Hunting is a challenging, yet very rewarding experience if you play your cards right. You’ll need to have patience, the right equipment, and the skills to expect a successful hunting trip. What many people don’t know is how much effect human scent has to do with hunting success.
Those individuals that are aware that animals have an extremely delicate sense of smell and can detect the human scent from a mile away know how that scent control is one of the most important aspects of being successful at hunting, especially if you’re using hunting blinds.
Scent control is essential when using hunting blinds because you’ll be stationed in one place for an extended period, making your scent more intense as time goes by.
Understanding the science of scent control can create a difference between hunting, and hunting successfully.
In this article, you’ll find a lot of information about the science of scent, how to control it, and what are some of the methods experienced hunters use to stay undetected.
Why Is Scent Control So Important?
Scent is one of the most crucial senses that animals use to avoid predators, find food, and communicate with other animals. Because animals, including deer, rely on scent so heavily, it’s expected that scent control is one of the biggest challenges hunters have. Although humans can’t sense nearly as much scent as animals, our skin emits a strong scent from oils and sweat.
When animals can’t sense human scent, it automatically increases your chances of a successful hunting trip, but it also increases the chances of humane hunting. When the animal is near, you can steadily aim, and take a humane shot compared to when the animal is agitated and frightened.
Hunters that understand the importance of scent control are more likely to be successful at hunting and will take all the measures to eliminate or minimize their scent during a hunting trip.
Scent Control Techniques
If you’re looking for ways to improve the chances of a successful hunting trip, here are a few scent control techniques to implement the next time you go out hunting.
Choose Appropriate Clothing
Hunting clothes aren’t just for fashion, they’re specifically designed to make the hunter blend in with their surroundings. High-end hunting clothes are also made from scent materials that will mask your scent and the scent of your clothes.
Personal Hygiene
Personal hygiene is one of the best ways of reducing the scent you emit. Showering with heavy-scented body soaps and shampoo will mask your scent, but it will leave an even stronger chemical scent for animals to sense.
There are many personal hygiene products on the market that are scent-free, which will reduce the scent intensity fully or partially. This also applies to oral hygiene and facial hair. Some hunters even shave all their facial hair in order to reduce their scent.
Use Hunting Blinds
Using hunting blinds is one of the most effective ways of scent control. By positioning the hunting blind properly, you’ll reduce the chance of animals noticing any scents.
Before using hunting blinds, they should also be thoroughly cleaned from dirt, debris, and any other thing that can emit a scent that will warn animals of danger.
Unless the hunting grounds you’re going to have permanent hunting blinds, you can also use portable hunting blinds available on the market. These portable hunting blinds are designed for blending in certain terrain, and durable scent-free materials are used. If you position this portable upwind from the position where you expect to notice the game, you’ll additionally reduce the possibility of animals noticing your scent.
Use Scent Control Products
Additionally to all the mentioned techniques for reducing your scent, there’s a plethora of scent control products you can use to control your scent. Whether you use scent-reducing spray to cover your clothes, equipment, or portable hunting blind, or scent-reducing cream to reduce or eliminate your natural scent, it’s essential to take advantage of everything you can. These sprays contain natural or chemical compounds that help to neutralize human scent and are often effective for several hours.
Preparing Your Equipment and Gear Beforehand
Hunting gear and equipment is meant to be used more than once, and inexperienced hunters often forget that the gear and equipment can also carry a variety of scents that the animals can sense. To successfully control scent, you’ll need to adequately prepare all your equipment and gear before use.
Purely cleaning your clothes, gear, and equipment will reduce the scent from the previous hunting trip, but not enough. You’ll need to use specific cleaning solutions that completely eliminate the scent.
Another thing to consider is keeping all your hunting equipment stored away from your day-to-day clothes and possessions. Keeping hunting equipment close to your things can cause scent transfer, which will waste all your efforts in eliminating the scent from the equipment.
A great thing to use is an ozone generator. These devices neutralize scent molecules on clothes and equipment if you need a relatively fast solution.
Conclusion
The science of scent control is a more important factor than people give it credit for. Animals, aside from having amazing hearing and sight also have an incredible sense of smell which allows them to detect the presence of potential predators and other threats. To have any success in hunting, not one factor should be skipped, and you shouldn’t assume that even the smallest improvement doesn’t make a big difference.
The scent control techniques listed above can help minimize scent on wardrobe and hunting gear, even if you’re sitting inside a hunting blind. Aside from the techniques we’ve mentioned, you can air out gear and clothes, keep your equipment in scent-proof containers, and clean your gear right after each hunting trip.
The more you prepare for your next hunting trip, the bigger the chances are for success. The thing to keep in mind is that every step has its effect, no matter how big or small it is.
