loading, bow hunting. You just have to use some common sense to pick up on whats a gimmick VS what CAN help you.

 

[roundball]

Actually, Scent Loc suits have been proven to be ineffective...the company just recently lost a major lawsuit and its been officially and legally exposed as ineffective.
Even if we put that aside, its also been proven that scent loc suits don't do anything for the approximate 80-100 gallons per hour of hot stinky human breath that the average adult exhales every hour...all that is drifting downwind.
In addition, hunters continue to pull on the same sweat soaked boots, belt, and hat every time they go hunting.

I grew up learning to hunt with my grandfather & father with their red plaid wool shirts and their iron sighted .30-30s back in the 40s & 50's...they never used scent loc suits and I don't either, just hunt the wind like they did.
In fact, a huge rewarding part of hunting is the experience of working a piece of ground using the wind, sitting against a tree and having a good buck pass so close you can see his nose turn wet black when he licks it...or have him stop and study me trying to figure out what that blob is, but I have the breeze in my face and know he can't tell...the full alert stare-down continues for a while then eventually he walks on...that's a rush.
Knock on wood, hunting the wind has served me well all my life, and I assume it will for the few years I have left...

 

[ronrryan]

I was one of those old crocks with the Woolrich jackets and the open sighted 30-30, hunted over a lot of upstate NY in the early 50's. I have many times had deer VERY near and never reacted if wind was right. But then one never knows about the deer one does NOT see, only the ones we do. It is the greatest sport either way. Not a sport, actually---a way of life. I kind of miss the old pre-magnum, 8X40 scope days. God Bless, Good smoke, Ron

 

[roundball]

I was one of those old crocks with the Woolrich jackets and the open sighted 30-30, hunted over a lot of upstate NY in the early 50's. I have many times had deer VERY near and never reacted if wind was right. But then one never knows about the deer one does NOT see, only the ones we do. It is the greatest sport either way. Not a sport, actually---a way of life. I kind of miss the old pre-magnum, 8X40 scope days. God Bless, Good smoke, Ron

Right, deer downwind will never show...but as you know, you hunt the ground taking that into consideration you'll take your share of deer...or said another way, not any point in bothering to still hunt a property with the wind at your back...LOL

 

[tg]

"I often wonder about all the new techy scent block stuff etc,"

Like many others we used to get some pretty good Deer/Elk without all the high tech stuff, we hunted with bow and arrow in T shirts of whatever color we happened to grab that morning in warm weather. I am still convinced that for the most part those who benefit most from all this high tech stuff are the ones who sell it. All the tests may show some differences but these are likely small enough as to negate any real advantage over not using the stuff, and any tests can easily be skewed to show a bit of a trend toward a goal or an over whelming advantage.I think that it is human nature to want to have something to point a finger at if the big one gets away, thus reducing any shortcommings of our own abilites/techniques. Our personal experiences no matter how much we hunt are probably not enough to eliminate all the variables and offer a true controlled test of any methodology or product,I just look to a few generations of folks I have known who were VERY succesfull and studied as best I could how/what they did, kind of like learning from history. The same applies to the type of ML gear and how it is used there were likley countless animals taken with gun which had no lineres and vent holes on the large side and ball patch combos much looser than we now use and on and on. Having said that it certainly would not hurt to rub some fir bows on ones clothing or skin if it boosts your confidence level. Having a high level of confidence in what or how you do something is probably more important than what or how you actually do it.

 

[hoochiepapa]

I grew up learning to hunt with my grandfather & father with their red plaid wool shirts and their iron sighted .30-30s back in the 40s & 50's...they never used scent loc suits and I don't either, just hunt the wind like they did.
In fact, a huge rewarding part of hunting is the experience of working a piece of ground using the wind, sitting against a tree and having a good buck pass so close you can see his nose turn wet black when he licks it...or have him stop and study me trying to figure out what that blob is, but I have the breeze in my face and know he can't tell...the full alert stare-down continues for a while then eventually he walks on...that's a rush.
Knock on wood, hunting the wind has served me well all my life, and I assume it will for the few years I have left...

I challenge anyone to "hunt the wind" here. In the mountains, it swirls, follows the terrain, you can't hunt the wind. THe only certain thing is that it moves down in the evening and up in the morning. But if there is any wind at all, you have to be concious of your smell.

 

[roundball]

I grew up learning to hunt with my grandfather & father with their red plaid wool shirts and their iron sighted .30-30s back in the 40s & 50's...they never used scent loc suits and I don't either, just hunt the wind like they did.
In fact, a huge rewarding part of hunting is the experience of working a piece of ground using the wind, sitting against a tree and having a good buck pass so close you can see his nose turn wet black when he licks it...or have him stop and study me trying to figure out what that blob is, but I have the breeze in my face and know he can't tell...the full alert stare-down continues for a while then eventually he walks on...that's a rush.
Knock on wood, hunting the wind has served me well all my life, and I assume it will for the few years I have left...

I challenge anyone to "hunt the wind" here.

I simply gave my opinion, but since you took issue with it, I'll ask you to think about it:
Before you, how did all the other hunters survive for centuries without scent-loc suits...THEY learned how to hunt the wind on flat land, in mountains, etc.

 

[roundball]

one thing I have seen change over the years with deer is "now they look up"

You must have some very special deer where you hunt...LOL.
We get 6 deer tags here every year...and except for 2 years out of the past quarter century, I've punched 6 tags every season...and pass on a lot...have NEVER seen a deer coming through the woods 'looking up'.
:grin:

 

[Birdman]

now Round ball I ain't sayen every deer does it or they walk around looking up in the trees but I have seen many occasions in the last 10 or 15 years that deer have looked up into the trees when something didn't seem right to them, I very seldom saw it happen in the years before tree stands became popular, near every hunter around here is a tree troll anymore, hehe I may be the only one I know of that hunts from the ground come to think of it. Nothings ever chisled in stone with hunting its just some things I've noticed over the years is all

 

[hanshi]

I've never gone to great lengths to hide my scent other than occasional use of a cover scent. It's quite possible to work the wind in almost any situation; if you don't know where the wind is going next or exactly the direction it's actually blowing from then the deer probably don't either. I agree there are too many gimmicks and too much concern over scent; cammo too.

Too many times I've had deer cross my back trail and not blink an eye. At most they'd glance around for a moment but they do that anyway. Most of the stuff that sells is just for making money and useless.

It may sound weird but I usually don't wash my hunting clothes until the season is over. They pick up woods smells and my smell too and the deer will detect all that. One stimulus alone seldom frightens a deer; it takes two or more. If a deer spots you and you are still it probably won't run. If he sees you AND smells you there's a good chance he will run. If he sees, smells and hears you, bye, bye.

Scent killers, special scent materials and all that is not much more than a scam. I just try to keep my detection at one stimulus and one stimulus only. Like rb says it just isn't that complicated.

 

[jamesthomas]

The deer sure look up were I hunt! one time I'm up in a tree stand and this small yearling pokes his head out of a thicket and looks up right at me! I stayed very still and he came out followed by his mom and SHE looked up at me!. They were both to small to shoot so I let them walk, Been stared at several times since then. I don't use that stand much anymore.

 

[Spikebuck]

I challenge anyone to "hunt the wind" here. In the mountains, it swirls, follows the terrain, you can't hunt the wind.

Sounds like the river-valley areas I hunt. A friend of mine carried dried up milkweed pods and when on stand, occasionally he would release a milkweed seed to see how it went. It would move one direction, then another, then circle, etc. Even though he might be sitting with the wind in his face, many times the milkweed seed ended up right in front of him. Unless you're in a flat area where terrain doesn't affect wind so much, you may only THINK you're playing the wind right!

That's why I focus on trying to stay as clean as I can (including mouth odor) and hope that deer at least think that the human stink they smell is farther away since it's more faint. I don't use scent-type suits or other things...just try to keep everything as clean as I can and let the cards fall where they may. I still try to sit with a correct wind, but I don't count on it.

 

[S.Kenton]

Same here... I've been busted a number of times in my stand..one particular time I was busted by a deer and a her fawn, she looked up, saw me and turned tail and ran as did her fawn. I was hunting a large mature buck I'd seen a few times on my trail cam..so it wasn't a huge deal. However the in the next few weeks or so of the same season..that doe and fawn would come back..staying about 70 yards away...always looking and watching me. I got busted from that stand with the same scenerio several times..finally I moved it and carefully camoed it in. Never underestimate the intelligence of the White tail deer.....
On a side note..I don't use the scent lock clothing..I do however take a shower with scent blocker soap and shampoo. I use a cover scent when I leave my truck..I kill about 6 deer a year.
Where I hunt in Ohio, you almost HAVE to take all the precautions you can to be successfull, not alot of deer around here. IF you see one or two a day your lucky.

 

[hoochiepapa]

Roundball, they did it the same way I do. You hunt down in the a.m., and up in the p.m. When the wind is swirling during the day, you still hunt, or go get lunch. Very few folks are successful on elk during the day. Look at the stats- 17%-25% kill ratio? Luck happens, but to be a successful elk hunter in Colorado, at least, you have to cover your scent, or have as little as possible.
I didn't take exception to what you said, but until you have hunted these mountains, you can't give an overall statement accurately.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

Oh come on Mike! In colorado you can EASILY work the wind in your favor like them flat landers back east do :haha:

And remember! Rather than taking those ricky 100 yard shots with that round ball..... Work in closer to your target!

 

[S.Kenton]

MAN!.. thats some nice looking country!..A HUNTERS PARADISE! Except the middle pic..looks like it might be kinda hard to navigate through that!!!