My no BS season long Ozonics Review

[ApexerER]

So while I was sitting in my treestand this past weekend wondering if my Ozonics was doing anything to help me or hurt me I decided I would log all of my hunts and try and draw conclusions. It should help me decide if this purchase was worth the money and if anyone else is thinking about the purchase it should help them as well. Due to work and other obligations I am generally only able to hunt weekends (mostly Sunday mornings) so this will only be updated about once a week.

Saturday Morning (10/1) I got to my treestand early, about 5:45. I wanted to set up my tree umbrella and the ozonics before first light. I got everything set up and turned the ozonics on....The ozonics was LOUD....it sounded like a drone flying over my head in the silent dark woods. I seriously thought about shutting it off but I decided I am going to give it a go. There was virtually no wind and the air was thick and heavy after a rain. Temp about 48 degrees. As soon as I could see a little bit I checked the wind and got the ozonics pointed in the right direction. I noticed if I moved my head just slightly away from directly underneath it, it was much quieter. Once the woods "woke up" I really didn't notice the noise of the ozonics very much. The noise it made that I kept thinking it sounded like was if you had a propane torch lit and just sitting there. Like a white noise. After a while I think my brain just ignored the noise...I didn't feel like it impacted my ability to hear the chipmunks and squirrels that still sounded as if a heard of deer were coming through. I still had squirrels running up and down the tree I was in, didn't seem like they noticed. At about 10am with no deer sightings I started to wonder if the ozonics was hurting me, but nobody else that was hunting was seeing anything either. Climbed down at Noon to get lunch and was back in the  saddle with the ozonics running by 2pm. I should mention after reading the directions the battery that came with the unit said it only lasts 4 hours on treestand mode. That is almost useless to me since I almost always sit until at least noon so I purchased an extended life battery that is suppost to last at least 8-10 hours in treestand mode. I sat from 2pm until dark. The ozonics ran the whole day on the XL battery so I didn't need to use the one that came with it. No deer sightings this day. Two of the 6 others hunting had deer encounters.

Sunday Morning (10/2) I got to my treestand about the same time as Saturday and got setup. Again the ozonics seemed loud until I got used to the noise. Wind was again very very light and seemed to be swirling. Temp about 51 degrees and again the air was think and heavy. At about 9 am I catch movement off to my right side (about 2 o'clock) Ozonics pointed about 4 O'clock and to my right with the very light almost no wind. I watch a fat Momma and her baby slowly feed toward me. I grab my bow and stand to get in position and wait. They are about 45 yds away. They feed toward me and look as if they are going to pass on my right. I decide I don't need a deer bad enough to shoot a momma with her baby and put my bow back on the hook and observe. The fawn feeds within 15-20 yds of me with momma following behind. The encounter lasts about 15 minutes as they feed from my right in front of me to my right in back of me. I am assuming they had to smell the ozone but I don't know. Wind was very light from my checking the wind it almost seemed like my scent would be rising but I don't know how that works exactly. They fed off without hearing the fan or alerting to my scent although I feel that is inconclusive with the conditions. About 10am I hear a commotion behind me and look to see several turkey running every which way. Some starting to fly. As all the turkeys but one have taken off I notice a coyote is stalking the last bird. As it flies off I wonder if the coyote is going to give me a shot and I grab my bow. He gives me a broadside shot at what I estimate is 35 yds. I aim a little high with my single pin site and drill him right in the side and roll him over. I was actually a little surprised I hit him and then I was mad at myself for even taking the shot. That was a shot I would not have taken on a deer (to far out of my range) so I should treat other animals with the same respect. I climbed down to finish him off since he was rolling around biting at the arrow. (he destroyed my arrow and I couldn't find my broadhead) I did find my lighted nock laying on the ground. I packed up after that and went home in time for my daughters soccer game.

First weekend conclusions. For anyone that is concerned about the health of having an ozone generator operating above their head, I don't see this as a concern. Maybe 5 times through the whole weekend I caught a wiff of ozone when the wind swirled. If you are using it correctly and it is pointed down wind you should never notice the ozone. The fan seems loud but you get used to it and are able to ignore it. It doesn't seem to hurt my ability to hear game. I had deer as close as 15 yds and they didn't seem to be able to hear the fan. I have no idea if it helped with my scent or hurt. I am not sure how I am going to prove that. I think I am going to pick up some "floaters" wind checkers so if I do have deer around me I decide I am not going to shoot I can check the wind and see if I can tell for sure if the deer cross my scent path. Otherwise I am afraid I will have to end every post with inconclusive as I am ending this one.

 

 

 

[Cabin Fever]

Nice. Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[phade]

Did you turn the unit upside down? I hear that is a suggestion for people.

[ApexerER]

6 minutes ago, phade said:

Did you turn the unit upside down? I hear that is a suggestion for people.

I did for a few minutes but it was kind of a misty day and didn't want to get the unit wet. I really didn't feel like it made much of a difference. I should have put that in the review...I will try again that again on a dry day...

[grampy]

First, congrats on the coyote!  And 2nd, thanks for your ozonic's system review. I don't believe anyone is looking for a scientific study, just an honest review. I really think you are doing a great job doing that. Keep it going! I'll be following your no BS, observations and reviews. Very interesting. 

[rob-c]

Keep up the good work I like average joe reviews ,and second don't give a second thought to that coyote. 

[ApexerER]

Sat  10/8 - in the stand and set up by 6:15. Wind once again very light and variable. Temp 55 degrees. The ozonics didn't seem as loud today. I checked a couple times to make sure it was on boost mode. Not sure if it is actually quieter (broke in) or if I am just used to it now. Before legal shooting light the wind was a steady light wind from the NW. Exactly the kind of wind I thought the Ozonics would be helpful in. Got the Ozonics pointed in the right direction and waited. Sat until 11am with no sightings. Ran to work (about 45 min away) for about a hour to take care of a few things and called the wife to see if we had any plans. I was annoyed about not seeing anything in the morning and although I had not intensions of hunting the afternoon I wanted to get back out. Got the OK and was back in the saddle by 2:30. Sat until dark with a steady wnw wind and had no deer sightings. I was the only one on the lease today so i can't compare my no sightings to others. The only thing I can say about the ozonics is, once again the XL battery lasted the whole day and the noise is not bothering me at all anymore.

Sun 10/9 - in the stand again and set up again at 6:15. Temp is 54 degrees but it feels much colder. The wind is a pretty strong NW wind and I have the ozonics set up and pointed the right direction. Again a day where I thought the ozonics would play a roll with the wind being steady. I sat until 10:30 am with no deer seen. I had to leave to make my daughters soccer game. Very disappointing to hunt the whole weekend with no deer. I can't remember that happening to me. 4 other hunting buddies were on the lease on Sunday and nobody saw a deer.

Was the ozonics helpful? Not this weekend....Did it hurt? Can't prove that either....

[nybuckboy]

Regarding no deer sightings. Thus far I have sat 4 times and today was the first time any deer have been sighted while in the stand. I don't think you can blame your machine at this point.

[beachpeaz]

You cannot fool a deer's nose.  These hunting shows that proliferate these contraptions are doing so for advertising dollars and show support.  Period.  The fact that a deer was "dead down wind" and didn't smell the hunter probably had everything to do with where the scent was going due to thermals and wind patterns.  Both of which a majority of hunters have no clue to when they climb in their stand.  I will keep my money, hunt smart and only hunt certain winds in certain stand sets.

[ApexerER]

45 minutes ago, beachpeaz said:

You cannot fool a deer's nose.  These hunting shows that proliferate these contraptions are doing so for advertising dollars and show support.  Period.  The fact that a deer was "dead down wind" and didn't smell the hunter probably had everything to do with where the scent was going due to thermals and wind patterns.  Both of which a majority of hunters have no clue to when they climb in their stand.  I will keep my money, hunt smart and only hunt certain winds in certain stand sets.

OK? Not sure what the point of this post is.....Why are you reading an Ozonics review?

[ApexerER]

55 minutes ago, nybuckboy said:

Regarding no deer sightings. Thus far I have sat 4 times and today was the first time any deer have been sighted while in the stand. I don't think you can blame your machine at this point.

I agree the ozonics was not to blame...but it sure didn't help either....lol  The deer just were not moving at our lease this weekend....

[ApexerER]

Saturday 10/15: In the stand and setup by 6:20 waiting for legal shooting light. It was a perfect morning with temp at 29 degrees and a very light steady wind. Got the ozonics pointed at my 2 o'clock. It took until about 8:15 to catch movement and see my first deer of the morning. I got the Binos up quick enough to see what I believe was a 3 pt with very dark antlers about 75 yds away moving through the woods. My Dad got me a new pair of Nikon Acculon 10x50s for Christmas last year. I thought they would be too big but they don't bother me at all with a harness. How I hunted all these past years with my $29 Bushnells I don't know. Good binoculars was an investment I should have made a long time ago. I would have never known what the deer was with out them. This was the first buck i have seen on stand this year. I tried throwing the kitchen sink at him trying to get him to come in but he would have none of it and quickly disappeared out of site.(I don't believe the ozonics played any role in this siting)  About 9:30 I decided to do a rattle and grunt sequence so I stood up and made some noise. I looked behind me in the stand and see what I think is a deer a good distance away so I get up the Bino's and it is a lone doe looking right at me. She decides she doesn't want to investigate and leaves immediately. (I again believe the ozonics had no effect on this siting) I sit back down mad at myself that the deer caught me moving so much in my stand. Start posting on the live thread and as I am writing I look up to see a deer headed down the top of the ridge toward me on my left side. I cast my phone aside, stand up and grab my bow. I quickly realize it is momma and fawn that I believe I have encountered (and let walk) before. At about 20 yds they cross right in front of my stand slowly browsing to my right about 15-20 yds away. They cross where my ozonics is pointed (about 2 o'clock) without incident. When momma gets to about 3 o'clock she looks right at me. Her Fawn is still about 2 o'clock and should be in the ozone stream. Momma and I have a staring contest for what seems like forever, I am trying not to even blink and I can see her trying to smell me. She starts playing the game where she goes back to feeding only to snap her head back up and stare at me. Finally she makes the decision that I am nothing and momma and baby go about their business feeding down past me. As soon as they are behind my tree and I can move I test the wind and it is going exactly where the ozonics is pointed. Now before I say the ozonics worked I have to say that I believe with the rising temps that thermals were most likely in my favor and it is very possible, maybe even probable that my scent would not have been reaching them even without the ozonics. What I will draw from this conclusion though is that since ozone is 30% heavier than the atmosphere that the deer had to have crossed the ozone path although I am not sure how I would prove that. So twice now while I believe thermals were in my favor both times, I have had this momma and fawn, I believe they are the same deer walk through my ozone stream and have no adverse reaction. I waited about 30 minutes to make sure momma and fawn were moved out and packed it in for the moring.

 

Sunday 10/16: Back in the saddle again by about 6:20 all setup and waiting on shooting light. Temp is 20 degrees warmer than Saturday at 49 degrees. It is breezy and i have my ozonics pointed down wind at about 9 O'clock. At about 8 am I catch movement and bring up the binos to see a large doe that looks to be alone off my 1 o'clock. When it gets to about 40-50 yds I stand up and grab my bow. I have a clump of trees that I can't see through in this position but I am expecting her to come out the other side about 35 yds away and if she stays on the path she was on she should cross my stand at about 25 yds at 4 o'clock position. She never shows on the other side of the clump of trees. Damn teleporting deer...she just disappeared. I figure she either bedded down or walked directly away keeping the clump of trees between us. At about 10am I catch movement again at about my 1 o'clock position and looking through the bino's I see a lone big doe that I believe is the same deer I saw earlier. It must have bedded and now it is up or it just came back. Or I guess it is possible that it is a different deer. I am watching about 75 yds away milling around not really getting any closer or farther away. A few minutes later I catch another deer coming in from my left, pretty quickly crossing in front of my stand about 40 yds out. I assume it is going to meet up with the doe but it doesn't. It slows down and starts browsing at about my 2 o'clock and slowly works its way around me on my right never coming closer than about 40 yds. At this point I am wondering if the single doe is momma that I have been seeing and this deer that was coming around me was her fawn. When I have seen them previously the momma was very dark and the fawn was light brown and this deer was light brown. I was having a hard time telling size without the mother right next to her so I couldn't be sure. At this point I have to leave to get to coach my daughters soccer team but I don't want to blow these deer out of here. I wait another 15 minutes after not seeing either of them and at this point if I don't leave right this second I am going to be late for the game. I sneak down as quietly as possible and literally try to tip toe through dry crunchy leaves. I make it about 40 yds from my stand and I see the deer standing looking at me about 35 yds away. The wind is in my favor and it just bounds off. At this point I am just glad I didn't get busted sitting on my stand, stop being quiet and high tailed it out of there to make it to soccer just as the game was about to start. I don't believe the ozonics played any roll in any deer seen today.

I guess this is basically becoming my season journal. Hope you guys don't mind....

[ApexerER]

So my one of my hunting buddies asked how my $300 dollar fan was doing this weekend. I thought that was funny, but I am still hoping to prove this does something...

Saturday 10/22 In the stand and set up a little before 6:30 am. Temp about 40. Just as I was deciding I was very glad I came out when everyone else didn't go it started pooring and the wind picked up. It was blowing so hard my tree umbrella did very little. My coat did a good job keeping me dry but my pants not so much. I took the Ozonics down before 7:30 because I didn't want to ruin it and packed it away in my back pack. Stuck it out until 10am and didn't even see a squirrel until 10 minutes before I headed out. It was the most miserable morning I can remember spending in the woods.

Sunday 10/23 I was excited for the morning hunt. I figured after more than 24 hours of crap weather the deer would have to be moving. I was in the stand and set up again before 6:30. Temp about 45. The wind was blowing but not super hard yet and seemed steady. I have another hunter closer to me than at any other time this year sitting in the oak stand across the ravine about 300-400 yds away. About 7:30 I have a small 3 pt come up out of the ravine behind me moving very quickly and go directly behind my stand and quickly disappear. Had this been a deer I wanted to shoot I don't think I could have grabbed my bow, stopped him and made a shot even though he was well within range. He came in directly up wind and I figured he winded the hunter on the opposite ridge and was vacating the area. About 10 min later I got a text that the hunter was out of the woods, that he got called into work furthering my belief the little buck was pushed. The ozonics played no roll in this siting. By 10 am the wind was blowing so hard that I decided sitting there was becoming dangerous and I didn't want a tree to fall on me. So I packed up and headed out. I have never had that happen to me before with wind so hard I didn't feel safe. Overall a pretty crappy hunting weekend.

[ApexerER]

Wednesday 10/26 - Temp about 45 degrees. I took advantage of the fact that I didn't have to get my daughter off the bus today. Blew out of work about 2:25 and was in the tree and set up around 3:15-3:30. I figured with all the wind and rain it would be the perfect afternoon sit. It was much windier than I was expecting and I had the ozonics pointed at 2 o'clock. The wind settled down for magic hour but I didn't see a deer. 4 guys hunted the lease this afternoon. 3 of us saw nothing and one guy saw 8. Much more than his fair share....We are going to have to talk to the deer about spreading the wealth. Once again, My $300 dollar fan did nothing for my hunt.

[ApexerER]

Well my daughters indoor soccer season has started which will put a damper on my Saturday availability going forward unless I miss a game.

Sunday 10/30 - Temps were much warmer than I was expecting starting the day at almost 50 degrees. In the stand and set up by 6:30. Ozonics pointed at 2 o'clock with a light steady wind about 5 mph. Exactly the type of wind that if the Ozonics does something it should take care of. I catch movement at about 8:15 and get the Bino's up to make out two doe about 80-100 yds away through the trees. I try watching them but they are tough to find through the timber even with the Bino's and they never came any closer. I am assuming it is the Momma and Fawn I have been seeing on numerous occasions but I can't be sure. About 9 am I catch movement at my 4 o'clock just in time to see a deer coming toward me. I stand, grab my bow as he changes angle to go behind me to my right. I try looking through the bino's and can tell it is a small buck, with its head down but never really get a good look as he moves quickly away. May have been seeking...If so that is the first sign of that I have seen. Around 10 am I catch movement again at my 4 o'clock and see a coyote sneaking in. Much larger than the one I took out on opening weekend. I slowly grab my bow and stand. I draw when he is what I estimate about 30 yds behind a clump of trees. He sticks his head out and just stops. I need another step or two to release an arrow but he is just frozen. Then he just bolt right back the way he came. He never looked my direction and I don't believe he could have smelled me so must have been a 6th sense. That's two coyote encounters this season. I have only ever seen one other coyote on this property and it was a quick glimpse as he came in and my treestand creeked and he was gone. Don't know if it is right place right time or if we have a larger population than normal. None of the other guys have had any sightings that I know of. Left about 11:30 to get some lunch. Back in the stand at 2pm. Started with some light rain showers quickly after even though hourly didn't show rain until 4pm. Sat until dark with no other encounters. I have yet to see a deer on an evening sit this season. Once again I don't believe the Ozonics played any roll with any encounters on this day. Hopefully things will be heating up. Looking forward to carry a crossbow afield for the first time next weekend.  

[ApexerER]

Saturday 11/5 - First day ever carrying the crossbow afield. Cumbersome weapon for sure. In stand and setup at 6:45 waiting on sunrise. Temp about 38 Degrees...Rare SE wind so ozonics is pointed about 9 o'clock. Very slow morning (had such high hopes for the day). At about 10am I had two deer burst out of the ravine to my left at 100mph. One ran the top of the ridge toward me the other directly away. The one that went past me was a doe. She sprinted past me about 75 yds, back down the ravine, partly up the other side and basically back where the first deer went without ever slowing down. I grab the crossbow ready for whatever chased them out of there but nothing ever showed. I sit until 11:30 and go grab some lunch. Back in the stand by 1:30pm and sit until dark with no other deer seen. Disappointing day for sure. Ozonics did nothing of course...

Sunday 11/6 - Time change (yuck). In the stand and setup by 5:45. Temp about 40 degrees and wind is back to a normal NW so Ozonics is pointed about 2 O'clock. About 8:30 or so I have a deer follow the script perfectly. About 40 yds out a deer comes out of the ravine and I glass him quickly and see it is a 3pt so I don't touch the crossbow. I get my phone so I can hopefully take some pics (got some good ones) He slowly walks directly toward me and looks up at me at about 10 yds. Thankfully decides I am nothing and keeps feeding past my stand toward my right. He is directly down wind at 20 yds and stops for a second to check the wind and then goes about his business. He slowly feeds past me at about 20 yds and when he is at about 4 o'clock position starts heading directly away from me. He then slowly heads back into being down wind of me at about 40 yds. At this point I am checking the wind with one of those puffer talc powder things and it is going directly toward him. Hmm interesting. He slowly feeds away from me at a 45 degree angle basically all down wind. I leave the stand with no more deer seen at about 11:30 to get some lunch and decide if I am going to go home and watch football or if I am going to hunt the afternoon. The wind was really kickin and it wasn't overly pleasant being in the woods. I decide I am going to hunt the afternoon but in a different spot since I have yet to see a deer in the evening from the spot I normally hunt. I get back in the stand at about 1pm. In a spot I have never sat in even though I have hunted this property for a long time. (Brian's Stand) About as far away from my stand as I could possibly get and still be on our lease. I set up the ozonics and have it pointed a little after 3 O'clock...Maybe 4 O'clock. The wind is swirling worse than I have ever scene. I don't know if it was the terrain but I felt like it was changing direction every two second and blowing pretty good in all directions. I didn't have a lot of hope. At about 4pm I catch movement at my 8 o'clock and see it is a deer. Then I notice two more. I glass them and they all look to be mature doe which was a little surprising. The closest one is going to cross a shooting lane at about 30 yds and she is going to get a bolt through her. With the wind swirling I was worried about being winded so slowly reach up and position the ozonics so it is blowing ozone between us even though the NW wind should be completely in my favor. I have the crossbow ready and I am locked on to her with my 30 yd crosshair just waiting for her to take another step or two into a clear lane. BLOW BLOW...Holy crap, I almost jump out of my stand. I never saw or heard the two deer sneaking in behind me and I spin my head around to see them less than 20 yds from me. All the deer run 10 to 20 steps and all stop and look around like what are we afraid of. So now I have 5 deer all around me but no shots on any of them. It quickly becomes quitting time with no shots presented and I am still stuck in the stand waiting these deer out. Finally they slowly move away and I sneak out of there. I think I found my new evening sit (as long as Brian isn't hunting). I wonder if I had not turned the ozonics the opposite direction if it would have kept those deer from blowing out of there.

Ok. So the 3 pt was the third time this season I have had deer directly down wind from me this year with no adverse reaction. He is the first deer I had down wind of me for a long period of time at both 20 yds and again at 40 and beyond. I really have no idea how to prove it was the ozonics and not some other circumstance. Stupid deer, thermals, etc. I don't want to conclude it is the ozonics when I can't prove it. I am sure of two things, that deer was directly down wind of me for significant time and he didn't spook at all. Even after looking right at me in the treestand. I can't say I have ever had such a non reaction in a similar circumstance.  Second, the only time I have been blown out this year was this evening. When I foolishly turned the ozonics away from being downwind and basically took it out of the game. Again, I can't prove those deer wouldn't have blown had I not turned the ozonics. I'll never know for sure. After multiple down wind encounters with no adverse reactions now on the season and then getting blown at like normal when I took the ozonics out of the game,  I am starting to lean toward the, there is something too this thing side. Again. Now way of proving it, and I am by no means endorsing this thing yet. Just was happy to get some more useful intelligence.

[ApexerER]

Saturday 11/12 - In the stand and setup at 5:45. Temp is cold, about 28 degrees and it is breezy. Ozonics set up and pointed to my two o'clock. Right at 8am I see a small buck working through about 75 yds out in front of me. Try to get a clear look with the Bino's but I am unable to clearly see anything more then it has bone. By 9:30 I am freezing and I am seriously considering calling it a day. Right at 10am I see movement out in front of me and it is two doe being pushed by a buck. Looking through the Bino's I can't make a positive identification on this buck either. May have been the buck I saw previously. Knowing that the deer were chasing warmed me up and I stayed until 11:30 before heading out for lunch. For the afternoon I sat at the opposite end of the property where I saw some deer last Sunday evening. (Brians Stand). The wind seems to be swirling really bad and even though the wind should be NW I am having a hard time deciding what way to point the Ozonics. I settle on pointing it at the 10 oclock even though that wouldn't be a NW wind. I sit there not expecting much as the wind seems to be hitting me in my left shoulder and then my right. At 3:30 all hell breaks loose. I catch movement out in front of me and see two doe moving quickly. Then I catch a third deer moving there as well. I lose site of them in some thick brush. Almost immediately I hear a noise behind me and see a great looking buck walking directly toward me about 60 yds away. Tall wide rack but i can't see points because he is straight on. I start slowly turning to my right to hopefully set up for a shot and the two doe I spotted less than a minute before come bursting out toward the big buck being chased by a spike horn. As soon as the big buck sees the two doe he turns, grunts a couple times and takes off after the two doe leaving the Spike standing there like WTF. The spike stood around for at least 15 minutes and then wandered off. I then catch another deer moving through. I assume it is the spike but see that it is a lone doe and I am hoping for a shot. She gets into the thick stuff in front of me and never presents a shot. Then another buck, I believe a fork horn comes out of no where and rips into the thick stuff I assume chasing the single doe who I never see actually leave the thicket. Not long after that I hear more commotion and see two more doe racing through on my right being chased by another nice racked buck (may have been one from earlier but didn't look as big to me). Maybe 15 minutes later I hear a noise behind me again on my right and see a large doe then quickly notice she is being followed by 4 more doe. I believe the same group of 5 that busted me last Sunday. All the deer look mature and I am going to take any one of them if I get a shot. They couldn't be in a worse position for a shot being right handed and having them come in from behind on the right. Trying to move into position with 10 eyeballs was no easy task and I had them notice my movement several times. They knew something was up but were not spooking yet. They stopped their progress forward though. By the time I got into position for a shot the lead doe had turned and was slowly marching her way back the way she came with the other 4 keeping a close eye on me. Watching the deer through the scope on the crossbow as soon as she stepped into an open lane I squeezed the trigger and everything sounded horrible and all 5 deer bounded away. It only took me a second to realize that when I squeezed the trigger the crossbow was too close to the tree and the right side limb smacked the tree on release throwing my bolt into a tree about 10 feet away. Shot wasn't even close. Mad at myself that I did that I sat down and looked the crossbow over. Everything looked ok. I should have let the deer continue on their course hoping they would come out in front of me.  I climbed down and headed out front to the property to set up my truck lights on the archery bag and took a couple shots making sure everything was ok. Seemed to be. I saw at least 15 deer today and I don't believe the ozonics played any roll in any of the deer I saw today.

Sunday 11/13 - what a difference a day makes. Much warmer, almost 40 degrees and a SE wind have the ozonics pointed at 8 o'clock...With all the action yesterday and Brian hunting his stand today I plan for an all day sit bringing my lunch in with me. At about 7:45 I have a small buck move through from behind me on my left on top of the ridge to right out in front of me never slowing down with his head right to the ground. He must have gone through the ozonics stream and my scent but he was on a mission and never slowed down. Excited about the day seeing this little guy on a mission I sat out until dark without seeing another deer. Very disappointing.

I usually save my vacation days for family time but I just told my boss this morning that I am going to take Wed and Thurs off this week. I would really like to get a tag filled before the gun opener on Saturday!

[ApexerER]

Wednesday 11/16 - Get in my stand and set up just before 6am. Almost no wind so I can't tell which way to point the ozonics. Temp about 40 degrees. Thinking it is going to be a perfect morning. It just stopped raining after an all night long monsoon. As soon as I can see a little bit I check the wind and it seems very slight SE so I point the ozonics at my 8 o'clock even thought scoutlook says NW wind. About 7:30 I catch movement over my left hand shoulder and see a deer slowly coming walking along the edge of the ravine about half way down coming toward me. I believe it is the small 3pt I have seen a bunch of times but couldn't confirm. When he gets just past even with me slowly heads down the bottom of the ravine and up the other side where I lose track of him. No idea what he would have smelled with the super light wind and being down in the ravine but he did go pass where I had the ozonics pointed at about 40 yds and never stopped to scent check. He was the only deer I saw on the morning sit. Head out at 11am for lunch. Afternoon sit I sit in a stand I have not sat before. (Tommy's Stand) Get settled in and by this time (1pm) there is a NNW wind so the ozonics is pointed at about my 2 o'clock. Sit with no deer seen till about 4:15. Just as I was thinking this sit was a bust I hear a noise behind me and look over my right shoulder to and see a doe about 60 yds out. I quickly stand and turn grabbing my cross bow and see there are 5 doe moving through at a pretty rapid pace. I none of them looked my way and they couldn't have winded me in their position so I assume they are being pushed. I wait for about 5 minutes thinking a buck would be following (if on the same path would have been out of range) but nothing showed. I sit back down thinking there can't be more than 5 minutes left of legal shooting time. I no sooner sit down and I catch movement in front of me coming out of the thicket moving from my left to right getting closer. I notice it looks like it has a decent rack but I can't tell how many points. I stand while he is in some thick stuff and shoulder the crossbow and get in position. I need him to take another step or two into an open lane. He steps out looking right at me. I don't know if he saw me move or knew something was up because on his way in he crossed the scent stream the ozonics was hopefully hiding. He crossed it never stopping to scent check and by now he should be able to wind me. I can see his rack is much wider than the ears but not very tall and can't see points with him facing me directly. All this decision making happens in three seconds and I decide I am going to shoot him with a rack that wide. I put the 30 yd crosshair on his shoulder, squeeze the trigger and in what seemed like slow motion I watch the lighted nock fly toward him, change course and smack into a tree behind him which I assume destroyed my bolt because my lighted nock went dead as soon as it whacked the tree. He trotted off maybe 20 yds as I quickly put the stirrup on my boot and grab the crossbow and cock it by hand. (didn't think I could do that, must have been adrenaline) He is looking back my way and I throw the kitchen sink at him, grunt bleat can..i even snort wheezed. He didn't run but slowly left the area. I sat down disgusted with myself looking at the spot trying to see what the heck I hit and replaying the incident over about 1000 times in my head. I decide not to go scenting up the area any more than I have too and back out without retrieving my bolt.

Thursday 11/17 - Sad and excited this will be my last archery hunt. I get to the stand I missed the buck in the night before. The moon is super bright and I am surprised how far I can see. Once again the temp is about 40 degrees and the wind is so light I can't tell which way to point the ozonics. I can see with the moon but everytime I check the wind it seems like it is just swirling in one place. I got scent checker powder all over me and the crossbow. It quickly becomes gray light and the woods seem darker than when the moon was bright. I hear a noise coming in on my left and at about 25 yds I can see well enough to tell it is a deer but no idea what. I am staring at the deer and I hear another noise and assume it is another deer coming in but can't see it. I follow the deer I can see and my neck is stretched around to my left and my neck is starting to hurt. I believe I am staring at the deer and I am begging for it to get lighter faster just so I can at least identify what is just over my shoulder. I am staring at this dark patch and thinking did this deer bed right there? As it starts getting lighter I am thinking is that a stump? Yup, I don't know where the deer went, I never heard it leave but I stared at a stump for at least 15 minutes. I am 100% positive I saw a deer but it vanished! The sun comes up and it is a beautiful morning. Wind becomes a little more steady and light out of the NW so I have the ozonics pointed at my 2 o'clock. About 8 am I catch movement at my 2'0clock and I am trying to make and notice there are 4 or 5 deer coming through. Wait those are weird looking deer...I realize they are turkey and they look enormous. They come through never coming closer than 50 yds. Didn't see anything else so headed for lunch about 11:30. Back in the same stand for the afternoon by 1 pm  praying i get one more opportunity to fill a tag before the rifle opener. I sit until dark with no deer seen.

 

Well my Archery season is done. I have never had a bow season that i spent so much time in the woods. I stuck to my goal of deer of 6 points or more and doe without fawns. I saw some small bucks, saw two shooter bucks. Had some opportunities that i didn't cash in on. Really can't ask for more other than closing the deal. I will be in the woods Saturday Am with rifle in hand.

[grampy]

Good thread. You had a season, similar to my own. Wish you good luck for the rifle season! 

[ApexerER]

Thanks Grampy...I am going to keep a journal here from now on. I went and reread everything last night and I could replay the day in my head. Good Luck to you as well....Lets get it done with the rifle!

[ApexerER]

Saturday 11/19/16...My best hunting day ever....I added the story from the harvest thread and the only thing I will add is that I had a rare SE wind...Ozonics was pointed at about my 8 O'clock and played no role what so ever in the harvest of the biggest buck of my life or ever on our lease! All the deer were directly upwind. I will take that everytime! I will also ad, I went back out for the afternoon, stretched out in the afternoon sun, replayed the morning in my head and never even took the Ozonics out of the bag...and didn't see any deer and I was totally fine with that!

Well...what a day...I am still on cloud 9..Got in my stand early. About 5:45. Heard the first shot at roughly 6:15..I can't imagine how they were shooting because I can't see squat. One of my Hunting buddies is across the ravine from me about 300 yds away. It doesn't take him long to text me that he saw 2 doe. Not long after sunrise two guys on the lease had deer down. A beautiful 6 with nubs for browtines and a nice 8 Pt. I see movement to the right behind me and get excited...then quickly realized they were turkey and watched 8 Longbeards slowly work through. At 8:34 am I text my buddy telling him I swore I heard a deer grunt. I can't hear or see anything.  Just as I decide it must have been my imagination a doe rips in at full speed and stops 10 feet in front of me panting. I am scanning where she came from and catch movement.  I shoulder my rifle...see a nice rack..settle the cross hair and tell myself to squeeze the trigger and fire. The deer disappears and I don't see it. I am shaking like a leaf...see the deer again look...wait..it's another doe..another deer another doe..Bring the gun down and scan..see another deer at least 30 yds from where I first shot..shoulder the rifle..it's him...shaking like a leaf I try to settle myself down and breath..settle my crosshair..tell myself to squeeze the trigger..bang...shot two..the deer doesn't even flinch..again..shot 3..just behind the shoulder..the deer doesn't move...this is crazy...again shot 4...the deer drops right where he is standing..but he is getting back up...shot 5...my gun is empty...I attach my rifle to my pull up rope and practically throw it out of the stand..down the ladder like a fireman pole..grab the rifle..throw 5 more rounds in the rifle...I can't see the deer from the ground. I head slowly toward the deer when blow blow blow...all the doe..I believe there were 6 book out of there. I close the distance and can see the deer trying to get up..I shoulder the rifle again..shot 6..I know I missed on this shot. I get up to the deer and I decide I am going to put him down when he expires...then I see just how big he is I start shaking so bad I have to get down on one knee. I quickly thank God  (even though I am not very religious) Then tears just stream down my face. I am overcome with emotion..I gather myself enough to see i hit him behind the shoulder 3 times and once was a spine shot. I look at my phone and my buddy sent like 10 texts along with other guys on the lease. My buddies texts from across the ravine were funny....what did you kill? Wtf? What are you doing? How can you miss that many times? What is it? Was it big? So I text him and a few other guys that I have a giant 9 down and just sit and take it all in while I wait for the two guys that already have their deer down and my buddy on the opposite ridge...lots of high fives and hugs...I still can't believe it...a deer of a lifetime...I am extremely disappointed with the Hornady ballistic tips I picked up..three shots through the lungs...three tiny entry holes and three just as tiny exits. Definitely going back to the fusion I was shooting...

[ApexerER]

Thanksgiving 11/24 - Up in the stand a little late about 6:10. Its pretty cold about 28 degrees and a very light wind.  Wind is supposed to be SSE so I have the ozonics set up that direction (about 8 oclock). I feel like the wind keeps changing and I felt like I was continuously messing with its direction. Seems like a perfect morning. About 9am I catch movement and realize I have a coyote crossing from my right to left about 100 yds out through the timber. I get my rifle up on my shooting rail and I am following him in the scope. Not really expecting a clear shot unless it comes closer but all of a sudden he stopped in what seemed like a clear lane and without even thinking I squeezed the trigger. Never saw him run or leave, thought I dropped him right there but I couldn't see him. Climbed down at 10am and worked my way over where I shot him. I didn't find him or any blood but I really didn't spend a whole lot of time looking since I had to get home for Thanksgiving. Obviously I would have made a much greater attempt had it been a deer. The ozonics played no roll in my hunt this am...

[ApexerER]

Sunday 11/27 - Up in the stand and setup at 6:15. Wind supposed to be WNW but it is very slight SE and seems like it is swirling. I have a very hard time trying to decide what to do with the Ozonics in these conditions. I point it SE about 8 o'clock which seems the most constant. After an hour or two it seems the wind is WNW like it was supposed to be so I swing it around. I believe the rut is over. No action at all this am..Not even a squirrel. That's two morning sits in a row with no deer seen. Nobody saw deer today. My guess is the guys will want to push the property next weekend.

[ApexerER]

Sunday 12/4 - Up in the stand and setup at 6:15. Temp about 30 degrees with a steady NW wind. Ozonics pointed at about 1 Oclock. This was most likely my last sit of the season. I no deer sighted. Haven't seen a deer since opening day of rifle. Nobody has seen much of anything since Thanksgiving. Climbed down at 10:30 and did a couple small pushes with the three other guys hunting today. Nothing! Next Sunday will be drives so unless I get out late season my stand sitting and the ozonics is done for the year.

[ApexerER]

Well chances are my stand hunting is done for the season so, so is the ozonics. My findings for the season are kind of a mixed bag. For anyone worried about the health effects I would say that is a non issue. May be different in a blind but I never use a blind so I don't know. A lot of the reviews I read before purchasing. If it was a negative review it had to do with noise. The ozonics makes a noise that I can describe as a white noise. I had deer as close as ten feet from my tree and they never seemed to notice the noise. I find it very hard to believe the reviews that people said the noise scared off game. I never found this to be the case. The extended life battery lasted on all day sits never needing the one that came with the unit. I kind of feel like this would be useless without the extended life battery. The unit should come with it to begin with. Unless you only hunt for 2 or 3 hours a day, the extended battery is a must. I did have a difficult time deciding how to set the unit up on those "perfect" hunting mornings with no wind.  A few times i had trouble with swirling wind as well. All of my game observations came during bow season. I believe on 4 separate occasions I had deer down wind of me with no adverse reactions at ranges between 15 and 40+ yards. On a few of those occasions I was able to check the wind and make sure the animal was indeed down wind. Skeptics would say other factors were at play, thermals, stupid deer etc. I have to say that it would have to be a major coincidence to have that happen on 4 separate occasions if the ozonics wasn't doing something but I can't prove it. I believe in past years I would have been blown at in those instances or just had the deer quickly leave the area. The only time I was blown at this year was on a day with swirling winds. I had deer coming in on my left behind me and I slowly reached up to move the ozonics so it was between me and the deer hopefully protecting me from the swirling winds. . I never noticed the other two deer coming in on my right behind me when blow blow blow and all the deer scatter. I can not say that I saw any deer because of the ozonics. All of the deer I saw came from a direction other than where the wind was blowing and either never went down wind or crossed what I would consider my scent path after they were seen. Had they been deer I wanted to kill during bow season, on a couple of occasions the deer did need to cross my scent path to offer a broadside or quartering away shot. Shot opportunities that may not have presented themselves if not for the ozonics. I killed my biggest buck to date on opening day of rifle but all of his time in view was upwind of me so the ozonics played no role in my only harvest this season. So I guess I will end my review by saying that I will for sure be continuing to use the ozonics because I didn't see one instance where it hurt me but I did have a few instances where I am pretty sure it may have helped but I have no proof that it did. I was hoping that I would be able to say this thing is amazing and if you are hunting without it you are really missing out but I can't say that either. I guess if you want my honest opinion it would be, I believe there is something to this thing, but I can't justify the cost in making a recommendation for people to purchase one. If it was $100 or less, I would probably say it would be worth giving it a shot. I hope this was helpful to some people...