How To Control Most Human Odor.

Scent Shield and Vanishing Hunter work very well, as does Scent Killer, etc.

Humans have some funny notions, and oddly enough, some believe them. Our beliefs often are very strong about things concerning hunting, and we believe them even if they are not true. Well, at least some people do.

The problem is our Daddy or Gran'pappy told us these hoary old thoughts were true. Some of these myths have been passed down from one generation to the next, and most lack any basis in fact.

We may smell good to each other but not to a deer.

For instance: we may think we smell just dandy after a bath or shower using a liberal dose of shampoo and soap. We think we smell as natural and pretty as a rose garden, and it's possible that we may smell dandy to ourselves and others, but a whitetail deer probably thinks we stink.

To a deer, we probably smell as bad as Peppy La-Pew, the skunk, after a face-to-face with a speeding 18-wheeler and getting squashed. We, as humans, can smell the pungent odor of road-kill skunk. Deer, if they get downwind of us, can smell us as easily as we smell Peppy's lingering odor.

I used to be able to smell a fox if I was within 50 yards downwind of the animal, and then in a teen-age quarrel with a beefy guy much larger than me, I hit him in the fist with my nose and my sniffer hasn't worked right since. My fighting abilities were so great either, so that fight at age 19, was my last. Sadly, the nose still doesn't work all that hot.

But, this is about fooling deer. A reader wrote today and asked what scent eliminating sprays work. I advised him that he had several options, and one was to buy a Scent-Lok suit. It's the route I took but I go several steps further in an attempt to remain scent-free.

He wanted to know what he personally could do to eliminate his personal odor. He wanted a shortcut to success without saying so, and even when using the scent-eliminating sprays or Scent-Lok clothing, it is not a cure-all for a person's hunting ills.

However, scent-eliminating sprays and Scent-Lok suits can work in much the same way as deer scent or fishing lures do. If the angler or hunter believes in them, their use will usually make that person a better hunter because hunters are more likely to take the necessary precautions to avoid being winded.

Many years ago, while toiling for The Detroit News as their staff outdoor writer back when they still had a weekly Outdoor Page, I was sent some Scent Shield scent-eliminating spray. Me and several other sportsmen were hunting deer in the Club Country of Montmorency County as the guest of a good friend.

A taunt from a fellow hunter.

A guy I invited on the hunt shot a button-buck the first night as it stood 12 yards away, staring at him, and he was bragging on his bow-shooting prowess. He asked what I saw, and I told him I'd drawn down on 15 different deer that night, including two antlered bucks, and chose not to shoot for a variety of reasons. The most important reason I didn't shoot was both animals were small 1 1/2-year-old bucks.

One thing led to another, and he as much as called me a liar, saying that no one can draw on a deer without getting spotted or winded. I told him that he was dead wrong, and he wanted to bet some big money.

"OK, sport, you've been bragging up your new video camera," I said. "I'll prove it tomorrow night. I'll draw down on every deer I see within my shooting range, and you can videotape the action but don't be spooking my deer. I'll be a nice guy and not take your money but I'll teach you a lesson about opening your mouth before thinking."

Spraying my boots and clothing is one key to success.

I climbed up into an oak tree. I'd seen a bunch of deer follow a trail on the far side of a rundown fence next to the big oak. I sprayed my boots, groin, legs, torso, butt, back, arms and gloves. I sprayed the Scent Shield on the inside and outside of my cap and my face mask as well.

The guy was crosswind along a fence-row about 50 yards away where he could see me and the deer as they stepped over the fallen fence. Each time one came by, I drew on the animal and aimed at it as if I was going to shoot before letting up. The first 26 animals were all button-bucks, does and doe fawns, and as the herd began to build 25 yards downwind of me, it became tougher to draw without one of the deer spotting my super-slow movements.

I successfully drew on all 26 deer, one at a time as they passed my tree, and No. 27 was a decent buck. He walked out, I drew, aimed and killed that animal.

The joker now had to believe it could be done. He had videotaped me drawing on all 27 deer as they stood directly downwind of me. I wrote that story for The Detroit News, and Scent Shield, the first maker of scent-eliminating sprays, was off and running and Michigan sporting goods stores sold out of the product overnight.

Lately I've also been using Vanishing Hunter spray, which is made by Buck Fever Synthetics in nearby Manton, Michigan. Phone them at (888) 824-9894. I'm also using Scent Killer from Wildlife Research Center in Ramsey, Minn. I go through the same ritual day after day: everything gets sprayed good, and I don't get winded. However, in all fairness, I'm either in an elevated coop or downwind of the travel trails.

I'll also trickle some milkweed fibers into the breeze every few minutes. If any drift downwind to the trail I'm hunting, I pick up and head elsewhere or won't hunt. Getting winded ruins more hunts and hunting stands than anything else.

I know how to sit still, and haven't spooked an incoming buck or doe in many years. Scent-eliminating sprays certainly have a major place in a hunter's repertoire but nothing can beat being downwind of deer.

Keeping boots and clothing odor-free

I keep all of my hunting clothing and knee-high rubber boots in an air-tight plastic tub. I take the tub out of the car, carry it 50 yards away, sit on a folding chair, and either wear my Scent-Lok suit in cooler weather or lightweight camo clothing in warm weather. I stay away from the car once I've sprayed down my clothing.

Walking hard and fast to a hunting stand can get a guy (or gal) all sweaty, and  that isn't good. The moisture soaks into clothing, and although we may not be able to smell ourselves, it's dead certain that a deer can smell us. I'd rather take an extra 10 minutes to reach my stand, and be cool and collected, than rush and have my clothing saturated with perspiration.

When I use scent-eliminating sprays, everything is sprayed. The front and back of my hunting pants and shirt, my boots, face mask, gloves and hat. I stay away from gasoline and exhaust fumes, and I'm clean when I head out into the field. Some people kid me about my fetish for being scent-free but I shoot more and bigger bucks than they do and have more opportunities for good shots. I even spray the weeds and brush I walk through.

The key is to pay particular attention to those areas that are most likely to get sweated-up during a walk. This would include the head, underarms, groin, rump and feet. Such areas get sprayed thoroughly before every outing, and since I usually hunt seven days a week, my hunting clothing is washed on a regular basis.

The use of  sex scents and cover-up scents and also help a hunter. Use sex scents near stands along deer trails. Sometime deer smelt these doe-in-rut scents, and it can help hunters when strategically placed. Cover-up scents like pine, apple and others may help. I do not use coyote, fox or skunk scents.

Atsko SportWash

Washing camo clothing should be done in Atsko SportWash. It has a gentle cleansing action and does not contain brighteners. Tide and other common household detergents used to wash our clothes contain brightening agents that "make whites look whiter." Me, I want my camo to look dull so it blends in. I don't want bright-looking camo clothing.

I've seen people wearing old camo clothing that has been washed so many times that it is faded out and almost glows in sunlight. I have poor vision, but if it looks bright to me, it must look like a blinking neon light to an incoming deer. The animal may not see the hunter but it can probably see the unusual light-colored blob in the tree. Guess what? That light-colored blob happens to be you. It may be time to buy some new camo.

Using the proper cleansing agent and the proper scent-eliminating spray can help hunters score providing they are properly set up in a good spot, play the wind, do not move, know when to draw, and don't make any noise.

Neither Scent Shield, Vanishing Hunter, Scent Killer or even Scent-Lok or Scent Blocker clothing can keep hunters from making that one mistake that can and will spook deer. If they get pegged by deer, nothing will enable them to salvage a shot at a wary animal.

These hunter accessories can only make good hunters better. And you've got to be plenty good and scent-free to keep shooting good bucks, year after year, and you can take that little tidbit to the bank.

TITLE: How To Control Most Human Odor.

Tags: ((Dave, Richey, Michigan, outdoors, Atsko, Sno-Seal, Buck, Fever, Synthetics, Scent, Shield, underarms, wind))

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors