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Stealth Strip - Is it really necessary

I feel like I practice good scent control, but last year was my first with stealth stripped sticks and i got winded more times than I have in the last 5 years. I couldn't fit my sticks in a scent free tote( Full length lw) like everything else. Every hunt they are sprayed with scent killer but it just felt like I was lining the tree with a giant scent wick. It could have been any piece of my gear also. I love the product but decided to leave it off my new sticks this year to give it a try.

I also had a buck come check me out at the base of my tree last season. My noise must of bumped him off his bed and he came back. I had one stick on the tree and my bow setting on the ground. I hid behind the tree and he closed the distance to 5 yards. He couldn't smell me at all so we had stare down for a minute then he bounded off. So sound scared him off but he still came back. Now if he had smelled me. Not a chance he would have returned.

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Go to 650 in that video, and watch his ears moving. It's like radar just waiting to pick up on the slightest unnatural sound. It's something I keep in mind at all times
And I like this one too remember how I walk in to my stands. Watch how it walks. Every step methodically taken, with intent and purpose to be as quiet as possible.
 
If I start using my sticks I will likely put some type of sound deadening substance on them, but I do have concerns over scent control and SS.
I will tell you in 35+ bow seasons I've seen how immature bucks under 3 YOA and mature bucks over 3 YOA react to both natural and unnatural noises and I have seen more than a few immature bucks actually come over and invest natural sounding noises I unintentionally made while hunting.
I have also seen immature bucks remain in the immediate area for several minutes before leaving after I made a unnatural noise mostly metal on metal clanking, plastic on metal, plastic on plastic noises
But without exception every mature better than average shooter buck I ever spooked by making a noise that alarmed him with very little hesitation vacated within seconds not minutes.
I learned within my first 2 or three bow deer seasons either get sound control down stone cold and master moving as close silent as humanly possible or suffer far less success.

By move silently I mean practice setting up and breaking down until you have identified what you do that makes unnatural sounds that SCREAM to a deer HUMAN IN YOUR HOUSE and eliminate them or reduce thier ear print to essentially a whisper. I have literally hundreds of times been hunting 20-25' up in a tree spotted people on either my ground or the neighbors ground doing what ever and if the conditions and topography are right with most leaves off the trees and the wind blowing from them to me I could distinctly hear them up to 500 yards away as confirmed with my LRF and I know a deers sence and of hearing and ability to pinpoint a sounds direction is dozens if not MANY dozens of times better than ours.
It is literally impossible to move through the woods and make no noise but it is possible to make only noises that a deer is use to hearing and the real trick is to teach ourselves to not sound like a human to the deer moving through THIER woods.
 
I feel like I practice good scent control, but last year was my first with stealth stripped sticks and i got winded more times than I have in the last 5 years. I couldn't fit my sticks in a scent free tote( Full length lw) like everything else. Every hunt they are sprayed with scent killer but it just felt like I was lining the tree with a giant scent wick. It could have been any piece of my gear also. I love the product but decided to leave it off my new sticks this year to give it a try.

I also had a buck come check me out at the base of my tree last season. My noise must of bumped him off his bed and he came back. I had one stick on the tree and my bow setting on the ground. I hid behind the tree and he closed the distance to 5 yards. He couldn't smell me at all so we had stare down for a minute then he bounded off. So sound scared him off but he still came back. Now if he had smelled me. Not a chance he would have returned.

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I agree 100%
I have scent control down stone cold and are literally a scent control fanatic
And rarely get winded anymore but without fail when I do I have either deviated from my scent control protocol or brought with a piece of equipment that either wasn't throughly descented or could not be descented
That is why items like SS concern me
 
I agree 100%
I have scent control down stone cold and are literally a scent control fanatic
And rarely get winded anymore but without fail when I do I have either deviated from my scent control protocol or brought with a piece of equipment that either wasn't throughly descented or could not be descented
That is why items like SS concern me
What do u use to attach the stick to the tree?
 
I put Stealth Strips on everything. You can never silence gear too much. If your hunting close to bedding many times your hunt is already over before you even start if you have any metal to metal contact with your gear. Clanking sticks together or hitting a platform or stand is never good.

As far as scent goes deer will smell you long before they smell lingering scent on your sticks. I hear people saying that Stealth Strips hold way too much scent that will spook deer but after 10+ years using the stuff I have not witnessed that myself one time. Had numbers of deer over the years sniffing my bottom sticks without totally freaking out.
 
What do u use to attach the stick to the tree?
I have only used my LW steps for one season and fewer than 10 hunts and used the factory strap and went back to SIS as they were much easier to pack and deploy and essentially silent to install yes took noticeably longer to install and remove my 12-14 SIS vs 4-5 sticks but well worth the extra time in exchange for a essentially silent installation and removal and ridiculously easy to transport and install vs sticks are much safer than sticks and I can get SIS in almost any size or shape tree can't say that about my LW sticks.
 
I stealth strip or vet wrap my climbing stick, my safeguard, biners, arrow rest, quiver, riser anything that may clang.
 
I'll echo what others have already stated. For me, being in Vermont, I'll continue to hunt with a mobile set up into December when temps can get into the single digits. The SS helps out greatly to keep my hands from getting cold as SS add that bit of insulation to the sticks.
 
I add stealth strips to about anything that can make noise (sticks, platform, etc...) with the exception of life safety devices like carabiners. It would be impossible to visually inspect carabiners that are stealth stripped.
 
I have found this athletic tape to be a budget friendly option for quieting down all of my gear. (Link below) It’s affordable enough to cover all my sticks, platform, calls, clips, and anything else if it get bored. It's worked well for me. I ran all black last year, this year I did Camo over the athletic tape. Pictures are to large to link unfortunately.

Athletic Tape Black Extremely... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07S1FFXT8?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
 
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