A few weeks ago I wrote an article about attractant scents for bear hunting, and how certain types and aromas also serve a dual purpose as a cover for human odor. No offense meant, but if you are a big game hunter, you stink.
Deer, bear, and moose here in Maine, and all other U.S. big game animals, have far sharper eye sight, hearing and sense of smell than humans. It’s impossible to completely eliminate our human scent, but if we don’t hide most of it, animals will easily detect our presence and steer clear.
Let’s start from the basics, our skin, and work our way outward using several facets of modern chemical and clothing material technology to hide human odor before we begin each hunt. There is no way to stop the body from producing its own scent, and it’s very difficult to prevent our bodies and clothing from picking up odors, smells and aromas from the world we live in. A hunter’s best hope is to mask and contain these smells for a few hours.
Shower or take a bath prior to hunting using one of a wide variety of scent-neutralizing soaps or body washes. Wash your hair and scalp with a special scent-free shampoo and be sure to use a scent eliminating deodorant. If it’s not possible to bathe, there are wipes, sponges and body sprays that may be used for a scent-reducing entire body scrub. All of these hygiene products are generally available in a section near the exterior-use scent eliminators.
Clothing is the next layer. Select the material for comfort in the temperature ambient to the hunt, and if it needs to be camouflage or fluorescent orange, have options of a couple of thicknesses. Many materials offer a scent seal feature, and a water-repellent layer is also a good idea. Hats, gloves, and even a face mask help keep scent controlled somewhat, as well as hiding motion of face and hands, the two body parts that tend to move the most.
Regarding footwear, I avoid canvas and leather material, which hold and disperse odors, in favor of rubber or GoreTex exterior covered boots, which do not. All my hunting clothes are washed with special scent-free soap, and I never use dryer sheets, which have a fragrance. In fact, whenever possible I dry my hunting togs on an outside clothesline so they have a natural outdoor smell, and then store them in an airtight travel bag. They don’t come out until it’s time to hunt, and between washes and outings I allow them to air out overnight outdoors, and then back into the scent-resistant bag.
The last, and arguably most important, step before climbing into a tree stand, entering a portable blind or just woods walking for game, is application of a scent-blocking substance to all your exterior surfaces. The vast array of sprays, rub-ons, wipes, creams and powders could easily fill a large bathtub, so of course personal preference plays a big part in a hunter’s final choice. Regardless, liquid sprays are the most popular scent blockers despite the fact they seldom last more than six hours and none provide full scent elimination.
Chemical combinations and natural products are being experimented with year after year to create the best scent blocker. There’s a lot of trial and error involved to fool the highly developed olfactory senses of big game. Some products incorporate tree oils (pine, spruce, cedar), and special distillations of deer and fox urine are used in some scent-blocking products. All of these are products commonly found in nature, and when combined with earthy cover scents and activated carbon or charcoal, they bind and block human body odor.
I’ve discovered another option: a dry protective powder application called CamoDust that may just be the most effective, easy-to-use, longest lasting and economical scent blocker. CamoDust is a dry product placed in a cloth sock that disperses in a cloud to cover clothing when patted vigorously against the clothing. The fine dust particles lodge in the clothing and on exposed skin to neutralize odors, and you’re not all wet from a liquid spray. The dust is not a masking agent or cover scent. Its proprietary formula isolates and neutralizes odor producing molecules. Check it out online or at a local sporting goods store.
Hunters can use the most modern equipment, visit prime areas and be as stealthy as possible, but without being able to mask human scent to a high degree, animals have the advantage. A top-rate scent blocking substance is probably the least expensive hunting accessory used, so make the effort to buy and use the products I’ve mentioned and your success rate for deer, moose and bear is bound to improve.
