Scents and scent killers

[bwlacy]

Does anyone ever use any scents when elk hunting. I know they sell them. Ton's of people use them when white tail hunting. I just don't hear much about them for elk hunting. What about trying to use some scent killer spray in the mountains. I know that Dead Down Wind sells packable refills that you mix with water so it wouldn't be that bad of a weight penalty to pack in. Does it help much and would it be worth it.

I use scent killer sprays all the time deer hunting and it seems to help a lot, but I also try to stay clean and as scent free as possible which isn't going to happen after 10 days in the backcountry.

 

[gauge]

I approach scent control completely different hunting elk than whitetail. I don't think wipes are a bad idea, and I don't use fragrance deodorant.
Just remember, if you are hunting elk in the mountains for more then an hour, you are sweating and you stink to an elk. No spray or clothing can beat an elk's nose. Hunt smart, play the wind, and don't believe what the industry tries to show you on TV. They are getting paid to spray down before the hunt on video.

 

[rodney482]

Elk hunting and scent control just font go together. Unless maybe your hunting from a stand over a foodplot on private ground (TV)

The wind is so key, use the thermals.

 

[Bar]

I use nothing but the wind, and can get very close to elk. You can't hide your stink from an elk.

 

[ahlgringo]

I use a cow piss wafer tied to my boot. Not sure if it works at all, but man I love the smell of elk piss

 

[Bar]

I use a cow piss wafer tied to my boot. Not sure if it works at all, but man I love the smell of elk piss

To an elk you just smell like a human that an elk pissed on.

 

[Jarrod Renaud]

To an elk you just smell like a human that an elk pissed on.

haha yes

 

[COlineman78]

^^^ I always wear the elk piss wafers. They are VERY difficult to find. You can find the sage ones all day, but the elk piss ones take some hunting.

http://www.amazon.com/Carltons-Calls-Wafers-Hunters-Specialties/dp/B0000AVX5D

I have used these for years and never go hunting without them. Used to spend tons of time scenting down, but now I am just careful with my clothes and wear the wafers. I use the earth scented dryer sheets and wash all of my hunting clothes with Atsko sport wash before I leave every year. The elk wafers are good enough to cover up any little bit that I failed to manage otherwise. I pin it to my hat. Just don't forget to take it off before hopping in the truck or you will regret it. Or even worse: leaving it in the truck overnight. You can read my review at the above link (under my first name: Matt).

 

[WyoBowhunter21]

I always sneak in the night before and cuddle up to a big old cow and get the smell of elk all over me. Sometimes the bulls get jealous but man the next day of hunting is awesome. I also utilize the wind.

 

[Bar]

Before the hunt I don't wash, or use deodorant for a month. The day of the hunt I roll around in mud, and chew on elk jerky all day. I smell so bad the elk think i'm another elk.

 

[Poser]

I can't say for sure with Elk because I don't know as much about them, but there have been numerous studies demonstrating that the Whitetail nose cannot be "jammed" or overwhelmed by other scents that attempt to purposefully or incidentally "mask" human scents. Their noses are far too complex for that. The best analogy is is to compare it to human eyesight. You look at a bowl of 7 bean soup and you are easily able to distinguish the different beans visually as well as the onions, tomato and other ingredients etc. A whitetail is able to distinguish scent the way. They don't smell 7 bean soup, they smell 7 different beans and every individual ingredient.

My own personal experience supports this as I have participated in a management hunt on an industrial island that has a coal plant, a dog food plant and a yeast plant among other industrial operation discharging massive amount of odor. When the wind is out of the South, the stench on the island is entirely overwhelming and burns your eyes and nostrils, especially the fermenting yeast combined with the dog food. Personally, I have never encountered a more immediate and overwhelming smell as that combination. If there is anything that could "jam" a deer's nose, it would be the this. Guess what? Deer got down wind and had no trouble smelling me. I would assume that Elk, having much bigger heads, larger noses and a larger cavity to support a larger scent operation, would have even more powerful noses than Whitetail, thus, without extensive and impractical (for the backcountry) measures, there is not much of anything you can do in terms of controlling, containing, reducing or masking your scent that would give you any real advantage unless, possibly, you were willing to go to a great amount of trouble for a tiny possible advantage. Best thing to do is just to embrace the situation and deal with it in the most practical manner: use the wind.

 

[jmez]

Hunt the wind. This phrase will have new meaning after a trip to the mountains.

 

[BroodBuster]

Humans can smell a stew but see the carrots, beef chunks, potatoes, celery etc......

Dogs, deer, elk and bears can see the stew but can smell the carrots, beef chunks, potatoes, celery etc.....

There really is no such thing a cover scent as most wild animals will smell right thru it. I mean a bear can have its head buried in a week old rotting moose and still smell a human from a 1/2 mile away. Ain't nobody fooling their nose.

 

[Bar]

I can smell the onions.