My Scent Control Routine

As an avid bow hunter, scent control is a topic that is very important to me.  I am a firm believer that if you take measures to lessen your scent, the deer may still catch a whiff of you, but the smell will be so reduced that the deer will think you are several hundred yards away.  Here is the scent control routine that I have developed over the past several years.  It has thus far worked out fabulously for me because I rarely get winded by deer, even when they are dead down wind.

The night before I go hunting, I wash all of my hunting clothes, including socks, underwear, towels, head cover, and gloves in scent free laundry detergent.  I use the stuff you can find in the hunting section at walmart or any other hunting supply store (Dicks, Cabelas, Bass Pro, etc).  Personally, I use the cheapest kind I can find.  I don't use the Dead Down Wind brand simply because it is too expensive in my opinion.

After the wash cycle is done, I clean out the lint filter (very important!!!) on my dryer, and dry my clothes.  When the clothes are dry, I get out a bag (I have a big ziplock bag that came with a scent control starter kit I got a few years back) and put the clothes I will be wearing directly into the bag.  I don't fold them or anything.  I try to keep the amount of time I actually touch the clothes with my hands to an absolute minimum.  I then hang my towel up as normal for the morning.

When I wake up, I hop in the shower and wash my hair with the scent free shampoo (mine is green, Hunter Specialty I think), and clean my body with scent free bar soap (also hunter speciality I think).  When I get out of the shower, I dry off with my clean towel and I put on my underwear that I washed the night before (I use the silver thread RedHead EnduraSkin underwear from Bass Pro).  Then, I just throw on some street clothes, load up the car and head to my hunting spot.

When I get out of my car at my hunting spot, I shed my street clothes, and start to get into my hunting clothes.  I spray down each layer with ScentSheild outdoor scent killer spray.  This stuff smells like dirt and dried leaves.  The layers I put on are as follows: Silver threaded base layer (top and bottom), Rocky Scent IQ long underwear (top and bottom), Carhart camo pants, and a cotton camo top.  I spray down each of these layers liberally before I put them on.  It might feel a little damp, but it will dry off quickly as you walk to your stand.

Once I have done this, I put my clean socks on and get into my rubber snake boots.  I tuck my pants into the boots and head out to my stand.  I then put on my gloves.  If I am going to be wearing an outer layer (coveralls or a thick jacket), I spray it down with the scent spray and carry it out to the stand.

I put my final layer on the ground before I climb into my stand.

This may seem like a lot of work, but once you do it a few times, it will become second nature.  It seriously adds maybe 5 minutes to my morning routine (spraying down and getting dressed at the hunting spot instead of the house).  The time spent is well worth it because the number of deer you will see should go up noticeably.

Anyway, as they say, the proof is in the pudding.  Since I have started this rigorous scent routine, I have had plenty of deer down wind of me and they have never spooked.  I have had deer follow my exact trail to my stand, and never get spooked.  I even had one sniff the base of my tree and keep going unalarmed.

Hope this works for you as well as it has worked for me.  Post a comment and let me know!