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Difficult to plan totally on the wind when it is ever changing plus thermo drafts etc.....The wind direction one sees on the weather station in the morning does not warrantee that is the direction the wind will be at ones stand. Deer can come from anywhere.....
 
I'm not a deer so I can't really say if those scent elimination sprays work or not. I also can't tell you if those earth scented wafers actually smell like earth to a deer. Appearantly some here can tell because.....?🤷‍♂️

I always try to use the wind, nothing beats that approach. I think relying on any chemical product to eliminate your scent isn't a good strategery, but doing everything you can to reduce your odor makes sense to me. If those scent elimination sprays work somewhat, and they do, I can't see why using them would be thought of as a foolish idea.

I was at a big archery shindig years ago when those scent elimination sprays first came out. Robinson labs had a booth there and did a demonstration of their product using human sweat. They wiped some on a cotton swab, and it was easy to smell. They sprayed it with their scent killer(don't remember the name) and I couldn't smell it. Not saying it eliminated the scent, but it certainly did reduce it to a level that I couldn't smell. That has to be worth something in a hunting situation, no?

I'll say, or ask, this again. Does anyone know of a consistant big buck(or doe) slayer who doesn't have some kind of scent control regimine? The ones I know and those I read about all work to eliminate as much scent as possible. One very well known big buck slayer I've met says, "hunters play the wind, bucks work the wind" and he's a fanatic about eliminating his scent.
 
I'll say, or ask, this again. Does anyone know of a consistant big buck(or doe) slayer who doesn't have some kind of scent control regimine?
Here's a forum where a large portion of folks don't worry about scent control. The Hunting Beast - Index page

I kill at least one nice buck (in/out of state) and a bunch of doe every year with zero scent control. My hunting buddy does the same.

Do you agree that your sense of smell is like a power wheels where as a deer has a Bugatti for a nose? How can you compare the two?
 
Here's a forum where a large portion of folks don't worry about scent control. The Hunting Beast - Index page

I kill at least one nice buck (in/out of state) and a bunch of doe every year with zero scent control. My hunting buddy does the same.

Do you agree that your sense of smell is like a power wheels where as a deer has a Bugatti for a nose? How can you compare the two?
I saw Dan Infalt (AKA the Big Buck Serial Killer) douse himself with deep woods OFF and joked it was his cover scent when he was leaving the truck.
 
You guys are going to push some over the edge talking about Infalt . Posted one of his videos on here a few months back and it wasn’t well received.
Anyhow did any of you watch his recent Minnesota bear videos ? Pretty entertaining.
 
Do you agree that your sense of smell is like a power wheels where as a deer has a Bugatti for a nose? How can you compare the two?
I absoutly agree. That's why I find it odd that many don't bother with any scent control. It's also why I find it amusing that some say scent control sprays don't work or that a plastic disc actually smells like earth to a deer. We're all guessing.

Again, I'll go back to camo. It doesn't make you invisible, but it makes you less conspicuous in the woods, no? But scent control is different....how?
 
I absoutly agree. That's why I find it odd that many don't bother with any scent control. It's also why I find it amusing that some say scent control sprays don't work or that a plastic disc actually smells like earth to a deer. We're all guessing.

Again, I'll go back to camo. It doesn't make you invisible, but it makes you less conspicuous in the woods, no? But scent control is different....how?
The nose of a deer is so good that you aren't minimizing anything to them. Drug dealers can't trick a dog and yet hunters think they can trick a deer. Whether I'm cooking one piece of bacon or an entire pack, our house smells like bacon. I bet if you hunted this season with zero scent control you would be just as successful as you usually are. If you hunt the wind, use thermals to your advantage and focus on a clean entry/exit you're going to kill.

Deer don't have x-ray vision, which is why camo works. Their nose is a super power though.
 
before Chuck Adams became "Mr. Super Slam" he wore a knit cap, faded jeans and a green and black plaid shirt. killed a lot of record book animals :)
All of a sudden after he becomes "Mr. Super Slam" he has his own line of arrows (same ones we use, just have his name on them and they cost a lot more), camo, scent products, bows...
maybe he didnt realize that we all knew he completed his slam with out all those gimmicks.
 
I have an old video of Chuck Adams walking to his bed room closet and picking out his hunting attire and saying you don't need camo just a plaid shirt to break up your outline......and blue jeans....and of course a knit cap.....
 
The nose of a deer is so good that you aren't minimizing anything to them. Drug dealers can't trick a dog and yet hunters think they can trick a deer. Whether I'm cooking one piece of bacon or an entire pack, our house smells like bacon. I bet if you hunted this season with zero scent control you would be just as successful as you usually are. If you hunt the wind, use thermals to your advantage and focus on a clean entry/exit you're going to kill.

Deer don't have x-ray vision, which is why camo works. Their nose is a super power though.
Again, you are telling me what a deer smells and thinks. I'm not sure you really know.🤷‍♂️

Like so many other things hunting related, it's that Burger King thing again, have it your way. My opinion is the less scent I take to the woods the better, others may feel differently. I'm not trying to "trick" a buck, only make my presence less obvious, anyone who feels that's not an advantage is welcome to their opinion.
 
Again, you are telling me what a deer smells and thinks. I'm not sure you really know.🤷‍♂️

Like so many other things hunting related, it's that Burger King thing again, have it your way. My opinion is the less scent I take to the woods the better, others may feel differently. I'm not trying to "trick" a buck, only make my presence less obvious, anyone who feels that's not an advantage is welcome to their opinion.
not only do biologists and manfacturers tell us how a deer smells and thinks they can tell us how it sees and hears :)
 
not only do biologists and manfacturers tell us how a deer smells and thinks they can tell us how it sees and hears :)
Nobody can tell me exactly how or what a deer smells. We can only relate it to our own sense of smell.

It's like those "earth scent" plastic wafers. What does a deer smell? Can anyone say for sure? I know they smell like earth to me, but can a deer also smell the plastic? If he can, does plastic alarm him? How about the smell of "OFF"? Smelling something and recognizing it as danger could be 2 separate processes, no? While a deer may smell something, it's how he reacts that's important to us as hunters, no? Do they equate smoke with danger, lots of smokers kill deer. How about diesel fumes? Bacon scent? Doe in heat lures? Anybody really have any concrete answers?
 
I have taken a few bucks that really thought I was there in a tree. One comes to my memory a very nice OH buck which I saw causing about 80 yrds out, at 11 AM. I made a couple of grunt calls and he started to come in, unfortunately he came in from my most exposed side. He stopped three times and starred at me for several minutes and all I could do was freeze and do I best expression of being part of a bare cherry tree.

He had to walk behind a big section of vines and briars which gave me a chance to draw and of course he stood in the middle of the tangle for minutes and I didn't draw until until I saw he was going to proceed into an opening.

He came to the opening after passing the vines, at that time I was a full draw and he was standing broadside staring directly up at me so I aimed directly at the heart and released my arrow and he turned and walked away only to fall at about 20 yards.

He was very suspicious but he did come in.....and is now hanging on the wall in my loft....I was lucky....
 
I can't even remember the number of deer I killed when they were looking at me. If you don't move while they are staring at you , you have a good chance of putting the cross hairs on them and a good chance of putting them on the ground. If the cross hairs are are on them, it matters little where they are looking.
 
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