Scent Killer spray

Afternoon to all, Great trapping weather down south! Balmy 72* so far today. My son came in from deer hunting last Saturday afternoon, cleaned up his truck, hung his climber up and gave me a bottle of "scent elimination spray". He said "here ya go pop, use this on your boots and trapping clothes. Maybe even around your trap beds." He said he didn't know why I didn't use more of it? Good question. If the deer hunters buy it by the gallons, then why don't I hear more about it from trappers? I hear a lot about clean gloves, keep traps clean, K-9's smelling where you been, etc. I even keep a box of latex gloves in my truck and change on every trap. I know we are all conscious about scent. My thought is that if it really worked then trappers would be drinking this stuff! "just kidding of course", but we would be using it. I never hear it discussed. If this has been brought up, please forgive me. My son just got me to thinking about it, and I'd just like to know what some of the rest of you think? thanks again for your input, "Bayou"

Does it actually work on deer? About the only thing I’ve ever tried that worked for me was Deer Dander. And I am not spraying that anywhere around my traps...too many problems with deer as it is, lol!

Watched a video of a dog trained to locate people where they tested scent eliminater spray. It didn't seem to slow the dog down much.

Have a plan before you make a set get In and get out as quick as you can. The less disturbance you make and the less time spent at the set will leave less humane scent.

That makes sense. Since my post I thought back on all the ol' timers that that I hunted with back in the day, and they never used an ounce of scent killer spray! times have changed!

sent you a pm

Yeah, never got the scent killer. Spray all over clothes, but your face is still open. Guess the face doesnt smell? Or air doesnt leach out your clothes around neck area?

That next time you work up a really good sweat and have stewed in it a while, try wiping your armpits with a paper towel loaded with scent killing spray. It will amaze you how well it works. I know my nose and a canines nose are not the same but the stuff definitely knocks down a lot of human odor.

What that stuff hides from your nose and what it hides from a critters nose is miles apart. Use that same paper towel for a pan cover and see if you still like it !

Confidence is a funny thing ! If you are truly confident in the baking soda water, then by all means use it !

????????? I'v heard that a Blood hound can trail a person. Going down a road in a car.

For deer -hunt the wind

I like for the criters to track me right to the set and check out what I was doing there, it's about the only way they get caught.

If one showers everyday before hunting with a scent eliminator product, sprays down ALL of the clothes to be worn (I spray the day before), and uses deer dander and/or Ever Calm on boots or in tree stand it can certainly fool deer. I killed one of my largest bow killed bucks using this process and the doe preceding him and the buck were on a knoll about level with the tree stand directly down wind. I've had it work ot other circumstances but with no shot opportunities offered due to brush or darkness.
Would it help on the trapline???????

I have used “dead down wind” with pretty good sucess.

Agreed! Also, a lot of people dont think about how their breath smells, depending on what they ate that day. You may not be able to smell it but a deer surely can.

I used scent killer a few years ago and didnt notice any advantage compared to not using it. I put all hunting clothes in a trash bag with cedar branches a month or so before season and use no scent killer. I had 6 does downwind of me when i shot the buck in my profile pic last season and none snorted until after i shot him. Seems like a gimmick to me, IMO.

Baking soda and water mix works just as good for deer hunting and doesn't cost a ton of money. But a coyote can out smell a deer hands down, so waist of time and effort to use trapping. Do as The Beav said, in and out.

Well, I appreciate all the responses. I guess what I really wanted to see is I'm not the only one that had thought about this.

Just keep the body and mind clean and move with hast and you'll do fine

Agreed! Also, a lot of people dont think about how their breath smells, depending on what they ate that day. You may not be able to smell it but a deer surely can.

the vast majority of our odor comes from our mouths while deer hunting. not much you can do about that

IMO it's not nearly effective enough. I do believe it is effective....just not enough to be worth the money and effort.


For a couple seasons I washed my gear, kept it in totes, showered, sprayed the stuff, wore rubber boots, didn't wear anything in my truck that I was hunting in....ya it's a blast changing outside when it's 30 degrees and raining.

I kill more deer now and get blown at way less. Wear my hunting clothes in the truck, wear leather boots I keep next to the back door where the dogs go in and out ..wash my gear when I can't take the funk..maybe once or twice a season depending on the "layer".



I've learned more about the wind and thermals.



Get you a couple dry milk weed seed pods. Let the little white fluffy things go. You'll be amazed to SEE where your scent is ACTUALLY going. I carry them all the time. Periodically I release a bunch a couple seconds apart...they'll make a "trail" showing you the scent stream. I've watched them go out, drop towards the ground and 180 up and right back passed me. You'd swore the wind was in your face...but it ain't making it to the deer trail.


You simply can't fool the critters noses.



Again, I do believe it HELPS. Just not enough. My thinking is maybe they think you're further away or weren't there long. Sitting in a deer stand your scent pools and there's just no masking it.

Odor reducers work but they do not take human odor away. They make the human odor appear weaker or make the animal think the human odor is older. so a calm animal will not pay attention as close to the human odor when the reducer or cover scent is stronger. If human odor is strong then the reducer or cover will not work. It also can buy 10 to 30 seconds of time on a alert deer or coyote coming into the call. unless the animal is real keyed up. Evercalm or other products like that, 20 years ago I made a training scent to break dogs off deer that used the hair , duff and other parts of the deer that would calm the deer down but production cost was high and demand low so you know where that went LOL I still have the process in the notebook, other things like doe urine can and will have a calming effect as long as again, the human odor is not over powering. The old time practice where trappers would spray their boots with fox urine did not cover human odor but it did have a calming effect and attraction so it did in fact shortened the cool off time at the set. I have been making cover scents and odor reducers for close to 30 years for the deer scent and calling fields.

As I thought about the practice of fox urine that I used back in the 70's and early 80's till we lost the foot trap, I started to use the fox urine on my boots a few years ago to see if it had an effect with me setting snares, The one problem is the animals, fox coon and coyotes would stop and smell where I was standing. I found that it helped on the walk up but the intense odor where I was standing would make them stop. I bet there are still ole timers out there spraying their boots with urine still setting foot traps and not talking about it. As far as odor reducers at the set. snare men use them all the time, many will store the cable in pine needles or branches. Some soak their cable in oak leaf bath or store in dry dirt or peat. I have sprayed my reducer on my snares but I can not tell you it had any positive, but can say it did not have any negative either.

A lot of really good coyote men have told me, "a coyote knows you've been there."

You aint hiding anything.

I don't know that I believe all that 100 percent. I have never met the 100's of canines running around or made contact so they don't know me. I believe they know when you go in their area and start digging and disrupting their daily routines,leave odor and they get cautious but can't say they know I was there. Maybe it was Joe Bob.

I read a where back in the old days, that hunters carried pure skunk essence in a bottle. They would dip a twig in the bottle and set near where they hunted. Skunk was suplosed to lure in the deer and confuse the the nose of the deer that a human was around.

I can't tell you if the spray works or not, fact is no one else here knows either. But I can tell you with absolute certainty that every single one of those videos where they use dogs to disprove scent elimination products are fake. Every one of them.

Deer are dumb.

I can fool and confuse a deers nose. Can’t do that with a coyote.

Scent killer ages your scent that's all. Better to keep youself and your gear clean and free of foreign odors. Coyotes know... When I remake a fox or coyote set I make sure to rub some of the dirt from the circle on my pants.

All I can say Is go out and buy some and give It a shot. There Is a huge market for the stuff so It must work.

If it gives you confidence go for it. Never used it always been a little skeptical of the claims...or else wouldn't every criminal in world want to use it to avoid dogs too? Not likely able to fool canines.
Jim

Only use I have found it for is to keep a spray bottle in the back seat so when you get some lure or other smelly stuff, give them a good misting and they dont stink so bad.

I don't know if everyone understands what the scent sprays are meant to do. They do NOT eliminate all of a persons scent simply by spraying a mist on themselves. It's not possible and they aren't intended to do that. As mentioned, scent will still come out from under your clothes and such, so any talk about fooling a tracking dogs nose doesn't apply here. What they are supposed to do is eliminate odors from items it touches. That could be your hands, face, or the ground where you walked. So there is a possibility that it could help, if those products work. And I think there have been enough studies to determine they do work in some way. I can't say for sure how much they help, but it wouldn't hurt anything to try either.

So a canine will invade a chicken coop that has been sweated on,touched,etc. or a deer carcass that was handled with bare hands but is afraid of human scent?

You can't take odor away 100%, you can only create a illusion that the human odor is not as strong. If a animal is calm with other things on their mind you can make the animal maybe not pay attention to the human odor because it appears to be older meaning not a treat. If a animal becomes alerted and their senses go on, or if that dog is told to track that human then no odor reducer or cover is going to work. I have had fox and deer follow me right into my stand 10 mins after I went in right on my tracks and never gave a care. and I have had coyote walk down my path an hour after I was there, then again, I have had deer and coyotes coming into a call and hit my track and freeze then back out. The reason is simple coming to the call all senses are on, they are looking for anything and everything. The best I can hope for in that situation is that they get confuse for just a 10 second time frame for me to get the shot. I know deer can smell where I have stood for 5 days, I have seen it many times testing deer scents, but they was not spooked. That fox or coyote is going to know you was at the spot but as the odor weakens or the person can make another odor appear stronger, then the human odor will appear older. I have deer hunters in tx that use my scents and cover and have told me that they will have coyote walk right down their trail they walked an hour before with no cares, but if they lip squeak the coyote will most likely find them.


Do I feel odor reducers at the set are magic nope!!!!!! but may not hurt if the animal is calm coming in. If that k9 just had dirt thrown in its face or toe pinched at another set theres not a snow balls chance in you know where it is working the set if any human odor is there.

Well, I have to say I got a lot of interesting feed back from my original post. I guess since a lot of you boys up north are snow'd In I figured I'd give yall something to think about ! I gave the scent killer spray to my neighbor, he is still deer hunting. We have one more weekend down here. I went to pre-bait some dirt holes this afternoon and almost stepped on a moccasin ! Several days of weather in the 70's and snakes are out! Instead of wearing scent killer to set traps I think I will opt for my .22 pistol ! Yall take care, Bayou

Yes

I guess you would be better off wearing scent block clothing then spraying some atomized scent on you.
So If you use this stuff are you going to have to spray It on your person at every set? After every set your getting back In your truck and be contaminated all over again.

There was once a well known lure maker and trapper who carried a box full dirt In the back of his truck. This was where he kept his setting boots. He changed boots from his driving boots to his setting boots at each set.

Beav, some of the pros on here down played his tips, but everyone read em.
Once at that time I gave my brake/clutch pedal and bottom of boots the sniff test, it wasn't pretty.
New boots smell like, well, new boots.

I assumed the idea would be to just spray down the set area after you're done and walking away from it. You'll never keep from leaving scent at a set, the only hope would be to "kill" some of it.

I know for a fact that my dog can and has trailed me right to my stand in the past . I know of other people that have had similar experiences. I’ve seen both Wayne Derrick and Casey Payne talk about having to have someone come in and make a set for them because they had coyotes that would avoid any sets they made. Wayne talked about having another G man make a set using the same lure he had been using and caught the coyote. If I remember right Casey had his nephew make the set for him !

My point is they ( coyotes ) not only know you are there , they know if it’s YOU if you get my meaning!

I should point out that I’ve not only used most of the sent sprays on the market for deer hunting but have also used it in the past for trapping ! I still receive bottles of the stuff for gifts, the new stuff called nose jammer ? Is supposed to have a calming affect , not sure about calming , may confuse them long enough to help get a shot like tbn said . I don’t want anyone to think I’m one of those guys that tried it once and said it didn’t work . I just completed my 44th year of bow hunting, believe me I’ve tried it !

Golf Ball, be a doer not a follower.

Never followed anyone in my life ! But would like an explanation!

I can see It know a big run on haze mat suits and respirators and disposable booties . LOL

I know coyotes are wary and super suspicious but to actually know who you are?

Think about it Beav !

Still waiting tbn !

Golf Ball i'm not going to give an explanation. Guys that idolize and look up to others and their catches simply aren't doing it themselves. Always looking for that magic item.

The only way in creation that any wild animal could recognize any trapper as an individual is if the trapper has missed it and messed with it enough times for the association to form. You can't recognize any other human until you have been introduced and I may not recall some one I have worked with five years later.
So, I'll say the animals know "something different was there" and in an area where interaction is common the animal may know that the "something different is a" human, or a danger, but, it is not going to distinguish you from tbh until one of you has up-close personal confrontation with it, and let it live.

I've had deer, fox, coyotes and probably others cut my trail and track me to within yards while I was still there; and I will bet you have too. I've also had them wind scent me and clear out. The thing is these animals are animals and do not reason in the same manner that we do. They simply react to what ever they encounter.

Diesel makes a pretty good cover scent and I've never had wild creatures shy from it. either when still hunting or trapping. A tractor parked out in the woods or fields never keeps wildlife from being there.
There used to be a trapper near me that washed his hands in fox urine before making any set, and he wiped it on his boots too, but he caught just about as many animals as the other guys that were super clean.

Nevermind,I went back and read your post,I was talking trapping,you are talking bowhunting.

the national economy depends on this

Wonder how many bottles get used during the summer months when a guy is dripping sweat right over the trap pattern? lol

Your right tjm they can’t reason and they do react ! When you take out several members of a pack or family group the survivor or survivors of that group will react to an individual, I don’t doubt what either of them said !

Tbn I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt that perhaps you misunderstood what I was saying ! If you think I’m looking for a magic anything you are wrong , there isn’t one ! What I know and do I’ve done on my own , do I look up to guys like Derrick, Payne, Wieser, Waddel and others ? Yes ! They are doing what I can’t , they put out more traps every year than I own and they do it year round. I’ve never had the time to put out more than a dozen or so traps each season ! When I retire I will have the time and not the coyotes, may have to move to Kansas !

Pretty soon coyotes will be able read and cipher.

I thinks them Kansas coyotes is pretty dumb though, a few guys seem to catch a lot of canines there, and I know a couple of them that don't use deodorant.

I have had many raccoons, skunks and squirrels in my jobs over the past 40 years of doing wildlife control where I have goofed up and educated them and they know me by my scent. Some of them I get the customer to bait the trap and wipe their hands with a napkin and throw it in the trap because the customer was a positive, (they put the food in the dog bowl ever day for example) I have in times brought my tech to the job to bait the traps. Many times with raccoons to prove the raccoons know who I am when I would finally get them Unless they just leave, I would place the coon in the trap and have 4 or 5 folks stand around the cage. I would go 10 or so feet up wind and stand, it is amazing how fast the coon would get my scent and turn and stare at me 10 feet away while folk are 2 feet away from the cage. Last summer I had a coon that had me in her sights. I couldn't catch her so I forced the hole she broke another hole out and went into the chimney. I got the to job and shook the damper to get her going up open the damper and yelled at her to get LOL she went to the top and out. the customers and neighbor was out side and yelled in to me it is sitting on the top. took me a couple of mins to get out there I looked at her and she saw me and shot right back into the chimney. the neighbor looked at me and said it is afraid of you, it didn't care about us until it saw you. These same actions will happen in fur trapping if we put to much negative on a certain animal. We as fur trappers will never be able to see the pattern on that one animal like I can see in my Jobs.

It doesn’t always take an “up close confrontation”.

Simply being there, repeatedly, can be enough for them to familiarize with your smell.

And for some coyotes, simply being there, is all takes to booger em up.

Every animal out there has a threshold of human scent and intrusion it’s willing to accept as safe.

For some it’s very high, some very low. Every animal is an individual with different experiences. Many many factors involved here.

An urban coyote used to eating out of trash cans and fidos food dish probably has a very high threshold of human intrusion he will accept as still being safe.

A coyote in an area that only sees a human but once a month, gets shot at chased and harassed every time he encounters humans, probably has a very low thresh hold.

Being fast, clean, and efficient will NEVER hurt you. Being sloppy slow and dirty might.

Good way to explain it. And those two examples could be the same coyote but the difference being location. They understand where it's normal to smell humans, and where it's not. Just like deer.

At what age do they learn this?

234 days.

What sort of question is that? Seriously, it's just normal animal behavior.

A good read for sure.

Kinda my point.
They certainly can distinguish each of us, but not the first time around. The ADC trapper is more likely to encounter this behavior, I think, the animal the ADC trapper is after is already accustomed to human interaction and reaction.

At some point the super shy coyote should leave the sheep pasture when he hears the trappers truck and never come back. Just drive through the pasture once a week.

I dont think your average fur trapper realizes how many coyotes they leave behind, and how some of those coyotes behave, even for some time after their trapping activities cease in an area.

Very very true statement.

Great thread

x2

Ive used dead down wind in the past and it works , got out of the habit and this year now at the end of season Im seeing signs of coyotes refusing places where I have walked . I'll give it a go again next year on my boots .

Some coyotes accept us and some just don't. They accept some folks better that others. My sons a great excample, they love him , he always catches first at the same locations we both have sets at. Me they just Like. Perhaps I'm more of a threat? or maybe he's more relaxed whe he makes sets? Dunno
We trapped together for 2 seasons he always caught first.
Thoughts?

I think he's more relaxed. Don't we give off scents that reflect our health and emotional states, pheromones?

I think Wayne Derrick has a great story of a coyote he couldn’t make Dead.

Someone else came in an trapped it easy peasy.

Figured that coyote knew HIS smell and knew it meant danger.

I think some of us just smell more like the grim reaper than others. I made two sets at the hog farmers place a few years ago , got the first one in and the farmer and his hired man came out before I got the second trap bedded . For a half an hour the three of us shuffled around in a circle while explained what I was doing and why. This all took place within a few feet of the second trap laying set on top of the trap bed and within 20’ of the first trap. I really thought as these two walked away that I was looking at a week or ten days before having a chance of connecting on either set . Imagine my surprise the next morning when I pulled up on a double !

At the time I could only imagine that those two coyotes were checking out the area to see what the farmer was up to as this was not his normal walk path between the buildings. The thought of the two men typically only being together when dragging a dead pig to the compost pile also crossed my mind . Although I was not using pig for bait at either set on this occasion I figured that the two were reacting to the sent left by those two more so than my sent being somewhat deleted or diluted if you will by the two men who were present every day.

I know a lot of guys on here will say don’t worry about the smart ones or tough ones . If I was only trying to put up numbers I wouldn’t ! Two of the farmers that I trap for have asked me to remove every coyote in the area, so any coyote still alive after the middle of December has become aquatinted with my sent . I typically catch the hog farmers dog once or twice a year before she wises up and to this day she still barks and raises Cain when I drive by . I can’t speak for other critters but K -9’s know who we are !

Very very true on almost any canines.
Mac

There's alot to learn by trying to trap the tough ones, I for one love the chalenge and truelly beleive its made me a better trapper. I had my son make one set last season on one that was driving me nuts. 2nd check , yep
The sixth sense maybe?

80 20

If you don't think it works ,,,,, get skunk on something and try it ,,,, It is not a cure all but it can't hurt ,,, there have been a lot of canines caught without it but it can't hurt

Many times when i am trapping, i will be setting lots of traps and get in a hurry and for get my, bait setting gloves. I will get some LDC or other type of Gland lure on my hands. I use a different set of gloves to set traps, so i dont worry about cross contaimination. BUT i get tired of smelling gland lure on my hands, when i get a drink of water. SO i keep a bottle of DEAD DOWN WIND in my truck. Spray it on hands and the smell goes away.

same with my 2n1 spray.