Evan!
Well-Known Member
I've been hunting deer for 4 or 5 years now. Never gotten really crazy about it; I still just roll with the trusty .35 Remington from my Pa, and just go sit in the woods and wait.
Well, a couple days ago, I went to my mom's house (where I hunt, she's got some land in the woods at the base of a mountain) and went out around 6:30am. I spooked a few deer, but it was too early to shoot, as the sun was still down. I waited another couple hours, but saw nothing. Now, realize that she has a TON of deer, you see them all the time all around her property, and I've killed plenty). Anyway, I went looking around, and found a few places where I know they like to hang out, and their trails were littered with scat (right on the edge of a power company cleared swath), and decided to build my treestand there.
After about 4 hours trudging back and forth from the house, and a lot of hard manual labor, the stand was built, and I went out yesterday morning at 5:30, hoping to beat them to the spot. I sat motionless in the stand, and about half an hour later (still pitch black dark), I heard them in their "spot" just off the clearing. They started huffing and hissing, and ran off---like they usually do when I spook them.
Now, given that I had not made a move or a sound in over 30 minutes, the only thing I can think of is that they smelled me. The wind was pretty high yesterday, and it was moving in different directions every 5 minutes. From what I understand, their sense of smell is 100 times greater than ours...and if they get a strong smell of a human, they'll get spooked pretty easily.
So, I'm done for this year (sadly, only one kill), but for next year, I really want to look into masking my scent more actively. I read a few things...wash your clothes with special detergent, wash your body with special soap, get scent-lok gear, brush your teeth with baking soda before the hunt, spray yourself with scent neutralizer, etc.
So, my question is, what works, what's necessary, what's the best?
Thanks in advance...
Well, a couple days ago, I went to my mom's house (where I hunt, she's got some land in the woods at the base of a mountain) and went out around 6:30am. I spooked a few deer, but it was too early to shoot, as the sun was still down. I waited another couple hours, but saw nothing. Now, realize that she has a TON of deer, you see them all the time all around her property, and I've killed plenty). Anyway, I went looking around, and found a few places where I know they like to hang out, and their trails were littered with scat (right on the edge of a power company cleared swath), and decided to build my treestand there.
After about 4 hours trudging back and forth from the house, and a lot of hard manual labor, the stand was built, and I went out yesterday morning at 5:30, hoping to beat them to the spot. I sat motionless in the stand, and about half an hour later (still pitch black dark), I heard them in their "spot" just off the clearing. They started huffing and hissing, and ran off---like they usually do when I spook them.
Now, given that I had not made a move or a sound in over 30 minutes, the only thing I can think of is that they smelled me. The wind was pretty high yesterday, and it was moving in different directions every 5 minutes. From what I understand, their sense of smell is 100 times greater than ours...and if they get a strong smell of a human, they'll get spooked pretty easily.
So, I'm done for this year (sadly, only one kill), but for next year, I really want to look into masking my scent more actively. I read a few things...wash your clothes with special detergent, wash your body with special soap, get scent-lok gear, brush your teeth with baking soda before the hunt, spray yourself with scent neutralizer, etc.
So, my question is, what works, what's necessary, what's the best?
Thanks in advance...