It’s no secret that the best defense mechanism of a whitetail deer is it’s nose. Over the past 20 years of hunting, I have been busted my fair share of times in a few too many trial and error situations to make that statement a fact. As with so many other things we face in life, if we’re going to do something successfully, we have to give it our all 100% of the time. The ‘giving it our all’ attitude is no different when it comes to fooling a whitetail deer.
For the past several years, whenever I am in the field, I am constantly aware of my human scent. If it be checking game cameras, scouting before season, or even that exciting time after season looking for sheds, I make sure that my outer clothing, especially my boots are sprayed with a healthy dose of Scent Killer Gold spray. The Scent Killer Gold spray ensures that I will be able to stay invisible to the infamous nose of a whitetail. For me, it is a no brainer to do a complete scent eliminating regimen when I am actually hunting. Most hunters will admit that they use some type of scent eliminating spray while hunting. However, it is surprising the number of hunters that end their scent eliminating efforts with only a spray. I’ve heard hunters say “I use the spray but I’m not doing all that other stuff”, I’ve even heard comments such as “I don’t have time to do all the extra work it takes to eliminate human scent”. Let me ask you this, does it really take that much time to be scent free?
The first step to a complete scent eliminating regimen is to wash all hunting garments in Scent Killer Gold Laundry Detergent. Everyone washes their laundry, which means the first step isn’t taking anymore “time” than normal. The only difference is switching the regular laundry detergent to a scent killing detergent. However, there are a couple of things to remember, when washing hunting garments throw in a couple of bath towels and wash cloths (you will understand why in the next step). Once all of the laundry is clean, store them in some type of scent free storage container. There are several different bags, packs, or even plastic totes that are specifically designed to keep scent out of clothes until ready to hunt.
The next step is eliminating human odor. Scent Killer Gold has a complete line of soaps, shampoos, and deodorants to do just that. As with the first step, everyone takes showers. Changing to a scent killing soap and shampoo takes no more “time” than a normal shower. As mentioned earlier, use a towel and wash cloth that has been washed in Scent Killer Gold laundry detergent. Eliminating human odor in the shower is futile if the next step is to dry off with a towel that has been washed in regular home detergent that smells like spring flowers, or tropical paradise.
The last step is to spray down with Scent Killer Gold spray while in the field, this is the most widely used step in a hunters scent eliminating efforts. Spraying down includes everything that is going to be exposed while hunting, things such as the bow, release, binoculars, grunt call, boots, safety harness, treestand, and of course all layers of hunting garments. Spray down multiple times throughout one particular hunt, those times being before walking in, while getting strapped onto a tree, and periodically throughout the hunt, especially during warm weather. As the day comes to an end and it’s time to leave the field, spray clothes down once more before storing them. Spraying down only takes a couple of minutes, as with the first two steps, it really doesn’t take much time.
When contemplating the process of preparing to go on a hunt, it basically comes down to the fact that the above steps are going to be done anyway, so it may as well be done in a scent free routine. Taking these added steps to insure a scent free body takes no more time than the normal day-to-day routine and in doing so it will give the opportunity to fool more deer, resulting in a better experience while in the field. This system is not a “have to” thing to harvest deer, one can always do that without paying attention to scent. However, to consistently come within archery range of big bucks, hunters must defeat a deers biggest defense, which is their nose.
