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Post by tuketu on Aug 14, 2016 5:36:31 GMT -4
I'd be interested in your thought, theories and methods on the subject of human scent control while baiting. For the most part there are two different schools of thought on the issue . Some try and eliminate any human traces as best they can while others make no attempts to mask or hide their scent.
I am from the latter group. My thought is that the bears will become used to your scent at the bait and therefore will not feel threatened by a new scent when you begin to hunt. Essentially the bear will associate your scent as a common smell at the bait. Now you start checking out bears trails to and from the bait ...all bets are off ...totally different issue altogether. I have my direct trail to and from the bait but make no attempt to hide my scent. I handle the barrels, the bait, touching trees and whatever else with bare hands. I will clean my hands with just water before handling the Tcams on the way out.
I'm not saying it's foolproof, but it's worked for me. With multiple bears at my site the bears are more concerned with scenting other more dominant bears at the bait site than a wiff of tuk dust here and there.
What Say You ?
tuk
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Post by Deleted on Aug 16, 2016 13:38:10 GMT -4
Sadly I can't comment on the aspect concerning bait sites although I am very interested in seeing the comments I hope show up here. Ain't that one of the big plusses of a forum?
A lot of my friends or acquaintences say the big $ sent control thing is overrated. However, I REALLY want other BQO & guests to wade in on this.
Of course 'ol Sideswipe cannot pull out now w/o throwing his 2 cents worth in. A few high points of camo/sent control experiences:
1. Having two Blacktail deer brouse up to within 4' of me w/o noticing me. Finally the spike buck. Stopped & stared at me for several seconds. I was tired of being motionless & finally winked at him...he freaked out!
2. Sitting w/back against a tree near a deer trail. A flock of wild pigeons & some squirrels were eating some Madrone berries. The pigeons came within 3' (they were skittish as it was during pigeon season), a squirrel was sitting on my knee eating. I finally gave a snort & everything exploded.
3. Another was watching a cougar cover up the Whitetail doe he had freshly killed & pulled the heart out. About 15 m away...I confess when the wind started to swirl that the cat froze & looked all around but never locked on to me. It finally belly crawled away. I was trying to stay still (despite a little nervous shaking) while standing in a clump of 1" alder saplings.
Now to the contrary.
1. A few years ago a study was published in Field & Stream. A large area held a few dozen, identical packing crates. They had a person select one & hid inside. A dog was brought in that was trained in tracking. When the dog was commanded to find & released, it took just seconds to follow the scent trail to the crate holding the non-controlled subject. The test was repeated again. This time the same individual used all the popular scent control clothing & personal soaps, etc. It did take a few seconds more to find the "scentless" subject (but less than a minute).
2. Finally, in 10 yrs at the same deer camp I watched my son's brother-in-law take 3 mature, 3x5 or 4x5 Whitetail bucks that were obviously genetically related. Course this young man had been hunting this area since he was a youngster & seems to be one of those naturally "gifted" hunters (disgusting). However what I didn't tell you is his complete disregard of using scent control. At least 2 times this is what happened. As an operator of a trac-hoe (excavator) on the West Side, he would get off work, come home & toss his gear into his pickup & drive over the Cascades arriving after midnight still in his work clothes. Next AM, putting the same clothes on, he would go out & bag his deer.
Now it's you turn to share...this could get interesting eh?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2016 15:28:09 GMT -4
Here I am responding to my own post (I really don't like to "sing" solo). I was a vocational teacher so I was educated in what I could see, feel, & taste; not a classical education. So...correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it the Greeks that believed in "Moderation In All Things"? Before I sound off any further, I must admit I'm not a bowhunter that REALLY gets in close. However, addicted to classic leverguns & "hyphenated calibers", I don't exactly shoot across canyons either. I've only taken 5 bears (ground stand, still, or spot & stalk hunt'in) the longest one 80 yds, the closest 30 paces.
I was going to do my usual & really get wordy, but then you guys might feel I said it all. So...all I'm gonna say, take a few precautions regarding camo & scent control but DON'T GET WRAPPED AROUND THE AXLE. I think I've already posted a pic of my Uncle Ron, sometime in the 40's, Canada I think. Pic shows him holding an old Remington autoloader in 35 Rem (they can't kill a moose right?), wearing work clothes, & the guide smok'in a cigarette (you know how he smelled) w/a decent sized moose. Maybe they worked the wind..ya think? (They left their Ozonics machine home). That's my story & I'm stick'in to it. |
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Post by skeeter on Aug 20, 2016 11:50:48 GMT -4
sideswipe
I agree with you wholeheartedly - if you know the wind then nothing is needed. many a deer/moose/bear/wolf, you name it, has been killed by smelly hunters. spot and stalk and sitting on the down wind side of trails is hugely successful. I been know to employ this myself.
But hunting a bait is a static environment. the bear knows where the bait is and if the bear has any reason to doubt his approach then this is where the rubber hits the road. It could be lingering human smell or in most cases he knows other bears and animals could also be there. They will circle out of sight and scent check the entire set-up. Catching you is very likely. If you've been on stand for hours you've been saturating the woods wherever those air currents go. Some bears just don't care and others are paranoid. Usually as bears age they get more paranoid - hence so few are shot - Every bear hunter has story's and it's usually about the one's that got away.
IMO scent control, either with a perfect wind or clothing or Ozonics will only help you.
anyway just my opinion, and I've got lots of stories of the ones that outfoxed me!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2016 13:34:01 GMT -4
anyway just my opinion, and I've got lots of stories of the ones that outfoxed me! Yup, like growing weeds instead of flowers...sometimes more to write about. |
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Post by hotwire on Oct 9, 2018 18:12:14 GMT -4
Only scent control I use is shower every day sometimes put my hunting clothes in a plastic bag with some spruce bows before a hunt but as for sprays and machines to eliminate oder , it pays off in one way that is for certain , to the people selling it . Kind of like fishing lures most catch the consumer more than they catch fish.
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