Ok, I saw an interesting thread about packing in for a few days and hunting. How does one carry a pack full of gear, setup a temporary camp and maintain scent control? Obviously staying down wind is the ultimate idea but, there must be some other ways of controlling your scent after sweating profusely carrying all your gear in. :rolleyes:
Personally, I don't think it is possible to defeat the nose of game animals with scent control. Your only real option is to use the wind as your ally. Keep it in your face and your stinky body won't be a factor.
That's not saying I don't at least try to keep somewhat clean - I do, but it probably more for my own and my buddies benefit than it is to fool an elk or a deer.
Merino base layers, unscented baby wipes and baking soda.
That is just so you can stand yourself after day 3.
Everything else is watching the wind.
A little dip in the creek will revitalize you if they are anywhere near the temperatures of our creeks, and it doesn't take long to get clean.
forget scent control, hunt the wind.
merino base layers won't stink anywhere near as much as synthetic.
Well, after talking with my wife, I am considering a 3 day 2 night trip to the back country to help save on gas. Trips back and forth everyday are going to kill the ole pocket book and I want to maximize my time afield as much as possible. Thanks for the input folks, I think I'll give this a try.
Hunt the wind. We all stink - period. Cutting down on how much we sweat might help a little.
Rubber tote in the pick up, ozonics, scent lock, sprays, waffers, rubber boots, etc....IMO its all just band aids on not hunting the right way. As mentioned above hunting the wind is everything.
Its a rare day a back pack hunter will hike a rubber tub full of scent lock and a gallon of scent spray into the back country let alone a fresh change of clothes washed in scent eliminator for every day afield.
Dont get to caught up in the scent control. Do what you can when you can and always hunt the wind is my best advise.
But then again I don't use or believe in any of that scent control stuff so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Pack light and hunt hard...remember underwear can be fresh 6 times...3 holes and 2 sides... Rotate,rotate, rotate,flip, rotate, rotate, rotate, wash! Lol.
The others covered it well. You may consider, not knowing your situation, making several trips and really taking your time to avoid getting all lathered up in sweat.
Scent killer wipes are handy.
The wife just happened to have some unscented baby wipes that I could have, and I figured I'd just use those. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions. :thumbsup:
Forget "scent control". Our ancestors didn't need it when they hunted, and they STANK. The Amerindians didn't need it when they hunted, either. Use the wind and the terrain.
Same for camo clothes and face paints and ghillie suits and all that nonsense. It's just hype intended to separate you from your greenbacks.
build a small camp fire--the smoke will do the rest----
I camp for whitetail hunt a week at a time 2x in November each year wit ha buddy. We both use the unscented baby wipes for a "sponge bath " every other day or so. We also use a scent killer spray on our clothing/pack every time we go out.
I carry my outer clothes in a backpack and finish dressing at base of tree. Jim just wears his loose. Heck, 2x I 've had to stop dressing and hold still as a deer walked by my tree in the afternoon!
We try to hunt the wind but with these hills, the winds are constantly switching back/forth.
Using a small camper I guess this year, but previous yrs we tent hunted, using wood stove for heat the 1st couple yrs, then switching to propane buddy heater.
We do get busted sometimes, but other times, we think "No way that deer is going to make it here without busting" but despite that logic, we've had deer come within feet of our stand and not alert....
Just do your best and enjoy.....GOOD LUCK!!
This is to me about the most sensible bunch of replies to this topic I've seen. Scent and free are two words that should never be combined, no matter how much silly crap someone in advertising can think up trying to sell you something. I fully concur that keeping clean as best you can is a great idea, as others have mentioned for the personal benefits as much as the practical ones. Which way is the wind moving?
When we hunt WV in tents we just boiled water in a pot and took a quick bath like that. The temps one time was 13 deg. So it's pretty fast wash off lol.
I read somewhere and Old wise hunter said you only hunt 50% of the animals, the ones up wind.