Staying scent-free

To stand a chance of killing a buck like this, hunters must do everything right.

Over many years, readers have asked me many questions pertaining to deer and deer hunting. Each one was answered, as time permitted, in some detail, but seldom is this information shared with other readers of my daily weblog.

Here are several questions asked of me in the past, that may be of help as you mentally prepare for the next round of deer seasons.

Scent control is paramount when deer hunting, especially with a bow.

Q. Are you happy when deer season finally ends after three months?


A. No, I'm never happy to see the season end. But then, I often go out and sit in the woods and watch for deer providing they aren't yarded up. There is no bow or firearm with me, but I'm studying deer habits, travel routes, and it is all a necessary part of hunting. I'll spend an average of 87 of the 90-day season hunting, and watching it end feels like I'm losing an old friend.

Q. What kind of a tree stand appeals to you?


A. I enjoy an open tree stand where playing the wind is necessary. I use the Gorilla brand ladder stands made by Eastman Outdoors. They go up easy, come down easy, and put me about 15 feet off the ground. They are safe, stable, easy to climb, and work for me.

Nice bucks like this often move out of bedding areas just before dark.

Q. Name your favorite trees for a tree stand? And why?


A. C'mon, that's too easy. Cedars and pines. I don’t like tamaracks because the needles fall off during the fall.  I prefer to sit back in the shadows of overhead boughs with heavy limbs on both sides. The only place I need to shoot is out in front and a bit to my left. I prefer deer to pass the stand from behind me and to my left, and that angle provides me with an easy broadside or quartering-away shot.

Q. Do you hunt the hardwoods?


A. Yes, I do. There aren’t many oaks in most of my hunting areas, but given the opportunity, I like to find where acorns are plentiful and where deer eat as many nuts as the squirrels. I also hunt from maple trees, and try to find what I feel is the best spot and offers the utmost in concealment. My stands in hardwoods make natural use of the big and small limbs. Most hardwood trees seem bare to someone who only hunts from cedars and pines, but with the right camouflage and a well-chosen location, a hunter can virtually disappear is they can sit still.

Q. Do you stand to shoot or do you shoot while sitting down?


A. Good questions. I prefer to shoot sitting down because it requires less movement. I’ve got a bum left leg, and dislike standing for two, three or four hours at a time.

Q. Do you cut shooting lanes for bow or firearm seasons?


A. No, and here's why. Remove a bunch of small trees, branches and other cover, and it removes the reason why bucks travel in that direction. I note where deer travel, pick a hole in the brush to shoot an arrow or bullet through, and do as little to disturb the area as possible.

Q. How often (days in a row) will you sit in a stand?


A. Much depends on the circumstances, but I may sit in a new stand for a day or two in the evening or morning. If I've got a a big buck coming through on a regular basis, and if the wind is in my favor for two days in a row, I will probably sit in the same spot both days. The big problem here is it is very easy for deer to pattern a hunter, and it becomes easier the more often you hunt a stand. I get bored sitting in one stand, looking at the same trees, and when we leased land, we had several tree stands and several coops or box blinds scattered around. It was easy to hunt a different stand almost every day. It paid off with good bucks.

Q. What is your biggest fear when deer hunting?


A. Getting spotted climbing into the stand. Each location should have a minimum of two routes in and two out, and I always rotate. Even if I hunt the same stand twice in eight days, the second time I walk to the stand by a different route than I used a week before. I always leave the stand by a different route than when entering it. Some of my stands have three and even four ways into them and away from them.

Q. What is the biggest problem for most archery deer hunters?


A. Playing the wind. The hunter must be downwind or down and slightly cross-wind whenever they hunt. How you avoid having deer wind you is up to you. Simply hunting only when you can have deer upwind of your position is great. Some believe in Scent-Lok suits, as I do, and others believe in sprays that help eliminate human odor. Being downwind of deer offers a great advantage. If the wind switches, leave.

Q. Do you wear rubber boots? Are you that fanatical?


A. Yes, I am that fanatical. Most of the time I wear knee-high rubber boots, but if I must walk through tall marsh grass I'll often wear hip-boots or rubber wader and I spray them down before walking to the stand. Years ago, when I wore leather boots, more than one deer trailed me to my stand. They don't trail me now. I also try not to touch any vegetation with my clothing or skin.

Q. Why do you pass up bucks that others would shoot?


A. That's really easy. I've shot well over 260 during my lifetime, and I no longer derive any satisfaction from shooting small bucks. I'd rather hunt for an old doe because they offer more challenge than a young buck. Hunting doesn't always mean a kill for me, and if a wee 6-point comes by, I draw and aim as if I'm going to shoot, and then ease off and let him walk. I no longer need to kill a buck every year, and I didn't shoot one during last season, but passed up 30 bucks I could have shot. Passing up bucks can be more fun than shooting one.

Q. How far do you go to control your scent?


A. Part of that was answered above. I do wear a clean Scent-Lok suit. I feel scent control begins at home. Be clean, keep your hunting clothing in an unscented plastic tub, carry the tub well away from the road or your vehicle, and carry a small fold-up chair. Sit down,remove your shoes, and pull your boots from the tub. Pull on your bib overalls or first your pants and then the hunting jacket. Spray the inside and outside of rubber boots with a good odor-removing spray, spray the inside and outside of your hat and cotton gloves, and pay particular attention to high-scent areas such as arm pits, back, groin, head and legs. I do this before walking to my stand, and spray everything again (including treestand and ladder) as well as safety harness once I’m in the stand. And then I watch the wind so I am downwind or across and downwind from active deer trails.

Stay tuned for more tips on remaining scent-free in the future.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Controlling human scent

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

The problem is our Daddy or Gran'daddy told us those 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.

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 other humans, but a whitetail deer would probably think we stink.

To a deer, people stink no matter how clean they are.

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 roadkill 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 myself, I hit him in the fist with my nose and my sniffer hasn't worked right since. Nor have my fighting abilities, so that fight at age 19, was my last. Sadly, the nose still doesn't work right.

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 choose even though my Scent-Lok suit is now old and tattered and about wore out.

He wanted to know what he personally could do to eliminate his personal odor. He was looking for 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 all of 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 sportsman because hunters are more likely to take the necessary precautions to avoid being winded than other hunters.

Drawing down on deer is great practice as a loudmouth once learned.

Many years ago, while toiling for The Detroit News 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 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 important reason I didn't shoot was because 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 engaging your brain."

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 donned my old Scent-Lok suit, 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.

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.

I drew on 26 deer without being spotted, and shot the 27th deer, a nice buck.

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 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 than anything else.

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

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.

Whenever I use scent-eliminating sprays, everything is sprayed. The front and back of my hunting pants and shirt, my boots, gloves, face mask and hat. I stay away from gasoline and exhaust fumes, and I'm clean when I head 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.

The key thing 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.

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 for new camo clothing.

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 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.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors