Josmund

Interesting Article in F & S this month. I wish I could find it online so I could post a link. I'm sure it's buried in their website somewhere but I can't find it.

Last year they used a police dog ( supposedly they smell at the same rate as a Whitetail ) to see if scent eliminators had any effect. The conclusion was they had none as Fido busted the hunters using the scent eliminators at the same rate as he found those with no scent blockers.

This year, they tested cover scents. The conclusion: Fido will still find you but Skunk and Acorn cover slowed the process down. They both were superior to Pine and Earth cover.

I thought it was interesting. I know everyone has they're own theory on these product but it's nice to see unbiased testing to help make educated decision.

idahoron

I read that too. They also said that deer have better sense of smell than dogs do. I have ran dogs in trials. I was told that when someone makes a pot of stew a human smells stew. A dog smells a potato, carrots, celery. That is why you can't fool a dogs nose. In my opinion you can't fool a deer or elk. I play the wind and try to be in the right place. I don't waste money on scents or cloths that reduce scent. Ron

lemoyne

Well that agrees with what our club done. Because it seems impossible to cover scent so that a dog [we used an Irish setter ] can not follow the scent 2 hours latter we eventually came to the conclusion that a lot of a persons scent come from breathing and covering that was beyond our capabilities.

Josmund

+1 Here. The testing just drives this home.

Semisane

If the wind is not in your favor there's not much you can do. If you hunt the wind there's no need to worry about scent. I once shot a doe that was peacefully feeding thirty yards upwind from my 10 ft. ladder stand. I was smoking my smelly old pipe at the time.

cayugad

I use scents to attract but not to cover. Only because I found they did not really work. I fell for the hype one year and bought special soap to wash your camo clothes, and then soap to wash your self, and even a spray to shoot your boots and stuff so you "left no scent." Well guess what.. a buck walked in an busted me in the wind just like they always did.

So I use the wind. "Wind in my face I am in the right place." Cover scents like pure Mexican vanilla ( my folks purchased me 10 quarts when they were in Mexico on vacation), and yes even my own urine has produced some very curious deer and one bear was in love with that vanilla.

Muley Hunter

I learned a long time ago that cover scents don't work. Just to make myself feel better I take some local foliage, and put it in the bag with my clothing. I doubt it helps that much.

One thing I think is very important is to get rid of the UV brighteners in the clothing. Otherwise you look like a bright blue neon bulb to deer/elk. They have UV killers you can spray on the clothing to get rid of it, and then if you always use soap that doesn't have ant brighteners in it. You're good to go without anymore UV killer treatments. You can check your clothing with a black light to see if you're glowing.

I've read that deer/elk have 7 times better smell than a bloodhound, or 1000 times better than a human.

Playing the wind is all we have. If it's swirling. We're screwed.