David Ferianc before and after properly using ScentLok

[denots]

Well, first of all, that response I gave was specifically for the person I was responding to otherwise I would have posted it on a separate reply to the entire thread… I happened to already know (because he said in his post/reply) that that particular person lives in the same state as me which is Michigan. I am obviously quite familiar with my own states temperatures throughout the season. Second of all, this particular person is looking for one outfit to cover the entire season, so options are limited. I gave him the best reply and option for where he lives and his particular situation.
As for you and your situation? I can understand why you’re frustrated. In Michigan, I don’t hunt if it’s well above average temps and I’m going to get soaked with sweat. It’s literally the only weather condition short of a verified tornado that’ll keep me out of the woods. That being said, you’ll have to be creative if you’re going to hunt in that kind of heat. All I can tell you is what I did when I hunted public land, opening day of Kentucky one year and it was 93°… I wore clean regular hunting clothes to my hunting location, brought my ScentLok clothes in a plastic tote. Changed at the base of my tree. I wish I could tell you I shot a monster that day but I did not. I did see a spike and a doe at close range. Unfortunately that trip made me realize that I hate hunting in the extreme heat. Now, when I hunt southern states, I wait until at least late October. I don’t envy you or your situation and wish there was a quick fix solution for sweating and ScentLok. Their site does say you’ll have to wash more often if sweating is a problem. I did want to set the record straight though that I was answering his question with full knowledge of his location.
Thanks

My apologies if I missed the location part of his question. And yes I am a bit frustrated I guess. I have seen offers to fix people scent control problem just because they made the comment that they've been busted. Not by you specifically. I don't understand how assistance can be offered without direct knowledge of someone's location/situation. So based off of your experience how many times would you say I could wash my scent Lok and it still be effective? And would you say I would have to wait until temperatures or cool enough that I don't sweat at all? That would really cut into my hunting, but we have a late rut. I've heard it stated that folks should wear scent Lok in as to not leave contamination of human odor as you walk through the woods to your site. If I did this every hunt I would have sweat at least between my back and my backpack on my scent Lok garment. If I don't wear my scentlok garment I at least have sweat through my shirt on to my backpack Another question I have is about the rubber boots. I wear rubber boots but not because of scent control but because I have to walk through extreme wet conditions( a lot of times these must be hip boots). If the bottom of my pants are constantly getting wet is that not damaging the garments ability to hold carbon in those areas? If they're tucked into my boots now I'm releasing human scent. And if I tuck them in for the walk-in and then untuck them at the tree they are now sweaty and contaminated with human scent on the outside of my boot. I must admit that when I first looked at this system on I was sold a hundred percent based off of John's write-ups. But now I am much more skeptical. I'm not trying to hate as I stated before. But I am asking questions from more of a skeptical point of view. I don't know if it would help or be fair at least to state people who hunt in the hotter climates should have a different approach and scentlok garments may not be as effective. Or maybe it just needs to be stated that scent Loc is not for everybody and not the second most important piece of gear people should buy. I don't know what the answer is, but I'll be honest I feel slightly mislead and I'm a bit disappointed in my purchase. I'm not trying to personally degrade or tear down anybody's reputation based off of their use of scent Lok. I'm honestly just trying to ask the hard questions that I think a lot of guys would like to hear the answers to. Possibly the answers would help them make an informed decision before also being disappointed in a purchase. And maybe the answers can come from John to help me with this system and make it more effective for me and other Southern Hunters. I'm open to all sides of the argument or at least listening to it. Again I apologize for overlooking the location part of the other gentlemen's question.

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[denots]

I would like to add also I am asking you specific questions because I would like your opinion based off of your knowledge and use of scent Lok. I hope my comment did not seem attacking it was not meant to be. You're obviously a very skilled and accomplished Hunter as well.

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[John Eberhart]

I've said 96 to 99% of your odor which is exactly what Rutgers University said in their testing using ten thousand times more scent molecules than the human body could produce in 24 hours the activated carbon absorbs 96 to 99% of it. I don't know what you don't understand about stats but that's stats from a scientific lab

 

[autumn_sniper]

My apologies if I missed the location part of his question. And yes I am a bit frustrated I guess. I have seen offers to fix people scent control problem just because they made the comment that they've been busted. Not by you specifically. I don't understand how assistance can be offered without direct knowledge of someone's location/situation. So based off of your experience how many times would you say I could wash my scent Lok and it still be effective? And would you say I would have to wait until temperatures or cool enough that I don't sweat at all? That would really cut into my hunting, but we have a late rut. I've heard it stated that folks should wear scent Lok in as to not leave contamination of human odor as you walk through the woods to your site. If I did this every hunt I would have sweat at least between my back and my backpack on my scent Lok garment. If I don't wear my scentlok garment I at least have sweat through my shirt on to my backpack Another question I have is about the rubber boots. I wear rubber boots but not because of scent control but because I have to walk through extreme wet conditions( a lot of times these must be hip boots). If the bottom of my pants are constantly getting wet is that not damaging the garments ability to hold carbon in those areas? If they're tucked into my boots now I'm releasing human scent. And if I tuck them in for the walk-in and then untuck them at the tree they are now sweaty and contaminated with human scent on the outside of my boot. I must admit that when I first looked at this system on I was sold a hundred percent based off of John's write-ups. But now I am much more skeptical. I'm not trying to hate as I stated before. But I am asking questions from more of a skeptical point of view. I don't know if it would help or be fair at least to state people who hunt in the hotter climates should have a different approach and scentlok garments may not be as effective. Or maybe it just needs to be stated that scent Loc is not for everybody and not the second most important piece of gear people should buy. I don't know what the answer is, but I'll be honest I feel slightly mislead and I'm a bit disappointed in my purchase. I'm not trying to personally degrade or tear down anybody's reputation based off of their use of scent Lok. I'm honestly just trying to ask the hard questions that I think a lot of guys would like to hear the answers to. Possibly the answers would help them make an informed decision before also being disappointed in a purchase. And maybe the answers can come from John to help me with this system and make it more effective for me and other Southern Hunters. I'm open to all sides of the argument or at least listening to it. Again I apologize for overlooking the location part of the other gentlemen's question.

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I’ll probably not get to all of your questions on this reply but I’ll hit a few. I’m trying to put myself in your shoes and see what I’d do in the Deep South. I would definitely take advantage of any days that were below average temps in the early season. Get myself some good rain gear and hunt rainy days as well as it’s usually cooler those days. But the biggest portion of my hunting would definitely be during the rut. I’d limit my hunts to 4 per stand location per season. This means maybe one during early season and save 3 for the rut. The reason I’m telling you this is because in those extreme heat conditions, I’d look for every advantage of morning hunts, rainy hunts, below average temp hunts, and the rut to use my ScentLok as sweat free as possible. Yes, when possible, you absolutely should wear your ScentLok to and from your stand to minimize odor. But it seems you have a unique situation with how hot it is on a regular basis and that’s why I recommend packing your suit in and changing. It may not be much fun but I think it’s your best option for success.
As far as washing your suit... I feel your pain. I personally never wash mine because i just don’t hunt super hot days, but the site says you can.
Your boots... The site says wet carbon infused clothes work just as well as dry ones. You can tuck and untuck as the situation calls for or wear ScentLok socks and tuck your pants into them and then wear hip boots. I’ve done this myself, and I’ve killed deer on those hunts.
I’m going to assume you’re wearing a ScentLok mask or face covering. This is arguably the most important part of the system.
Hope some of this helps.

 

[Cajunshooter]

My apologies if I missed the location part of his question. And yes I am a bit frustrated I guess. I have seen offers to fix people scent control problem just because they made the comment that they've been busted. Not by you specifically. I don't understand how assistance can be offered without direct knowledge of someone's location/situation. So based off of your experience how many times would you say I could wash my scent Lok and it still be effective? And would you say I would have to wait until temperatures or cool enough that I don't sweat at all? That would really cut into my hunting, but we have a late rut. I've heard it stated that folks should wear scent Lok in as to not leave contamination of human odor as you walk through the woods to your site. If I did this every hunt I would have sweat at least between my back and my backpack on my scent Lok garment. If I don't wear my scentlok garment I at least have sweat through my shirt on to my backpack Another question I have is about the rubber boots. I wear rubber boots but not because of scent control but because I have to walk through extreme wet conditions( a lot of times these must be hip boots). If the bottom of my pants are constantly getting wet is that not damaging the garments ability to hold carbon in those areas? If they're tucked into my boots now I'm releasing human scent. And if I tuck them in for the walk-in and then untuck them at the tree they are now sweaty and contaminated with human scent on the outside of my boot. I must admit that when I first looked at this system on I was sold a hundred percent based off of John's write-ups. But now I am much more skeptical. I'm not trying to hate as I stated before. But I am asking questions from more of a skeptical point of view. I don't know if it would help or be fair at least to state people who hunt in the hotter climates should have a different approach and scentlok garments may not be as effective. Or maybe it just needs to be stated that scent Loc is not for everybody and not the second most important piece of gear people should buy. I don't know what the answer is, but I'll be honest I feel slightly mislead and I'm a bit disappointed in my purchase. I'm not trying to personally degrade or tear down anybody's reputation based off of their use of scent Lok. I'm honestly just trying to ask the hard questions that I think a lot of guys would like to hear the answers to. Possibly the answers would help them make an informed decision before also being disappointed in a purchase. And maybe the answers can come from John to help me with this system and make it more effective for me and other Southern Hunters. I'm open to all sides of the argument or at least listening to it. Again I apologize for overlooking the location part of the other gentlemen's question.

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Denots, this has been very frustrating for me also. I am just as far south as you but over in Texas. I have an entire Scent Lok early season suit. I can tell you from a very negative experience, when it’s 80 to 95 degrees, 100 percent humidity and little to no wind, you can’t wear Scent Lok without sweating completely through it, and probably over heating. Even if you only put it on at the base of a tree, when you completely cover your whole body, head to toe with a light sweatsuit you are going to sweat like crazy. I literally thought I was going to pass out up in a tree on opening day last year. I usually won’t even risk putting on the suit until somewhere near the end of November. Yep that’s half the season over!

I really think it would be appropriate for Scent Lok to put a disclaimer on their site and each of their products that they are not appropriate for these weather conditions.

 

[denots]

I’ll probably not get to all of your questions on this reply but I’ll hit a few. I’m trying to put myself in your shoes and see what I’d do in the Deep South. I would definitely take advantage of any days that were below average temps in the early season. Get myself some good rain gear and hunt rainy days as well as it’s usually cooler those days. But the biggest portion of my hunting would definitely be during the rut. I’d limit my hunts to 4 per stand location per season. This means maybe one during early season and save 3 for the rut. The reason I’m telling you this is because in those extreme heat conditions, I’d look for every advantage of morning hunts, rainy hunts, below average temp hunts, and the rut to use my ScentLok as sweat free as possible. Yes, when possible, you absolutely should wear your ScentLok to and from your stand to minimize odor. But it seems you have a unique situation with how hot it is on a regular basis and that’s why I recommend packing your suit in and changing. It may not be much fun but I think it’s your best option for success.
As far as washing your suit... I feel your pain. I personally never wash mine because i just don’t hunt super hot days, but the site says you can.
Your boots... The site says wet carbon infused clothes work just as well as dry ones. You can tuck and untuck as the situation calls for or wear ScentLok socks and tuck your pants into them and then wear hip boots. I’ve done this myself, and I’ve killed deer on those hunts.
I’m going to assume you’re wearing a ScentLok mask or face covering. This is arguably the most important part of the system.
Hope some of this helps.

Thanks for your response. I guess I'll do my best to take advantage of the days I can use it and wear regular clothes and play the wind the rest. That being said I possibly would have invested in a different type of clothing if I would have known my use of it would have been so limited. The difference in trophies on your before and after walls is significantly impressive. But I do have a couple more questions. Do you think if you completely quit using scentloc that it would make a significant change in the amount of trophies you could Harvest? Or do you think that's the skills and hunting practices that you've learned from John would make a significant enough difference that you could still be a successful Hunter? As much as I would like to think that scentlok is a good product I believe more so that there were some major changes in your hunting tactics that played into your success. Would you agree or disagree with this statement? If you agree would you care to share some of those tactics with the rest of us? Since the scentlok seems like it will not be able to play as big of a part into my hunting system I would like to hear some of the tactics that you use that may help regardless of the geographical location differences. Thanks again for your response, have a Merry Christmas.

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[autumn_sniper]

Thanks for your response. I guess I'll do my best to take advantage of the days I can use it and wear regular clothes and play the wind the rest. That being said I possibly would have invested in a different type of clothing if I would have known my use of it would have been so limited. The difference in trophies on your before and after walls is significantly impressive. But I do have a couple more questions. Do you think if you completely quit using scentloc that it would make a significant change in the amount of trophies you could Harvest? Or do you think that's the skills and hunting practices that you've learned from John would make a significant enough difference that you could still be a successful Hunter? As much as I would like to think that scentlok is a good product I believe more so that there were some major changes in your hunting tactics that played into your success. Would you agree or disagree with this statement? If you agree would you care to share some of those tactics with the rest of us? Since the scentlok seems like it will not be able to play as big of a part into my hunting system I would like to hear some of the tactics that you use that may help regardless of the geographical location differences. Thanks again for your response, have a Merry Christmas.

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If I stopped using ScentLok today I guarantee I’d kill less mature bucks, period. ScentLok allows me to go places i wouldn’t dare with regular clothes. I’m not afraid to set up right in a bedding area, or in a river bottom where the buck sign is rich but the winds are unpredictable. Read the post ‘Joining the Swingers Club’ about my last buck. I’d still kill mature bucks i believe, based on knowledge, but not as frequently. But I do understand where you are going with your point. I absolutely am a better hunter than I was in the “before” picture and it’s a combination of ScentLok, my own experience, and John Eberhart’s methods. None of those alone would have allowed me all the bucks in the second pic. A few key points that made a huge difference for me would be using a saddle, hunting higher, arriving early to my morning hunts especially in bedding areas, a vigilant scent free regimen (regardless of wether you use ScentLok or not), and understanding how deer use terrain. If you haven’t read John’s books you should. If you only applied a percentage of what’s in there, you’d see more deer. Another great book is ‘Mapping trophy bucks’. Knowing how deer use terrain is key to killing them. Regardless of the never ending controversy and debate, I stand by ScentLok’s integral part in my success and definitely using a saddle for the dozens of reasons it’s better than a conventional stand.
-David

 

[autumn_sniper]

If I stopped using ScentLok today I guarantee I’d kill less mature bucks, period. ScentLok allows me to go places i wouldn’t dare with regular clothes. I’m not afraid to set up right in a bedding area, or in a river bottom where the buck sign is rich but the winds are unpredictable. Read the post ‘Joining the Swingers Club’ about my last buck. I’d still kill mature bucks i believe, based on knowledge, but not as frequently. But I do understand where you are going with your point. I absolutely am a better hunter than I was in the “before” picture and it’s a combination of ScentLok, my own experience, and John Eberhart’s methods. None of those alone would have allowed me all the bucks in the second pic. A few key points that made a huge difference for me would be using a saddle, hunting higher, arriving early to my morning hunts especially in bedding areas, a vigilant scent free regimen (regardless of wether you use ScentLok or not), and understanding how deer use terrain. If you haven’t read John’s books you should. If you only applied a percentage of what’s in there, you’d see more deer. Another great book is ‘Mapping trophy bucks’. Knowing how deer use terrain is key to killing them. Regardless of the never ending controversy and debate, I stand by ScentLok’s integral part in my success and definitely using a saddle for the dozens of reasons it’s better than a conventional stand.
-David

*Sidenote* John Eberhart’s methods alone would include ScentLok and a saddle so actually that changes one of my statements haha... Anyway I reread my last statement and caught that. You have to have the willingness to actually follow it as closely as possible and I believe that’s what separates those that succeed and those that don’t. Think creatively and outside the box for your particular situation and I believe you’ll see a difference.

 

[Deerkins]

Scent control is only one facet of hunting. I believe finding a mature buck,then “getting onto him” seems to be the biggest challenge that most hunters will face; one can be completely scent free, use saddle, have good access..and still be a terrible trophy hunter if there are no targets around..

main take away - worry about about finding them first, then all the rest later. My experience anyway...

Just to be clear. I do believe that there’s something to scent control. just that it’s meaningless IF there are no noses around worthy of defeat..

 

[autumn_sniper]

Scent control is only one facet of hunting. I believe finding a mature buck,then “getting onto him” seems to be the biggest challenge that most hunters will face; one can be completely scent free, use saddle, have good access..and still be a terrible trophy hunter if there are no targets around..

main take away - worry about about finding them first, then all the rest later. My experience anyway...

Just to be clear. I do believe that there’s something to scent control. just that it’s meaningless IF there are no noses around worthy of defeat..

I understand your point, however I think you’d be surprised at what shows up in a previously thought of mediocre hunting spot, when proper scent control, saddle, and entry point/time are practiced. That being said, you are correct, if the mature buck doesn’t exist, it’s pointless. I personally don’t use trailcams very often and seldom target a specific buck. I think regarding your point, “one hand washes the other” so to speak. Proper scent control can give you the advantage to kill the biggest bucks in your area and knowing the biggest bucks in your area can give you the motivation to be as scent free as possible.
Good post.
-David

 

[SaddleUpPartner!]

I understand your point, however I think you’d be surprised at what shows up in a previously thought of mediocre hunting spot, when proper scent control, saddle, and entry point/time are practiced. That being said, you are correct, if the mature buck doesn’t exist, it’s pointless. I personally don’t use trailcams very often and seldom target a specific buck. I think regarding your point, “one hand washes the other” so to speak. Proper scent control can give you the advantage to kill the biggest bucks in your area and knowing the biggest bucks in your area can give you the motivation to be as scent free as possible.
Good post.
-David

I don't know if this is appropriate for this forum but I view scentlok like 'raincoats' sunglasses:) . The 'other' method might work for you but eventually you might have a surprise. If you use a 'raincoat' properly, your chances of a surprise decrease significantly but if you don't use your 'raincoat' as recommended you might be in for a surprise as well.

 

[eddiegomes83]

So what are your thoughts on Turkey scent control?