So how careful are you storing hunting clothes

[luberhill]

I usually hang mine out in my gazebo a day or so and then just store in a big plastic bin with sent wafers 

Other guys just seem to toss into the back of the truck ..

Others spray down everytime they go out etc …

 

[airedale]

I have a large metal double door of what one would call a wardrobe that I keep in my shop building, most of my hunting clothes are hung inside that wardrobe. I do not do anything special for odor as I firmly believe a deer's nose can not be defeated. I regularly spray down everything with permethrin, after contracting Lyme disease I am paranoid. I also favor wearing a lot of wool hunting clothes and the permethrin seems to keep away any moths just as good as mothballs and does not have the strong after odor.

Al

[rob-c]

I store / keep ours out in our shed 24-7. Only other stuff is camping gear in the shed . Hunting Boots are put on at lease and taken off before getting in truck . 

Edited October 8, 2023 by rob-c

[genesee_mohican]

My A clothes are all scent lok and merino wool. I put the scent lok in the dryer to recharge the carbon, then store it all in an air tight bin.

My B clothes are washed in All Free and Clear and stored in an air tight bin or hang in my man cave/shop. 

[grampy]

I have many large bins where everything is separated according to base, medium and outside layers. All gets washed in scent free soap. And sprayed with Permethrin. I don't go crazy with scent control. As Al said above, there is nothing you can do to beat a deers nose. But.....I  don't want to smell like an old goat either. 

[Doc]

I wear whatever is hanging on the hooks down in my basement and is appropriate for the weather for the day. I have not been obsessive about scent other than wind direction compared with how I expect the deer to come into range. The best defense involving scent is to try to make sure that your scent never gets to the trail, by paying very close attention to wind direction, including thermals.

[airedale]

No matter how scent free my clothing can be my firearms scent would negate any effort, the chemicals  used to maintain them like Hoppes, Ballistol, Frog Lube, etc. all stink to high Heaven.

Al

Edited October 8, 2023 by airedale

[Four Seasons]

15 minutes ago, airedale said:

No matter how scent free my clothing can be my firearms scent would negate any effort, the chemicals  used to maintain them like Hoppes, Ballistol, Frog Lube, etc. all stick to high Heaven.

Al

Exactly.  Money grab by camo makers. Guy walks around in a $1000 outfit and carries a Stinky turd in his hand. Wash as needed and play the wind. Scent free soap. Ok. 

[GreeneHunter]

I spray everything down with Permethrin once before the season and after the daily hunt I hang whatever in the shed , probably spray down again mid season !

[New York Hillbilly]

Early on I was a fanatic. Used to keep the few hunting clothes I owned in garbage bags filled with apples and leaves from the trees I used to sit under, hunting from the ground. As time went on and I took to the trees I get a lot more relaxed about it. Still hang my clothes on the open back porch, and watch the wind. 

[genesee_mohican]

  Playing the wind is #1 of course, it's a no brainer and is taken into consideration always which is why I have 12 tree stands set up for different wind directions. 
 Keeping our scent to a minimum is a LOT of work. During bow season I have maybe 4 days a year where I sit all day and want to give it everything I got, so I take several steps to keep odor to a minimum. Scent elimination spray on all gear, shower with scent removal soap, brush teeth with hydrogen peroxide and baking soda. 
 Scentlok clothing helps too and for a couple hundred bucks (buy when it's on sale) one can take another step to minimize human odor. That's just me. Deer need to be close during bow season. I know I can't totally eliminate my odor but I'm smart enough to know that with a lot of work I can keep it to a minimum.

 

 

 

[knehrke]

5 hours ago, genesee_mohican said:

My A clothes are all scent lok and merino wool. I put the scent lok in the dryer to recharge the carbon, then store it all in an air tight bin.

My B clothes are washed in All Free and Clear and stored in an air tight bin or hang in my man cave/shop. 

I also washed hunting clothes in All Free and Clear, since that's what we use at home normally, but then I recognized that despite not having perfumes and such, it still has brightening agents. Brighteners convert UV to blue light, and since deer can see further in  that part of the spectrum than we can, the more brightening agent in the clothes, the more you will "shine". Hence, I decided to go back to the Dead Downwind stuff.

I don't know if this made any practical difference, but I'll spend the $10 for a season's worth of peace of mind.

As for firearms scent, I don't know if deer perceive that as an alarm signal., since deer don't seem to care about farm equipment for example. I don't actually know though.  I know that I worry more about human scent.

Edited October 8, 2023 by knehrke

[cas]

3 hours ago, airedale said:

No matter how scent free my clothing can be my firearms scent would negate any effort, the chemicals  used to maintain them like Hoppes, Ballistol, Frog Lube, etc. all stink to high Heaven.

 

If you accidentally washed your hunting coat in Tide, would you wear it in the woods or would you clean it again a time or two with scent free stuff before taking it in the woods?

There are several options for "scent free" gun oil.  It was something I thought about for years, marketing a more "hunter friendly" oil, maybe smell like apples or something. Finally looked into it and found a couple scent free options. One brand name I don't recall off hand, the other being sold by Dead Downwind. I've used them for a few years now. More reverently however Lucas has started selling a scent free hunters oil for a fraction of what the others do. I buy lots of the little bottles and give them away to friends and family. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by cas

[airedale]

When it comes to maintaining my firearms I do not mess around with fads, I use what is proven and known to be the best. Anyone that wants to use scent free cleaning solvents and maintenance oils can have at it, it is a free country last I knew.

My wife washes my clothes with whatever and the wool gets dry cleaned and all are saturated in permethrin. I know for a fact that you can not defeat a Deer's sense of smell so I use the terrain and watch the wind, never have a problem finding and killing a Deer if I want one but I am just a meat hunter.

Al

Edited October 8, 2023 by airedale

[wolc123]

I don’t pay much attention to my hunting clothes, other than having a “scentfactor” , light camo jacket, that I assume is supposed to create some type of scent barrier.  I hang it out in my hunting room, when I’m not wearing it, with my other stuff.  I don’t want to wash that one too much, because I think that might weaken the “scentfactor” containment system.  
 

I don’t remember ever washing it, and it’s maybe (5) years old.  It never really gets dirty.  I let my wife wash several different pairs of bibs, when they get dirty, in regular clothes detergent.  I do spray those with Sawyers after every wash, (maybe 2x per year on average).

I shower with scent free soap, every other day when I’m on hunting vacations, and I always try to play the wind.   I apply Evercalm to my boots, prior to walking in to my blinds, and I open the stick and lay it down up there when I get into position.  
 

As far as playing the wind goes, one thing that has helped me greatly the last few years, is using a closed cab vehicle to get downwind of the deer prior to my walk in.  That is more effective than an open atv or side by side (plus old cars and trucks that no longer pass state inspection are much cheaper than open atvs or side by sides).  
 

That trick works in all three of my hunting spots.  At home, the town highway crew excavated the ditches and made nice wide, well-drained lanes to the far corner of our farm.  If I get a NE wind, I can be on the SW corner in minutes with my old Durango 4x4, even after a heavy rain, and the deer have no clue what’s hitting them.  
 

Over at my parents place, I can drive my “on road” vehicle into the trailer park around the corner and walk in from the back side, from a dead end trailer park road that butts right up to their woods.  
 

I left my old 4x4 pickup truck up at my father in laws place, in the Adirondacks, when it would no longer pass state inspection. He uses it for plowing snow in the winter, and I use it to get downwind of the deer in the fall, on the old logging roads that he maintains year round up there.  
 
I also believe that there is no fooling a deer’s nose, and if you can’t get into position from downwind, you may as well stay in the house. 

Edited October 9, 2023 by wolc123

[New York Hillbilly]

26 minutes ago, airedale said:

My wife washes my clothes with whatever and the wool gets dry cleaned and all are saturated in permethrin. I know for a fact that you can not defeat a Deer's sense of smell so I use the terrain and watch the wind, never have a problem finding and killing a Deer if I want one but I am just a meat hunter.

Same here.  Wife washed everything in Tide and been hanging for about two weeks on back porch in the breeze.  
Had does all around me this morning and a couple yesterday. 
 

We used to laugh years ago,  when I got a couple really nice bucks on evening hunts after hanging out for lunch at my buddy Mario’s  pizza place in Oriskany Falls. I used to tell him I had to get the smell of his pizza sauce on me to get the deer to come to me.  Lol 

[Doc]

I have a secret weapon that helps me out  with scent control. Well, actually it really is not much of a secret anymore. The assist that I count on is in a little baggie that holds my collection of milkweed seeds. I've used them for years. They not only tell you where your wind is taking your scent at your stand, but they also float dozens of yards to tell you where your scent is going after it leaves your stand and gets redirected several times after it has gotten blown around by stray thermals and other ground features that can  change what you think is the obvious wind direction. I find it a lot more useful to know exactly where your scent is going that to struggle and spend big bucks trying (in vain) to erase or cover it.

[Daveboone]

 I try to hang my bibs/jackets, etc. outside in the air for a few days , away from buildings, then store in a large tupperware tub. No "scents" , or cover scents, etc. Myself, I hate "air fresheners" or anything of the sort...to me, it just smells like...chemicals. I am sure the "natural scents" cover scents, etc. smell the same to deer. I will put some broken pine branches, leaves, etc. from the area I am hunting in my storage container, Otherwise...hunt the wind. 

[fasteddie]

I put my bow hunting clothes in plastic totes . I often use the "fresh earth" scent wafers . When I use to hunt on my son's property in Italy Valley , I would collect some oak leaves and acorns and put them in with my clothes . 

[Hock3y24]

I used to be very careful, now I don't even bother. They stay hung in the second garage. Hunt stands based on where the milkweed goes. I've seen no difference in success/ getting winded. 

[ridgerunner88]

My daughter went out the other night in purple sweatpants and shot her buck. Her scent control regiment includes nail polish and wax warmers in her room lol.

I do though have my stuff in a tub, more for organization and clutter control, scent control is a minor side benefit.


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[Moho81]

I wash everything in scent free detergent and put it in plastic tubs. If they get dirty or I sweat a bunch in them I'll rewash them but that's all I do. Nothing related to deer hunting ever makes sense. Just when you think you know what your doing you realize that you in fact have no idea what you are doing.

[GGNYC]

I don't worry about it too much. I hunt from a wall tent and go a week without a real shower. Sponge bath, wool base, and outer layers for me. I keep the clothing away from the cooking as much as possible, but it's far from foolproof. I'm still-hunting the big woods in the ADKs so I'm not in a treestand, but mostly headed into the wind where possible. When I used to bow hunt in from a stand I was attempting the scent-free (wash, rubbermaid tub, etc.) routine. 

[chrisw]

If I'm not wearing them they're in a scent bag with a bunch of fresh earth wafers. I try to minimize scent but I'm not hardcore about it, I focus more on hunting the right winds. I also generally hunt quite high which helps, 25' typically.

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[cas]

On 10/8/2023 at 7:03 PM, cas said:

More reverently....

Recently.  Thanks autocorrect