Syracuse.com - Deer hunting for these bow hunters starts with trying to make themselves "scent free"

[HuntingNY-News]

Bow season in the Southern Zone opens Monday.

John Berry/The Post-StandardPatrick Grady says he's a "scent-free Nazi" when he's bow hunting.

Craig Giancola remembers the days when bowhunters had all sorts of home-made methods to make themselves “scent-free” to hunt deer.

“I’d wash myself and my hair with baking soda. I used to wash my clothes in it as well, and hang them out to air dry and then put them in plastic bag afterward,” the Lafayette resident said. “And before I went out, I’d splash baking soda on parts of my body that perspired — even on my face. I used to look like Casper the Friendly Ghost.”

Today, there’s all kinds of clothing, soaps and shampoos, deodorant, scent elimination sprays, toothpaste — and even special gum to chew on to take away, or reduce any odor that a deer might latch on to. Those who hunt, particularly those who’ve been “busted” by a deer while on the ground or in a treestand when the wind blows the wrong way, know how important it is to attend to their smell.

“A buddy of mine once said, ‘Just image a deer as one big giant nose walking through the woods with four legs.’ Ever since then, that’s the way I look at it,” said Randy LaManche, of Marcellus.

Hunters who use bows and firearms both know about the importance of watching their smell, and for that reason often position themselves upwind of deer. The reason bowhunters pay particular attention to it is that they need to get a lot closer to a deer to make a good, fatal shot. No one wants to hit a deer, causing a non-fatal wound.

Brian Underwood, a research wildlife biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said deer “have a highly acute” sense of smell.

“It’s there number one defense mechanism. For deer, it’s nose, ears and eyes, in that order,” he said.

Patrick Grady, of Baldwinsville, says he’s been a “scent-free Nazi” while bowhunting for the past five years.

John Berry/The Post-StandardGrady said he often eats an apple on the way to his tree stand to reduce the smell of his breath.

“You need to get them (the deer) pretty close,” he said. “I don’t have thousands of acres to hunt and I’m in the same tree stand all season. Once you compromise your spot, the deer will be thinking, ‘Look at you hunter. Hmm. He’s up there again — and stay clear.”

Grady said wears rubber boots and sprays them down with scent removal spray and only wears them while hunting. He washes his hunting clothes with a special, odorless detergent. He throws them in the drier and uses special drier sheets that leave a “fresh earth” (dirt) smell in is clothes. He stores his gear in a in closed, plastic container and only gets it out to hunt.

The day of the hunt, Grady continued, he washes himself with odorless soap, wiping himself down with a towel that’s also been washed with special detergent. He also uses special, anti-bacterial deordorant (an anti-perspirant) and a ordor-less toothpaste.

“And when I drive to where I’m hunting, I wear minimal clothes — and carry a bottle of mouthwash in the truck,” he said. Once he gets to his hunting spot, he takes the plastic bin out and starts dressing near his vehicle, spraying himself down after each layer of clothes. Walking out to his tree stand, he added, he takes extra caution to not perspire and often eats an apple as an extra guard against bad breath.

Once in his tree stand, he said he rarely, if ever, urinates.

“I usually skip coffee in the morning,” he said. “I joke that I’ll probably die of dehydration before I shoot a big buck.”

LaManche is Grady’s hunting buddy and his anti-scent hunting protocol is just as extreme. While drying his hunting clothes after a wash, LaManche said he throws in pantyhouse stuffed with leaves and pine needles to give his clothes “that natural smell.”

Fay Sorrells, of Bridgeport, has been bow hunting for 40 years and is a firm believer in the need to reduce any odors on himself, or on his clothes that might tip off a deer .

“As a bowhunter, you try to cut their senses down (to your presence) – essentially try to become invisable,” he said. “Frankly, I stop using any scented soaps or deordorants about a month before the season begins.”

Giancola said before he started his “scent-free” approach to bow hunting, deer would be “blowing me ... some 100 yards away. They’d snort, spin and whirl away.”

Not today, he said.

“Now I can get them within my circle of death, which is about 25 yards away,” he said.

All the hunters interviewed said they’ve encountered skeptics.

Jeff Boardwell, who owns the Legends of Fall archery supply shop in Tully, says the scent-less approach has been fruitful, as he’s arrowed “lot of nice deer over the years.”

He remembers one fall when he and two buddies were hunting out in Illinois. Each day they washed their clothes in special detergent and hung everything out to air dry outside of their cabin.

“One of the other hunters thought we were over the top and joked that our cabin looked like a yard sale,” he said. “But guess what? We go three nice bucks and nobody else got anything.”

LaManche conceded deer hunters have numerous approaches.

“You have some guys who buy into this ‘scent-free’ thing 100 percent, some are in the middle — and some who smoke cigarettes and eat their lunch in their tree stand and think that’s just fine,” he said. “It all comes down to what kind of hunter you want to be.”

Season opener: Monday marks the opening of the bow hunting season for deer in the Southern Zone. The season lasts until Nov. 16. The Northern Zone opener was Thursday and that season lasts until Oct. 19.

Anti-scent products: Chain stores like Bass Pro Pro Shops and Gander Mountain carry a wide variety of clothing and scent reduction detergents, soaps, shampoos, toothpastes and gum. A recent newcomer to the scene is Bridgeport resident Mike Paduano’s line of products called “Slay Odor Neutralizer.” He sells head to toe body wash and shampoo; concentrated, odor-removing laundry soap and a special field spray. For more on Paduano’s products, see his company's website.

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog