Just wondering how everyone gets there hunting clothes, boots ready for season. Do you hand wash them and air dry outside? Just wondering I used to use scentlok and I would use the dryer etc to heat activate it. No I have switched to just regular clothes, and bought some predator camo from st joe river.And was wondering what your routine was.
clothes I machine wash in baking soda.....air dry outside...and leave outside for couple days then put in tupperware bin with some evergreen and oak leaves.
boots...hose off with water hose....put upside down outside to let sun and rain get on them.
in between washings....air out in sun on porch rails and porch chairs...or if in camp on bushes and tree limbs turned inside out facing sun and air.
Brock,bingo!! I do as he does. rat' :thumbsup:
I do the same as above but put earth scent wafers in container. Ken
About the only thin I do is sprinkle in some baking soda on my clothes and make sure I spend a little time standing in the first cow pie that comes along-Elk poo works great too. Bring wind indicator and use it often!
I keep things hanging out of the sun to prevent UV damage.
Spray with homemade permetherine spray at least two weeks befre the hunt. (watered down concentrate) You'll need it Brain for the chiggers this year. They are brutal.
I bought some of those earth smell dryer sheets. I place the clothes in big rubbermaid bins with one or two sheets so the smell transfers.
Rotten leaves in the bottom of a bin with a towlel over the leaves, then clothers, also does the same thing. Make sure the leaves aren't too moist. Mildew will form.
I used to be really careful, did all that stuff. Bought all that stuff to try.
I still wash my clothing in scent free UV free detergent. That is it though.
I store most of them in an open tupperware storage container in the back of my truck (w topper). I play the wind, religiously. I am thinking now that most times, all the rest really doesn't matter a bit. If you are upwind. . you're busted.
ChuckC
Im with ChuckC.
Dont really think about it too much. I usually hunt in what Im wearing that day. Dont usually wear full camo. The deer havent noticed.
Sport wash.
At the end of each season, I wash everything that can be and hang it in my "hunting closet".
Boots get thoroughly cleaned and I put the leather "goo" on and my rubber boots get Armouralled.
Those clothes and boots are for that only.
When the season starts, I just put them on.
I no longer believe the "Nose" can be beaten. No cover scent, no pine boughs, or whatever.
One time I went to hang a stand and got descented, rubber boots with "no smellum spray", good to go I thought. This was on our land and my wife says, I'll bring the dog and we'll go for a walk. I'm up in the tree and hear the dogs bell coming. A Beagle.
He had his nose stuck right to the ground to just past my tree, stops, turns to the tree, walks over and looks right up at me.
Keeping things relatively clean and doing my best with the wind is my strategy now.
To each, his own.
Never wash my hunting clothes except my pants...need to get the blood stains out. Keep them in an airtight container after the season, air them out prior to the season, then spray them down with my masking scents. Same with boots.....
Dry clean everything it is all wool, except for my underwear and boots; I have many different types of boots, everything from canvas to moose hide mocs to Ely,Mn made mukluks. I have not seen where the scent of my tread alarms deer so I simply clean them and spray them with waterproofing treatment.
QuoteOriginally posted by WidowEater:
Im with ChuckC.
Dont really think about it too much. I usually hunt in what Im wearing that day. Dont usually wear full camo. The deer havent noticed.
Same here. So hot in early season here, it wouldn't matter if I washed them in paint thinner. Soaked in sweat before ever hitting the stand.
I just put them on and go. I'd rather hunt than wash clothes.
I live in the sticks and wear mine yr round. The heavy wool and cold weather stuff I put in a big zip up bag that bed comforters come in, more to keep bugs off than anything else. I don't really practice scent control. Just hope I see something between wind shifts.
I air out my wool (which is about all I wear) a day or two and wash it about every 5 years if it needs it. Usually wear rubber Muck boots and don't do anything to them but put them on. Rub leather conditioner into my leather boots. That's it.
If you're upwind, most critters are going to smell you most of the time, regardless of how careful you are. Body and hair odor, breath, etc. soon overpowers any precautions you take with your clothing.
Wear rubber boots which i spray with scent killer. As for hunting clothes I wash with scent free detergent and air dry them before hunting. Keep them in a rubbermaid container but will hang them up to get any scent out if the weather is nice. Then I playthe wind because nothing is going to save you if the wind is blowing your scent to them.
Wash with baking soda, air dry, then place them in a rubber maid container with baking soda.
I machine wash all my clothes with a scent free washing detergent and then put them in by bag. As for boots I just let them air out in between hunting trips.
Like Brock,but put cedar in with them
I don't do anything special. I wash or dry clean when they get dirty, but I just don't have faith in the scent control stuff. Therefore, I don't do any of the odor control things like special soaps or storing in a bag of pine needles, etc. A deer can smell your body, so it does not make much difference if he can smell your clothes. I think it is best just to carefully hunt the wind. I used to do a lot of odor control but did not see any better results.
I put everything in a plastic bag, hook up my ozone generator and zap em. this leaves them smelling like they have been hanging outside forever with absolutely no odor left at all.
I go to a swimming pool supply store and buy a 50lb bag of Baking soda.I wash all my hunting stuff with it. We also wash all of our regular laundry with it. We also use All Free and Clear for all laundry hunting and regular. I figure a washer is bound to have hold oder from house hold laundry. I also store all my hunting stuff with cedar chips. A big bag is cheap where ever pet supplies are sold.Take a old sock throw it in with wash and dryer everything is cedar fresh. There are alot of Cedar trees most places I hunt.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bjorn:
About the only thin I do is sprinkle in some baking soda on my clothes and make sure I spend a little time standing in the first cow pie that comes along-Elk poo works great too. Bring wind indicator and use it often!
Ditto cow pie and elk poo. I also stopped using fragant soap few couple days before.
I stop at every road kill along the way and get out and roll in it, oh that's what my dog does not me. I use baking soda for laundry and shower with unscented soap about it besides airing out my gear.
I wash mine in the machine with the HS Scent Killer/UV detergent and then dry with the same brand of earth scented dryer sheets. When I get where I'm going I put a HS wafer on my hat and spray down witht the scent killer.
I'll hand wash everything with scent free laundry detergent and baking soda. Line dry it outside near a bon-fire, then store everything in plastic bins with some pine branches and oak leaves.
I like the elk poo solution, and fresh pee works, too. I rub my clothes with sagebrush as I move around, as well as pine tar. Wood smoke is another scent I like to have on my clothes.
Arm & Hammer unscented wash, Baking soda rinse, sometimes Baking Soda in the storage bag.
I do this in the washer cause my tub got used so until I get a new tub I will have to clean out the washing Mech. & rinse with baking soda. Heavy cloths are stored in a cedar closet. Like to make my own cover sent made from stuff from the area I hunt. But sometimes in the early season that attracts more bees than covers any up I guess. Where I hunt deer seem scarce and are hunted hard try to get an edge even if it just in my head
I don't take any special scent precautions and feel most of the commercial scent eliminators are just another gimmick to separate hunters from their cash.
I hunt the wind, works every time.
I do keep my wool clothes in a tub with some cedar sticks in it. This is to keep moths from munching on my wool, not for scent control.
Remove from hanger. Put on body. Go hunt. Been doing that since 1967.
My wool is stored in air tight containers. I will hang them out a couple weeks before hunting season, then store them back in the containers for the drive to my hunting area. I wash my hunting tee shirts and moisture wicking under garments in some of the UV free laundery detergent. I'm starting to believe in that UV free stuff.
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
I play the wind, religiously. I am thinking now that most times, all the rest really doesn't matter a bit. If you are upwind. . you're busted.
ChuckC
BINGO! You can not beat a deer's nose. The biggest trick I've found is to use milk weed seeds to see what the wind is doing. They'll float for a long ways and you can see what the wind is doing right next to you as well as 100 yrds away. It's amazing how things can effect how your wind travels, learning thermals is key. Once you get a good understanding of what the wind and thermals are doing you can hunt what seems like the wrong wind when really your wind is going over the top of the deer or getting pushed out put by a crosswind.
I wash my hunting clothes in the HS scent killer detergent and keep them in a plastic bin until I hunt. I also use the scent free soap and deoderant. Honestly, I started seeing alot more deer and started having much more sucess when I started wearing knee high, rubber boots. I keep them in a seperate plastic bin and spray them down literally, right before I walk to my stand. Prior to that I have watched more than one buck approaching my stand only to stop and tear off the other way as soon as he crossed a trail that I had used. I keep those boots for bow hunting only and I have had them for years. It has made a huge difference.
Do the best with what you choose for your clothes, but hunt into the wind!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by TooManyHobbies:
I just put them on and go. I'd rather hunt than wash clothes.
I am with you, take it off the hanger and go withit!
5 gallon bucket full of cold water,1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide 1/4 cup baking soda soak 5 min line dry.If home wife takes care off them.
Wash, dry, hang, hunt... with the wind in my favor.
smoke 'em. Seems to work really well. I rub my boots in the old ashes after the fire is long since out.
Honestly, I have had many deer on public land walk on or across the trail I walked in on without any concern. Obviously, if the deer are downwind, they will smell you no matter what you do. I think the smoke helps eliminate any human scent you might leave behind by rubbing on brush etc. while walking into your hunting area.
The other thing I do is step in a puddle or walk through some water. Smoke and water seem to do a good job. I don't wash wool and I only wash the cottons when they need it with some baking soda.
Your mileage may vary.
God bless,
Charlie
Before ever hunt I stand by a smokey fire with my hunting clothes on it's a great cover up.
I have had success washing them in uv free and then storing them in a tote with fresh earth "wafers". The sytem has worked well for several seasons... I still play the wind. Its an improvement on my scent but is not an excuse to hunt upwind.
Nothing different then my street clothes.
I wash 'em in high dollar stuff. Dry 'em with high dollar dirt scent dryer sheets. I spray 'em with high dollar spray scent killer. I smoke 'em. Then I leave 'em at the truck 'cause I'm a TRAD HUNTER man! :biglaugh: "Huntin' Naked with Tiffany" now there is a show that could sell advertising!!!!
I dont change mine till I score, after the 3rd day the wife starts praying that I get something...PR
I clean the washing machine by running a load through the washing machine with baking soda. Then I wash that same load again with Carbon synergy & air dry them outside. When dry they're sealed in a garbage bag which is placed in a rubber maid container. Packs, bow, arrows, treestand, belt, steps & all my gear gets spray with the same spray. Rubber boots are washed inside and out then scrubbed with mud and then rinsed. These boots are kept hanging outside in the shade, upside down. Never to be worn except when hunting. I wear Scent-lok suit including gloves & headgear.
I have never smelled any dirt in any of the places that I hunt that smelled like the earth wafers or dryer sheets...
TTT
Wash clothes with scent killer soap then dry them and once they are dry I put them in a scent free trash bag to store them. I usually do this the night before a hunt so they are ready to go in the morning.
I'm like a lot of the others, put it on and go hunt. Wool doesn't carry odors like other materials. Can't remember the last time I washed my outside wool. Wool underwear gets washed with the regular laundry soap. In elk camp I hang my clothes next to my cot, which is next to the kitchen. Last bull I killed crossed my wind - twice - before he came to me. I used to hunt with coon hounds and they could back track me no matter what I wore - even hip boots and walking through water - if they could do it how good do you think a deer's nose is? I'm convinced that some individual game we hunt just aren't alarmed by our scent and some are on perpetual pins and needles. Don't beat yourself up over scent control just try and be down wind all the time.
Area I normally has cedars all over it. Will pack mine in plastic bins with some small cedar branches, etc. Will keep outer stuff in the bins untill I park and get out and dress.
Still minding the wind is your best bet
Eric
first thing I do when I get to camp is throw them all in a nearby pond and let them hang in the trees to dry.
I'm hunting to much during the season or on trips to worry about washing hunting clothes. If I'm filthy when I come in at night and I have a shower available, I jump in the shower with my clothes on (no boots) and hose down good, peeling off wet clothes while the water is running. Ring them out, hung them up to dry, good to go in the morning.
Wash them with the Scent Killer, then let them hangout in a Shed until I need them. get that Natural Odor going on early!
The older I get the less I do! Actually I dont do any scent control other than knee high rubber boots and try not to leave a scent trail. I hunt the wind if possible really hard to tell where they will come from on my ground.
Since many of the deer here don't seem to mind my scent, often it's not much. Now that I have time to hunt hardcore though, I have the feeling I'll be doing more like my grandfather taught me. One he didn't teach me that will help you all though it this-if you worry about your breath, chew spruce or cedar gum. It's safe, antibacterial and absolutely woods-appropriate. You can also try spruce or juniper tea.
Anyone got a recipe to get the smell of cordite out of clothes? I don't hunt the same set of clothes gun vs bow now, but I did.
dynamo free and clear laundry detergent.
no smell, no uv brightener...WAY cheaper than sportwash.
I did use sportwash for a few years.
Saw my Wife bought some of the dynamo free and clear when one of my Daughters was have some skin allergies.
I checked it with UV light..no glow.
Checked the scent with my nose and a few friends.
If anything sportwash had more scent.
Then just dry in the dryer..all we use is the above detergent and no laundry sheets anyway.
I'll often keep my clothes in a bag with some "foliage" from my hunting area.
all this helps..
BUT THE WIND TRUMPS ALL>>PERIOD!
Last deer I got walked 5yds from me and my buddy in a natural ground blind.
He was smoking a cig and we both had a fresh cup of coffee.
Shot the deer at about 16yds when the shot was presented.
..had the wind in our face.. :-)
I wash mine outside in water and baking soda, rinse, drip dry and then store in rubbermaid container with some pine or cedar in it. I do use bakign soda and a homebrew scent killer in the field as needed (gets hot down here in TX during bow season). While you cannot eliminate all human scent concentrations can be cut.... IMHO deer spook when they encounter fresh/concentrated human odor.... the more you control human scent the better chance you have of not blowing a deer out of the area. Also, anyone that thinks rubber boots are scent free and better then leather should visit a tracking dog owner.... rubber boots give off just as much odor and deer know what it is in heavy hunted areas. Best bet is always to plan approach/exit and play the wind.
I ran out of storage space years ago, so mine hang year round outdoors on my patio which is covered. It's great to have an understanding wife for this method though. ;)
First thing I do is make sure they still fit .... :biglaugh: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: There are some good thoughts here......
I dunno about you guys, but I think it IS possible to temporarily eliminate human odor, with the right type of smoke. Green pine boughs thrown on a fire yield a particularly thick and oily smoke. I was upwind, and within 40-60 yards of 200 head of elk once, after doing this. They never smelled me in the 45 minutes I spent looking through the herd. I never did find a legal bull in the herd.