IMO, there's no way to fool a deer's nose with something manmade.

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.

I'll spray my boots and clothes with Scent Killer spray periodically, since it's cheap, but that's it. Otherwise, play the wind.

I've been within 10-15ft of deer during turkey season, covered in bug spray and sweating like Hugh Freeze in an NCAA investigation hearing, and they never knew I was there because the wind was in my favor.

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.

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.

blumsden, do you really think I don't know all that? I am well aware of the superiority of any animal's nose and how Parts Per Million of scent molecules work.

I said a person can stink (it's bacteria growing, usually or it could be from a petroleum product) and be smelled by another human. Then, that person can shower with an unscented soap, and A PERSON (A "person". I did not say deer!) could then, not smell or detect that formerly stinking person.


Putting smell detection "on a scale", I certainly realize that a human ranks way low HOWEVER, putting smell detection on a scale of Parts Per Million or PPM helps understand and scale scent detection.

I.E. 2000 lbs of "crap" pilled up will have MORE PPM of scent molecules than one pound of crap. Put that on a scale which goes from a ton of crap to one oz of crap.

The further the distance is from the scent originator (crap), the less likely scent is detected, right? (And to take away an argument, the wind is blowing horizontal at 4 mph from the crap to whoever's nose.) A human can smell an oz of crap within a few inches but back off 100 ft, and the human can't smell the crap. Well, AT SOME POINT in distance, the same will hold true for a deer. A TON of crap has more PPM than the oz of crap. You can't argue with that, right?

So, because of the PPM, it is physics that would dictate that scent detection for the "ton" of crap would be greater than the "oz" of crap, right?

At some point in distance, the ton of crap will not be able to be detected, right? And I know the human detection will be at less distance than a deer.

Let's use paper mills... at some point in distance, scent detection of a paper mill, even for a deer, will become non detectable, right? Why? Because the PPM of scent molecules will play out or become DILUTED!

So, if you scale it out scientifically, scent detection is a matter of PPM of scent molecules. Lessen you scent molecules, lessen your scent detection. This applies for humans AND deer.

So my point, a hunter CAN lessen his PPM of scent molecules and maybe, just maybe, get away with not being scented at a further distance. The hunter with fewer scent molecules or PPM's is scented less than the hunter with more scent molecules.

Can you fool a deer's nose? HELL NO!!! Not if the deer scents you. Can you lesson your chance of getting scented by a deer by being "an oz of crap rather than a TON of crap", yes you can.

Opinions are opinions. Science or PPM of scent molecules is science and facts IS facts.

IF YOU REDUCE YOUR SCENT MOLECULES, from a standpoint of physics, you reduce an animal's ability to detect you.

So my point... when you're in the woods, be an oz of crap and not a ton of crap. You cannot argue with the science of scent molecules in a PPM scale and the science of scent dilution.

Still and yes, hunt the wind but do what you can to lessen your scent molecules. Final note... don't paint me into a stance where I claim to throw all caution to the wind (no pun intended) and use commercial scent eliminators. I do what I can to eliminate my scent AND, I hunt the wind.

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.

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.

Can you fool a deer's nose? HELL NO!!! Not if the deer scents you. Can you lesson your chance of getting scented by a deer by being "an oz of crap rather than a TON of crap", yes you can.

Opinions are opinions. Science or PPM of scent molecules is science and facts IS facts.

IF YOU REDUCE YOUR SCENT MOLECULES, from a standpoint of physics, you reduce an animal's ability to detect you.

So my point... when you're in the woods, be an oz of crap and not a ton of crap. You cannot argue with the science of scent molecules in a PPM scale and the science of scent dilution.

I'll add I've never bought into the whole dogs have way less receptors than deer, therefor deer are superior "smellers" . When someone can prove to me all receptors are created equal I might. I know what a cold nosed hound can do and I've observed deer for 40+ years. If deer can smell better/longer than a hound , where there is any hunting pressure at all , they'd never move in daylight.

So you say you don't believe wildlife biologist's? I do, and because i do, thats why i don't buy into fooling a deer's nose. I used to dog hunt years ago and rabbit hunted as well. I've been around those same cold nosed hounds you speak of. And yes a deer has a better nose than those cold nosed hounds. Mature deer, don't move much during the day, in most places, except during the rut. Guess what? A polar bear can smell blood from like 20 miles away, so maybe they have better smell than a deer, don't know.