Scent Killer Sprays...

[BellR]

Saw this article in my inbox, thought I would post it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

 

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2015/10/can-scent-elimination-sprays-beat-the-nose-of-a-drug-sniffing-dog?dom=fas&loc=todayonfas&lnk=IMG&spMailingID=23768545&spUserID=ODY3ODQ1Mzc0NzMS1&spJobID=661672281&spReportId=NjYxNjcyMjgxS0

 

Basically says don't waste your money on scent killer sprays, they don't work at all.  I always wondered if they were worth the effort, I think this year I'm not going to bother.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Thats not a new article, it pops up every year. Deer arent trying to track you down like the dog is, so its not exactly apples to apples.

 

My theory on it is that you cant get rid of your scent completely, but you can cut down its intensity, which most likely makes it seem as though your scent is older than it really is, making the deer less freaked out by it. You still have to play the wind, but if a deer thinks you are further away because theres not as strong of a scent, then the chance of them getting and staying closer to you when they are downwind is that much better.

[BellR]

Didn't know it had been around a while, and I agree, not exactly apples to apples.   On the other hand, not even close to the results you would expect if the scent killers did anything close to what they said.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Yeah, you cant believe everything the commercials tell you lol.

[Five Seasons]

It doesn't break my bank to buy a bottle every season. The way I look at it, it doesn't hurt.

[dbHunterNY]

i don't really spend that much on scent sprays, body & hair wash, and laundry detergent.  get them on sale usually.  im with WNYBuckHunter in that I'm aware of more honest expectations.  i can reduce my scent enough to make a deer hang around a handful of seconds or more longer downwind.  sometimes it's enough to allow me to get a shot off on that deer or a deer upwind in front of me.  it's like catching a whiff of something in the breeze and stopping to think where it came from or what it is, versus somebody opening up a neglected gym bag in your face.  reactions and actions from the smell are very much different.

[turkeyfeathers]

I have some acorn scented cover up spray . I'll spray my pants and boots down before heading into my stand. Hmm, now that I think of it, wonder what the deer think of it as there is NO acorns in the area ?!

[Caveman]

I'm not big on scent killers, but I will use cover scents. Typically, I'll put my hunting clothes in a Rubbermaid contained with cut pine boughs and dirt. Then let it soak in for a few weeks and hunt. The deer I shot last year was shot from the ground 12 feet away so I couldn't have stunk like human too bad.

[DirtTime]

I agree cover scents are a better way to go. But, it depends where you are hunting how much you really need to be concerned on the issue.

If you are hunting an area in the burbs like The Albany Pine Bush which is surrounded by gas stations, major roads, fast food joints, houses, office buildings, hiking trails, and even a mall, scent isn't all that much of an issue. Deer will be used to human interaction and the smells we emanate.

Now, if you are hunting the woods, 20 miles from the nearest city, then scent may be more of an issue. You can shower with all the stuff they advertise, buy all the scent crap you want, but, if you are packing in a climber and a pack to sit the whole day you are going to sweat. You want to cover your smell more the try to eradicate it. As there is no 100% way to make us smell like the woods. Maybe if you have food plots on the way in roll around in them, stick small pine branches in a pocket, or dirt. You wanna smell like the woods, you need to "smell" like the woods.

[turkeyfeathers]

I agree cover scents are a better way to go. But, it depends where you are hunting how much you really need to be concerned on the issue.

If you are hunting an area in the burbs like The Albany Pine Bush which is surrounded by gas stations, major roads, fast food joints, houses, office buildings, hiking trails, and even a mall, scent isn't all that much of an issue. Deer will be used to human interaction and the smells we emanate.

Now, if you are hunting the woods, 20 miles from the nearest city, then scent may be more of an issue. You can shower with all the stuff they advertise, buy all the scent crap you want, but, if you are packing in a climber and a pack to sit the whole day you are going to sweat. You want to cover your smell more the try to eradicate it. As there is no 100% way to make us smell like the woods. Maybe if you have food plots on the way in roll around in them, stick small pine branches in a pocket, or dirt. You wanna smell like the woods, you need to "smell" like the woods.

Pine scented air fresheners tied to me and all my gear !!!

[grampy]

One of the things I do while hunting from the ground is to grab some dirt in my hands and rub it on my outer layer and hat. Does it work? Dunno, but I figure it can't hurt and it costs nothing.

[BaldguyLee]

I hunt opening day Reg season on a maple syrup farm ( regular field crops too ). I joke with the other guys about squirting Mrs Butterworth's on my clothes as an attractant !

[beachpeaz]

I have some acorn scented cover up spray . I'll spray my pants and boots down before heading into my stand. Hmm, now that I think of it, wonder what the deer think of it as there is NO acorns in the area ?!

A deers nose is nothing like a human nose. Deer, Bear, Dogs, etc can breakdown scent and smell each layer. You may just smell acorn because that is the strongest, but a deer smells acorn, your clothes, what you ate, etc. it is said that their noses are complex enough to pick up 10 different scents at the same time.

So, yeah, "cover scent" only fools humans. Anyone who uses scent wafers, pee, acorn / apples, etc was taken.

[DirtTime]

A deers nose is nothing like a human nose. Deer, Bear, Dogs, etc can breakdown scent and smell each layer. You may just smell acorn because that is the strongest, but a deer smells acorn, your clothes, what you ate, etc. it is said that their noses are complex enough to pick up 10 different scents at the same time.

So, yeah, "cover scent" only fools humans. Anyone who uses scent wafers, pee, acorn / apples, etc was taken.

So, you think all the scent "killers" work? But not the "cover" scents? Just a curious question.

[SteveB]

So, you think all the scent "killers" work? But not the "cover" scents? Just a curious question.

I agree with him.

Possible to reduce scent - impossible to cover one from a deer.

How much reduction actually happens and how effective it is, is tough to measure.

[grampy]

This is why the #1 rule of deer hunting is, has always been and always will be. Keep the wind in your face as much as possible! Quite simple really, they can't smell you, even with those "super noses" if you keep yourself up wind of them!

But they can smell where you walk. Wind swirls and you have thermals to contend with. And they don't always follow the plan and come from where you think they will.

So that's why we call it hunting. Their noses against our brains.

[nyslowhand]

Very interesting testing parameters, but to base the (F&S) conclusions on a single dog's sniffing abilities... very inconclusive!!

 

Seen a lot of supposedly scientific data posted about a whitetail's sense of smell and vision. Other than testing on penned deer, how in the world do the biologist know for sure what a deer in the wild actually sees or smells???

 

One consideration no one has brought up about this debate is the intrusion factor of where you hunt. If you try to minimize your intrusions onto your hunting spots through out the year... Hell yeah, the deer's nose will p/u your odor. Whether using any scent-free process or not! If you are on your hunting property most of the year, like I am, they get used to your odor & pretty much depend on their other senses to tell if you're around, hearing & vision.

 

Surprised some one hasn't brought up the old urban hunting legend of decades gone by of sitting in a stand in your street clothing, smoking, drinking coffee and shooting as many deer as the modern day fully camo'ed, scent-free, super stealthy hunters do.

 

 

[Buckmaster7600]

I agree cover scents are a better way to go. But, it depends where you are hunting how much you really need to be concerned on the issue.

If you are hunting an area in the burbs like The Albany Pine Bush which is surrounded by gas stations, major roads, fast food joints, houses, office buildings, hiking trails, and even a mall, scent isn't all that much of an issue. Deer will be used to human interaction and the smells we emanate.

Now, if you are hunting the woods, 20 miles from the nearest city, then scent may be more of an issue. You can shower with all the stuff they advertise, buy all the scent crap you want, but, if you are packing in a climber and a pack to sit the whole day you are going to sweat. You want to cover your smell more the try to eradicate it. As there is no 100% way to make us smell like the woods. Maybe if you have food plots on the way in roll around in them, stick small pine branches in a pocket, or dirt. You wanna smell like the woods, you need to "smell" like the woods.

In my experience I have seen it the other way, my biggest buck came from the adk's and he smelled me and came to see what I was "I was 8 miles from the road" I have had numerous deer smell me and come closer to try to figure me out up there. Around home a deer gets your scent and most of the time they are gone.

[growalot]

Well the testing was flawed from the get go...they had the tester not spray down first in every instance..if I scanned that correctly... then once found go and spray down "heavily"....sure the dog found them...every living thing gives off a distinct odor...that dog had that testers specific odor already registered. yes the box test ...well I believe and science proves that dogs pick up on are energy fields...proof seizure alert dogs...anyways so that dog,Im sure could pick up on that..I mean it's trained to sniff out drugs and carriers/dealers..being alert to human energy could save it and it's handler...just saying...

[Doc]

So of course the question that needs to be asked is: "How do you prove to yourself that the scent removal sprays work"? You buy this stuff and spray it all over yourself, but what evidence is there that you really are doing anything at all other than wasting money and time. I mean, I could put plain old water in a spray bottle and sell it to you at some inflated price with a claim that it is a scent removal spray, and you would never know it. So like so many of the products sold to hunters, there is no way of verifying that it is what they say it is, or that it works, or any way of judging how well it is working or which one is better. I really hate those kinds of products, and for the most part do not buy them.

[growalot]

For one thing...like it or not, EVERYONE has a distinct odor..I don't care how often or with what ever fade smelling shampoo or soap you use...your "scent" will come through at days end..I shower and shampoo in no scent hunter speciality soap starting a week to two before the season until after the season....once I stop showering in that ..I have to get use to my own scent again..and even though others don't notice the difference..I'm living in my skin and it's very noticeable to me for at least a week until I get use to my self again. I mentioned this last year on here... So do sprays work ..I don't know...does the bathing stuff work ..no one will convince me it doesn't....

[jjb4900]

A deers nose is nothing like a human nose. Deer, Bear, Dogs, etc can breakdown scent and smell each layer. You may just smell acorn because that is the strongest, but a deer smells acorn, your clothes, what you ate, etc. it is said that their noses are complex enough to pick up 10 different scents at the same time.

So, yeah, "cover scent" only fools humans. Anyone who uses scent wafers, pee, acorn / apples, etc was taken.

exactly! it's like spraying air freshener in the bathroom after you destroyed it........lovely combination of Roses mixed with Sh*t.

[Five Seasons]

Most of the newer research I've seen has discouraged cover scents. The deers nose is to good. It can differentiate synthetic smells and also why "introduce" a smell that isn't normally there. There is no proof that eliminators work but at least I'm not adding anything to the woods.

[Five Seasons]

So of course the question that needs to be asked is: "How do you prove to yourself that the scent removal sprays work"? You buy this stuff and spray it all over yourself, but what evidence is there that you really are doing anything at all other than wasting money and time. I mean, I could put plain old water in a spray bottle and sell it to you at some inflated price with a claim that it is a scent removal spray, and you would never know it. So like so many of the products sold to hunters, there is no way of verifying that it is what they say it is, or that it works, or any way of judging how well it is working or which one is better. I really hate those kinds of products, and for the most part do not buy them.

None. But the investment is maybe $20 a year in soap, spray and detergent.

I think a lot of people don't buy into Ozonics because of the much larger investment.

[HuntOrBeHunted]

I pretty much spray my hunting gear down with the cheap scent off that smells like woods. Then just let it sit outside until im headed out I willl then throw it in a plastic bin and i'm set.