Best way to hide human odor while hunting.

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  • YoungMarine

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    Dec 4, 2013
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    W. Feliciana
    Lot of good info here. Playing the wind is most important. I use generic, cheap unscented detergent for hunting clothes and unscented body wash on the morning before hunt, but have used normal scented varieties for years and still killed deer. Been using the homemade vanilla extract described above for over 20 years with good results. One part vanilla to 4-8 parts water. The stronger you make it the more it works like an attractant, rather than a cover up. I spray it on the bottom of my boots and whole body right before going to stand and every year have had deer walk right up to the tree while following the vanilla smell it and nipping the grass I stepped on. Also, try not to sweat a lot walking to stand (even on very cold mornings I will take layers off while walking and put them back on once I get on stand). Good luck.
     

    thindogg

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    Dec 20, 2016
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    2 parts of the body that produce odor are the hair and mouth. Many hunters overlook those and they actually retain and produce more scent than the rest of the body that's covered with clothes. I've been able to stalk deer for several years and take them with a handgun, but I make sure of my approach and stay as downwind as possible.
    Washing your hunting clothes even down to socks and underwear and hat in the scentless sport wash helps, but there's nothing like line drying outside and immediate placement in a plastic bag until the hunt. I use the big ass ziplock bags.
    Pay attention to your boots as well. I usually hit a few mudholes on the walk in to cover my footprint.
    Empty your bladder before you dress for the hunt. One drop of pee on your pants or shoes will give u away.
    I do use HS scents body wash in the shower and baking soda water for mouth rinse.
    I hunt where nobody else treads so I've had to be aggressive in hiding my scent. In areas of heavier human traffic you have an advantage as the deer are more accustomed to some residual scent and a little less spooky.
    If you hunt your own property or a lease, take advantage of doe days and any opportunity to kill off any mature nanny does. They are your biggest tattle tale. While a mature buck will simply avoid you if he smells you, those old does will send out the alarm to any other deer in the area.
    Lastly, take advantage of the weather and time of day. I keep a dependable old shotty and an old .444 marlin handy for rainy day hunts. I love walking on rainy days and have killed many deer on a slow stalk through the woods in light rain. They will not wind you then and usually stay on the hoof.
    What about windless days? Some days there just doesn't seem to be a breeze at all. Carry a few cotton balls and pull a whisp to track any air current at all.
    In the mornings, as the floor starts to heat up, your scent will rise. Use that to your advantage. If you are in a climber, try to get 16-25 feet above the floor if the canopy allows visibility at that height. On evening hunts as things cool down, your scent will be held low to the ground and disperse. Ground blinds will keep your scent from spreading to a large extent.


    wow, thats fir sharing your experiences , i will certainly keep this in mind while in the woods.
     

    thindogg

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    Dec 20, 2016
    29
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    Iowa
    Lot of good info here. Playing the wind is most important. I use generic, cheap unscented detergent for hunting clothes and unscented body wash on the morning before hunt, but have used normal scented varieties for years and still killed deer. Been using the homemade vanilla extract described above for over 20 years with good results. One part vanilla to 4-8 parts water. The stronger you make it the more it works like an attractant, rather than a cover up. I spray it on the bottom of my boots and whole body right before going to stand and every year have had deer walk right up to the tree while following the vanilla smell it and nipping the grass I stepped on. Also, try not to sweat a lot walking to stand (even on very cold mornings I will take layers off while walking and put them back on once I get on stand). Good luck.

    i sure would love an attractant, this is such a good news to my ears.
     

    Goatwhiskers

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    Here's one that actually works: Pick up some Nullo at any drug store. This is a chlorophyll product used by ostomate patients, keeps the poop from stinking. Really! Take it till yours doesn't stink, you're halfway there. As others said, clean clothes washed in no scent soap, bathe with same. Powder your body with a mixture of corn starch and soda, kills skin scent. I've used this method for years. In my experience attractants are made to sell, not to use. GW
     

    Emperor

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    Mar 7, 2011
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    Nether region
    Deer are programmed to avoid human odors. So it is best not to let them smell human odors. But it is more complicated than most understand scientifically so keep it in it's simplest terms. Some people believe that deer can smell cigarettes, beer, chewing tobacco, ****, ****, etc. Think about how silly that all seems. A deer has a brain the size of a plum. Do you really believe that a deer walks along in the woods, approaches a beer can and says to itself, "Hey, that's what beer smells like!" No! It is not the cologne or the hair spray they smell, it is the inherent human odor underneath all of that stuff.

    The only way to fool a deer's nose is to not give it's nose anything to smell. And that means no human odor. I believe they smell testosterone molecules from men more than anything else. Those of you that have watched your kids come up hunting may have noticed that your kids never got busted (blown by a deer), when they were young, but once their nuts dropped at puberty the jig was up. My kid never smelled like a man until that day.

    So, I can show you all pictures of the many 5+ year old deer that I have killed if you need the proof, but what I do is simple. When rifle hunting, I hunt high enough where scent is not a factor. When I bow hunt I do not hunt when my kill zone is down wind. I do use a spray on scent killer (I like; Dead Down Wind), and an Ozonics in the bow stand, and I must say it does help. I wash my hunting clothes in Oxy Clean non scented, and leave them outside hanging in a tree.

    I also: Go in like a ghost! Go up like a ghost! Hunt high! Come down like a ghost! Leave like a ghost! No noise! No incidental contact with trees, bushes, etc.

    And finally, think about geometry and wind. Your odor molecules will not stick to inanimate objects unless you touch those objects. So, where ever you stand in the wind, that scent will spread as far as the wind can carry it. If you walk perpendicular to the wind direction, you are spreading a wall of scent through the woods. Think how a wake from a boat works. Ideally, I want the wind to be in my face from the time I get off my bike till the time I am up the tree, but I do not fret the wind being at my back either. If it is at my back, it will only last until I get up that tree. The smaller the profile (wake), of initial scent the better.
     

    thindogg

    *Banned*
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 20, 2016
    29
    1
    Iowa
    Here's one that actually works: Pick up some Nullo at any drug store. This is a chlorophyll product used by ostomate patients, keeps the poop from stinking. Really! Take it till yours doesn't stink, you're halfway there. As others said, clean clothes washed in no scent soap, bathe with same. Powder your body with a mixture of corn starch and soda, kills skin scent. I've used this method for years. In my experience attractants are made to sell, not to use. GW


    thanks a lot we love new method that are practical and sure work well.
     

    thindogg

    *Banned*
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Dec 20, 2016
    29
    1
    Iowa
    Deer are programmed to avoid human odors. So it is best not to let them smell human odors. But it is more complicated than most understand scientifically so keep it in it's simplest terms. Some people believe that deer can smell cigarettes, beer, chewing tobacco, ****, ****, etc. Think about how silly that all seems. A deer has a brain the size of a plum. Do you really believe that a deer walks along in the woods, approaches a beer can and says to itself, "Hey, that's what beer smells like!" No! It is not the cologne or the hair spray they smell, it is the inherent human odor underneath all of that stuff.

    The only way to fool a deer's nose is to not give it's nose anything to smell. And that means no human odor. I believe they smell testosterone molecules from men more than anything else. Those of you that have watched your kids come up hunting may have noticed that your kids never got busted (blown by a deer), when they were young, but once their nuts dropped at puberty the jig was up. My kid never smelled like a man until that day.

    So, I can show you all pictures of the many 5+ year old deer that I have killed if you need the proof, but what I do is simple. When rifle hunting, I hunt high enough where scent is not a factor. When I bow hunt I do not hunt when my kill zone is down wind. I do use a spray on scent killer (I like; Dead Down Wind), and an Ozonics in the bow stand, and I must say it does help. I wash my hunting clothes in Oxy Clean non scented, and leave them outside hanging in a tree.

    I also: Go in like a ghost! Go up like a ghost! Hunt high! Come down like a ghost! Leave like a ghost! No noise! No incidental contact with trees, bushes, etc.

    And finally, think about geometry and wind. Your odor molecules will not stick to inanimate objects unless you touch those objects. So, where ever you stand in the wind, that scent will spread as far as the wind can carry it. If you walk perpendicular to the wind direction, you are spreading a wall of scent through the woods. Think how a wake from a boat works. Ideally, I want the wind to be in my face from the time I get off my bike till the time I am up the tree, but I do not fret the wind being at my back either. If it is at my back, it will only last until I get up that tree. The smaller the profile (wake), of initial scent the better.


    amazing analyses here, i will agree with you on the puberty things, when kids dnt smell like humans then deers will not be spooked by their smell. youngster smell different from adult even to me...from now on i will just have my son hunt while i stay home and watch TV. Lols
     
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