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My experience with Scent Control

Terrain and structure and wind speed are the biggest factors on the stability of surface winds.
The flat, East Shore of MD will have more stable wind than the mountainous region of Western MD. And leeward slopes have less stable surface wind than windward slopes.
Prevailing winds are formed by major weather patterns and are more consistent except when effected by a front.
Prevailing wind effects surface wind but they are not necessarily consistent with each other, especially in complex terrain.
You can learn alot about wind by looking a water flowing over rocks around bends.
 
Yes, if you just believe... it will happen! exactly why before every hunt I draw a circle in the stones at the state game land parking lot, and sit Indian style in it. Recite some mantras, cast a few spells, make sure my chakras are aligned, stick a needle arrow in my voodeer doll and off I go!

This reminds me of a proverb about removing one's foot from their mouth and removing all doubt
 
This is true, but the right wind doesn't mean your perfectly down wind.
That was the reason I quoted Barry Wensel. I really like when wind is almost wrong for me. It give approaching deer a false sense of security. But during the course of any day, that "almost wrong" wind will drift and become mostly wrong and it usually happens at the worst time. That exact thing happened to me in 1996 with an approaching 200" buck. And it wasn't even him that busted me, it was the doe that was 40 yards ahead of him that kinda, barely, sort of, got the slightest whiff of me. They were walking right down the trail I needed them to but that ever so slight drift in the wind screwed me. She got a little nervous and changed direction and he followed unaware that I was even there. That buck was killed a few years later (with a smaller rack at that point) and he netted 196" and some change.
I'd have to say that day had the biggest impact on my attempts to reduce every odor I can. Just laying eyes on a buck of that caliber can change a guy. I saw that deer 5 times in 2 years. He had a huge effect on how I prepare for a hunt.

I do defend my tactics but that doesn't mean that I insist that others follow my tactics.

My butt does get tired of hearing the phrase "works" or "doesn't work" when it comes to odor and wind threads.
It's all a matter of degree as to whether something "works".

The number of variables involved in busts is something we cannot calculate and science cannot measure.

The most successful "wind hunter" in the world will be more successful when they reduce odors. The best hunter will do both.
 
You can learn alot about wind by looking a water flowing over rocks around bends.
Definitely! Paddle whitewater sometime and you really learn to read water, eddies, and micro eddies. And just a little change in water speed (when the level increases or decreases) and a particular rapid can take on an entirely different character. The same happens with wind speed.
You can learn a hard lesson swimming a class 5 rapid because you miscalculated current. Reading water is huge for learning wind behavior.
 
Scent control/wind and arrow /broad head combination have officially replaced Religion and Politics as the two most sensitive subjects to discuss.

And it’s great!!!

I sincerely enjoy reading these threads as quite a bit of interesting information gets shared.

I personally need to learn and apply more knowledge regarding wind currents to my hunting. I base this statement on the number of mature bucks not residing on my wall. :flushed:
 
This is true, but the right wind doesn't mean your perfectly down wind. What hunting the wind means to me is the wind that provides you the best opportunity for the area you want to get into. There are so many factors that go into hunting mature deer that you can screw it up by missing any one of them.

I would like to point something out. All of my posts are my opinions, it almost feels as though some maybe trying to "justify" why they do what they do. Not one of should ever feel the need to defend why they hunt the they way they do. Styles are infinitely personal, what works for one may not benefit another. I am very proud to say that I do things different, and I am also pretty proud of the community we have here. We do things different, if it works for you do it. If someone else says that they think your are wrong for that, well you can give that the attention it deserves! I for one am thankful for the wealth of knowledge and the endless different approaches to hunting SH provides!
I agree with you . Saddle hunting is a personal thing . Every one's setup is what they like and feel comfortable with. Same with scent control it's a personal thing. What works for me may not be what works for you or you may not believe in scent control does that make you wrong no. If you don't believe in something it will never work for you. What I like about this group is the different ideas everyone has about saddle hunting and everything else and I hope it never changes.
 
I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels that the extreme scent control kinds of takes the fun out of it. Life’s crazy and stressful as it is. I want to kill big bucks, but I also don’t want my hunting to add to my stress. I just tried scentlok for the first time this week and was quickly winded by four does haha. Im not saying it doesn’t work, there’s some holds in my regimen I need to plug. But I think my will might burnout pretty quick.
 
I haven't read the whole thread but hears some things that are over looked.

First I will say Scent Elimination Tech works....to an extent.

Not all deer are created equal. When I got my first set of Scent Blocker I went 7 years I believe without hearing a deer snort. I was putting in 60 days a season pretty easy. Killed a boat load of deer. Got to where I didn't even pay attention to the wind. I had 160 loaded suburban acres all to myself with no hunting in any direction for a very long ways. If an antlerless deer even acted like it had a hint of my scent it got killed and there were a few but they were never over 20yds.

You get a deer that has something else on their mind like love and odds are about half they wont detect you as long as they aren't lingering. I hunted public land in that time frame and results were about the same.

The land I hunt now I share and there are is an abundant amount of deer and we shoot a lot of them every year. I don't care what your scent regimen is they are going to smell you if they get down wind. I don't care how high you get morning, afternoon they will peg you even if they seem to have their head up their butt.

Theres several places on this property where with the terrain the deer down wind of you can be 50ft below you if you use the creeks or bluffs. They still smell you unless the wind currents are doing something different back there.

There is a randomness to deer hunting that most forget exists or refuse to acknowledge. You don't have to know a dang thing to kill a book deer. Even 2 or 3 over the course of a decade isn't that big a deal in some places. A persons local can defiantly help or hinder this. Im talking with a vertical bow. Now you meet a guy that's knocking them down yearly or every other and you have met someone you need to pick their brain and scent control is the last thing you should be asking about.

My avg height in a tree is probably 15-17ft. I know I don't hit 20 but a couple times a year. You certainly don't need to be 25-30 but you can get away with a lot of movement at that height. In this part of the world when you start getting over 20 on the regular you are cutting down your shooting distance due to the canopy. I'll take my chances with a better shot angle and further line of sight.
 
Scent control in Florida is nearly impossible during early season. This year I ignored any OCD scent control tactic and really focused on wind direction. Hunting the same areas, I ended up seeing more deer than ever and bagged a solid 10 point my best deer to date. Hunting in Florida is much more enjoyable when you can use deet and not get picked up and carried away by mosquitoes.
 
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