Question about scent control in the early archery season. should be a hot one.

[krapmit]

I've mostly elk hunted with a bow out of tree stands for cows and spikes in the Nile for the many years I've hunted. I drew the archery Observatory any bull tag this year.  My question is, when its 90 degrees out and you've been hiking and sweating like a pig, how much it will effect you success on closing the gap on a mature bull.  I understand that wind plays a factor, but I imagine, all the scent killer in the world will not help out a guy who is drenched in sweat.

Anyone have experiences with this, advice or an opinion on how this will affect the hunt.

Thanks a lot for the replays.   

[krapmit]

squirting a lil cow piss can help.  But I'm curious if other folks feel about the hunt being effected.

[sirmissalot]

It doesn't really matter how much scent control you use, you always have to play the wind no matter what. Sure it will be worse being drenched in sweat and stink. Not much else you can do on an archery elk hunt in September though. Whether you're set up calling, or making a stalk, you're gonna have to watch the wind. Bring some scent control wipes and try to keep the stench to a minimum is about the best you can do.

[washelkhunter]

When its that hot i usually do all my lookin fer the critters after dark. Its much cooler then.   If i have to be out during the day ill seek out an active wallow and roll around in that till im well coated. Best cover scent ever, and i even believe it acts as an attractant.   

[PolarBear]

You can't always play the wind, those who say so are kidding themselves.  Do the best that you can do to keep your stink down use crushed fir needles as cover and try and stay down wind if you can.

[coachcw]

I've shot close to thirty elk with a bow and  I cant once remember shooting one when it was down wind . no matter how hard you try something about you or your gear with smell wrong . I don't like cover scent on me because I wanna smell them if I can . But sure take measures to keep your scent down if for nothing else your buddies ridding in the truck.

[krapmit]

Thanks for the input. During the mid day heat, I'm just planning on getting in some thick stuff near water and sitting on well used trail. No reason to sit in the truck when i can take a break and possibly get some elk moving through

[dreamingbig]

Wind doesn't play a factor, it IS the factor.  Keep the wind in your face and don't worry about the rest.  You can wear clothing/layers that will help you with temp control and minimize stink but you can't hunt with the wind at your back.  Good luck.

[coachcw]

yep hunt dark to dark !

[MR5x5]

Hunting with the wind at your back is called "Exercise".

[dblungshot]

Wind doesn't play a factor, it IS the factor.  Keep the wind in your face and don't worry about the rest.  You can wear clothing/layers that will help you with temp control and minimize stink but you can't hunt with the wind at your back.  Good luck.

DreamingB - perfect
Hunting with others who wear cover scent (estrus piss, etc) is a major pet peave of mine.  If my brother would stop dumping the entire bottle on his body every year it probably wouldn't of been a pet peave of mine.  Sneaking through the woods and finally getting that whiff of elk makes my heart rate increase and the sounds of snapping twigs following helps to continue the HR increase....until I realize and see it's my humpty dumpty brother sneaking through the woods which I wish would fall flat on his face.  Not only that but sitting around the fire trying to eat/relax and sleeping near the dude makes it that much more annoying...He's gotten better and now uses wafers...that's my first request when I get back to camp (take them off).  I don't mind the smell of cow piss but don't enjoy having it through an IV or up my nose 24/7.

The only cover i've worn is pine scent wafers...I haven't used them for a couple years now.  Don't really think it matters.  I use scent wipes each morning and take bird baths much as possible.  I also change clothes and rotate clothes...Merino Wool really helps decrease BO due to the antimicrobial factors.  I also spray down with scent killer before heading into a "good area".  It's impossible to be scent free.  Wind is the descision maker.

[Recurve-Elk]

Okay well here is my take on the matter.  Many will probably disagree.  I don't think that scent control is very important, I also think that it is very overrated.  Here is why.  Even with all the scent killer or elk pee in the world, you are still going to smell like a human, you just can't hide it.  Animals have such a keen sense of smell it is pretty much impossible to get rid of the smell.  This is why paying attention to the wind is one of the most important things you can do.  Who cares if you stink, if the wind is in your face! 

However all of this isn't to say that you shouldn't make an effort to reduce your smell.  I keep myself clean, (granted I don't sweat much), I also spray down with a fresh earth scent killer before I head out on every hunt. I also tend to hang my clothes in the wind to help them air out.  Aside from that I use a scentless deodorant/antiperspirant.  That's about it, the wind is your best and worst friend.   

[Recurve-Elk]

I don't like cover scent on me because I wanna smell them if I can

This in addition to my own ethics is why I don't use attractants like elk pee. 

[brianmtsinc]

You can't always play the wind, those who say so are kidding themselves.  Do the best that you can do to keep your stink down use crushed fir needles as cover and try and stay down wind if you can.

I completely agree!  When I was new to archery hunting, I spent YEARS trying to figure out how to hunt with the "wind on my nose" all of time.  I spent more time turning myself into the wind and walking away from animals than anything else.   

What I have learned in my 20+ years of archery elk hunting is that smell IS important, but when you are hunting during the rut, the rules sometimes change!  Last year we killed 3 elk, in one canyon, 50 - 120 yards away from each other within a two day period.  After the 1st kill we had 8 guys walking all over this canyon tracking this elk.  Later that night, elk were in our tracks, and another one fell the next morning.  They could have cared less about our sent.   

With that said, I DO spray down with earth sent or sent neutralizer every time I head out, but I know that elk may smell you and still come right in when the rut is on!!     

[Elkpiss]

Dude-- All you need is good wind, personally a little scent killer cant hurt but dont believe what anyone tells you, just have wind at your face and you can smell like a turd sandwich and call in a bull...     

Wind is everything when your calling in bulls close....

[MIKEXRAY]

I hunt a mile and a half up a ridge and 5 or 6 years ago used to just wear hunting clothes all day from the truck. I sweated all the way up & all day, I also sat on a good trail up wind during the day as you want to do.  The last three years I have worn shorts & a t-shirt on the hike up & carry my washed hunting clothes in a sealed garbage bag. Once I get to my hunting area I strip,  wash off, use scent free towels & spray and dress in my hunting clothes for the day. The animals I see has at least tripled & I am getting closer then ever. The last 3 years I have killed more game then the previous 10 and I give a lot of credit to my regiment. I spent $ 20 , it includes clothes washing soap, deodorant & spray.  The confidence I gain by doing this is huge.  I hunt the Bumping unit and its all good to say hunt the wind only but the way it swirls in those mountains will drive you crazy.  Mike

[krapmit]

Thanks for the reply . I like your idea

[jechicdr]

There's a difference between cold scent and warm scent.  The scent you leave behind walking through an area quickly becomes a cold scent, not very threatening, which is why you will see elk in an area you may have walked through or spent time hanging out.  When an elk is downwind of you, it will smell the fresh "warm" scent.  How far downwind an elk (or deer) can smell you depends on how much scent you are giving off.  If you are "clean and scent free", you might get away with crossing upwind 50-100 yards (I did a 50 yard once that way.  Wind was coming at my back as I was looking at elk coming up a trail, soon to cross my downwind side.  I had some cover, so I took a deep breath and held it, ducked and scooted quickly across the upwind side so my scent trail would be blowing down behind where they had just come from.  I let my breath out and watched as the elk walked up within 10 yards of where I was standing).  If I were smelly, then crossing that close would have surely spooked them.

I do believe you will see more elk with less scent.  I don't use cover scent unless I am sitting in a spot for a while and I'll usually place wafers about 30 yards each direction cross wind, in the hopes that an elk will come upwind before it reaches my scent cloud.

[Cylvertip]

Do a search on Scent Control .  There have been several other threads on this.  I know I wrote a book on it in one of them

[pianoman9701]

stay downwind?

[Giggles]

use an ozonic. it works on tv. too expensive for me so i'll stay down wind.

[Goshawk]

Sent blockers are a rip off for hunters, but are very effective in doing what they are designed to do; separate the hunter from his money.
There is an interesting test that was done using a police dog and various cover scents. The dog never failed to pinpoint the person and his nose is not nearly as good as a deer's. http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/deer-hunting/finding-deer-hunt/2012/06/cover-scents-work-better-odor-reducing-produ
I once saw a video tape where a bear was feeding on a bloated whale on a beach in Alaska. When the wind changed, she pulled her head out of that rotting carcass winded the camera crew and with a snort swapped ends and took off down the beach. Animals live by scenting predators and not being over whelmed by other scents.
Bottom line. Stay as clean as you can and hunt "smartly".

[washelkhunter]

We use cover scents with good results. Our approach is based on a triad. Scent, sight and sound. If you can succeed at two out of the three you  will be able to get close and/or give animals pause to allow a shot. Body odor is bad news. You have to be able to bath every day using scent free soap. I then rub a pine, cedar or fir cover scent thru my hair and all over. A fresh spritz over the clothes and im good to go. Ive had elk feeding within arms reach before, twice last year alone. And its very important to keep your face and hands covered at all times.

[huntnnw]

Okay well here is my take on the matter.  Many will probably disagree.  I don't think that scent control is very important, I also think that it is very overrated.  Here is why.  Even with all the scent killer or elk pee in the world, you are still going to smell like a human, you just can't hide it.  Animals have such a keen sense of smell it is pretty much impossible to get rid of the smell.  This is why paying attention to the wind is one of the most important things you can do.  Who cares if you stink, if the wind is in your face! 

However all of this isn't to say that you shouldn't make an effort to reduce your smell.  I keep myself clean, (granted I don't sweat much), I also spray down with a fresh earth scent killer before I head out on every hunt. I also tend to hang my clothes in the wind to help them air out.  Aside from that I use a scentless deodorant/antiperspirant.  That's about it, the wind is your best and worst friend.

  and for every bull arrowed there was some luck involved with the wind staying good for the shot to happen

[JPhelps]

I don't give one ounce of my attention to scent control and give 100% of my attention to making sure the wind is right for the elk I am hunting.

[jechicdr]

Sent blockers are a rip off for hunters, but are very effective in doing what they are designed to do; separate the hunter from his money.
There is an interesting test that was done using a police dog and various cover scents. The dog never failed to pinpoint the person and his nose is not nearly as good as a deer's. http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/deer-hunting/finding-deer-hunt/2012/06/cover-scents-work-better-odor-reducing-produ
I once saw a video tape where a bear was feeding on a bloated whale on a beach in Alaska. When the wind changed, she pulled her head out of that rotting carcass winded the camera crew and with a snort swapped ends and took off down the beach. Animals live by scenting predators and not being over whelmed by other scents.
Bottom line. Stay as clean as you can and hunt "smartly".

Read that one too.  Thought a good extension of that study would have been to take dog downwind 50 yards and see if he could do the same thing.

[huntnnw]

I tested the suits and sprays out one year in my field..I had a buddy who was a nut about the scentkiller clothing and sprays..I told him to shower and do if he was to hunt put on the clothes and wear them outside for a few hours..I then took his clothes in a bag and sat them in the field about a 100 yards from the tree line. The field had a wind every day that blew from the trees into the field. A ton of deer would feed into this field every night and as the sun set the wind shifted and blew from the field into the trees. As clock work deer were feeding out.. the sun set and the wind shifted it was less than a minute before the first deer alerted and then another and couple began to snort and stomp and then bounded off with half the field of deer in tow. Mind you hes not even in the suit! imagine if he was be even more scent being produced.

[JPhelps]

In my experience, you can fool their eyes and ears but NEVER their nose. 
As for cover scents I use the analogy of dropping a deuce and then spraying the spray as you leave the bathroom.  You walk back in there and 5 minutes and it still smells like crap just mixed with cinnamon or vanilla.  I have little faith in cover scents.

I believe that if the wind is in your face a cigarette smoking, tuna fish eating guy that hasnt showered in a week will have no problems getting close.

[buckfvr]

I tested the suits and sprays out one year in my field..I had a buddy who was a nut about the scentkiller clothing and sprays..I told him to shower and do if he was to hunt put on the clothes and wear them outside for a few hours..I then took his clothes in a bag and sat them in the field about a 100 yards from the tree line. The field had a wind every day that blew from the trees into the field. A ton of deer would feed into this field every night and as the sun set the wind shifted and blew from the field into the trees. As clock work deer were feeding out.. the sun set and the wind shifted it was less than a minute before the first deer alerted and then another and couple began to snort and stomp and then bounded off with half the field of deer in tow. Mind you hes not even in the suit! imagine if he was be even more scent being produced.

Did they see it or smell it ?  Ive seen the same reaction to them seeing something out of place or new to their routine.  Im an anal wackjob about scent control.  Scent free soaps and deodorants, scent free clothes wash, spray down...etc..all my hunting clothes is bagged clean, in large zip lock storage bags, and then in big tubs, boots too. I have had deer uncomfortably close without detection.  Not saying you are wrong or even that I am right....just comparing notes.

[TheHunt]

This comes up every year...

Wind is your friend or your enemy.  You need to check the wind often.  Every time you move aound a finger check it.  Wind can have eddies based on the ground terrain you are hunting.  My wind detector is always in my front pocket as well as a little string hanging from my bow that a slight breeze can pick up and move so that I can see the direction. 

If it is hot and YOU or your PARTNER sweat like a pig.  Keep the sweat off the trees.  e.g.  You do not put your hand on a tree next to a well traveled elk road.  It is like putting up a huge warning "Danger" ahead sign on the elk road. 

The wind and the terrain are your concern.  Elk are fairly lazy animals and you need to pick out where the bull will come to you.  They will only come in far enough to see the spot in which the sound came from.  So the sweaty betty's need to keep down wind and estimate where that brown bugger is going to pop out.  Than be about 30 to 40 yards from that location.  The thicker the vegetation the closer they have to come to see the location of the sound.  BUT if they have been called to over, and over, and over again they will want you to come to them.

I have killed plenty of elk in my days with a bow.  It is easy to kill a satelite bull.  But difficult to kill a herd bull with cows in heat.  That is why we all love the sport. 

I do not use any scent period other than unscented laundry detergent with UV killer and unscented deordent.  I can smell the elk better and it is more pleasant hunting experience.   Just keep the wind to your advantage and you should be good.   

[Elkpiss]

In my experience, you can fool their eyes and ears but NEVER their nose. 
As for cover scents I use the analogy of dropping a deuce and then spraying the spray as you leave the bathroom.  You walk back in there and 5 minutes and it still smells like crap just mixed with cinnamon or vanilla.  I have little faith in cover scents.

I believe that if the wind is in your face a cigarette smoking, tuna fish eating guy that hasnt showered in a week will have no problems getting close.

   I agree... 

[MIKEXRAY]

I'm sure no one here that does different scent control measures thinks for a second that an elk can be down wind and we can go undetected to their nose.  The place that I feel it helps is when I call that bull into 30 yards & he is not quite giving me a shot. He is looking for the bull, trying to get a scent location and if my scent control can buy me an extra half second ( or what ever time ) then I call that a good investment. I surely would not want to be in that situation with a smoke in my mouth & a tuna sandwich in my hand.  ALL the hours of shooting practice, hours of scouting, money spent on bows & equipment and all the prep that goes into your season. I see no reason not to put effort into washing my clothes , wearing rubber knee high boots, & spraying a little scent control spray on my head net. I have seen the results & even if it gives me false confidence when that bull is right there pissing all over himself & raking the tree , it is well worth it to me.   Mike

[SkookumHntr]

-I like using the 99% stuff! Where I hunt it seems like its just a damn whirlwind so if it knocks the sent down and just gives me acouple extra seconds I guess its worth it! If you get one while using it then it worked! 

[bloodhound]

i just bath in dead down wind, and try to keep the wind in my face!

[spitfire]

When an elk comes in to find the source of a bugle, he'll circle downwind of you to learn more about you.  I'm pretty careful about controlling my scent (hunting soap, detergent and field spray), but even sweating with the warmer weather last week, I had a bull circle around me and still not take off.  A friend suggested that spilling a little urine scent at that moment might give him more reason to come closer.  Probably better to move downwind, cut him off and stick him before it becomes an issue.