Scent Control in Treestand?

[PathFinder]

I'm jonesing to shoot a cow with my bow on my home unit this year. The elk are easy to locate, and I'm planning on setting up treestands in places I know other hunters won't be pushing elk out of. So in terms of finding elk, I'm confident that I've got that worked out. The thing I worry most about is scent. It seems that every time I try to use an ambush style of hunting with my bow, swirling winds and changing thermals ruin the whole game. Will being 15-20 ft up in a tree be adequate to get my scent up and away? I never bother with scent control on spot and stalk/hiking hunts, so I'm entirely unfamiliar with scent control products (cover scents, clothing, and sprays) and have little faith in them. Will some degree of scent control (I'm thinking a spray and cover scent) be worth the hassle or not?

 

[hunt1up]

Coming from the whitetail world, I'm of the opinion that if an animal is downwind then they can potentially(likely) smell you. For a long time I bought into the carbon/sprays/deodorants/etc. But really, it's impossible to eliminate all of your scent. Surely you can minimize it with some of those products such as shampoos, detergents, clean storage, and others. But, the true foolproof way to eliminate getting winded is, well, the wind. I suppose if you're dealing with swirling winds and thermals you can go through the whole scent elimination regiment and take some chances, it may work, it may not. I'd say stand location is probably your best bet. Stay on the downwind side of travel routes, perhaps have two stands in the same area for rising or falling thermals and hunt them accordingly.

 

[camping1601]

What he said. A tree stand can give a scent advantage when they're really close but that's about it.

 

[ElkNut1]

hunt1up, shares several great points! --- Whatever you decide on do not buck the wind even when wearing scent elimination products or you will lose! You MUST have wind direction in your favor. Only hunt the area when this is possible otherwise back out, if you do not do so there's a good chance you will bust the elk out not just that day but for the remainder of the season, this is especially so if near their bedding area. Hunt smart! Good luck!

ElkNut1

 

[COlineman78]

I have never had a problem with elk winding me out of a tree stand. I used to put scent neutralizer on, but now I simply use quality hunting clothing that usually includes some sort of scent control into the design and I always wear a cow elk urine scent wafer on my hat. They smell god awful, but I am convinced it is the best thing there is for covering my scent.

 

[ChrisS]

I don't bother with too many scent control products. The most I do is wash my tree stand clothes with a scent free/UV free detergent, hang dry in the wood shed, and store in plastic bags with some cut up cedar boughs a couple of weeks before the season starts. But that's more out of ritual/superstition than anything else. After that, I don't even bother (I mean, I'm not out pumping gas in my hunting clothes either). I think companies make a lot of money out of scent control products by getting people to think, well, it can't hurt.

I've hunted with some good ol' boys that wear their work uniforms in the woods, drinking a bud light, and smoking cigars who still see, and have killed, plenty of deer out of stands.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Rub some local, natural vegetation that has a smell to it onto your clothes on your way to your stand. If you have a long walk to your stand, take a change of clothes with you. Put your 'walk in clothes' in a ziplock bag.

 

[COlineman78]

I've hunted with some good ol' boys that wear their work uniforms in the woods, drinking a bud light, and smoking cigars who still see, and have killed, plenty of deer out of stands.

The most deadly guy that I hunt with sits on the ground smoking cigarettes and I have seen many elk walk right up to him.

 

[toddb]

I am to impatient to sit in a tree stand for elk. Don't know why because I can sit all day for whitetail. I think would be very effecient method especially where you know area. Tough to fool their noses but when it works it is very fulfilling. Boot spray has been working good for me in wisconsin whitetail hunting, but I do get busted on occasion in tree. Plus I think there are many times we get busted on elk that we don't even know about.

 

[Poser]

Getting higher up, say, 30 feet or more, can help quite a bit. Of course, if you're up in the mountains, that may only gain you any advantage on the downhill side, but it still may help with some swirling winds so long as there isn't an immediate downdraft. In hilly/mountainous terrain, your scent will often travel in a "tumbling" manner rather than a straight line. Getting higher up can you buy you some distance before this tumbling effect hits the ground. An elk or deer 80 yards downwind will probably still smell you but you might just escape the nose an elk/deer 15 yards downwind.
From my experience, heavily pressured whitetails will often scan the trees at a typical hunter height of 15-20 feet, so 25-35 feet can put you out of that scanning zone.

 

[PA 5-0]

As an obsessed whitetail archer of 30+yrs and over a 100 antlered animals, I can tell u with absolute certainty that any steps u take to control scent will pay dividends regarding animal sightings. You have to decide how fanatical you get about controlling scent. Starts with a good shower: I will not go hunting unless I can shower first. Then comes ur clothes care as mentioned above. Keep washed clothes in a plastic tote or scent free bag of some type, including ur boots. Don't wear ur hunting boots at the gas station on the way out hunting. I wear old school ScentLok base layers under my washed clothes. I always wear scent disks of some type on my hat, usually just earth scent. I also tape some earth scent disks inside the lid of my clothes totes.

On stand placement, maybe the most critical element, hang a bunch. It sounds like ur dialed in on animal movements. Pick ur ambush spots and hang a couple sets for different wind directions. If I'm dialed in on a bruiser, I may have 4 stands within sight of each other and may change stands multiple times in a single day as the wind changes. More than a couple bucks have caught an arrow from the 2nd or 3rd stand of the day. Lastly on stand hunting, don't be afraid to walk away if the wind is not right. Animals get edumacated quickly. Best of luck.