What is your secret way to trick elks nose

[vaz,,66]

Well it's a stag But close enough

I absolutely agree with you guys the wind is everything in this case, but some times you get to a rely thick timber at the bottom of a deep draw and seems wind is never down there its just as dead as it can be.

carpsniperg2   
Nice looking stag where did you get em?

[blackveltbowhunter]

The wind number is number 1! IMHO if an elk gets a good snootful, I dont care if your encased in lead I swear they would smell you. However I believe that a little scent control MAY help, when it comes to that little swirl, or that little pocket of stagnant air a bull hits just prior to walking into your lane.
   I normally wash clothes and body in scent killer or baking soda. And use scent killer periodically throughout the day. Prior to working a bull I will spray down if possible. I also cut my hair extremely close since this is a huge source of scent. It also cuts down on perspiration reducing scent even more.

[pianoman9701]

"I also cut my hair extremely close since this is a huge source of scent. It also cuts down on perspiration reducing scent even more."

Seemingly obvious, but something I've never thought of. Thanks.

[runamuk]

or you could just go roll around in a wallow  might smell more natural anyway 

I found sitting on a hillside glassing for bucks and bears to be the best way to attract or at least not repel a bull.....of course it wasnt yet elk season so 

[Arrowhead]

The cover scents are definitely an addition to the tackle box of tools.  But you must also look at the other issues at hand, and in my opinion, the simpliest.  Your smell is directly affected by the food you intake.  Your diet for the couple weeks before hunting season will affect your body odor significantly.  If your in doubt, look into some of the war time stories from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  It is a military tool to this day.
Try not eating the largely spicy and smelly foods, focus on carbs and basic starches.  Experiment prior to, your wife or significant other, will even be able to tell you after a good days work.  And most importantly, drink a lot of WATER.  Not beer, not soda, not gatorade, or anything else --- just good ol water.  Water naturally cleans your system, starting at the liver and kidneys and all the way thru to your sweat glands.
Don't focus on the scent suits, they can be effective, but are not 100%.  Most are based on the carbon suits from military use, and while they are effective when brand new, they become less effective with every use.  I'm sure there are other military personnel on this site that can attest to this also.
As stated numerous other times, the wind is your #1 controller.  It can make you or break you.  Also don't forget that being downwind not only helps hiding your scent, but also masks your sounds, which can be just as important if not more.

[bwhntr2819]

+1 keep the wind to your advantage.  Try not to get too funky.  Change your clothes every couple a' days. 

[Elknut1]

Hunt with the wind in my favor 100% no if's and's or butts, there's times I go a week without changing at all, it doesn't matter as long as you respect that wind!!

  ElkNut1

[vaz,,66]

The cover scents are definitely an addition to the tackle box of tools.  But you must also look at the other issues at hand, and in my opinion, the simpliest.  Your smell is directly affected by the food you intake.  Your diet for the couple weeks before hunting season will affect your body odor significantly.  If your in doubt, look into some of the war time stories from WWII, Korea, and Vietnam.  It is a military tool to this day.
Try not eating the largely spicy and smelly foods, focus on carbs and basic starches.  Experiment prior to, your wife or significant other, will even be able to tell you after a good days work.  And most importantly, drink a lot of WATER.  Not beer, not soda, not gatorade, or anything else --- just good ol water.  Water naturally cleans your system, starting at the liver and kidneys and all the way thru to your sweat glands.
Don't focus on the scent suits, they can be effective, but are not 100%.  Most are based on the carbon suits from military use, and while they are effective when brand new, they become less effective with every use.  I'm sure there are other military personnel on this site that can attest to this also.
As stated numerous other times, the wind is your #1 controller.  It can make you or break you.  Also don't forget that being downwind not only helps hiding your scent, but also masks your sounds, which can be just as important if not more.




Report to moderator   Logged

There's a place for all of God's creatures, right next to the taters.

Wow thats good.  Thanks guys for all your advise, some staff i would not even think that way .

LET US HEAR SOME MORE OF YOUR WISDOM

[OlympicElkJunkie]

I forgot one of my old favorites: When I was hunting whitetail in New York we were always in small timber patches amongst many dairy farms. It seemed to me to work well to hang all my hunting clothes in the barn prior to the season because no matter where you were that was generally a pretty natural scent. If you happen to be hunting in an area where there is an ambient scent that you can do something similar with then perhaps something like that could go along with all the other methods because that's nothing more than a scent masking approach.

[bwhntr350]

 I pay absolutely zero attention to the wind. I bowhunt in September, so, I don't care what the weather, the wind changes every few minutes, anyway, so I do not bother worrying about it.

 I wash my clothes every night in baking soda and pack a spare shirt in a gallon sized zip lock bag. I also shower in baking soda. I climb a pretty good sized hill to get to where I hunt everyday. I take my hat off while hiking. When I reach the elevation of where I start side hill, I trade my wet sweaty shirt for the dry shirt and ziplock the stinky one up.

 I know a guy who knows a guy who raises elk, somewhere. He has a five gallon bucket of elk piss. He filled up a 32 ounce gatorade jug for me 4 years ago and I use it religiously and still have like 28 ounces left. It goes far when used in a spray bottle. I rarely use it unless I get into or hear elk.

 Three years ago I sneaked into a bedded herd from up wind. The elk were all facing me while bedded. I seen approx. 8 cows and a B/C sized Roosevelt bull. I sneaked by the bedded cows, 15 yards from a couple of them and just above them. I got to within 20 yards of the bull. The wind was hitting me in the back of the head more than once over that hour. Cows would not even look at my direction.

 Could never get  a shot, though. Bull was bedded in some tall huckleberries. I had thought that if I waited them out that I would have a shot when he stood up. After 30 minutes or more, motionless and right in amongst them, I outsmarted myself. I seen this little hump about 10 feet away. I figured that if I could get to that then I would have a perfectly clear shot at this 6X6 when he stood up, for sure. I tried moving to the hump within eyesight of at least 6 cows less than 20 yards from me. I made it all the way until the final step and one of them caught my movement.

 Stupid me and lesson learned.

 edit: I should add, with this story being true, I still am of the belief that you cannot really cover your scent, totally. Somehow, this day seemed to work for me, but this was an isolated incident. I have not been that lucky most other times.

[blackhorn]

Always wondered how well bar oil and diesel would do?  Think about all the clear cuts and equipment that they have encounterd.  If are were smarter I would invent such a scent, maybe even through in some fresh cut pine in there too.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Keep the wind in my face and header out !!!! 

[Pathfinder101]

You guys are doing it wrong.  I cover myself with squirrel feces. 
This is a picture of me in my archery stand.  (the other guy in the pic was about to poach a chipmunk, so I took him out...)

[BLKBEARKLR]

I smoke so therefore there is no secret I just pay attention to the wind.


Joe

[ribka]

Try and wash with baking soda every day during the season. Keep hunting clothes outside. Hunt the wind as best as I can. The thermals really can drive you crazy in the mountains. Always changing direction