Bow season for deer opened two weeks ago with another four weeks remaining and someone asked me this week what he's doing wrong because while he's seeing deer, they skirt around his stand, out of range and too far for a shot. The answer is simple — they're smelling him.
Deer hunting, bowhunting especially — because of the close range necessary for a clean shot — is all about getting past the deer's senses of smell, sight and hearing. There are three simple rules — don't stink, don't move and don't make noise. Number one is their keen sense of smell because they'll often wind you without even seeing or hearing you and simply walk away silently without you ever knowing they were there.
So to put the odds in your favor, be as scent-free as possible and you'll increase your chances for success. First off, get some scent-blocking clothing which utilizes a carbon filter in the lining which traps human scent, preventing "most" of it from passing through the garment. I don't care what brand you buy — just pick one with features that you like. I have two sets — one for warm weather and one for colder weather. Get the jacket , pants and cap. Seeing as you lose a lot of body heat and scent through your head, and your hair also holds a lot of scent, make sure you get the cap.
Scent-blocking clothing needs to be maintained according to manufacturer's directions. Clean and reactivate the carbon filter by putting the clothes in the dryer on high heat for a half hour, usually for every thirty hours of wear. But wash it very sparingly and use the special carbon detergent. Washing it too often will diminish the performance of the carbon filter.
I've had some great success with this stuff and since I've gotten it, have had deer less than 20 yards from me on the ground and have shot them as close as seven yards from my tree stand. I've also let dozens of deer pass that walk right under my stand, after approaching downwind of me.
While the lining contains most of your human scent, preventing it from escaping, the outer fabric also has to remain scent-free. I've seen hunters in expensive scent-free outfits sitting in diners and gassing up their trucks and when they get in their stands, their clothes may keep their human scent from leaking out but the outer material smells like bacon and eggs and gasoline which is sure to get you busted.
To keep your hunting clothes clean and free of scents that will alert and spook deer, keep them in a covered plastic box in your truck — and use an old plastic box so there's no plastic smell to it. Don't even sit in your truck with your hunting clothes on unless you want to smell like a dog or French fries. Change when you get to the hunting area and when you're done hunting, put your clothes back in the box before driving home. You can also put stuff in the box that's indigenous to the area you're hunting, like pine branches, leaves, etc. to keep your clothes smelling natural. Every now and then, I spray mine down with a scent eliminator spray and air them out, rather than wash them.
Oh, and if you have any of those perfumey plug-in air fresheners in your house, get rid of them. They will permeate everything you own. I bought a rifle some years ago from a gun shop that had those plug-in air fresheners to make the place smell nice, they thought. The wooden stock had absorbed the smell and it took a month of Sundays before the stink disappeared. Your clothes will smell the same. Your regular clothes, right down to your underwear, should be washed in scent-free detergent with no dyes or perfumes. When possible, take a shower with scent-eliminating soap and shampoo just before you head for the woods and use the scent-eliminating deodorant too. Never ever wear cologne or scented deodorant. If you leave work to hunt an afternoon stand and can't take a shower just before hunting, you should have showered and de-scented yourself before work and then spray yourself down with scent-b-gone stuff before getting your hunting clothes on.
For footwear, wear rubber boots. Again, if they're brand new, the rubber will have a scent to it, so leave them outside until the smell disappears. Don't wear leather. Leather boots retail scents and odors and they also allow your foot odor to escape. Rubber boots won't retain scents and they prevent the smell of your sweaty feet from escaping.
Full camo is a must, so you'll also need to cover your hands and face with gloves and a facemask. Even if it's warm, wear thin cotton camo gloves and a thin camo facemask. You'd be surprised how bright your hands and face are in the woods.
Your fanny pack should also be stored in your scent-free box. If you leave it inside your truck or house, you've just spent hundreds on scent-blocking clothing and scent eliminators and went through the trouble to maintain it but defeated the purpose by bringing a stinky fanny pack with you. And when hunting morning and/or afternoon stands close to home, a fanny pack need only carry the bare essentials. A knife, compass, flashlight, headlight, parachute cord (lots of uses), flagging tape, thin cord to tie off the intestines while field-dressing, a pen to fill out the tag, a drag rope, wipes to clean your hands after field-dressing, TP, waterproof matches, a small folding saw and a whistle.
Now that you're scent-free in total camo in your treestand, looking like a big, lumpy growth on the tree, you have to be quiet and your gear has to be quiet. If your stand creaks, fix it. When that buck steps into range and you shift your weight to draw your bow or shoulder the gun, it "will" creak and he'll spook. If your bow squeaks when you draw, or if a sling swivel squeaks, fix them. A deer will hear it. It's a good idea to take your cell phone in the woods with you in case of an emergency, but don't forget to shut the ringer off. Be conscious of every move you make when that deer is coming into range. Don't let your jacket rub on the bark of the tree. Don't let the bow or gun bump the stand. Deer will hear it all.
You also have to keep still. To look to the sides, use your eyes. To look behind you, move your head very slowly. If you don't see any deer and a fly lands on your nose, swat it away very slowly. If you're looking at a deer, let the fly tap dance on your nose. Don't forget — even if it's a doe and she catches your movement and blows at you while high-tailing it out of there, she'll alert any nearby bucks within earshot or within sight of her. A buck is going in the opposite direction of an area that a doe just told him was dangerous. And for Heaven sakes, leave your cell phone in your pocket and don't text. It's difficult enough to raise and draw a bow or shoulder a gun without a deer seeing you, but now you've got the added movement of playing with your phone and trying to put it away before drawing or shouldering.
Hunting from a treestand has several advantages. It does help to get your scent up and over the deer. It gets you above ground cover and brush, giving you a much better view. It also helps to get you above the deer's line of sight in flat country but even a slight hill can put you both on an even plane. And don't be fooled into thinking that deer don't look up.
Out West, deer often look up to keep an eye out for overhead predators, namely mountain lions. Here in the East where there are no mountain lions, deer seldom looked up. However, my theory is that Eastern deer are beginning to evolve like their Western cousins, having been shot at from hunters in trees above for the past several decades since treestand hunting really took off. I've seen them look up for no apparent reason. If they catch the slightest movement or hear the faintest noise, they'll look up in an instant — and directly at you. They have an uncanny ability to pinpoint exactly the location of a noise.
When you find a good place to hang your stand(s), try and pick a spot where you'll have a draw tree or two in front of you, so when the deer is walking you can draw when his head goes behind the tree and he won't see you. Also, don't be afraid to move your stand(s) if you're not seeing deer. If you had your stand 20 yards from a good run leading to a feeding area, but the feed dried up and the deer changed from eating acorns in the woods to grazing in a field, find where they went, locate their new routes and move with them. Deer hunting is like a game of chess. You have to think like a deer and try and out-maneuver them. Don't rely on luck — and leave nothing to chance.
Marc Folco is the outdoor writer for The Standard-Times. Contact him at openseason1988@aol.com or through OpenSeasonSpecialties.com
