[Pa.Bone]

I'll probably never try turpentine because I just feel an old buck doesn't want to smell anything abnormal. I put a little bit of Evercalm on my boots to walk in and that's it no other scents. But I also don't hunt from the ground and I'm always high in a treestand.

 

[Bramble]

One of the best tactics is to stay as motionless as possible. Sometimes I even take a nap and you should see the deer in my dreams.

 

[Fairchild #17]

I gave a buddy of mine an ounce to try and he texted me several times throughout the season "Hey, there might be something to this."
His and my experience was deer definitely smell it, as they should, but if they smell IT they should smell you........and they just don't seem to. They are curious about it and I've had several big does walk long distances searching for the source. I drop milkweed duff by the handful and have seen it catch a breeze and get a thermal suck right down into a creekbed full of deer a few times. I never got blown on a single time while using it.
When this bottle is running low I'll have another on order. That's all I have to say about that.

 

[cubcadet]

I have no clue whether or not turpentine works. That said, watching a ribbon to determine whether or not a deer is getting your wind is not accurate in the least. Drop milkweed or a similar material and you'll remove the assumptions and guessing from the equation.

The tree stand is only 6' off the ground with at lease 10mph wind. Maybe the new boot smell scent past above her head? Got a good deal 20% off on Danner hunting boots day before. I left outside to air out rest of the afternoon through out the night. Following day still had the new chemical smell. To me the gum spirits did masked my human scent better than the stuff I used in the past along with the new boot smell I can smell sitting in the stand with the right wind.

I don't hunt high up in a tree, if I not in my 6-8 feet stands I hunt from the ground. The ribbon works fine for me.

 

[dce]

I bought a bottle and tried it.While most deer bust you before you ever knew they were there,I had deer close to my almost every time I hunted and some of those times the wind was not in my favor.I don't hunt real high but the thermals still could have pushed the scent above the deer.After using it,I never had a deer visibly spook.That could mean they never smelled it or it didn't spook them.It did seem to give me a slight heachache so the jury is still out.

 

[Mussgrass]

Serious question - is there a shelf life to the turpentine? Would a bottle still be good next season or isi t recommended to buy a new bottle of it each year?

 

[Fairchild #17]

I have no idea, but I can’t imagine it going bad. Time will tell

 

[basdjs]

Turpentine can degrade over time but not significantly over a year or 2 if you keep it tightly sealed, out of any light, and in a cool spot. Best to store it in a glass bottle since it’s a solvent that would react/dissolve some plastics. As long as it doesn’t start to get gummy or change color, it should be fine.

 

[Wald Jager]

Turpentine can degrade over time but not significantly over a year or 2 if you keep it tightly sealed, out of any light, and in a cool spot. Best to store it in a glass bottle since it’s a solvent that would react/dissolve some plastics. As long as it doesn’t start to get gummy or change color, it should be fine.

Had a gallon can in dad’s basement that was almost empty. I think it had Sears label. Who knows how old it was, 20+ years I bet. Still smelled like turpentine but dirty color from can rust. Took it to hazardous waste recycle place with a bunch of other old chemicals.

 

[basdjs]

Had a gallon can in dad’s basement that was almost empty. I think it had Sears label. Who knows how old it was, 20+ years I bet. Still smelled like turpentine but dirty color from can rust. Took it to hazardous waste recycle place with a bunch of other old chemicals.

Vintage /Aged…like 20-yr-old scotch! Maybe you were on to something! 😉

 

[bohunr]

hardware store turpentine is not the type you need to hunt with.

 

[Wald Jager]

hardware store turpentine is not the type you need to hunt with.

When I was a kid the next door neighbor was an old guy and a professional painter. His garage had that piney smell all the time. He had a metal box with a lid and hanging rack inside for his oil based paint brushes. He just hung them in the turpentine and the paint melted off the brush overnight. Had some kind of spinning contraption that spun the brush dry. No messy brush cleaning just soak and spin. Must have been a mess to clean the box out at some point tho.
He and his workers sat around after work drinking beer and smoking cigars. Roasted a pig in the yard a few times. Cool old goat.

 

[Wald Jager]

Found these small 4 oz spray bottles on Amazon cheap. Like $5-6 bucks. Comes with 2 extra pump sprayers and a tiny funnel which does help. But pouring from the bottle slow causes it to dribble down the bottle. It helped to put some in a small square plastic container and pour from corner into funnel. The pump is plastc so I don’t know how well it will hold up to the turpentine. The spray is a very fine mist.

 

[DrJay]

Found these small 4 oz spray bottles on Amazon cheap. Like $5-6 bucks. Comes with 2 extra pump sprayers and a tiny funnel which does help. But pouring from the bottle slow causes it to dribble down the bottle. It helped to put some in a small square plastic container and pour from corner into funnel. The pump is plastc so I don’t know how well it will hold up to the turpentine. The spray is a very fine mist.

View attachment 232591

Let us know how the plastic and sprayer hold up. I use that same brand but jus "dab" it on here and there. Good stuff!

 

[Bramble]

I bought a little plastic spray bottle at the dollar tree and put it about 1/3 full and put it my backpack, it ate a hole right through the bottle. My backpack smells like a pine tree that someone crushed all the needles. Had deer stop and look in my direction but the survivors didn't take off until I shot. My wife still won't let me bring my backpack into the house. I got so used to riding in my vehicle with it I can't even tell if it is still working until, I get home, and my wife tells me that she can smell it on me from the backpack. A little bit goes a long way.

 

[Fairchild #17]

Let us know how the plastic and sprayer hold up. I use that same brand but jus "dab" it on here and there. Good stuff!

How long have you used it? This was my first year trying it.

 

[Lycomingflyfisher]

I tried it this fall after reading this thread. I just used cotton balls and turned bottle over once quick. Dabbed a little on lower pant legs and would set the cotton ball on my pack about waste high when I am set up in saddle.

I definitely had some deer downwind that did not spook. I never saw the curious or inquisitive action from the stand, but I also didn't have it hanging line a wick or anything.

One day in rifle after just applying some, I had a doe I encountered in a thicket that was really sniffing after I bumped her out of her bed. Unknown if she couldn't smell me or if the turpentine confused her.

 

[collierdeerhunter]

Just a DAB will do you…

 

[Fairchild #17]

I’ve had a bunch of people tell me “the deer just didn’t get your wind. If they did they would have been gone.”
Well that’s probably true, but since the turp is either on me or right next to me, and they are definitely smelling that, why aren’t they getting my wind too?
I’d ask some guys that questions and a few of them replied “thermals”. 😆 “If they smell it they smell you.” Yep you would think so.

That terms is getting so overused that half the guys using it don’t even know what it means.
I hope it continues to be the secret sauce. It gets a big thumbs up from me so far.

 

[.257]

I was a bit skeptical but it was cheap so I gave it a shot. So far I give it a thumbs up too. I had too many deer dead down wind that didn’t spook for it to not work at least some of the time. I did have a couple that truly seemed curious as well but not enough data on that yet to form a good opinion.