Apple-scented shampoo?

[rweyman]

Thanks Deercamp, Yes that is my mount. It's nice to have a buddy who is a taxidermist. He had just started into taxidermy when I got the deer and he wanted to show what he could do, so I worked out a deal with him. He got to keep the deer in his studio for 1 year and he only charged me for the materials. He also mounted the turkey and my wife and I put the scene together ourselves when I finished our basement.

[Jdbllung]

I go for scent free, as others have said, attracting attention directly to you can blow your cover.  I use the estrous attractants on a drag line when the time is appropriate, but that's it.  I wear scent lok base slayers, hood, gloves, and Lacrosse Burlys.  I play the wind as best I can, but even the best laid plans have flaws.  Oh, and I wear a 3-D leafy suit to break up my outline.

[wack]

The big buck in Wack's story was nice enough to remain in a position that allowed Wack to stalk him from with the sun at his back and the wind in his face

Um, no, I had to work like heck to get into the right position with out getting busted. I spent all day trying to get close yet keep him out of the 30 degrees down wind and the final stalk I walked ran and crawled about a mile to get up wind and was able to use the sun set to my advantage.

Prior to that I might not have tried so hard to keep him from getting down wind and because of over confidence in scent control and been busted early in the day. Yes I use scent control and camo now. I switch off scent control products often so not to be patterned and I don't trust any of it. If I get up wind of a deer I know I've got to shoot ASAP.  Sure I hunt 360, I guard that down wind 30 degrees, try not to move my head a lot and depend a lot on my hearing and hide my head movements.

 Shine is an interesting term. I'm a firm believer in UV Killer. I know most laundry detergents and cloth dies have UV brighteners in them and I believe these brighteners glow in the dark for deer and night animals. They see them better than they see certain colors. My expensive carbon camo had that glow at first. Sitting perfectly still the deer would look right at me.  2 Treatments of UV Killer and only use laundry soap that does NOT have UV brighteners since and my camo works like it's supposed to. With out UV blockers, hunting with the sun behind you low in the sky is the only way to be invisible, and get away with wear a bright blue ski jacket.
 
 Somehow it also just doesn't seem right to have spotless clean hunting cloths. You wash a hunting dog in scent free soap and what does he do? He goes out and rolls in the smelliest thing he can find. Now I'm not going out and roll in dog crap, but  Cedar and pine needles, dirt, leaves, certain plants all can help you dirty up you cloths and help you blend in. Baking soda, ammonia, oinions, carbon, Oder Eaters, and dozens of hunting sprays and cover scents, mouth sprays, Jolly Ranches, are all things you can use and change up to give you that extra second needed to get the shot. A thermos of coffee one time might bring in a buck, but I wouldn't make a habit of it. Smoking too. You'll get away with it for awhile but the deer will pattern it and use it against you after awhile. I've had great luck with scent drags but never the same buck twice with the same scent. I like scent wicks that are reusable but if you use the same scent all the time, the deer will pattern that too.

[coach]

You don't want Toby's smell.  Unless you want more deer swimming the ocean from California to Japan.
 
I kinda agree with JPH and Woods Walker. 
 
Anybody, can walk into the bush....dress camo or not.....pink Ghillie as far I'm concern and harvest...uh...kill a deer. (sorry Woods) [:D]  From the ground to treestand, if you play the wind right....it doesn't matter what underwear you have, or how long you haven't put some
" under arm charm ".  If the wind is right....then your ok.
 
But then I agree with JPH.  Smell is important and wind direction is never the same.
How many camp fires have you sat by outside in the backyard....and no matter where you sit....smoke seems to be following you around the pit.  Wind changes constantly....or swirls.  So yes you do have
better chances...or...should have more encounters at close range.
 
With a riffle or shotgun....proper stand position...at a distance of 100 yards away...with the wind in your favor......I'm not sure what can go wrong.  You have 4 sides.  Front, back, right and left.  Wind comes one way.....lets hope deer doesn't come up from that direction.  Which leaves you with 3 other sides.  Your odds are good.
 
But I admit....I enjoy reading JPH and Woods Walker comments on this.  I'm trying to be neutral.
 
[8|][8|][8|][8|][;)]

[Woods Walker]

Let me state again that I DO practice scent control. I keep my outerwear clean, but then like wack pointed out, I then put all of my outerwear in a sealable Rubbermaid tub, into which I have put a cachet bag filled with hardwood leaf duff, so that everything in that tub smells like a November woods.
 
And I also do the chlorophyll supplements starting two weeks before bow season and throughout the entire deer season. Whether it's those things, or maybe the fact that we all have different body chemistries, all I know is that I hunt on the ground 90% of the time, and I can count one one hand the number of times I've been busted with deer that were within my eyesight. You can believe or not believe that as you wish. I know what I've done.

[coach]

I believe you.   Rifle and bow hunting, i'm on stand.  Crossbow and Muzzleloader, i'm on the ground.
I don't get busted much either.

[JPH]

I do not wear a ghillie suit and yet deer rarely see me. Get my point? All good hunters have their own magic feathers, but the magic is in knowing your own style and using the tools that allow you to make the most of it. These things are not gimmicks, they are just tools in the tool box. No tool is worth its weight unless you use it properly.

BTW Coach, you cannot agree with me and Woods Walker at the same time. It is against the forum rules.

[Woods Walker]

Of course I get the point. And you've just reinforced mine!......
 
DON'T SHINE, SMELL, MAKE NOISE, OR MOVE AND THEY WON'T DETECT YOU.
 
The only thing the ghillie does, is completely remove the human shape, which if used with what I spoke of above, makes for some VERY close encounters with unalerted deer and other wild creatures......to the point at times of TOUCHING distance.
 
I agree with you that it's a tool, and for certain NOT a magic bullet either. Shape or no shape, if you move, they will bust you. You might be able to fool them for a few more seconds even if you move, which for the gun especially is the difference between and good shot or no shot many times, but they will be out of there none the less. Seeing them first the the key.
 
However, of all the decades that I've hunted, and all the various gear and methods that I've used, NONE of them have been as significant or as consistantly effective as the ghillie for ground hunting. Most everyone that really has used one will tell you the same thing.

[wack]

He also mounted the turkey and my wife

[:-] 

That what friends and wives are for.[:)]

All funnin' aside, it's awesome to hear about how other hunters look at things like scent control, and stealth hunting. How to beat a deers nose, eyes and ears and I think this thread has hit a variety of good ideas. If every hunter did exactly the same things to cover scent the deer would catch on quickly.

Now not all ideas are best for all hunts. Big difference if you're hunting 80 acres daily, or hunting a different place every day. If you're hunting heavy pressure public land and you're the only one using apple scented shampoo, it just might work one time. Cover scents are like prom dresses. No two should be a like at the same dance and you don't wear the same dress for 2 dances in a row. Sooner or later that wise buck will be looking for that dude in the gilly suit but ignores the guy in the jogging suit and gets Wack'd. lol (I've always wanted a good gilly suit, but Santa got me scent killing underwear instead[8|] maybe next year.)

There's nothing wrong with changing up the routine. Do you know how dumb I felt my first time rattling? This can't work! Rattle rattle rattle nothing. One day I'm set up on the ground at the base of a tree with a knee high brushpile for front cover. Got settled in, grabbed the rattle horns, took a drink from my soda and choked. As I'm coughing up soda, I grab the ratlle horns and beat the ground and brush pile, trying to cover up my coughing. As I wipe the tears from my eyes and get the last cough out, I look up and over the hill 150 yards away a big buck is charging in my way! He charged in to 25 yards, turned broadside and stopped. I drew, he turned 180 degrees and looked that way for a fight. Then he turned 90 the other way, he snorted and wheezed and turned 180 and came right at me again another 5 yards and turned to the right. Wack. Made me a believer in rattling. He was a 9 pointer that was all busted up. He had 4 large tines broke off and had only 5 scoreable points, he was a fighter looking for a fight. If I wouldn't have choked on my soda, I would have never gotten his attention. You just never know what's going to be that final factor that closes the deal. I've rattled in bucks with no more than my carbon arrows in my quiver and release. A buck came in so fast I never picked up my bow. lol They can be just as curious about an odor as a sound and other days be weary of the same sound and scents.

Also remember, the turkey's watch TV through mntmns window and are passing on strategic hunting information to the deer. and FYI, I don't and have never worn a prom dress but I had daughters and a wife who informed me of the prom dress rules. For what they cost, I could have a different gilly suit for every day of the month.

[OHhunter]

Also remember, the turkey's watch TV through mntmns window and are passing on strategic hunting information to the deer.

 
Good point, I'll make sure to pull the shades when  watching the outdoor channel.