Scent and scent control is in my opinion absolutely the most controversial, talked about aad often misrepresented and misunderstood of all deer hunting topics.
I have been literally exhausting myself for over 20 years trying to male myself and my deer hunting equipment as scent free as is humanly and scientifically possible but I approach fanaticism when it comes to trying to make myself and my equipment scent free when bow hunting.
This includes NEVER wearing a single article of clothing twice without either washing it and line air drying it or an outdoor line sit for 3 or more days minimum. This even includes my archery release aid of which I own four of the same exact ones so each can air out for a minimum of 72 hours between uses.
I use scent free towels and washcloths to shower with every shower, I wear no hunting clothes for the ride to my hunting land and change once parked.
Starting three years ago I built a 12v/dc transportable Ozone container for certain gun and archery equipment and used ozone generators to kill the bacteria on my equipment I didn't have large numbers of spares anymore (due to my sons now hunting much more with me) like my release aids, boots, binocular harnesses, gloves and hats very heavy insulating jackets, as I often due to weather or hunting away from home I can not wash and line dry my clothes or equipment.
After all this I will openly admit if my scent gets blown to a deer especially a mature buck 4 years or older the jig as they say is up. What I do I feel is reduce as much as possible the as i call it "Scent Footprint" I leave in the area surrounding my stand sight and on the path i take in to my hunting area, but that's pretty much it.
What I FINALLY learned after 15 years of getting winded after I went scent control crazy was not getting winded comes down to one thing above all else.
STAND PLACEMENT.
I am not the one who originated this concept but I believe in it 100%.
Two things above all else get us busted by deer and ruin our chances to kill a mature buck.
#1-Our entry and exit routes to our stands and all or combination of getting seen, heard or smelled by deer as we travel to and from our stands.
#2-Placing stands in locations that our scent is blown to deer and make them aware to our presence.
I have learned from some great deer hunters that you must figure out what factors are going to impact and control the wind at your stand sight and hunt it accordingly.
Bottom line is you must hunt especially while bow hunting with the wind blowing your scent into areas deer do not travel through or at the very bare minimum over where the deer might travel through.
This is not mines or anyones elses opinion but fact that white tailed deer have a sense of smell THOUSANDS of time more acute, PRECISE and powerful than ours.
The great hunting expert and photography great Charles Alsheimer once observed from a near by hill top observation point a 130ish class buck madly pursuing a doe obviously in estrous and a much larger 150+ buck happened on the seen and promptly chased off the smaller buck. The doe in the meantime ran into a large at least 400 to 500 yards wide, extremely dense badly overgrown thicket well above head height neither deer ot man could see through more than a few feet. Because he could see down into it he watched the doe run to the extreme right hand corner of the thicket then once at the far edge run to the far left hand corner of the thicket in his estimation well over 400 yards away from where she first entered the thicket. The wind was now blowing the doe's scent back the way she came.
Per Mr. Alsheimer's description the buck returned to the last spot he knew the doe to have stood stuck his nose into the wind and made a direct path of travel right to the doe ignoring the scent without doubt would have left in her path of travel.
My point being if a mature buck can smell well enough to use the wind to pin point a doe in estrous exact location, what chances to you think we have of be able to so effectively reduce our scent he wont smell us long before entering bow range and even for 90% of us gun range.
Hunt with the wind in your favor or accept less than satisfactory success on killing mature bucks.
Short version of my opinion of cover or attractant scents is I believe cover scents work well on limiting the affects of ground contact of our boots and incidental contact of out pants legs.
I have no faith in attractant scents and I used a bunch and feel they are much better at bagging hunters hard earned cash than deer.
