woods89 said:
I really don't know what to think of the whole scent control thing, except for one thing. It simply overcomplicates hunting too much for me.
That might be different if I was hunting a small property. I can see working hard to minimize disturbance in that situation because you are sunk if the deer leave!
But when we're talking thousands of acres of woods and only hunting spots once a season it just seems impractical to me. Most places it would be impossible to get in without sweating a little.
Kudos to you if its your thing but I've found I'm happier if I just focus entirely on playing the wind. And I do get busted occasionally but I've never heard of anyone who didn't from time to time no matter what their routine.
I agree with what some have said about not knowing exactly what's going on downwind. I try to think of wind like a creek. It flows in one direction but every disturbance has an effect. And sometimes those disturbances can be your best friend!
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I definitely get where you are coming from. It is a lot of hassle, and I never used any of it until 3 years ago and I have always been able to take deer almost at will.
I have now been winded this season because I just did not have time (or discipline..) to get it all together one recent evening and I was after the first doe to offer a shot - none did before a yearling passed downwind and you know the rest... except maybe the part about this particular little doe being determined to use the opportunity to hone and perfect her snorting and stomping technique for at least a couple of minutes straight. LOL. I finally started waving at her. That got her moving along.
John Eberhart writes that scent control is the most important innovation for archers since the compound bow. I disagree. I think it is more important than that. At least it is for me. I hunt with longbows mostly, and although I have taken many deer with a compound, I much prefer a simple, durable, shoots the same after 20 years, traditional archery kit. But my archery kit choice has nothing to do with being anti-technology. It's more about what I enjoy shooting. Much like you enjoy playing the wind, woods89. All of that said, I am little nervous to disagree with John (LOL), but different perspectives will always the same thing a little differently.
My reasons for being so obsessed with scent control (most of the time) are several, all of which together make the results worth the extra effort for me.
- Obviously, when hunting antler, one must often get the does past without alarming them. This usually means they are downwind at some point, ALMOST always before mature bucks are in archery range - 25 yards for me.
- Allows me to hunt places I would not have even considered due to swirling winds
- I can hunt small properties with much less disturbance to the deer, keeping them around longer. That said, entry and exit routes are the critical factor after you get scent under control
- The biggest one for me, but the one I would have thought least likely when I started cleaning my scent up 3 years ago, is that I love to watch deer. This past season has been my best ever, like by far, in terms of just watching deer go about the odd business of being deer. I many times had up to 10 deer in sight at once, up to 4 bucks at once, and I was able to regularly watch behavior that I had only witnessed rarely before. I would not say I saw anything completely new to me, but I watched half a dozen trees be shredded by decent bucks this year, and that equals about as many as the past 10 years combined. It is tough to find the right words, but not having deer alarmed by my smell has just made my time in the deer stand more enjoyable.
I say above "not having deer alarmed by my smell" only because so many doubters will say "you can't eliminate odor completely". I really don't know if you can eliminate it completely or not, don't even care. But I care if deer are alarmed by smelling the air downwind of me, and I am taking the time to type this all out because I am one regular hunter, who fancy's myself to know how to kill deer (aka Joe Blow...), who just went an entire season without being winded while practicing scent control. I doubted it too until I did it, although I did have to trust some folks who told me it could be done when I first started trying, because I had my doubts too.
Woods89, I totally respect your take on it. I may one day get tired of the complicated effort and logistics required to be scent free (oh sorry - I meant undetected by deer's noses)... My goal is not to get anyone else to do it, I am just trying to help out the folks who, like me, might find the benefits to be worth the hassle, and, like I did, are hearing that it is not possible. Make no mistake, a human can achieve "completely undetected by deer's noses". It took me three years of developing a routine that works for me - and it also required a significant expense in new clothes and hygiene products, and it took trusting a few scent control advocates who assured me they were not being winded. Now if a deer smells me, I know something is wrong or I am not even trying that day. And for over 30 years I was winded many many times in a year. For myself and others who have gone through this notable change in deer's reactions, the subject is no longer open for debate. It works, and if you don't THINK it does, you are wrong because I just did it.
Now "is it worth it"...? That is a completely different question - one without a factual answer. And I respect the "no"s as much as the "yes"s.
