Article on the powerlessness of scent control

[ChiefStingingArrow]

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

[Warden609]

Marketing and Hollywood Hunters hype sells a lot of products. Forget the wind just hunt. LOL!!!

[Mr. fingers]

Thanks for sharing  

[Arctic Hunter]

That's been my thoughts for years.

[Hopewell Tom]

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.

[fnshtr]

As suspected. Good article. I've always suspected this to be true.

Thanks for posting!

[highlow]

No surprise. Always doubted their effectiveness and have never used any. It's all about the wind.

[dbd870]

Doesn't surprise me.

[RickE]

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!!!  

[Nuctech]

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

[ChuckC]

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

[Bobaru]

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

[KentuckyTJ]

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

[Fritz]

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!

[mlsthmpsn]

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.    


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.

[Roger Norris]

Originally 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....

[woodchucker]

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!!!

[Sixby]

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

[Bowwild]

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.