[shrpshtr]

does anyone here use any scent control clothing for big game hunting? i bow hunt for whitetails and hogs and have been considering giving it a try. i have had to play the wind in the past for success and will continue to use it, but on days where it swirls that ruins things quick. i was curious to who all was having success/failure with which of the products? also, how significant are they of a factor have they been? any info would be appreciated. thanks in advance...

shrp

 

[huntmq1]

Can't beat it with a stick Sharp! I LOVE my Scent Blocker Plus. I've had deer down wind at 15 yards in 80 degree's. Me sweatin' like a pig and they didn't blow out. They knew something wasn't right, but they have NEVER blown out on me. I also go all the way with scent control. H&S scent control system, hair/body soap, anti pers/deodarant and I keep my suit in a scent safe bag and dress just before going to the stand. Hope that helps.
:salude:

 

[DUKHTR]

It MAY work although I have doubts.....heck, I fire up a Marlboro on stand and I have numerous trophy whitetails to show for my hunting - and alot of management does too. ALL have been shot at no more than 40 yards and I have never shot one from a tree stand. I also spend very little time in the woods....prefering to hunt waterfowl.

Maybe I have missed out on some deer, but I feel it is much more important to know the runs and funnels and to set the stand with the prevailing air currents in mind. Even on calm days rising or dropping drafts and flows exist.

 

[shrpshtr]

hey duk, i bet you hunt a lot of open fields and open wooded areas don't you? you can't get away with a cigarette or any scent in our swamps in SC. it's all dead air for miles and scent just lingers. you can do a baby powder test and watch the powder drift all the way to the ground just beneath the tree you're in. there is no playing the wind. deer here will wind you from 500 yards or more in those conditions.

anyway, back to the topic at hand...anyone else have any experience with them?

 

[gsphunter]

I've got a Scent Blocker jacket and I love it. A friend of mine got it for me when a local sporting goods store was closing them out. I think he spent $40 on it. Which is dirt cheap. If I can find the money in my college budget, I'll probably go and buy some bottoms.

The thing that really hooked me was the tag on the jacket. They had a card with some kind of scent on it and then a flap of the scent blocker material over it. You couldn't smell the card at all when the material was over it.

 

[gahunter]

I have a ScentLok Savannah series shirt, pants and facemask and haven't been smelt yet as far as I know. Shrp you need the savannah series if you get it, because down here anything else is too damn hot. It is very light weight and does a good job.

 

[Dogman]

While I don't believe scent control is anything to dismiss out of hand,I do recall guys like my Dad who went out in the deer woods with work clothes on.These outfits were from the laundry pile and cover scents were practicly unheard of.They would hang thier jacket over a smoldering fire with pine branches on it to "smoke" the jacket.No other treatment on any other clothes was done.
Work boots were the norm also,no special scent control there either.
Often times in deer camp a bath meant a sponge down from a bucket with regular soap.
Now I'm sure scent contol helps a lot but I can't help wonder how the old timers did so good(and they did as I recall)with only minimal scent control efforts.Maybe the deer just got more sophisticated.

 

[shrpshtr]

thanks for the replies so far. ga, the savannah series ext is their new stuff that i have been considering the most. thanks for the recommendation on that.

dogman, i don't think deer are necessarily more sophisticated as much as they are more experienced. i don't presume to know how old your father was but i would imagine the hunting pressure today is probably considerably more than it was back then. with fewer areas to hunt and more people hunting them, whitetails around here are becomming more wiley each season. that's my opinion anyway...

i will say i have a bunch of deer in my life and never really been too concerned with scent as long as the wind is good. however, bowhunting certain areas around here (SC) you need all of the help you can get.

 

[Evil_McNasty]

I have some Scentlok and have used it quite a bit. I can't really say I've had better results with it though. I normally hang my stand really high, and pay attention to the wind anyway. I've heard from a Scentlok rep that the carbon wears out after so many dryer recharges. They say the clothes are worn out after a couple years. Those things cost a lot of money to be replaced every couple years.

As far as I am concerned, if a patch of wind goes over my body and then floats directly into his nose......I'm busted. But if the suit helps me leave less of a scent trail behind while walking to my stand, then it's worth using.

Sometimes when looking at the suits in the store, I'll take a deep sniff of them, and they smell like chemicals. That can't be natural to a deer.

So my answer is "buy it and try it". I can't really say either way if it works, if it's worth it, and if it'll last.

 

[gsphunter]

Evil, you're supposed to wash it in a special detergent, so that smell comes out of the clothes.

Shrp I think about the deer getting more and more wiley. I think they could be getting better at picking out hunters. I'm not saying that I have really witnessed this, but it could be a sort of evolutionary thing over a lot of time. If a deer looks up more, it's more likely to survive the threat of a hunter. The deer with better noses are more likely to detect a hunter's smell. A deer that learns to bed down and not move when threats, such as gunfire, are present will be more likely to survive. Deer that go strictly nocturnal during deer season are more likely to survive. If these deer are the breeding stock that survive, then they are passing on these traits to their offspring.

 

[Evil_McNasty]

Yeah and I have someof that detergent, but after a washing, my suit still has a chemical smell. It's even stronger after a recharge. But wouldn't that mean it's working? Maybe some of the newer garments are better at this smell removal. Mine is a Scentlok Safari, and is a couple years old.

 

[Greg Wile]

I don't use sent blocking hunting clothes but do put my pants and coat in a plastic bag with leaves and needles off of spruce trees so that they smell woodsey, I know guys that hunt farm pastures that hange their gear in the barn and it does the trick for them.

 

[Cupped-n-Committed]

I don't use them. I know what direction the deer are coming, I have a maraboo feather tyied to my bow for wind direction and hunt down wind. I know a guy that hunts on his own property and takes a sweaty work shirt out 2 months before deer season and hangs it on a nail 6' off the ground. Changes the shirt with a new one every week and the deer are used to his smell in the area and they pay no attetion to it.

 

[shrpshtr]

anyone else?

 

[Gooseboy]

I don't use sent blocking hunting clothes but do put my pants and coat in a plastic bag with leaves and needles off of spruce trees so that they smell woodsey, I know guys that hunt farm pastures that hange their gear in the barn and it does the trick for them.

good idea.