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Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Pope Co. on September 28, 2011, 01:46:00 PM

Title: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Pope Co. on September 28, 2011, 01:46:00 PM
I love these scent control conversations. I jumped on a couple of threads on this subject in the past. I've left my routine on getting as clean/descented as possible on some threads. I've also left a descenting recipe on one, so I won't bore anyone with that information again. Has anyone ever fasted or became a vegatarian for a period of time to help with deer spooking at your scent. I've always wondered if "you won't smell like a predator if you don't eat meat" was true????? I only ate vegatables for a week before opening day a few years back. Harvested a nice doe on the first day and went back to my normal diet. Obviously that is not enough data. Please share your findings on this if you have any.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: woodchucker on September 28, 2011, 01:58:00 PM
Some folks say I smell like an old Bear... I still kill deer!!!!!  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: KodiakMag on September 28, 2011, 02:04:00 PM
There is absolutely no way I am cutting meat out of my diet. I am trying to get meat while in the stand so, might as well have some jerky as I wait.  :)
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: TNstickn on September 28, 2011, 02:20:00 PM
I've heard of people taking chlorophyl pills to help and they swear by it. If you can cut out garlic and onions it will make a  difference. More odors are being expelled from your breath than all the rest of you. In my experience some people just have a stronger odor than others. I feel lucky, I tend to get blown at less than my buddies, could just be me watching the wind closer too.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Cyclic-Rivers on September 28, 2011, 02:27:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Pope Co.:
 I only ate vegatables for a week before opening day a few years back.  
Rabbit Farts  :readit:  !
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Thumper Dunker on September 28, 2011, 02:29:00 PM
Not sure what I smell like but walking in the woods awhile I sure do smell. Lions smell like lions ,coyotes and wolfs smell like wet dogs . Predators smell like predatores and they still kill.Hunt up wind. I do not realy think you can hide your scent. But Its not going to hurt to try.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Bill Carlsen on September 28, 2011, 02:30:00 PM
I've heard of people taking chlorophyl pills to help and they swear by it.

That would be me. In addition to personal hygiene, showers before hunting, washing and re-rinsing hunting clothes in baking soda, air dry when weather permits. Simply put by Gene Wensel...scent control is an all or nothing proposition. If you  are  going to do it do it all out.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Lone Ranger on September 28, 2011, 02:38:00 PM
I am pretty picky about the scent controll thing. I play the wind as best I can- adding some sewing thread and a small feather to the upper limb of the bow helped tons with that.

I use scent away on everything, and I leave my ghillie outside in the elements rain wind shine. all my camo is hung outside (dry up high on my porch) walking through lots of wet dew covered grass and or mud, etc.... always helps IMO get the cat/ dog scent off your boots- oh there outside on the porch too!


L.R.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: KentuckyTJ on September 28, 2011, 02:55:00 PM
No deer's worth eating only vegies. I think my B.O. is a larger issue than some hamburger oozing from my pores.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: PaddyMac on September 28, 2011, 02:58:00 PM
I will give up sleep. I will give up my middle toenails from moccasins that are too tight. I will give up my hard earned scheckels. I will give up a bazillion honey-dos to clear the decks. But you will have to pry my cold dead fingers from that rib bone.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: buzzcut on September 28, 2011, 03:20:00 PM
After chasing whitetails for over 35 years, I discovered my best scent control by accident.  I've gotten serious about getting and staying in shape over the last few years.  My workouts include some time in the pool.  I noticed, and then started to keep track, that on the days I swim I very seldom get winded by deer.  It seems a half hour soak in chlorine treated water elimnates much of my human scent.  Of course, I do all of the other things as well, clean, scent free storage of my clothes and equipment, etc.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: MikeW on September 28, 2011, 03:53:00 PM
I've said it a 100's times animals smell at the molecule level, you have to be vapor proof to fool an animal. All this cover scent and scent elimination maybe fine to lower your smell but you are not going to hide from them if they get your wind. What? your breath is exposed,your hair usually, your hands,your face and you probably sweated getting to where you were going. All your scent lock camo and washing your stuff in baking soda isn't going to help you. "Scent Lock" and other scent blocking camo is nothing more than a just of bunch of marketing B.S. for folks gullable enough to buy into it. Don't believe me? I'm sure someone on here has a police buddy who runs dogs, find one that is trained to find humans and go get in all your baking soda washed scent lock and hide in the closet and report back the findings.

All that said I wash my stuff in baking soda,hang dry outside and then store in a tote tub with vegetation from the area am hunting, all I think that does is it stops me from reeking a mile away, I still use the wind and never except to see an animal down wind from me.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Shedrock on September 28, 2011, 04:06:00 PM
Folks would kill more game if they quit spending so much time trying to keep clean. Just hunt! They will smell you no matter what you do.

Go vegan? I think not!
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Night Wing on September 28, 2011, 04:12:00 PM
The way I treat my clothes and shoes, I smell like......"dirt".
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Blaino on September 28, 2011, 04:25:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Shedrock:
Folks would kill more game if they quit spending so much time trying to keep clean. Just hunt! They will smell you no matter what you do.

Go vegan? I think not!
x2
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: reddogge on September 28, 2011, 04:35:00 PM
Do you really think Fred Bear, Glenn St. Charles, Ben Pearson, and Howard Hill did that stuff? They gulped down a burger, hopped into their smokey clothes, smoked a cigarette and headed for the woods.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: MikeW on September 28, 2011, 04:37:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by reddogge:
Do you really think Fred Bear, Glenn St. Charles, Ben Pearson, and Howard Hill did that stuff? They gulped down a burger, hopped into their smokey clothes, smoked a cigarette and headed for the woods.
:thumbsup:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Jason R. Wesbrock on September 28, 2011, 05:21:00 PM
I wash my hunting clothes in regular detergent, hang them in my office closet, and have been known to wear them while cooking breakfast, playing with the dog, gassing up the truck, and enjoying a cigar. I even eat deer jerky while on stand trying to shoot deer. Somehow my freezer stays full.

When I was a kid, our hunting cabin used to be so smokey you'd swear it was a Cheech and Chong prop (cigarette smoke though). My grandfather used to chain smoke on stand while wearing a pair of old camo coveralls he pulled out of a musty trash barrel in the basement. Somehow his freezer stayed full too.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: K.S.TRAPPER on September 28, 2011, 05:25:00 PM
QuoteOriginally posted by Shedrock:
Folks would kill more game if they quit spending so much time trying to keep clean. Just hunt! They will smell you no matter what you do.

Go vegan? I think not!
x3

Tracy
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Bjorn on September 28, 2011, 05:25:00 PM
The worse I smell the more I am aware of what the wind is doing!   :bigsmyl:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Huntschool on September 28, 2011, 07:52:00 PM
What Shedrock said.... x10
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: flippnsticks on September 28, 2011, 09:32:00 PM
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Shedrock:
Folks would kill more game if they quit spending so much time trying to keep clean. Just hunt! They will smell you no matter what you do.

 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: flippnsticks on September 28, 2011, 09:40:00 PM
when I hunt the only thing on my mind is wind and how close can I get . I never think im 99.9% scent free and its been tested.   :laughing:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: YORNOC on September 28, 2011, 10:10:00 PM
Yup, I'm pretty sure I smell.
I still keep clean, but if one ends up being downwind, its not long before they hit the road.
I usually get at least one deer per year though without all the gimmicks. Some nice bucks in there too.
Sooooo, I'm also with Shedrock. Nothing wrong with keeping clean, but I'm not going to have an anxiety attack about it.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Hoyt on September 29, 2011, 06:42:00 AM
I probably smell like a sweaty werewolf to the deer. Have a long haired white dog that stays in the house, truck and everywhere else I do and sheds terribly. I still get more than my share of close shot opportunities. They just know somethings up.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: danderson on September 29, 2011, 08:16:00 AM
i consider myself a predator once i'm in the woods bowhunting. predators aren't vegetarians     :bigsmyl:
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: KodiakMag on September 29, 2011, 08:20:00 AM
Become a predator...or go hungry.  :)
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Rasper1 on September 29, 2011, 09:30:00 AM
I keep an old audio casset tape in my equipment box . A short piece works great as a wind indicator. It is very sensitive and easy to see .
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Shawn Leonard on September 29, 2011, 06:14:00 PM
I agree with Bill, but I believe that when actually sitting a stand, you really need the wind in your favor. I am scent control freak, but more so for my in and out and not leaving scent behind when I leave the woods. I spray down before I climb down as I don't want to leave any scent coming or going. Actually bought an ozone machine this year to treat my hunting clothes and gear ecspecially my boots! Shawn
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Shawn Leonard on September 29, 2011, 06:15:00 PM
I agree with Bill, but I believe that when actually sitting a stand, you really need the wind in your favor. I am scent control freak, but more so for my in and out and not leaving scent behind when I leave the woods. I spray down before I climb down as I don't want to leave any scent coming or going. Actually bought an ozone machine this year to treat my hunting clothes and gear ecspecially my boots! Shawn
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: jimmerc on September 29, 2011, 06:29:00 PM
Every critter I know of that is a predator, smells like a predator!  And so do I! Like the wolf,coyote,bear ect... I hunt the wind!
 I do however try to minumize scent left in the woods as best I can!
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: gnihsifnamk on September 29, 2011, 07:15:00 PM
I hunt the wind and go to great lengths to keep my boots as scent free as possible.

We have to understand that 99% of the junk cabela's and bass pro tries to sell us is to make money, not to help us hunt better. No gimmicky item from a big box store will ever replace good woodsmanship.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: pdk25 on September 29, 2011, 11:50:00 PM
Vegetables are what food eats.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Mr.Magoo on September 30, 2011, 09:04:00 PM
Prey are drawn to it ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg6bZSM48vU
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Bow Bum on September 30, 2011, 09:12:00 PM
I wash up and wash clothes in scent eliminating soap, and put pine boughs and other stuff in the container that my hunt clothes are stored in.

Regardless, I think the first nasty fart of the morning undoes all the doing...   :laughing:  

B
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: ChuckC on September 30, 2011, 09:58:00 PM
If I ate only veggies and beans the gas created would KILL the deer and burn out their sinus cavities.  I am not a vegetarian.
ChuckC
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: RkyMtn Joe on October 01, 2011, 11:17:00 AM
I hunt 95% of the time from a tree stand---I am far better thjan most guys I have ever hunted with when it comes to moving through the woods, but I prefer being up higher (about 10-12ft above ground).

Odor is  the first betrayer of the hunter---a deer relies on his nose more than any other sense----and if he smells you, he's gone.  I am referring particularly to trophy bucks---they didn't become trophies by ignoring human odor.  I don't know if refraining from eating meat makes a difference or not---I believe that any human odor is all a trophy buck needs to vacate the area, so he must be assuming you are some sort of predator.

Joe
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Shawn Leonard on October 01, 2011, 05:15:00 PM
Sorry I disagree with the just hunt theory. It has been proven hunters that keep as clean as scent free as possible kill more deer. Not by the hunting industry either but major colleges and independent studies. I agree that they will smell you if they get downwind of you but the degree that they smell will greatly influence how they react. You guys just go stinkking up your areas and I will just go on and keep killing deer, not that you guys that stink don't kill deer but the guys who keep as scent free as possible get more opportunities, no doubt about it! Shawn
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: bigugly1 on October 01, 2011, 05:27:00 PM
I said this on another similar thread. I do use scent cover spray but I think it's more just for confidence. Last two deer I shot couldn't have been anymore downwind if they tried, both where shot under 25 yards. I do shower before hunting and one thing that I never use is deodurant or shampoo. It might just be my body makeup but if I use either it actually makes me smell worse, like my body sends extra stinky sweat to try and get ride of the stuff. I just rinse my hair with water, haven't used shampoo in over 5 years.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Red4arm on October 01, 2011, 09:38:00 PM
I have a vegetarian friend that hunts, in know kinda weird .He would give the meat away, he loved to hunt but didn't like meat. I on the other hand eat meat with almost every meal. We hunted together for years, he killed slot of deer, but he didn't see any more deer or get scent busted any less than the rest of us. We even discussed the whole meat eater thing and came to the conclusion over a few years that it made no difference.
With all the roughage he ate, his farts would dang near kill ya.
If I see a grizzly eating berries and looking content, I still want assume he won't eat me.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: ironmike on October 01, 2011, 09:46:00 PM
the wind,and woodsmanship,the rest just good sence,store your cloths w/local leaves and such,move slow and stealth.no sweat.
Title: Re: Do You Smell Like a Predator
Post by: Rooselk on October 01, 2011, 10:18:00 PM
Read an interesting article that claims that salmon can "sniff out" predators:

(Article Link) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-14969549)  

Don't know if that's true of mammals like deer, elk, or the other critters we hunt.