A whitetails’ mind-boggling olfactory offense is a well documented detail. It’s said that the olfactory region of their brain is over 1,000 times larger than a humans’! Reducing human odor on you and around your ambush location is extremely important. You’ve probably heard that the first time you hunt a buck is the best chance you’ll have at killing him. The reason why is because he doesn’t know he’s being hunted yet. If you don’t take precautions to reduce your odor before you hunt, your stand site can collect an alarming levels human odor molecules.
Do you store your treestands in your garage where car exhaust and other odors can permeate them? Where are your boots and other equipment stored…can odors come in contact with them? How about your bow that you’ve been gripping all summer long on the 3-D range with your bare, sweaty L-serine smelling hand, do you consider those odors before heading afield to try and get close to an animal that “lives” by its sense of smell? We need to pay attention to the smells on our person, but also the insulting odors on our other equipment. If it’s washable, it can be run through a wash cycle in your machine with Scent Killer Clothing Wash, if not, it can be wiped down with a cloth soaked in Scent Killer Soap or a Field Wipe.
LAUNDRY TIP
When you launder your hunting clothes, wash several old socks (without holes in them) along with them. When the clothes are clean and totally dry, store them in a container that will keep odors from penetrating them, plastic storage bins work well. At this point take one of the socks and put a ¼ to ½ cup of Baking Soda in it, tie a knot in the end so the baking soda cannot spill out and put it in the container with the clothes. Baking soda will not eliminate odors, but it tends to absorb odors, and if any arise in the container the baking soda should absorb it. Change out the baking soda sock with a fresh one every two weeks.
This week's Wildlife Obsession photo is courtesy of Tony Campbell.
