I want to learn more about how some of you guys control your scent. I want to hear how you control your scent of your clothes and how you cover it while walking in the woods and hunting. I’m obviously doing something wrong. I thought I have been covering myself good and doing preventive things to my clothes but it ain’t working.

Today I walked in water and mud almost the whole way to my stand and thought I’d be good. Doe comes out and walks towards my tree then stops, bobs her head stomps and she gone. Very frustrating. I know she didn’t see me because I could barely see her so she caught my scent somehow.

Thanks for any input.

I wash my clothes in UV / scent free detergent. I store them in airtight containers. I bath in either Ivory, Hunter Specialties or Dead Downwind soap. I don’t put my hunting boots on til I walk in. They come off as soon as I come out. When walking in, I try to avoid touching anything with my hands or any exposed skin. Doing all this I still get winded from time to time. You’re not going to fool their noses 100%. Best bet is to hunt the wind as much as you can. Even that can be difficult as much as it swirls around these parts.

Deer can smell half a mile...thats hard to overcome, I hunt ridges with a good steady wind during bowseason. It makes me mad when I think I'm good, then my big ass great Pyrenees follows me to my location 5-800 yards down the mountain. I have killed a deer with him once tho after he sit down I just happened to see the deer before he did

She winded where I walked. I use dead down wind. Wash the clothes and use the spray. I spray my boots heavily and even smear some ever calm on them a little. I think if the wind would’ve kept blowing a little I might have got a shot because it was just a breeze and it was in my face. But as it got dark the wind just stopped and I think that made it worse. She walked right up to my path and that was it.

Did you make the drive to your property with your hunting boots on? Hell, the Ever Calm could have spooked her.

Was clothes in scent free soap, wash my tail with scent free soap I use earth cover scent and try and keep my wind right I pack my clothes in those vaccum bags

One thing I can pass along is to pay attention to your "gear" as much as your clothing/body when it comes to scent control. For example, do you wear a watch, or glasses? What about your bow release? Etc., etc. Deer doesn't care what it smells to bust you. Get it? You can wipe those items down with hydrogen peroxide. Even your bow grip and bow itself. Like Shaw said, you'll never beat a deer's nose, but position yourself down wind and practice scent control to fool the deer long enough to make a shot. Good luck!

I always hunt the wind. I have places set up for almost any wind direction so I can move around. I haven’t wiped down gear. I do spray down my pack and hat but haven’t sprayed my release. I guess the spray and the ever calm could’ve been too much. They did ride in the truck on the way there but I don’t wear any of my outer layers until I’m out of the truck. I will see if I can find some bags for those outer layers. I’m going to spend more time on scent from now on. I’m obviously not spending enough on it.

You will never beat a deer or really another animals nose
And some folks go way over board with scent control and camo too watch the hunting beast i ain't real sure Dan infault owns very much camo and it is questionable as to how often he takes a bath but he continues to kill big deer
All you can really do is minimize scent as much as you can stay still and quiet in a stand and work the terrain, location and wind to your advantage

I think its just bad luck to be honest...if u hunt the wind and do more than what your doin now your still gonna get busted sometimes..ive done all that and got busted I've also went smelling like a redneck that hasn't bathed in a week and killed em

I’ve definitely had my share of bad luck with bow hunting. I need to quit thinking about it so much too and just hunt.

Yes and a lot of deer helps...im going in the am smelling horrible..just not in big buck territory, I save those places for later season like January with rifle 🤣 if u want tips on killing big bucks with bow don't listen to me

ALL free and clear detergent, Dove unscented soap, Arm&Hammer unscented antiperspirant, and I store my clothes in a tote with baking soda freezer packs. But it still wont do a bit of good if the wind aint right. dont use cover scents it may be me but I think ive been busted more times because of cover scents than not.

I do everything that’s in my power to control my scent, bath, neutral clothes wash, spray myself and my equipment with scent cover/eliminator, etc. I’ve had my dog track me right to my stand. You will NEVER beat a whitetail’s nose, it’s his number one line of defense. Do all that you can BUT you MUST hunt the wind.

The secret is not to hide your scent, but get them used it. Live where you hunt, hunt where you live, stay in the woods all the time.
I can walk within 20 yards of the deer around here because they are used to me. They see me every day. We're neighbors.

This was one of the aspects of hunting that really started to irk me. Like taking the fun out of it. I still make a halfway effort by washing my stuff and myself in unscented detergent/soap and hang my hunting clothes outside 24/7, but other than that I let it ride. I put my clothes on before I get in the truck, I wear leather boots that don't make my feet sweat unless it's super muddy, I don't worry if the underwear or socks I am wearing may have come from my house clothes.

Fact is all stuff has a smell. Grab a handful of your hunting clothing and bury your nose in it, it smells like something. Wool, polyester, cotton, etc. You can clean it a million and a half times and it will still smell. It may not STINK like a human, but you aren't going to make wool not smell like wool, or polyester insulation not smell like polyester insulation, etc. Hell, even the unscented soaps I use smell like something. It smells like soap without any scent.

Things that I have begun to pay more attention to : hunting the wind. Which means to me not only having the wind in my face and expecting deer to come from that direction, but also considering ingress/egress. I won't hunt an area where my scent has blown in front of me.

Using thermals properly. In hill country this is super important. I struggle to put together good evening hunts bow hunting because of the falling thermals, I much prefer to hunt high up on a ridge in the morning so my scent gets launched upwards and out of the valleys with the thermals. That doe caught your scent because of the falling thermals.

I assume wherever I walk in deer are going to smell me if they walk the same trail and bust out. I don't set up expecting a shot over my walk-in trail.

I do most of the above, washing clothes with baking soda and bagging them. Washing my body especially my hairy parts with Dead Down Wind. Wipe my boots with baking soda inside and out and sprinkle a bit inside my boots. I use natural cover scents.whatever cover scent you use they will smell.Deer are curious and will look for the source. I have had success with crushed pine and cedar needles but my favorite is wax myrtle. I crush the leaves and rub them on my clothes and put them in my jacket or shirt pocket and spread them around my stand. I obviously work the wind but I’m very conscious of thermals as they change morning to evening. I also gargle and swish with a baking soda solution. Ive been told it doesn’t hurt to occasionally toss out a hand full of corn meal into the breeze if you are in a stationary stand. Hanging the stained hocks of a buck will get everybody’s attention especially if you can hunt a scrape.

Ozonics

I pretty much go through the same process as Shaw and I know for a fact the Ever Calm will get their attention and spook them at times. I watched a doe a few days ago that was winding the EC on my boots from where I walked in. She was a little spooky but browsed for 30 mins

Learning to hunt the wind and thermals is your best option other than maybe climbing 30ft. I use unscented detergent, soap, and deodorant but even that has a smell to it.