By DAVE RICHEY
Humans have some funny notions, and oddly enough, some people believe them. Our beliefs often are very strong about things concerning hunting, and we believe them even if they are not true.
The problem is our Daddy or Gran'daddy told us those hoary old thoughts were true, and most of them were based on what someone told him decades earlier. Some myths have been passed down from one generation to the next, and most lack any basis in fact.
For instance: we may think we smell just dandy after a bath or shower using a liberal amount of shampoo and soap. We think we smell as natural and pretty as a rose garden, and it's possible that we may smell dandy to ourselves and other humans, but a whitetail deer would probably think we stink.
To a deer, we probably smell as bad as Peppy La-Pew, the skunk, after a face-to-face with a speeding 18-wheeler and getting squashed, leaving nothing behind but a wet stink on the highway. We, as humans, can smell the pungent odor of road-killed skunk. Deer, if they get downwind of us, can smell us as easily as we smell Peppy's lingering odor.
I used to be able to smell a fox if I was within 50 yards downwind of the animal, and then in a teenage quarrel with a beefy guy much larger than myself, I hit him in the fist with my nose and my sniffer hasn't been much good since. Nor were my fighting abilities, so that fight at age 19, was my last. Sadly, the nose still doesn't work well.
But, this is about fooling deer. A reader recently wrote to ask what scent eliminating sprays work. I advised him that he had several options, and one was to buy a Scent-Lok suit. It's the route I choose even though my Scent-Lok gear is now getting old and bedraggled.
He wanted to know what he personally could do to eliminate his personal odor. He was looking for a shortcut to success without saying so, and even when using the scent-eliminating sprays or Scent-Lok clothing, it is not a cure-all for a person's hunting ills.
However, scent-eliminating sprays and Scent-Lok suits work in much the same way as deer scent or fishing lures do. If the angler or hunter believes in them, their use will usually make that person a better sportsman because hunters are more likely to take the necessary precautions to avoid being winded.
Many years ago, while toiling for a downstate paper, I was sent a bottle of Scent Shield scent-eliminating spray to try. Me and several other sportsmen were deer hunting in the Club Country of Montmorency County as guests of a good friend.
A guy I invited shot a button-buck the first night as it stood 12 yards away, staring at him, and he was bragging on his bow-shooting prowess. He asked what I saw, and I told him I'd drawn down on 15 different deer that night, including two antlered bucks, and chose not to shoot for a variety of reasons. The important reason I didn't shoot was because both animals were small 11/2-year-old bucks.
One thing led to another, and he as much as called me a liar, saying no one can draw on a deer without getting spotted or winded. I told him that he was dead wrong, and he wanted to bet some big money.
"OK, sport, you've bragged up your new video camera," I said. "I'll prove it tomorrow night. I'll draw on every deer within my shooting range, and you can videotape the action but don't be spooking my deer. I'll be a nice guy and not take your money but I'll teach you a lesson about opening your mouth before engaging your brain."
I climbed up an oak tree. I'd seen a bunch of deer follow a trail on the far side of a rundown fence next to the big oak. I sprayed my boots, groin, legs, torso, butt, back, arms and gloves. I sprayed the Scent Shield on the inside and outside of my cap and my face mask.
The guy was crosswind along a fence-row about 50 yards away where he could see me and the deer as they stepped over the fallen fence. Each time one came by, I drew on the animal and aimed at it as if I was going to shoot before letting up. The first 26 animals were all button-bucks, does and doe fawns, and as the herd began to build 25 yards downwind of me, it became tougher to draw without one of the deer spotting my super-slow movements.
I successfully drew on all 26 deer, one at a time as they passed my tree, and No. 27 was a decent buck. He walked out, I drew, aimed and killed that animal.
The joker now had to believe it could be done. He had videotaped me drawing on all 27 deer as they stood directly downwind of me. I wrote that story for The Detroit News, and Scent Shield, the first maker of scent-eliminating sprays, was off and running, and Michigan sporting goods stores sold out of the product overnight.
Lately I've been using Vanishing Hunter spray, which is made by Buck Fever Synthetics in nearby Manton. I'm also trying Scent Killer from Wildlife Research Center in Ramsey, Minn. I go through the same ritual day after day: everything gets sprayed good, and I don't get winded. However, in all fairness, I'm either in an elevated coop or downwind of the travel trails.
I also use Claude Pollington's trick when hunting in the open, and I'll trickle milkweed fibers into the breeze every few minutes. If any drift downwind to the trail I'm hunting, I pick up and head elsewhere or don't hunt. Getting winded ruins more hunts than anything else.
I know how to sit still, and haven't spooked an buck or doe in many years. Scent-eliminating sprays certainly have a major place in a hunter's repertoire but nothing can beat being downwind of deer.
I keep all of my hunting clothing and knee-high rubber boots in an air-tight plastic tub. I take the tub out of the car, carry it 50 yards away, sit on a folding chair, and either wear my Scent-Lok suit in cooler weather or lightweight camo clothing in warm weather. I stay away from the car once I've sprayed down my clothing.
Walking fast to a hunting stand can get a guy (or gal) all sweaty, and that isn't good. The moisture soaks into clothing, and although we may not be able to smell ourselves, it's certain that a deer can smell us. I'd rather take 10 more minutes to reach my stand, and be cool, than rush and have my clothing saturated with sweat.
Whenever I use scent-eliminating sprays, everything is sprayed. The front and back of my hunting pants and shirt, my boots, gloves, face mask and hat. I stay away from gasoline and exhaust fumes, and I'm clean when I head out into the field. Some people kid me over my fetish for being scent-free but I shoot more and bigger bucks than they do and have more opportunities for good shots.
The key thing is to pay particular attention to those areas that are most likely to get sweated-up during a walk. This would include the hands, head, underarms, groin, rump and feet. Such areas get sprayed thoroughly before every outing, and since I usually hunt seven days a week, my hunting clothing is washed on a regular basis.
Washing camo clothing should be done in Atsko SportWash. It has a gentle cleansing action and does not contain brighteners. Tide and other common household detergents used to wash our clothes contain brightening agents that "make whites look whiter." Me, I want my camo to look dull so it blends in. I don't want bright-looking camo clothing.
I've seen people wearing old camo clothing that has been washed often, is faded out and it almost glows in sunlight. I have poor vision, but if it looks bright to me, it must look like a blinking neon light to an incoming deer. The animal may not see the hunter but it can probably see the unusual light-colored blob in the tree. Guess what? That light-colored blob is you. It may be time for new camo.
Using the proper cleansing agent and the proper scent-eliminating sprays can help hunters score providing they are properly set up in a good spot, play the wind, do not move, know when to draw, and don't make any noise. It helps to be able to shoot straight, too.
