I listened to a guy talk about hunting mainly private property. He said he tries to smell the same every time he goes on his property and takes no steps to prevent his scent in fact he rubs around on trees and bushes throughout his property every time he goes on. His claim is the deer no longer associate him with danger. He said he does this year round. My thinking is, if this is true, what happens when he does shoot a deer and his scent is in the area when it happens.

Yeah. I know some guys that will tie their worn t-shirts around the trees during the off season in hopes to get the deer accustomed to the human scent. I can't really say if it is effective.

I think hunting the wind is probably the easiest best thing to do if you're worried about it. I can't say I always do that though.

I don't intentionally leave my scent, but i don't use anything to mask it either. IMO, there's no way to fool a deer's nose with something manmade. If there were, drug runners would be using it to fool drug dogs.

All the TV shows and celebrities say it can be done so obviously that's true right?

I think it has less to do with scent in particular and more to do with general exposure to humans without getting shot at.

That's why I can drive a tractor with a couple bales right by them feeding cows. If I shot at them while doing this that wouldn't occur. Seems to work better with does. Mature bucks still seem to head the other way.

A few years ago an old hunter told me that it isn't the human scent that bothers deer, it is the introduction of some different smell. Ive come to believe he is right.

I just try and leave no scent at all.

I have known a few guys over the years that use ZERO scent control. And a few of them smoked like chimneys and they killed the hell out of deer. They simply hunted the wind. I personally use cover scents but I also hunt the wind.

I try to hunt the wind if possible but still try to eliminate odors

I dont hunt a stand if the wind is not right period. Otherwise its just a goat , go shoot one if you like.

I know a guy that slays them with a bow every year. And smokes his ass off in the stand... And I have stopped worrying about taking a leak out of my stand anymore. Even considering pissing in active scrapes... I DO try to hunt the wind, and keep odor down. But have also been turkey hunting - ZERO scent thought whatsoever. And freaked a bunch of deer out. They came around, scented me, couldn't find me and lost it. Hung around downwind for over 30 minutes stomping/grunting/blowing - never did figure out what or where I was. Had same basic things happen more than once during deer season. just depends...

I use tobacco smoke and farts as cover scent.

Geno, i actually had a 50 y/o man tell me one time that he had to come down out of his stand because he had gas and didn't want to spook deer. He was dead serious.

Scent free is the way to be.. Hehe i try to be any ways and always hunt the wind no matter what. the wind will make or break any hunt when critters with good noses are envolved

Hunting the wind is far more important than spending $1,000 dollars on a Scent-Lok suit, scent free detergents, sprays, toothpaste, mouthwash, chapstick, buttwipes, etc.

Most of that crap is made to fool hunters rather than deer.

this ^^^

purely anecdotal, but the deer-killin'est man I knew never wore camo and never worried about "scent control".

He'd drive his Suzuki Samurai to wherever he wanted to hunt that particular morning, back it up into the trees a little bit to halfway hide it, leave it running so he could keep the heat on, smoke and drink coffee, and then roll the window down and shoot when he saw something he felt like shooting.

take it for what it's worth.

Wind, Wind, Wind. Nothing man made will cover your human scent totally. I have a friend who has never bought any camo, no cover scents, doesn't own rubber boots and kills the heck out some bucks and has for 25+ years. He eats, drinks, spits dip, and pees out of the stand, he said play the right wind and your good to go.

I do as much as I can to reduce foreign odor in the woods, but the wind is ultimately what makes or breaks your hunt IMO.

You'll never see that old buck if you're wind is wrong, assuming he's thinking with the head on his shoulders and not the one between his legs.