dave6x6

Oh no, i got sucked into another scent reduction post. I'll keep it brief. If your just into enjoying time in the woods then it doesn't matter if you swab yourself in Limburger cheese before you go out. My enjoyment comes from managing deer properties and hunting mature deer. It's pretty much yr. round. Every aspect of my "woods" experiences have something to do with managing and maintaining the healthy deer on our properties or clients properties, so my program includes a fair deal of scent control. BS to some who are at different stages of hunting or maybe get enjoyment in different ways than i do, but for me it's part of the equation. With two wonderful kids and limited time in the field, it makes perfect sence for you to just do what you can to limit your smells but just hunt smart like you already are. I think they help but they are not neccessary to fill tags or to be happy..

Few yrs. back we had some Mthr. ducker break into our camp. Cut the lock on the gate, broke in to the barn, stole two of my brand new ladder stands (good ones) and my brothers' kids 4 wheeler!! To this day it still boils my blood and every time i go to camp, I'm on the look-out for some punk riding that 4 wheeler. I'm sure it was local country kids and i know it's gone forever but it still bugs me when i think of some thiefs arss sittin' in my hard earned money stand.

Ryan, Hope you come up with something before the season starts. This can be a tough area to find spots. Wish i could help you out but your on a long list behind many of my friends. I thank god every season that i have my spots and they are low impact hunting only. Wouldn't want to be out there with all the lead slinging ya-who's. If you've never done the state land then give it a try. If you can get out during the middle of the week and get back in , you can have a good chance. I sometimes will do Rattlesnake or Sonyea and it ussually makes for a fun day even if no blood is spilled.

gjs, I understand and agree with almost everything you said. However I've done my own very unscientific experiments by putting stinky objects in scent-lok socks or whatever and taken a sniff with my very inefficient human nose, and it works. I don't know how, I don't care how. "just trust me here". So i do wear the stuff in the field for whatever slight reduction i may get. I also agree with your comment about trying to make a stand work that probably shouldn't be hunted. I think you nailed why many people buy the stuff after getting busted yr. after yr. Truth is they should move the stand with the wind advantage that they need, even if it doesn't appear to be as promising an area. They're success rates will certainly go up as opposed to trying to force the issue in an iffy wind stand . So just a few more comments and then i'll shut up. (maybe) I don't think the Scent-lok stuff is all that expensive.. Thats because i would never pay full price for any of it and neither should any of you. You can always find the stuff at 50% off or more at Cabelas. with the bargain cave and coupons, you can buy most of the pieces for about the same price as you would for stuff at Dicks or even Walmart. Also i find their garments fit and function to be worth the price anyway. So for me it works. I'll continue to hunt the wind and i'll continue to hang my stands at 20' or higher and hopefully i'll continue to shot mature deer, but if i do and it happens to have come in from down wind, i'm never going to be one of those guys that gives ALL the credit to some suit or scent eliminator. I'm humble enough to know that when you shoot a mature deer, there were probably a few unforseen events that worked in your favor that allowed everything to fall in to place. Some people do think that just putting the suit on is all they need. But there are also guys like me who already do all those tecniques that are essential to being a SMART hunter and then add the scent prevention on top of that. To me it's a no loose way of thinking.

Couldn't agree with you more bub !!

OK thats dissturbing..

Yea, he's a dandy alright..

Great looking pics sam.

G- man, your just killing me with you double standards. Us scent control users just got a lecture about the history of Indian hunting, and some sermon about Madison Ave, and this long winded observation about how gimmicks are just a lazy mans way of improving his hunting skill, (like were a bunch of boobs) and then i read your posts about using lighted nocks??? Are you saying you can't even track a wounded animal without the battery operated LED on the end of your shaft? What would Pocohontas think of her mighty hunter if she was married to you. Maybe soon they will come out with a gps devise that will be implanted on the deer when the broadhead stricks it and then you can just download the free AP on your i-phone to tell you where to look. Would that be a gimmick that you would buy? Did you have some sort of purist ,change of heart in between these two posts or is it just the gimmicks that other hunters try that you think are stupid.

Hey Canuck, Was wondering where you been. I figured when you get quiet with the posts that must mean you got something good in the works. I know that your track record proves that there are mature deer out there every year for the viewin' and the killin'. I'm also pretty sure you can tell a 10 or 12 or 14 long before he steps into the danger zone.

Nice looking bucks.. I agree with G-man about the velvet but i think your 115 minimum is safe with the 10 pointer.

I guess i was right about our "good hunter" scale being different. I know a bunch of jack arrsas that think that emptying their 12 auto at a running deer from 175yrds. is a ton of fun and they do it every chance they get. Your way is noble and i can tell you ARE a good hunter but your way does nothing for me personally. You will never hear me run you down for what you do or wear or look like when your after your trophy though. Hopefully we can both post up our pictures here in a couple of weeks, (you in your wool and me in my synthetic Scent-lok) and we can say to each other " Awesome job brother, tell me how it went down" .

I've shot and killed with ICS's , Easton epics, and Black Max Elites. Liked all of them but I love the Maxima's.. They seam to be very forgiving and track like a lazer. Probable improved my groups by 50%. Clanking those high priced arrows at 40yrds is great for your confidence but can get expensive. G-5's on the tip is a super strong combo for me.

Love the QAD. When i bought my new Hoyt last year i let the shop guy talk me into the Rip-Cord but after a week of problems i made him swap it for the QAD hd. Like someone said earlier, get the drop timed right and maybe a few micro adjustments for your particular shooting style and set up and you'll be shooting bullet holes in no time.. Lots of people love the simplicity of the biscuit.

Cabin Fever, Thanks for the great idea. I've got three or four of those plant holders collecting dust and your idea has sparked some new potential spots for the cams.. Simple but brilliant!!

NYA, the more i participate on this forum, the more i can appreciate where your at as a hunter. You have certainly reached a maturity in your hunting that i admire. Sounds like you've evolved into the hunter that makes you happiest and that is very cool. To some of the other recent posts, i don't see a big difference between hunting and courting.. To me they are both rediculous comments. And the measure of a good hunter should not be measured by what he wears on his back. By the way, who's scale are we using to judge these so called "good hunters". I'm sure my definition is different than some others. All the best hunters i know use some scent control and the Pope and Youngs and Booners to prove it to "me" . Some guys are more anal about it than others but in this notorious SZ , big buck county, thats the way us tree stand trophy hunters roll.

Don't get me wrong. I do think this particular guy is full of poop, but it respectfully disagree that if your seeing them you should be killing them, and i don't believe a deer needs to be in bow range to be able to count 14points or 12points. As far as killin' them goes, some people are just better at closing the deal than others. Some people just are not the hunters that most of us are and when the moment of truth comes they are either shaking like pudding or are not prepared enough to kill. It's after all not the same as throwing field points into your backyard target. Some guys don't even practice that. Last year i saw 4 different 10's an 11 and a 6x7 with split brows making him 15. I'm not proud of it but i didn't get any of them. (shot under the 15 from 40yrds) Thats huntin'..

Larry, Pretty heafty looking 8 there. Good luck to ya..

Yes, and i don't want to come across argumentative so glad you asked. I've read the scientific arguments about the extreme temps that are needed to "purge the carbon of the odor particals" and it very well may be true but i do think that you can re-generate their adsorption abilities to some extent. I'm really anal with my stuff. It only gets actually washed once or twice a year because it's hard to get dirty just sitting in a tree stand. I do throw everything in the dryer after almost every hunt especially headgear and gloves but often outerwear also because i store all my gear in big, airtight marine coolers during the hunting season and often times the heavy dew and moisture in the air makes everything a bit damp and i don't want to store things like that. Every wash and dry cuts the life of the garment and your guess is as good as mine as to when the thing is nothing more than a jacket with the scent-lok symbol on the chest. One thing i didn't mention is i find their garments as comfortable and functional as any other so i would wear them even knowing the carbon is no longer working. Again for me it's like lucky socks. I know i'm mental. I dont want to ever blame my scent control when i miss that chance at a slammin' buck. It's much easier to live with the "it wasn't meant to be" or "that buck didn't get to be that big by being stupid" excuse.

Boy this topic has been painful for me to read. I am the proud owner of a boat load of Scent-loc and am not ashamed to say i don't hunt without it. I'm not foolish enough to think i'm invincible like superman coming out of the phone booth but lets just say it gives me a confidence that some get from a pair of lucky socks. I also have a gore-tex rain suit. Is that alright with you non-lazy, purist hunters? I don't mean to sound snarky, but what is wrong with some of you? Passion for hunting drives people to do what is best for them. And to say it is somehow a quest to "buy" a buck or it's just laziness is rediculous. When you were dating and courting your wife, did you not shower and put on deodarant and maybe even cologne? I guess that would make you a John according to your logic. Simply a guy out there trying to buy love. After all, man has been reproducing for 10's of thousands of years without all these gimmicks so why do ya'll waist your money on things like that. If you were just more of a man then you wouldn't need those things. I mean "real" men just have to show-up with what God gave us and we'll get the job done but obviously the "rest of you wanna be men need to rely on non proven, store bought stuff to make up for what you are clearly lacking as a "man" Do you not see the sillyness of your statements as well as mine? JMHO

This guy is a piece of poop and is exactly the kind of guy that gives all us hunters a bad name. Hope he gets nailed by the DEC and never is allowed to disgrace any whitetail ever again. On the other hand, i can totally see the "i see 10-12-14 pointers every season. I do think he is stretching the every season part but i personally never even enter the woods without the Bushnells strapped to my chest. Every hunter is different when it comes to being able to recognize and count point on the fly. I personally am pathetic at it. I just look for Mature or Not and honestly can say that I have shot my last two big deer and they didn't have the points i thought when he was hit. One had less points and one had more. My buddy on the other hand can count them in a split second and is right on the money most of the time, even picking out split brows and stickers. I really just think it's a knack that some people just have and some don't. I don't OK maybe the 14's every year is Bull Schmidt..

I always take two weeks from work during hunting season. The first week in Nov. is always locked in though this year the calendar doesn't really help much because I either have to take the 30th-6th or the 6th-13th. In a perfect world i love the 2nd to around the10th but i think i'll go with the earlier week this year and hope things get cranked up a bit early. My second vaca. i usually take Thanksgiving week but last year i took it late and hunted all muzzleloader and had a blast. All the part time hunters are out of the woods by then and only the die-hards will brave the weather then. Think I'll do the same this year. So in total i'd say about 25 for bow, 8 or 9 for gun and 7 or 8 for late season. Both me and my wife hope a tag something early!!

Steve and nyantler, You make the statement that putting deer plots in to attract the deer and to" make them easier to kill" like it is some sort of bad thing.. I personally have never talked to anyone who has put in a food plot or is thinking about doing one that has stated his primary reason is to "help the deer" If people really felt that way then Whitetail Institute would be making a fortune selling seed to the anti's and PETA crowd instead of making a livin off hunters who like to attract and hold and kill deer. Clearly the food plots do indeed help the overall health of the deer so why shouldn't a plot guy be able to mention the benefit to the deer without being looked at as being insincere in his motives. The reason that food plots are so popular with so many different types of hunters is because their benifits are great for both hunter and herd alike and that seems to be a good deal for me. As a matter of fact, i would say that the only thing you CAN guarantee yourself if you put a plot in is that the deer will benefit..

Yea, not really a big fan of doing stuff like soap. Not really a fan of doing anything that discourages the deer from wanting to spend every minute of the year on my properties. It's like kicking your girlfriend to the curb. When you get lonely and go to look for her, she tells you the guy up the street has everything she needs so why should i come back to you jack?? It's the same with deer. Never give them a reason to look elsewhere. Spoil them with more that enough food, more than enough privecy, more than enough shelter, and just enough girlfriends and you will hold them yr. round.

Sorry i got into this post kinda late but i sure hope you saved those oak trees. I dont care how many you have on your property unless they are to the point where you can have them logged for some income. Even the beech would be hard for me to take a saw to if they are healthy and producing nuts. That being said i think i would take everything out that you can and then do like growalot suggested and go with an annual. You mentioned a perrenial clover/chicory mix which is one of my favorite combos in the right soil but looking at the pictures it might not thrive for you. In general , they like a heavy soil that holds it's moisture and your plot looks to be on a slope. If that combo does not work, don't be discouraged or blame it on the lack of sunlight. I think you might have to experiment a bit with the annuals but i'm pretty confident you will find one for that spot. I've had great luck with Secret Spot on my hunting properties in areas that look even shadier than yours. P.S. Get the soil right or nothing will grow. The sunlight already has you at a disadvantage so you need to do everything else right.