What to do with clothes?

[8uck5nort]

ORIGINAL: DeerAddict

I'm gonna wash my bowhunting clothes in scent free detergent.. Should I dry them in the drier or let them dry outside?????Does the drier affect the clothes with scent at all??? I'm not sure how long they'll take to dry if they're outside tho...
Any Suggestions???[8|]

Hey DeerAddict what part of Indiana? I hunt in northern White County area.

You hit a hot button topic for sure.

For what its worth here is my opinions and/or suggestion(s).

I wash my clothes in scent free detergent. No particular brand, just whatever is cheapest at Wally World. I use scent free products like arm and hammer from the health isles at Walley World. Again whatever I can find on sale or cheap. Seems to work. I let my clothes air dry outside. I also buy several changes of clothes, again whatever is cheapest from wherever. Camo is camo. Helps breakup the outline, but I have hunted successfully in plain brown carhartt and/or blue jeans and plaid shirt.

My way of thinking is the best cover scent in the world is what the deer expect to smell.

Anyway on way to stand I usually pick some fresh vegetation in the area I hunt and put in my pockets. Leaves, etc. Use that as my cover scent since the deer are used to it. Most important of all hunt the wind direction and pick your location based on that. There is never any guarantee. If you sweat in the clothes change out and wash and repeat letting them air dry especially now that the combines are kicking up dust and debrie from the fields. Tends to help scent and/or de-scent naturally. Sunshine kills bacteria and the morning dew helps further wash. I even let them hang in the rain...

I take an apple with me to get rid of human breath as best I can and it is cheap and nutritious. Plus tie it to a string and hang or let it sit in the bottom of the stand after eating. It is another natural way to cover scent or possibly entice a deer closer. It is what the deer smell in their world normally.

I avoid getting gas or stopping at places (if possible) on my way into the woods. I don't smoke.

I used to be a "buy the latest scent" and "For Hunting Only" stuff type of hunter. I had a hard core scent regiment as well. Frankly now that I don't worry about it as much I don't see any difference in how many deer I see one way or the other . I have been busted by downwind deer either way. On the flip side I have had deer come in from downwind and not seem bothered I was there. More curious than anything else. Now when they saw me move it made them jumpy. It is really up to the deer.

Just use some common sense. My thought on gear is If a product keeps you comfortable it is proabaly worht buying and hey if it keeps your scent down all the better. If you can't stay in the stand or in the field you can't kill 'em.

[Sailfish]

ORIGINAL: Gulfcapt

Has anyone ever rolled around on the ground( dirt/grass) to get their human scent off their clothes??? I use too, and sure seemed to work, you would get alittle dirty..

No (well once or twice
Since we hunt primarily oaks, and they leaf year round, thats all I smell when I go into the woods anyways.

Might not be a bad idea to stop, drop and roll LOL

[Wolfman]

ORIGINAL: JPH

ORIGINAL: Wolfman[font="tahoma"][size="3"]

Yes, if YOU want to go that extra mile to possibly improve your success rate; fine. [color="#ff0000"]But you guys, the professional endorsers & the clothing manufacturers come off sounding like a hunter must do these things if one is to ever have a successful hunt.[/color] That's what some of us old timers are laughing at ... and some of us don't think it's funny at all.[/size][/font]

Oops! You had me right up to that part. ^

First off, when did I become a professional? Somebody has been withholding my endorsement checks, that's for sure! If you have to know, I am a professional firefighter with a side job. I have a son in college and a little girl in elementary. I freaking scrape by on army surplus and closeout clothing. I share my thoughts on this site for Jack Squat, just because I enjoy hunting so much. I resent the implication that I am somehow in bed with people making money off of scent control and duping my fellow hunters to line my pockets.

[:o]

[font="Tahoma"]In the movie Cool Hand Luke there is an infamous quote: "What we have here, is a failure to communicate." The commas in the sentence you highlighted in red, separate the entities I was referring to, so that read as punctuated it reads (1) you guys (meaning you & other forum members), (2) professional endorsers & (3) the clothing manufacturers. My apologies for that lack of clarity.

That collective bombardment by all 3 entities is the only explanation for a novice going out & spending $1,000 on clothes & giving up eating his favorite corned beef & cabbage for a month before the hunt. He hears & sees that message so much that without a counter argument, he buys into the hype.

So if you want to buy expensive carbon clothing, or soak yourself in sea salt for 48 hours, or wear a metal foil hat to ward off gamma rays, or what ever; God bless you. Maybe some of us old timers are wrong & you are 100% correct; but maybe not. Either way, you can't really begrudge us our harmless amusement when we see someone wearing a foil hat.[/font] [;)]

[DeerAddict]

8uck5nort, I hunt in Elkhart County... This is the first year i've hunted it tho... We've lived here for ten years, but we've always went up to my grandma's in lower michigan to hunt... But after lots of asking around, this year i have some spots to hunt near my house.

[JPH]

ORIGINAL: Wolfman

[font="tahoma"][size="3"]...I was referring to, so that read as punctuated it reads (1) you guys (meaning you & other forum members), (2) professional endorsers & (3) the clothing manufacturers. My apologies for that lack of clarity.

That collective bombardment by all 3 entities is the only explanation for a novice going out & spending $1,000 on clothes & giving up eating his favorite corned beef & cabbage for a month before the hunt. He hears & sees that message so much that without a counter argument, he buys into the hype.
[/size][/font]

Okay, on the first point. No harm, no foul. It should be noted that you still haven't produced any record of me coercing someone into scent control. But I'm just glad to know that I am not a professional hunter with a pile of checks from Scentlock sitting un-cashed somewhere.

On the second point. There is another possible explanation as to why your friend would put his life's savings into scent control before he ever takes up deer hunting. It is called being a SUCKER! P.T. Barnum once pointed out that there is no shortage of them. If this guys was not dumping his cash into scent control products, it would be titanium golf clubs. At least this way it goes back into the hunting community.

Okay, 'nuff said by me on this topic. I have to scrub my fingertips with doe urine after touching this stinky keyboard!

[Wolfman]

[font="Tahoma"]It's amazing how using one idiotic phrase (You guys) inadvertently lumps everyone into the same category, thereby offending the 80% when the comment was only directed towards a specific 20%. [/font]

[mnslayer]

I keep my hunting clothes for hunting but do not use special scent blockers. wash with regular unscented laundry soap, but I do rub down with fresh mulch from area I am hunting in and use a good quality doe scent. have had no problems filling my tags and saves lots of the green stuff for the good stuff like guns.

[Cgull]

I run a load of towels with scent free detergent and a cup of baking soda in the washer to remove any brightners and scents. I then run the towels thru the dryer to remove any scents while my hunting cloths are washing. I dry with scent free towels, why go thru all the trouble of showering with scent free shampoo and soap, just to towel off with a towel that has fragrance imbeded? Sure my method may pick up a hint of left over frangrance, I still see and kill more bucks than the "clean" hunters at camp.