Watch your scent while hunting
Published 12:06 pm Monday, September 15, 2008
In today’s hunting world, we try to do everything possible to make sure that a whitetail deer doesn’t see us or even smell us.
The nose of a whitetail deer is his number one weapon.
Some say that if a deer could see as well as a turkey, we would never kill one.
And on the other hand, if a turkey could smell as well as the deer, you would never kill him either.
With so many scent control suits and sprays out there today, there should be no reason why a hunter of today should be able to harvest a deer.
Being in the hunting business for the past several years, I have learned that the more scent control that a hunter has the better off he is.
Nowadays you have shampoos, soaps, chewing gum, body wash, and many sprays.
You even have things like camo-carbon based suits that help with the control of human odor.
Basic personal hygiene and a splash of fox urine used to be a savvy hunter’s idea of scent control.
But the science of scent control has evolved steadily in the recent decades, and the twenty-first century hunter has a myriad of options when it comes to making certain their odor doesn’t spook away the game.
How to prevent contamination: commercial laundry detergents are loaded with perfumes and other odor type chemicals, so you’ll want to wash all your hunting clothes, including socks and undergarments in a scent-a-way laundry detergent.
After the load is washed, you can throw in a scent-a-way earth scent dryer sheet.
After the load has been washed and dried, put your clothes in a scent-tight bag.
There are a lot of scent control bags made nowadays that you can purchase and store your hunting garments in until you head to the woods.
Based on where I go to hunt is based on how soon I put my hunting clothes on.
For instance, if I were going to the Alabama River to hunt, my main hunting suit wouldn’t be put on until I get to where I start walking into the woods.
Even when you put your hunting clothes on and then get into your truck, when you drive you still add odor to you and your clothes.
Try waiting until you get to the woods before putting them on.
It’s like you’re taking that extra step to make sure that you’re as scent free as possible.
Think about that coffee and ham you had for breakfast while you were driving down the road.
It will have that special smell that we all love to smell in the morning.
It too will add to the odor that you don’t want on you.
I mean I know a lot of us have to have coffee, but I can’t say I’ve ever seen a deer drink coffee.
So this season, make sure to be as odorless as possible before you go into the woods to hunt.
It just might be the morning that you don’t double-check yourself that the big buck comes through and busts you.
Make sure to spray all your equipment down also because they too can give off an odor you would not want.
So until next time, may God be with you and good luck in the field from my neck of the woods.