CLEANING THE BODY
When showering, use a washcloth to scrub every inch of your body. This will help peel off dead skin and odor-causing skin cells. While washing, keep the water very hot. This opens the skin pores for a more thorough cleaning. After rinsing, stand under cold water.

Never, ever wear your hunting clothes in the truck, says the author. Instead, store your clothing in scent-free bags and change at your hunting location.

This will close the pores and help prevent them from emitting new odors.

Throughout the showering sequence, I use Scent Killer bar soap and shampoo. I also use Scent Killer deodorant, powdered clothing wash, spray and foot powder. I always use an odor-free towel when stepping out of the shower. Towels and washcloths must be treated and stored with as much care as your hunting clothing.

TREATING CLOTHING
About the same time I stop using scented hygiene products, my wife switches to unscented laundry detergents and fabric softeners. This alone is a huge help in de-scenting the washer and drier. Before tossing any hunting-related items into the drier, I also meticulously clean the lint trap.

Next, I always wash my hands with Scent Killer bar soap before transferring any hunting clothing. After the clothing comes out of the drier, all of my under layers are taken outside and hung on a clothes line. I then spray them down with Scent Killer spray. Once dry, the Scent Killer remains effective until after the clothing has been used (as long as the items are stored in a scent-free container). After washing my hands again, I fold each item and place it directly in a ScenTote's Hard Tote. All of my Scent-Lok apparel goes into ScenTotes right from the drier.

ScenTotes' Hard Tote is a 20-gallon airtight container that includes an Activated Carbon-Web Adsorber mounted to the lid, as well as a Carbon-Web Adsorber Pocket, designed to de-scent and store smaller items. The Carbon-Webs continuously release activated carbon granules to eliminate scent. Like carbon suits, they can be recharged by placing them in the drier for 30 minutes on high. Between creating a true airtight seal and using activated carbon, I believe it's by far the best storage option available.

Before using ScenTote, I used construction grade garbage bags for storing all my clothing and equipment. Though prone to collecting holes, not having an airtight seal and being bulky to handle, the bags work much better than regular storage tubs that don't even come close to creating a seal. To get rid of the plastic smell, these bags must be hung outside for a week, turned inside out and hung for another week.

TREATING GEAR
Every item you take into the woods must be treated. Mature deer don't care where the odor comes from -- if they get a whiff of human scent they'll be gone! Beating a buck's sense of smell requires a thorough and consistent approach to dealing with every possible deer-alerting object. Pulling it off consistently requires treating gear every bit as seriously as one's body and clothing.

It all starts with proper storage. Oftentimes stands, blinds, decoys and other hunting items are stored in the garage and tend to get saturated with the smells of gasoline, exhaust fumes, oils and other odors that are difficult to get rid of. To combat this, I built a storage shed exclusively for my hunting gear.

If that's not an option for you, a storage room in the house is an infinitely better choice than the garage. In either case, always allow ground blinds and other equipment to air out for a couple of weeks before use.

page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4