Pine Pellets Scent Control

Joined
Sep 28, 2021
Messages
20
Well, once your hunting clothes are washed, there are many ways you can potentially contaminate them with scents while storing them and while transporting them to your hunt site. This would be a cheap and simple idea for a storage bin that I think would minimize the chance of scent contamination. Also, if you are not able to wash your hunting clothes and gear after each and every hunt, I think this would help get rid of the accumulated scent and rapidly dry everything out as well.
I’ve seen a number of hunters do this. Trash bags too.
 

Mosby

WKR
Joined
Jan 1, 2015
Messages
1,910
After washing and drying clothes, I have put baking soda freezer packs in with my hunting clothes to absorb odor before important hunts. The less scent you start out with the better but any benefits are likely short term. That said, minimizing scent can't hurt and I will take whatever benefit I can get on opening morning, even if it is just a few extra seconds.
 

Opah

WKR
Joined
Jan 30, 2017
Messages
847
Location
California, Inland Empire
I was with only baking soda and I have the Vacuum Bags for clothing, I also keep Sage from the areas I frequently Hunt, a little sage after the wash Vacuum sealed there you go.
I find the logic that you will encounter odors , scents and smells anyways so why bother.
As to you are going to smell and collet odors thru out your day so why bother bathing ?
I feel you start your hunt the best you can to blend into the area and go from there, I want to Vacuum seal my camos with area sage big deal, my business.
This Kinda goes along with smoking and hunting does it really matter ? I say No I have filled my tag when I smoked and now that I don't smoke, 6 to one Half a dozen to the other. If it works for you fine, if it doesn't Change your evil ways and get right with Mother Nature
 
Joined
Jan 26, 2013
Messages
952
Location
Colorado
I use half a box of baking soda to wash my hunting clothes. Not even detergent. I just ran a load yesterday. Today they simply smell like cloth after letting them hang dry. No funk, no nothing, just cloth.

But, you’re a human with a rudimentary olfactory system.

What you’re able to smell, is absolutely moot and meaningless.
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2015
Messages
5,606
Location
Lenexa, KS
I found your post interesting, not sure what's with you getting pounced on by Dos, not really a good way to treat new people.

I wasn't pouncing, I was trying to help the OP think critically about his idea and if it was worthwhile. I have found it's often better to help someone discover the answer for themselves than just pointing it out, which can be perceived as an attack and met with consternation and a counter-attack. I obviously failed in my approach.

@Sanad , I could share a shit pile of pictures of animals killed using absolutely zero scent control, or you could just take my word for it. It doesn't matter. Spend the money saved on wind checker, spend the time saved taking the long way to get the wind right.
 
OP
S

Sanad

FNG
Joined
Feb 5, 2021
Messages
11
I wasn't pouncing, I was trying to help the OP think critically about his idea and if it was worthwhile. I have found it's often better to help someone discover the answer for themselves than just pointing it out, which can be perceived as an attack and met with consternation and a counter-attack. I obviously failed in my approach.

@Sanad , I could share a shit pile of pictures of animals killed using absolutely zero scent control, or you could just take my word for it. It doesn't matter. Spend the money saved on wind checker, spend the time saved taking the long way to get the wind right.

No worries, I didn't take offense. I just didn't want to debate scent control because it would be the same as trying to debate which caliber is best for deer hunting. Everyone has their belief based on their research and experience.

I know both hunters who practice scent control and hunters who don't practice scent control have been successful, but that doesn't really tell us if there were missed opportunities for those who don't practice it. In the end, we can never definitively determine whether scent control affects a hunt. However, as I said before, I'm a new hunter and can use all the help I can get. I do plan to play the wind and did get a wind indicator, as I think every hunter should do whether they practice scent control or not. For me, I will utilize every viable hunting tactic I learn about to try and gain any possible advantage. As far as how I will practice scent control, it takes very little time, effort, and cost. The storage bin I suggested would cost me less than $20 for two plastic bins and a bag of pine pellets, then a few minutes of my time to drill the holes. This is something I can reuse every season so beside a cost of $5 per season to get a new bag of pine pellets, it costs nearly nothing. I got scent killer spray for another $20 and it takes me just a few seconds to spray down my gear before I head into the woods. I already used scent free detergents and soaps so that won't cost me anything, just the few minutes to take a bath before I head out for a hunt. I could see your point if practicing scent control would cost me hundreds of dollars and hours of my time, but that just isn't the case for me. All in all, spending around $25 per season and a few extra minutes to take some scent control measures doesn't seem very costly nor time consuming to me.
 

Poser

WKR
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
5,033
Location
Durango CO
Been out of the whitetail game for a good while now but surprised at the number of people still using baking soda as that has been shown to be detrimental by numerous studies. Basically, baking soda holds scent and it collects on your clothes so walking around, you are dripping little “scent balls” everywhere.

I did the scent control game for awhile: changing clothes in the field, washing constantly, taking showers, storeage, Scebtlok etc but eventually got increasingly relaxed with it and saw no discernible difference other than hunting was way more enjoyable and I killed bigger deer when I didn’t care.

You cannot mask scent with other scents as a deer’s noise is far too complex. It’s comparable to your eyesight in that you see a bowl of 7 bean soup and recognize all of the individual ingredients. A deer smells much the same. So, they’ll smell your pine cover scent and they’ll also smell you, the onions you had for dinner last night, the neighbor’s wife you slept with 3 days ago, the gas you put in your car as well as the dog who lives in your house.
 

def90

WKR
Joined
Aug 12, 2020
Messages
1,577
Location
Colorado
What are the disadvantages of masking scents if done properly? I can't imagine a deer being spooked from the smell of pine.

Because deer are still going to smell you either way, now they will just smell a human wearing pine infused clothing.
 

switchback270

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Apr 4, 2013
Messages
159
Without question hunting the wind is most important and fooling a deer’s nose is quite difficult if even possible however, deer will eventually end up downwind and more often then not blow out. With that said, I’ve had good luck smoking my clothes and have found it to have a confusing effect to the deer in most cases. They’ll definitely know something is not right but with a strong smoke smell mixed in the air they tend to just back out and leave as opposed to stand there and snort non stop and blow up the whole setup. Ive used apple, oak, and hickory wood chips in a bee smoker. Pretty cheap compared to all the scent killer products marketed today and actually leaves your clothes with a nice smell imo. It surely can’t hurt to try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
S

Sanad

FNG
Joined
Feb 5, 2021
Messages
11
Without question hunting the wind is most important and fooling a deer’s nose is quite difficult if even possible however, deer will eventually end up downwind and more often then not blow out. With that said, I’ve had good luck smoking my clothes and have found it to have a confusing effect to the deer in most cases. They’ll definitely know something is not right but with a strong smoke smell mixed in the air they tend to just back out and leave as opposed to stand there and snort non stop and blow up the whole setup. Ive used apple, oak, and hickory wood chips in a bee smoker. Pretty cheap compared to all the scent killer products marketed today and actually leaves your clothes with a nice smell imo. It surely can’t hurt to try.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nice, I never thought about using smoke to mask scent. Seems like it would be even more effective than what I had in mind. I’m definitely gonna try it out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Top