Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Aldeer General Forum Masking your smell

Trot, my question was aimed at blumsden, I'm in your camp. I'm thinking our guy that smells like he's worked on a chain gang in July will be detected much quicker by a deers nose than the guy that takes even limited scent precautions. The guy that takes precautions will have a few extra seconds and that deer may take a couple of steps needed for a shot.

2dogs... I agree with you. My point to blumsden is that everything is on a scale and it's not as simple as a yes or no... positive or negative.... dead or alive. I can smell a papermill much easier than I can a scented candle (at the same distance). It's about PPM parts per million. Limit the parts per million of scent molecules and you "may" (NOT ALWAYS!!!), you just may give yourself a few extra seconds or may... just may (NOT FOR CERTAIN) may get away with being scented by a deer at all.

I don't give up that easily on losing any battle. If I can lessen the scent I carry into the woods, then I do it!!! I do NOT bow down or give in to the false premise that there is nothing I can do about my scent so therefore, I don't even try.

I CAN make a difference in my scent detection so I go to great lengths to manipulate and change something I do have control over.

Does a deer that smells a person at 100 yds react the same to one he smells 800 yds away? I say no, the work you put in being scent less can make you smell like your 800 when your only a 100 yds away.

BOOM

if nothing else makes sense, this does. I don't go to extremes but do use scent free detergent and soap. Hunting clothes stay in air tight container until I get out of the truck. I personally don't use cover scents because i have been busted more using them than without. To each his own

I've been "rodeoin'" a long time, about 40 years to be exact. I hunt the same type terrain as I did 40 years ago, last 25 the same properties. The deer's noses were the same back then as they are now. I'm sure I know the animal much better now than say 25-30 years ago, but I sure don't think that's the only reason I "get busted" much less now. I do understand thermals and light air versus heavy air and our 3D mountain wind much better as of late. However, I'm convinced getting detected by deer less now, for the most part, is a direct result of my scent control efforts.

Whether some of what I do doesn't work and is not worth the effort, don't know, maybe, maybe not. What little scent control I do in total works, and doesn't break the bank, so I'll go on business as usual. My taxidermist sure as heck wouldn't want me to make any changes.

Smoke is how I mask my scent. When I think of smoke and hunting it's not always about smoking cigs. I won't claim it works 100% of the time, but I've had numerous deer downwind of me after "smoking up" my clothes and observed their reactions. They will usually throw their head up, scent check the air a few times, cautiously look around, and then go right back to whatever they were doing.

So, does a human that has been sitting by a campfire smell more like a human or a campfire?? From my experience I say campfire

Does a deer associate campfire or leaves/brush burning with danger? From my experience I say no

I still wash my clothes in scent/UV brightener free detergents, but I haven't bought into the other scent free hype. For me, I picked up a Bee smoker and use it to �smoke up� before hunting.