Scent control on a 7 day backpack hunt.

As others have said. The wind is all you need for scent control. I don't spend one second in masking my scent, but i'm pretty finicky about wind direction.

Bears have the best noses and I don't do scent control for bear hunting either. We will smell like humans no matter what you do.

Well said, We try to mask our scent and we just smell like human with other scents! Im really trying to work the wind and refine my lack of style!

Does anyone carry scent free deodorant? I had some last year but i could smell it so i gave it the chuck! Powder seams to smell less to me than gel.
 
Scent control and all the various products are for hunters peace of mind. Do whatever you think you is necessary. When actually hunting elk, regardless of what you do for scent control, you best not let them get downwind of you.
 
I've been on countless 7 day hunts, wash up best I can with a wash cloth, soap & dry off with small terry cloth. Wear same clothes except extra shorts & socks, one pair each, all other clothes stay the same. No scent materials at all, hunt the wind! Success is sweet, enjoy!

ElkNut1
 
I bring wet wipes and also old spice deodorant. No matter what I do I'm gonna smell bad, might as well have something that will mask the smell for my nose
 
Like the most of everybody else,.. I'm more concerned with the wind, over personal scent control. You'll be ahead of the game if you pay more attention to thermals, and the wind. Seems like when elk smell you, they sometimes don't stop running till they are in the next unit.
Mike
 
Like the most of everybody else,.. I'm more concerned with the wind, over personal scent control. You'll be ahead of the game if you pay more attention to thermals, and the wind. Seems like when elk smell you, they sometimes don't stop running till they are in the next unit.
Mike

That is a very good point that is often overlooked concerning paying attention to the thermals
 
Stinking is party of backcountry hunting. After the first 3-4 days when you start get nice and crusty. Work, text messaging, social media etc all start to fade from your daily habits and you begin to focus on nothing but hunting. This is when you really begin to get into the mode of backcountry hunting. If you were a pro athlete, you might show up to the game day arena in a suit and tie, but once you put on that uniform and start breaking a sweat during warm ups is when you start getting into gear and get focused. If you were to go to the locker room during half time, take a shower and put on some clean, fresh clothes, you would totally derail that mindset.

You'll feel your dirtiest on day 2 or 3, but by day 5, you'll totally be in the zone. Just go with it. Embrace it. If you can't go a week without a shower and clean clothes, stick to the front country.
 
this /\/\ well put, 99% of backpack hunters couldn't care less, for other hunters, they can afford to think of it.
 
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Stick with merino wool base layers. That'll help a lot. Sent control body wipes are a nice way to clean up at night and a stick of Baker Powder deodorant is money.

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Another option for the hunters who aren't young bux anymore is using the scented BENGAY type products for scent control while backpacking. Two birds with one stone, you know?:D
 
Stinking is party of backcountry hunting. After the first 3-4 days when you start get nice and crusty. Work, text messaging, social media etc all start to fade from your daily habits and you begin to focus on nothing but hunting. This is when you really begin to get into the mode of backcountry hunting. If you were a pro athlete, you might show up to the game day arena in a suit and tie, but once you put on that uniform and start breaking a sweat during warm ups is when you start getting into gear and get focused. If you were to go to the locker room during half time, take a shower and put on some clean, fresh clothes, you would totally derail that mindset.

You'll feel your dirtiest on day 2 or 3, but by day 5, you'll totally be in the zone. Just go with it. Embrace it. If you can't go a week without a shower and clean clothes, stick to the front country.

Totally disagree with this post. Not the hunting aspect of it but the professional sports aspect. A nice refreshing shower will change your demeanor completely, I have competed with some of the best in the country and can tell you that a good portion of those guys will go and get completely cleaned up between bouts in a given day, rejuvenates and makes you feel better. Could that be the same in hunting? Probably, I know I have jumped into a lake on backpacking trips and cleaned up and it will make you feel like a million bucks and ready to go some more.
 
Ok, perhaps a bad analogy. But, by Eastern Whitetail scent control standards, where you take a shower, scrubbing yourself raw with a brush in order to remove any skin flakes that might fall and leave a scent trail or pool around your stand, shaving any body hair because hair holds scent, dry off with a towel that has been laundered with scent killer and stored in a airtight bag, drive in a vehicle that has been wiped down with scent killer, maybe even running ozonics, changing into hunting clothes that have been stored in airtight containers while outside, changing base layers again when you get to your stand, storing the sweaty ones in airtight bags and spraying down again with scent killer and maybe running ozonics, you are never going to be "clean" in the backcountry. You're going to stink by these standards, so just go with it. A dunk in the lake might rejuvenate you but it won't reduce your scent to any noticeable extent to an elk. Accept the conditions for what they are. Your armpits stink, your ass stinks, your clothes stinks, your backpack stinks. You can still kill an animal.


www.GoCarnivore.com
 
I've been on countless 7 day hunts, wash up best I can with a wash cloth, soap & dry off with small terry cloth. Wear same clothes except extra shorts & socks, one pair each, all other clothes stay the same. No scent materials at all, hunt the wind! Success is sweet, enjoy!

ElkNut1

I do exactly this. There's usually some water around at some point during the day. Wool boxers (first lite) and wool socks help. Less so for scent controls for animals and more so you don't smell yourself 24/7. Little more enjoyable. I bring one extra pair and rotate daily, airing it out at camp. It's surprising how long that will work.
 
On my last elk hunt, the day the wind stopped swirling was the day I tagged out. I'll never take any scent control products into the field again. Wind checker is a lot lighter, and there's no shock of cold scent killer on a cold morning!
 
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