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Switching off Red meat

bigjoe

bigjoe

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2015
Messages
2,618
Location
VA
So with bow season in Va a less than a month out I am switching off red meat. I know a lot of guys do not believe that there is a difference in your smell but there truly is.

My Dad was as an Officer in the Korean War he said he always tried to eat as much native food as possible to mask his smell because you could smell the difference between Americans and the South Koreans. The South Koreans could smell the difference between the South Koreans, and the North Koreans & Chinese; he said out to 10 yds or so. He always kept an interpreter near him just because of this. He said your sense of smell that you develop became very heightened.

I experienced similar heightened sense of smell when I spent time in the field as a Marine. I would tell you this is very common with men in the field. The heightened senses become paramount in a survival situation. Remember you are hunting an animal that is trying to survive.

Take it for what is worth.
 
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bigjoe said:
So with bow season in Va a less than a month out I am switching off red meat. I know a lot of guys do not believe that there is a difference in your smell but there truly is.

My Dad was as an Officer in the Korean War he said he always tried to eat as much native food as possible to mask his smell because you could smell the difference between Americans and the South Koreans. The South Koreans could smell the difference between the South Koreans, and the North Koreans & Chinese; he said out to 10 yds or so. He always kept an interpreter near him just because of this. He said your sense of smell that you develop became very heightened.

I experienced similar heightened sense of smell when I spent time in the field as a Marine. I would tell you this is very common with men in the field. The heightened senses become paramount in a survival situation. Remember you are hunting an animal that is trying to survive.

Take it for what is worth.
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While I can appreciate what you’re saying (same thing happened in Vietnam, a lot of the LRP teams would eat the native food as much as possible to give themselves any chance possible to stay hidden from the NVA and VC), I feel that in order to truly get the result you are after, you are going to have to alter your diet completely and eat only what a deer eats. I don’t know about you, but I love meat, I love chicken, I love fish. A steady diet of acorns, clover, berries, and woody browse is not a step I’m willing to take just to get my deer. Some of you guys might be, haha, and my hat’s off to you for it, but I’m good. Lol.


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I do like meat or I would not be hunting. Lol The body creates extra enzymes and the chemistry changes when eating red meat. Take it for what it is worth. As far as acorns and berries I will pass on those as well.
 
Oh man! If I got to to give up my steak dinners I won’t never kill another pine goat.LOL Just funning Big Joe That is dedication right there Brother!
 
If you read Saxton Pope's book "Hunting With The Bow & Arrow" he explains that Ishi, when he was teaching Pope how the Indians hunted, stated that they abstained from eating meat also for the same reasons given by Bigjoe....
 
So if you smoke your cloths and eat meat, you will smell like a smoke house! Lol
I agree with you, your diet affects your scent. When we boil crawfish and throw cloves of garlic in there, I love that garlic. But let me tell you, my wife will complain I stink like garlic for a couple nights!
 
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While I definitely believe you, I guess I'm just not that dedicated! I'm a low carb carnivore

I do know that since I started smoking my clothes and stopped wasting money on useless scent control crap...my close encounters and overall success has gone up noticeably.
 
Additionally, if you can't eliminate your human scent to the point that a deer can't smell you (and you cannot), I figure why bother? You may as well just try to mask it and play the wind!

A challenge to anyone.....Eat whatever you want for as long as you want, spray whatever you want on yourself and your gear, then have someone turn loose just an average tracking dog and report back with the findings. Then remember....A deer's nose is better than a dog's!
 
That's dedication man, even IF it worked. I fill my freezer every year with no real scent control measures to speak of and haven't had to dust off the rifle in the better part of a decade, but to each their own.
 
Jasper2 said:
Additionally, if you can't eliminate your human scent to the point that a deer can't smell you (and you cannot), I figure why bother? You may as well just try to mask it and play the wind!

A challenge to anyone.....Eat whatever you want for as long as you want, spray whatever you want on yourself and your gear, then have someone turn loose just an average tracking dog and report back with the findings. Then remember....A deer's nose is better than a dog's!
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I don’t believe that’s exactly the same comparison. Deer don’t track. The dog in theory should always find you. Your always leaving scent and the dog is tracking that. Deer have to cross your scent or be downwind.
 
True...Not exactly the same but close enough to prove my point. You cannot eliminate your human scent from many animals. As humans our noses suck so we often forget how good other critter's noses really are.
 
Jasper2 said:
True...Not exactly the same but close enough to prove my point. You cannot eliminate your human scent from many animals. As humans our noses suck so we often forget how good other critter's noses really are.
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Yeah it would take genetic engineering to change the way our dander and breath smell. Trust me I know hippie vegans that stink to high heaven. But they still smell like people. You can't put a dollar value on confidence though, and that is the benefit of scent control routines.
 
True and I do believe you can do things to minimize your scent... Thus, making it easier to mask what is left and there is definitely value in that! I just don't go overboard anymore.... Bc it's just not worth it to me.
 
Bogle said:
Some guy take chlorophyll pills as well to flush their system.
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After doing the chlorophyll pills last year as well as scent loc and still got busted I have decided I’m giving up on scent control. I gave it a solid effort but it’s just not for me. Having to be super alert to everything I come in contact with and not to mention the amount of money I have spent on trying to be scent free took the joy out of hunting for me. I plan to use my time to play the wind better this year.

I personally feel chlorophyll pills are a scam. I’m not an overly smelly person but after working up a good sweat I can still smell it. This is three weeks of taking the pills daily. If you combo it with a better diet it might work better, however I’ll openly admit I’m not that devoted.
 
Well the wife and family are hating me today. I did a meatless chili yesterday. Lots of beans lol
 
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