How do you get rid of the "city scent' in the wild?

golok

golok

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I learnt that one way to get rid of the human scent is to boil your clothes with leaves and vegetation taken from the wild.

Apparently, it works.

Animals, dangerous or otherwise are wise to the ways of man. That's how they survive, besides having to worry about the other predators.

So if you are a naturalist out there somewhere, trying to learn more about certain animals, how would you try to get rid of your bodily smell?


The idea is to blend in with the environment. What does the modern day Tarzan do?
 
There are a host of options:

-Commercial "scent neutralizing" sprays and soaps
-Commercial "masking scents" such as fox urine or eau de dirt
-Military surplus chemical protective suits (charcoal filter clothing)
-Herbal concoctions calculated to alter the odor of your meatbolic by-products

You can find someone, somewhere who will swear by some of these methods. I am a hunter, though not very often lately. And I have a degree in wildlife management. In passive studies (observation of behavior, gathering population or feeding data) human scent was seldom a consideration. In active studies (capture for tagging, sexing, weighing, etc.) it was often important to descent the trap. This was usually accomplished by leaving the trap outside in a similar environment to where it would be used, handling it with gloves, and using scent-intense baits. I have never participated in a prolonged, deep, close observation study where my scent would become a factor, but as I understand it, the subjects would be approached gradually over time, and would become accustomed to smelling me, and would not spook after awhile.

For hunting purposes; I have known guys who filled their deer tags with cigarettes hanging from their mouths the whole while they were in the woods, and I have known guys who were skunked while encased in charcoal and dripping with doe estrus. One of my friends used to rake the leaves from his yard, put them in a plastic bag with his coveralls, and leave it there for awhile before hunting season. He said that worked fine for him.

So, I guess I'm not giving a definitive answer, because I'm not sure there is one. There are so many variables affecting what you smell like and how widely that smell is brodcast and how sensative your quarry is to that smell, that several combinations of technique would have to be employed to work for you.
 
For bow hunting.My hunting gear is never washed in soap with scent,always scent free soap.I shower with scent free soap in the morning,and keep my clothes stored in a plastic tote.But the key is wind direction.That and luck and luck has filled a lot of freezers;) .
 
Stay away from all deodorants, perfumes, hair products, etc.

DOn't wash for a few days.

Use the smoke from your fire to de-scent yourself, your clothes, your tools and traps. Smoke work very well. Most animals are used to the smell of residue from past fires, and they don't usually get alarmed. Just don't use the smoke from a cooking fire -- needs to be food-free. If you smell like a well-done filet mignon, that auin't natural. And bears might get pretty friendly with ya...;)

Then there are all the other factors for getting into tune with your surroundings to prevent animals from sounding the alrm when you are around. That goes into stalking, etc., and dsicpline not to sniffle or cough or swat at flies etc. Movement, silhouette, and sound are the two big factors besides scent that need addressing to make the equation work overall.

Best,

Brian.
 
I have also used the 'smoke screen.' I remember when I was a kid I read that the Indians used sage smoke to block their scent. Maybe it was a cultural misunderstanding, as sage is used for smudging (a spiritual application). However, I've tried it by putting sage brush on the fire and standing in the smoke: it is really strong and pungent and would probably cover almost any scent.

When bow hunting I also try to deoderize my body, clothes and gear by using no-scent soaps. Make sure that the soap is also free of ultra-violet enhancers, as most animals can see UV light as a visible part ot the spectrum.

I know a guy who stops eating meat a month before hunting season so that he stops smelling like a carnivore. He gets his animals every year, so there must be something to it.

I have also experimented using plant soaps (amole & wild lilac). Now if I could only refine my hunting techniques I'd be able to tell you how well all of this works... :rolleyes:

Oh yeah, one more thing. I used to run a trap line back in my teen years, and I always boiled my gear in oak bark. It removed scent and stained the gear a brownish-purple color that blended well into the environment.
 
Hey Guys....

This is something that is pretty important to know....

Lets take Dear/Bear/Yote hunting for example...

Use the wrong scents at the wrong time and all you'll see is White Flags...

Stil statement was interesting....

"and I have known guys who were skunked while encased in charcoal and dripping with doe estrus. One of my friends used to rake the leaves from his yard, put them in a plastic bag with his coveralls, and leave it there for awhile before hunting season. He said that worked fine for him. "

The reason he was skunked is because he used cover or masking scents with his Scent Blocker suite....

Never use cover scents on a scent block suit..
If you use any type of cover scent ,,spray scent killer on your boots,hands, hat, and even your bow... Put your blocker on and use nothing else...

Maybe hang a disk on your hat and a little scent on the trees around you,,but never on the suit itself....

The suit is a Huge frigging snonge..It will only absorb so much,,then it stops working....

I know of a guy who bought a Blocker suit from the store,put it on right away without washing it,or activating it and went about his hunting business...

Improper use of a suit...

The suit needs to be stored in an air tight container, with no scents in the bag..Hang it outside every once and awhile,,and activate every once and awhile...

To get quick results in the field to elude dogs,,quick hunting,,scents and scent killers can be used..
flooding yourself with them won't help...

I personally like the dirt smell of the disks and spray....


ttyle

Eric....
 
Actually, Normark, the guy I was talking about was using the doe estrus on felt boot pads and scent wicks hanging from his tree stand. He was very much a "gadget' hunter, and I think there were probably LOTS of reasons why he was skunked.

But you are right about putting masking scents or scent lures directly on the blocker suits. It kind of defeats the purpose of both.
 
i have been told that if you are by a smoky fier the smoke sent will covet the human sent ...this is becous the animals are so used to the sent of burning wood that your smell will blend
 
golok said:
I learnt that one way to get rid of the human scent is to boil your clothes with leaves and vegetation taken from the wild.

Apparently, it works.

Animals, dangerous or otherwise are wise to the ways of man. That's how they survive, besides having to worry about the other predators.

So if you are a naturalist out there somewhere, trying to learn more about certain animals, how would you try to get rid of your bodily smell?


The idea is to blend in with the environment. What does the modern day Tarzan do?
Click to expand...

I kinda have always thought this was overdone. I just always washed my hunting clothes with water with no soap and washed with no soap the morning of a hunt. I never noticed any difference from the guys that used all the "stuff".
 
I was reading in a survival book:

No smokes, no gum, no sweets. No soap, No deoderant...

I'd think that it goes to a certain point of where you can stink to yourself... but smell like the woods to a critter.
 
The secret to killing 90% of human sent is your skin's bacteria. You can bathe in PHISODERM which will kill skin bacteria and has very little scent of its own. Or you can bathe and scrub your hair, pits, groin, and skin for a couple of days with alcohol. Rubbing alcohol will work and can eliminate even the most stink-foot odors. This will alos work for those of us that have incurable foot odor. Down side is dry skin from repeated use and STINGING if you have cuts or a rash.
Clothing can be washed in scent free sopa that is readly available on the market, dryed and stored in plastic bags with some bruised vegetation from the area, i.e. cedar, pine, juniper, ect. Don't dress until you are in the hunting area.

I have had deer approach within arms length during bow season while I was in a ground blind following these techniques, even from down wind.
 
Sorry, I didn't put a complete offering in my previous post. This is what I try and do before hunting.

I sweat with hot stones, like a sweat bath and add herbs to the rocks so they smoke up inside the makeshift lodge and then pour water on the stones so my pores open up wide and let the essence of the herbs penetrate. It will completely change my scent. Changing diet will help as well. Stop eating meat and we won't smell like a predator, of course, then we'll smell like prey to the other predators. :p

I wash my clothing in a product called sportwash. It does a good job of killing the scent in the clothing and doesn't add any UV brighteners. Then my clothes get stored in a sealed bag with plants (usually pine or sage) that are prevalent in the area that I'll be hunting or hiking in. I don't put my clothes on until I get to where I'm heading and am away from the vehicle. My gear is all stored same as my clothing so the smells of home and vehicle don't stick to them. When I set up camp, I smoke up my gear and myself by burning sage and standing in the smoke of the fire. I do the same in the morning just before leaving camp. I keep my pace slow and steady so that I don't start sweating. After a few days in the bush, I start to smell like my surroundings. I repeat the sweat bath while in the field to clean myself and use fresh plants from the area to scent myself.
 
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