I thought this study was very insightful. What are your thoughts on this?
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2015/10/can-scent-elimination-sprays-beat-the-nose-of-a-drug-sniffing-dog?src=SOC&dom=fb
Marketing and Hollywood Hunters hype sells a lot of products. Forget the wind just hunt. LOL!!!
Thanks for sharing :thumbsup:
That's been my thoughts for years.
I quit using that stuff one Sunday when I watched my Beagle sniff his way right to my tree stand tree. Wasn't hunting, just setting up, but had rubber boots and spray on.
If I couldn't fool a domestic animal's nose, I knew I wouldn't be fooling any wild animal nose.
As suspected. Good article. I've always suspected this to be true.
Thanks for posting!
No surprise. Always doubted their effectiveness and have never used any. It's all about the wind.
Doesn't surprise me.
Anyone who owns a hunting dog should be fairly skeptical of any product that claims to cover human scent. Twice I've had my dog sprayed by a skunk while out pheasant hunting and both times she found and pointed a pheasant within minutes of being sprayed in the face. It had no effect on her ability to find birds at any time during the day...riding along with her in the vehicle though was a different story!!! :)
Really no surprise but a good article none the less. Funny if you read the comments its like people can't grasp that maybe they have been sold hope in a bottle and nothing else.
Gabe
The problem with any test is the number of variables that we just cannot know (we guess, a lot, but really have no clue).
Does wind change things ? How much wind ?
Does heat / cold change things ?
Does humidity level change things ? Rain ? How much rain ?
Does time of day / sunshine, change things ( think thermals) ?
Does time of dissipation ( how long ago was the scent laid) matter ? How much ? Under what conditions ( above) does it change most?
Does how high in a tree ( or how low in a pit) we are change things ?
And we haven't even gotten to the source of the scent and possible ways to control it.
How do we measure any of the above ?
Using a dog ? Which may get bored, decide he doesn't want to play ? Decides he can smell it but doesn't care today ? Smells something else ( gun oil / bow oil / string wax / rubber boot smell ) and follows that but is not smelling the person ? That dog is a trained expert at following and finding, but nothing ever said it is truly just "human scent" it is following. Does that even matter ?
We are guessing. We have all sorts of anecdotal evidence to buoy up our choices, but really, they too are guesses.
" I had a deer walk up from downwind", well so have a lot of us, once while I was sitting on a log smoking a cigar, upset at the world and my meager life.
Did he not smell me, or did he just not care at that moment ? Does a person on the hunt smell different than a person just hanging out ? Does running a chainsaw change the game ? If you wander around, like G.Fred says, "looking for his lost wallet", does that change things ?
It has for him.... but why.
Smart as we are, We will probably never really know. But we sure like to guess.
ChuckC
Good post, ChuckC.
Yep! I do the scent free soap for showers and on my clothes. That's about it. But I still believe if a mature deer walks down wind of you and catches your scent, you most likely will never know he was even there.
Bisch
It all "may" minimize your scent but a mature deer will smell you if they cross your path or they get in your scent cone. Here is my take on scent as I've shared often.
I used to raise and train bird dogs. There were some days my champion dogs could smell a bird a mile away. Others (hot and no humidity) they would find the area a bird had been (planted birds) but couldn't figure out where it was.
This is the reason a guy will be sitting there in his scent lok suit and have a deer (usually a young one) down wind of him and then he will swear by his new $250 suit. Matter of fact being that on that day under those hot and dry conditions that deer wouldn't have smelled them anyway without that suit.
With that said I also use the scent free soaps and detergents. I think a scented detergent, soap or under arm deodorant is not good to use while hunting.
My two cents
Like TJ, I use common sense approach to scent control. Amazing how many people buy all that crap just cause they saw it on a "real" hunting show!
I read this article at the allergist while waiting on my shots last week. My Golden will get on a bowhunter's trail about once a year. She acts just as if it were a bird. I keep a bell on my dogs partially for this reason.
Finds the hunter in no time I've never asked what they use for scent control...that'd be adding insult to injury. :biglaugh:
I am one of those people that does not use shampoos or soaps at all, year-round (except in the undercarriage)...just good old water and a wash rag is all you need. Sounds crazy, but I haven't had dry itchy skin or any other issues since quitting the "poo". I do switch to the scent-free deodorant this time of year.
I wash my hunting thermals, socks and mid layers in baking & washing soda. Outerwear I just hang to dry after use and maybe wash once a year or so...a little mud and dirt doesn't hurt anything as far as I'm concerned, and it'll be soiled again in less time than it takes to wash and dry them. I keep all of it in a cedar chest.
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
Yep! I do the scent free soap for showers and on my clothes. That's about it. But I still believe if a mature deer walks down wind of you and catches your scent, you most likely will never know he was even there.
Bisch
Exactly...do your best, but the wind is the wind....
I have a good friend who is a K-9 cop.... He bet me $100 that I could spray myself down with anything I wanted & his dog "Hudson" would find me. After some haggling, we just decided to just try it. I went to strange area, changed into some borrowed "scent-lock" clothing that was washed & aired for 3 days, then applied a scent eliminator spray. I drove to the area went about a half mile into the woods, found a comfy spot & settled in. Then I called him. He called me awhile later, told me he'd found my truck & was sending the dog.....
Hudson found me in 10 minutes. Nuff said!!!
I've proven to myself that Skunk Screen absolutely works. I put cotton in a plastic container with a lid that closes tight. Pill bottle works ,. Back in the old days used a film container/ I put a leather strap around it and put it on my belt or tie to the bow when hunting. Have to put the container in the back of the pickup when done .
I have had deer within a couple of feet of me several times . But you do have to be in an area where the animals have smelled skunks.
Being as scent free as possible and working the wind is absolutely essential IMHO.
God bless, Steve
I've never used the so-called scent sprays. A person gave me a bunch of samples 10 years ago, I threw it away without even opening it.
I tried fox urine as a cover scent in the early 80's. I crossed a small winter wheat field to my stand. I watched a small, young buck cross my trail. You would have thought my trail was an electric fence the way he high-tailed it out. I saw other deer ignore the fox urine trail though.
I don't use any of the stuff now just like I don't buy Budweiser fishing lures. I stay clean and I try not to overheat going to stand. I'd rather be cold walking in than sweat. However, I often wonder if that even matters.
Sometimes the mind is a powerful thing - what you think becomes a reality. I've seen it in sports to many times. So who is to say that a person that believes in practicing scent control that it doesn't work for them? Perhaps it doesn't for you because of your thoughts about the subject??? Maybe your thoughts effect your behaviors in ways you are not even aware of. Gene Wensel once wrote about thinking a buck to show up at a specific time - it worked for him. So does that mean it always works? Nope. But no one can deny that for whatever reason it worked for Gen on that day.
As far as dogs and being around them - I have and I will say this, ANYONE that has raised tracking dogs KNOWS there are times when they can't find a steak stapled to their rear end.... and other nights the could track a feather through the wind. Since some here think that dogs have magical powers and can smell things for weeks and there is nothing you can do about scent or fooling their noses - how is it, that the very best tracking dogs across the country were brought in to find two escaped criminals and they COULD NOT for weeks on end????? So much for your theory of tracking and scent control. And these were not your average mutts these were the best tracking dogs in the nation. Did they all have a bad couple weeks? Pepper? I'll be waiting to hear how so many "best of the best" dogs were collectively fooled for such a long period of time. It is a lot more complicated then what many believe or don't believe. Do I think you can trick a dog/deer's nose - yep I know you can. Do I think it is a wise practice to try - nope not really. Do I think the more attention you pay to little details and believe in your efforts the more likely you will succeed - yep I sure do.
So I guess the bottom line for me is use it or don't use it - it really is your call. There is enough science and demonstrations to support both sides. I applaud you for your efforts and I wish you success.... and I am certainly not going to condemn you or try to force my opinion on you. Its your money, your hunt and I am sure you will find what does and doesn't work for you. Anyone want to talk about the independent research Rueters did on carbon based hunting clothes..... kind of funny when science proves something that goes against what other science disproves. It is not always black and white
I stopped using scent control a long time ago. Killed my biggest buck last week.
Sad to see Pope & Young fall for Ozonics but I guess they appreciate the revenue.
Scent control is a farce, in my opinion, but I still have tried many products. Mostly, I use attractants, which are not exactly cover scents.
People believe what they want to believe.
Similar to TJ and others, I shower & use the soaps/shampoo and try to keep myself clean while hunting. I do hunt the wind and believe that is the key to what we do. That's why I love traditional hunting is there are a lot less of the modern gadgets! JMHO. Thanks.
Kenny
I still fall back on the pebble tossed into a pond or a rock the size of a fist. The bigger the riple the farther it is detected. Rougher water disperses it quicker. Wind and stiff breezes disperse and dilute scent quicker.You CAN make your scent print smaller and it is effective which will improve your odds if used with common sense. To slather your self in scent killing soap and cover products and forget the wind is marketing hype at its best.the keys are don't ignore your scent REDUCTION and most of all read the wind and read it often.strong breezes adn winds make critters whose defense is their nose very nervous. They can neither scent you well nor hear you well either.So they will be on high visual alert. Tough job being a hunter!
as has been said it is a variable thing. I know I have fooled a deers scent, or enough to have them not know what I was when down wind of me. Other times no. I take the precaution with clothing (though I don't spend the extra on scent control clothing). Wash it well in unscented soap or baking soda. Same for me, focusing on my crotch, arm pit, hair, behind my ears and along my nose, the areas that produce the strongest odors. I never get the opportunity to have a steady wind, so I do what I can to control scent and hope it is diluted and low enough to not cause complete panic in swirl.
I believe most or just about all your smell/sent comes from your mouth. You have to eat and that is what any animal is going to smell.