effectiveness of scent killers

[gorillaboy]

I'm trying to tap into some of the members who have much more hunting knowledge than i do.
do scent eliminators actually work? both the laundry detergent and the spray on type.
what are your secrets for trying to stay "scent free".

thank you in advance for your replies.

[KevinB]

Stay downwind of what you're hunting.

Honestly, I've never used scent eliminator products. I don't tree stand hunt or bow hunt, although, I've killed more than a few deer well inside bow range and I stink as much as they next dude.

Once an animal is downwind of you it probably knows you're there, scent control or no scent control. Whether it vacates or not depends on how educated it is. In my opinion you're probably better off focusing on the basics to increase your hunting success rates.

But some companies sure do make money from it! :mrgreen:

[Call of the Wild]

Well it’s impossible to completely eliminate our odour and the most effective way to prevent animals to smell you is to work with the WIND.

You can use all the detergent, soap, shampoo etc you want, all it will do is reduce you scent and I specify reduce not eliminate. How many hunters pay a lots of attention to their scent control but for example they fuel up at the gas station with their hunting boots, some light up a cigarette in hunting clothes or eat some food in their hunting clothes etc.

Human odours come from various sources and some can be controlled while others temporarily eliminated. Bacteria are one source, the scent is from putrefaction, and washing your clothes and your self with the proper product will eliminate the scent from bacteria until new bacteria presence. Depending on the number of bacteria the smell will be weak or strong, to an animal nose. Also an other source of human odour is sweat and our breathing. Using proper soap will reduce the smell of sweat but it can’t be eliminated for obvious reasons.

Scent eliminator products should give you an extra edge over the nose of a wild animal that relies primarily on his nose for survival. It would take them a few extra seconds to detect you or they would have to be a few yards closer to you to detect your smell. Even drug dealers try using various techniques to fool dogs’ nose and it doesn’t always work. Let’s take a whitetail deer for example, their nose is bigger than a drug dogs and I suspect deer to have more olfactory receptors and they should have a better sense of smell. I’m amazed how many hunters don’t question the effectiveness of those scent control products (I’m not throwing darts at you). The hunting industry is a huge business these days and about 15 years ago a few smart hunters with business knowledge created scent control products knowing hunters would buy into the concept. All it took was an aggressive marketing campaign and many hunters started to believe into it and now with sponsors for many hunting shows and magazines it’s creating what I consider "brain washing to control our odour". Now look how many companies produce scent control product. There in business to make money and it’s an excellent way to make some.

I’m saying this to help you reflect on the business aspect of all this. Talk to older hunters and they used to hunt in square black and red jacket and they were successful then. Why all of the sudden today’s hunters won’t have success if they don’t own and use camo clothes, some of the new gear, and all the various hunting products on the market.

To come back to your question, I suggest you to wash your hunting clothes in hot water with sodium bicarbonate, which will eliminate the scent in your clothes at a very low cost. For the shower use some non scented soap or some good hunting soap if you want. But mainly use the wind to your advantage and depending on the animals, don’t over hunt the same spot/stand so they can’t pattern you.

Just my opinion

[Johnnybear]

Ask these old boy's if they used special detergents, spray, let alone any camo.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=60702

Like others have posted stay downwind, be quiet, and good luck:-D.

[tracker]

I use "scent killer 99" and realy think it helps alot,as I see it every little bit helps, I always try to use the wind as a advantage but with crazy steep draws and swirling mountain winds scent killer is a wise choice...

I have had elk walk 10 feet from the tree I was sitting against bears 15 feet away ... I bag all of my outer layer hunting clothes and put them on out in the bush away from the truck or quad..Re-spray with scent killer 99 everyday and re bag when I get back from the hunt... I am sure there is still some scent there but not as much as if I did not use this product.. Although it is not cheap stuff the extra insurance is worth it I spend roughly about 40 - 60 dollars a 3 month season for it... goodluck :mrgreen:

[newhunterette]

I wash our gear in no scent, there is also some really awesome dryer sheets that smell like dirt. After the gear comes out of the dryer, it heads straight into a large zipper bag made by ziplock. I throw dirt pucks (which you can also purchase) into the bag and everything is ready for storage or for travelling. Before getting dressed I also use no scent body wash, soap and deodorant. We try our best to block out human scent but can't get it all.

[Ron.C]

From a bowhunters perspective


I agree, no product will fully eliminate all scent. So I'll call the scent reducing products. I stopped using the "dirt scent wafers" and other cover scents several years back because they really don't smell like real dirt. And if it's that strong that I can smell it, it must be overwhelming to game. For that reason I just use no-scent products now.

Two years back I went to a local hunting area to hang a treestand. When I do this I shower with and use scent reducing products and wear clothing washed in no scent detergents that I only wear while hunting. I just finished hanging the stand, and was attaching my bowholder to the tree when I saw a large blackbear following my trail with his nose to the ground right to the base of my tree. He paused, looked up at me and after saying a few kind words to him he left.

He obviously smelled me, or my boot tracks, but was curious. Normal for alot of predators I' assume.

But when deer/elk hunting lots of guys says all you need to do is keep the wind in your face, and there is no need for scent control. That's true if the wind never changed direction on you, or game never circled down wind. I spend a hell of a lot of time in the bush ad maybe its just me, but few areas I hunt have what I would call consistent prevailing wind patterns from one hour to the next let alone all day. In the last 10 years of hunting, I can't recall how many times I've had game circle downwind, and not bust out of the area. Or have game such as elk, blacktail and whitetail deer come in unexpectedly from downwind.

Both my biggest Whitetail and biggest Blacktail came in from downwind. Did my scent "reducing" practice contribute to this????

Who knows for sure, but it certainly didn't hurt.

Everyone needs to wash their hunting clothes and shower "I would hope" It really doesn't cost any more to buy no-scent detergent and scent-free soap/shampoo. Probably cost me about $30-$40 a hunting season. So I ask, why wouldn't you???

[Big Lew]

That's an excellent answer to his question,"Call of the Wind", I couldn't agree more.
I've still-hunted with a bow for many years, and have done quite well. I've tried washing my hunting clothes in their soaps, packed them in plastic bags, and put them on before starting to hunt. Soon after, despite trying to move slowly and not sweat, the older bucks pick me up, and either run or sneak off if I'm up wind of them. I've only used good camo the last few years, but I must say, if what ever you are wearing matches the surrounding vegetation, and has large patterns, it works, but no camo will hide you if you don't cover your white face and hands. Many times, before using camo, and only using checkered plaid shirts and faded blue jeans, but painting my face and hands, I've had deer come right up to me if I didn't move, and am down wind. On one incident, a doe and fawn came within 3 feet of me, could hear my clothes moving with my breathing, kept staring with ears searching, and only when her eyes met mine, did she take off.

[Call of the Wild]

Ask these old boy's if they used special detergents, spray, let alone any camo.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=60702

Like others have posted stay downwind, be quiet, and good luck:-D.


What a great link for this post, the good old hunting days. That's what hunting is all about, good times with friends.

[Johnnybear]

What a great link for this post, the good old hunting days. That's what hunting is all about, good times with friends.

I thought so that's why I posted it:-D.


I have a real problem with the hunting industry today:? :-D.

[dana]

I think all 'scent' products are a waste of money and are just a gimmic. It is my firm belief 99.9% of all hunting products on the market today are nothing more than good sales pitch and many hunters today get caught hook line and sinker by thinking these gimmics are going to somehow help them kill a big buck or bull.
All I can tell ya is you can kill big critters without all these products. It is a matter of learning how to hunt, not a matter of the next special magic potion.

[dime]

I think all 'scent' products are a waste of money and are just a gimmic. It is my firm belief 99.9% of all hunting products on the market today are nothing more than good sales pitch and many hunters today get caught hook line and sinker by thinking these gimmics are going to somehow help them kill a big buck or bull.
All I can tell ya is you can kill big critters without all these products. It is a matter of learning how to hunt, not a matter of the next special magic potion.

Just watch Mythbusters, the whole industry is a scam, they used scent eliminating clothes and spray and nothing worked. Hunt with the wind in your face and you will do fine. If you have the wind at your back you may see deer, but more often than not they will be running as fast as they can in the opposite direction. Not the most likely scenario for a successful hunt.

[Marlin375]

Scent "eliminators" are pure "snake oil" like Dana said, a deer survives with its nose.The one thing that worked for me this year was the "smoking sticks" part A and part B (the ones you put in a bucket upside down full of holes).. I was bow hunting a group of Mulies and had to come up on them from below with the wind at my back. I could smell the sticks from over 500 meters below me in the gully I was stalking up...I was in deer (all AROUND me, not just up-wind) for hours and even put a stalk on a thin horn 4 point that was bedded, I circled below him right through the wind heading straight at him ( I stunk pretty could from hanging out for 20min at the bucket before I left) he did not get out of bed untill I came over the hill I was using for cover at 40 yards......I became a believer.....they did not bring the deer to me but they sure covered my sent from the deer, it was very cool. Pretty sure if I played it out the same way with no cover scent I would have been lucky if I even caught a glimpse of a doe leaving.

[hunter1947]

In the past I used to wash my clothing with scentless soaps and after they dried I would put the clothing in a big plastic garbage bag put cedar and pine branches in side and close up the bag for the night.

Then I would use game scents on my clothing ,the wind and movement is the key factor on getting in close to your target.

[fearnodeer]

Over the years i have never tried scent but an old feller once told me that if you take some of the local vegetation/trees and put it into a plastic bag with your gear it is your best option. I have used this method before an it works once elk hunting i called a herd in and had 16 cows come staight at me and pass no more 15' from me, it was my first time doing this and what a rush.

[weatherby_man]

I use the special detergents for my hunting clothes, not only because they are unscented but because of the UV potential as well in regular detergents. I keep all my hunting clothes in a separate bin and change out of them back at camp. I also use unscented hand soap and deodorant. I think everyone above is right by saying play the wind correctly, its the key part of the scent battle. The tree stand guys seem to go hog wild on the scent stuff.

[Spokerider]

I'm trying to tap into some of the members who have much more hunting knowledge than i do.
do scent eliminators actually work? both the laundry detergent and the spray on type.
what are your secrets for trying to stay "scent free".

thank you in advance for your replies.


Marketed so as to get you to open up your wallet...........

[Weatherby Fan]

Dana and fear no deer are right on,first and foremost watch your wind,we use juniper berries in a bag with our hunting clothes as thats the tree we find the bucks bedding under most times where we hunt and it doesn't cost a dime,my older brother always cuts the scent glands off of the bucks he shoots and pins them to his boots when hunting and just drops them in a ziplock when done and into the freezer when not in use,again doesn't cost a thing.
Any large bucks I've caught bedded almost always have the wind at their back and watching the leeward side,they don't get that big and old from being dumb for sure.
One time my brother and I were camped under a spruce thicket at 6000 feet in the alpine after our morning hunt talking things over when all of a sudden I could smell BO,I said to my brother there's someone coming and we walked out and looked downhill at about 500 yards two guys were working their way up the hill towards us so if I can smell them I'm sure a deer could !
Again can't stress enough about watching your wind and thermals which alot of people overlook.

[knighthunter]

Dana and fear no deer are right on,first and foremost watch your wind,we use juniper berries in a bag with our hunting clothes as thats the tree we find the bucks bedding under most times where we hunt and it doesn't cost a dime,my older brother always cuts the scent glands off of the bucks he shoots and pins them to his boots when hunting and just drops them in a ziplock when done and into the freezer when not in use,again doesn't cost a thing.
Any large bucks I've caught bedded almost always have the wind at their back and watching the leeward side,they don't get that big and old from being dumb for sure.
One time my brother and I were camped under a spruce thicket at 6000 feet in the alpine after our morning hunt talking things over when all of a sudden I could smell BO,I said to my brother there's someone coming and we walked out and looked downhill at about 500 yards two guys were working their way up the hill towards us so if I can smell them I'm sure a deer could !
Again can't stress enough about watching your wind and thermals which alot of people overlook.

I agree. I was a heavy smoker for 35 of my 40 years of hunting and somehow I still managed to put a lot of deer and several moose in our freezer without any thought to descenting my clothes or self. Even now, if it's not time for my weekly shower before I go hunting, then it doesn't get done. LOL.

[gibblewabble]

I use the laundry detergent more for the lack of UV brighteners, other than that I use a rubbermaid tote and throw pine or cedar branches in. When in the field I step in cow/deer/moose crap and work it into the boots, that is the cheapest cover scent you can get. Use the wind to your advantage the deer sure do.

[KevinB]

I guess I should modify my response a bit - I do usually use Tec Wash or something similar with my capilene, mostly because our regular laundry detergent smells like fake flowers and I hate it. The Tec Wash is pretty much scent free, does that qualify as a scent eliminator product? :wink:

Also I don't tend to wash my outer hunting layers very often - only if they get bloody enough that they make a mess in the truck. I don't think I've washed my outer fleece shirt in at least a few years. And then it's plain cold water, or Tec Wash if it's really grim. It's my favourite, high-tech value village $5 special.

I have to admit though, that I've rubbed doe tarsal gland on my boots. Learned that one from Dana. Shot a WT buck a couple of years ago who had his nose in my tracks on my backtrail. I imagine he could still smell me, but the moldy old tarsal gland clouded his judgement a bit :mrgreen:

I suspect most of the specialized scent eliminator products are about as useful as having a camo quad.

[Kody94]

Frankly, on most hunts, I just can't be bothered to keep my hunting clothes separate from all other smells....the changing multiple layers back and forth all the time is just too annoying.

As I try tree-stand or blind hunting more, maybe that will change. If you are just walking a short distance to where your gonna sit all day, it does make a little more sense to be careful.

[Ron.C]

I guess I should modify my response a bit - I do usually use Tec Wash or something similar with my capilene, mostly because our regular laundry detergent smells like fake flowers and I hate it. The Tec Wash is pretty much scent free, does that qualify as a scent eliminator product? :wink:


I have to admit though, that I've rubbed doe tarsal gland on my boots. Learned that one from Dana. Shot a WT buck a couple of years ago who had his nose in my tracks on my backtrail. I imagine he could still smell me, but the moldy old tarsal gland clouded his judgement a bit :mrgreen:

I suspect most of the specialized scent eliminator products are about as useful as having a camo quad.

So would it make a difference if the boots that the tarsal gland was rubbed on were clean as possible and only used in the bush, or worn two hours before when fuelling your truck? Would the deer maybe pick up on the fuel smell, or maybe not? Maybe so. I say there is no downside of trying to redcue your scent as much as possible especially when it doesn't cost you any extra $$$$.

I hunt with a bow or muzzleloader and my longest shot in my past 20 harvests has been 60 yards. The other 19 were all under 43 yards. So I think scent is very important when you need to be in close to make a shot.

Sure there are times where it's not practical to try and manage your scent. Like if you are on a backpack hunt. But why not try to reduce scent as much as possible if you are on a day hunt. Washing you clothes in scent free detergent has to be better then washing it in normal scented soaps, or not washing at all. And it doesn't cost any more so where is the loss? One bottle of scent free cloths wash costs me about $8-12 and lasts me all season. My scent free soap/shampoo/de-oderant probably runs me $20-25 a season. I'd be using normal shampoo/soap/de-oderant anyway so where the loss? And lets compare scent to noise. When we stalk deer, elk,or bear that are oblivious to our presence bear we do our best to make as little noise as possible, so why wouldn't you reduce your scent as much a possible for the same reason.

[markt308]

This season was my first where i decided to go all out with scent controll. laundry, taking off all hunting gear before getting back to camp, and scent kill spray. On a 5 day mulie bowhunt everyyday i set a new record for how close i have had mulies come in. I had a group of does come in to six feet, on all sides of me feeding off a buch that i was using as my blind. If anyone else told me this i would not have beleived them haha. I aggree, you don't NEED scent control to be successful, but as a bowhunter i'll take any advantage i can get.

[KevinB]

So would it make a difference if the boots that the tarsal gland was rubbed on were clean as possible and only used in the bush, or worn two hours before when fuelling your truck? Would the deer maybe pick up on the fuel smell, or maybe not? Maybe so. I say there is no downside of trying to redcue your scent as much as possible especially when it doesn't cost you any extra $$$$.

I hunt with a bow or muzzleloader and my longest shot in my past 20 harvests has been 60 yards. The other 19 were all under 43 yards. So I think scent is very important when you need to be in close to make a shot.

Sure there are times where it's not practical to try and manage your scent. Like if you are on a backpack hunt. But why not try to reduce scent as much as possible if you are on a day hunt. Washing you clothes in scent free detergent has to be better then washing it in normal scented soaps, or not washing at all. And it doesn't cost any more so where is the loss? One bottle of scent free cloths wash costs me about $8-12 and lasts me all season. My scent free soap/shampoo/de-oderant probably runs me $20-25 a season. I'd be using normal shampoo/soap/de-oderant anyway so where the loss? And lets compare scent to noise. When we stalk deer, elk,or bear that are oblivious to our presence bear we do our best to make as little noise as possible, so why wouldn't you reduce your scent as much a possible for the same reason.

I wouldn't argue with anything you say, and I think that doing what you do probably can and does make a difference. I'm not arguing against doing all that, what I'm saying is for most hunters, focusing on the basics - knowing something about what you're chasing, keeping alert, and knowing how and when to shoot (whether you're a pointy stick guy or a rifle guy), etc. is more important and will do more to maximize their success. There are a lot of hunters out there who buy all this crap but don't even know what a scrape is or own binoculars.

How else my boot smelled didn't matter to that one particular buck at all. Of course, for all I know, it did matter to all the others that I never saw :wink:

[Fisher-Dude]

On a 5 day mulie bowhunt everyyday i set a new record for how close i have had mulies come in. I had a group of does come in to six feet, on all sides of me feeding off a buch that i was using as my blind. If anyone else told me this i would not have beleived them haha.

I've had the same thing happen, sitting under a fir tree with a mackinaw and wool pants. No scent killer products at all. They left after 10 minutes of feeding on the kinikanik I was sitting on, only after one doe caught me blinking and got that "Oh shit!" look on her face.

If I want to reduce my human scent while I'm hunting, I simply hit the button and roll up the windows of the truck. :wink:

[coach]

I've had the same thing happen, sitting under a fir tree with a mackinaw and wool pants. No scent killer products at all. They left after 10 minutes of feeding on the kinikanik I was sitting on, only after one doe caught me blinking and got that "Oh shit!" look on her face.

Why were you sitting? Did your truck break down?

[BromBones]

Why were you sitting? Did your truck break down?

He was sitting in the truck, parked under a fir tree.

Camo paintjob, scentkiller catalytic converters, and a salt block on the tailgate.

Gets 'em everytime.:-D

[BillyBull]

As mentioned... the wind is key for scent control not the tinker-toys from the commericals. In early season, lots of camp showers, in late season less showers and dont use your irish spring or axe deodorant unless your chasing does. Nice tree saplings, fresh pine rubbing on the clothes as you walk in the thickets will keep you smelling fresh. If you look at some of the boomers that were taken in the past 20-50 years I dont recall many of them having much of are fancy options - yet the managed to do well.

[Fisher-Dude]

Why were you sitting? Did your truck break down?

I was younger and not as cartilage-challenged as I am now. :wink:

[dana]

When you live in a small forestry town you see guys out logging in their Stanie with chainoil and diesel fuel from tiddy tanks all ground into it, then you see them on Saturday hunting in the same Stanie. Guess what, they still are killing bucks, and because they are in the bush so much, they happen to know where the big boys live and seem pretty handy at killing them. Hmmm, how can this be? ;)

[hunter1947]

When you live in a small forestry town you see guys out logging in their Stanie with chainoil and diesel fuel from tiddy tanks all ground into it, then you see them on Saturday hunting in the same Stanie. Guess what, they still are killing bucks, and because they are in the bush so much, they happen to know where the big boys live and seem pretty handy at killing them. Hmmm, how can this be? ;)

It could be that the animals are use to the diesel smell as well ????..

[Walksalot]

The manufacturers of scent killers have a motto "It is a sin to let suckers keep their money".

[gitnadoix]

From the moment our ancestors came down outa the trees and started sneeking up on things to kill and eat they have been doing it with out the (emporer's new clothes) and with out any ultra magnums, now all of a sudden we need little bottles of magic snake oil to spray on us and our clothes to make us successfull.... its too bad that wolves and cougars dont have access to this stuff because with out it they would shurely perrish ......oh wait a minute they smell like death warmed over to their prey yet can still get with in striking distance how can that be......:confused:



Animals smell in the parts per billion, and every second you are alive you are making millions of scent particles in your breath and you skin cells falling off. take that same money and give it to your local food bank the return good Karma you get from lady luck will far out weigh any other advantage it gives.....