OK. SO I am like most of you guys, or used to be anyway. When I woke in the morning to go deer hunting, I scrubbed with surgical precision with scent free / scent blocking / scent masking soap and shampoo. When I got out of hte shower, I dried off with scent free towels. I then went into the mudroom and dressed in EVERYTHING scent free. Right down to the skivies. I then got into the truck and drove to my farm. Windows up the whole time to keep any exhaust off of my clothing. I got out of the truck and grabbed the trash bag full of more scent free clothes. I sprayed with masking spray, got dressed and then gave it one final inspection with a black light for anything UV on my outside. All good, LETS ROLL!!!
I would park far from my stand and hoof it all the way to my stand which had been moved from earlier hunts to put myself in a fresh tree.
My Friends???????? OK, Here we go. They party all night, sleep in their clothes that they were wearing at the bar the night before, get up, put in a fresh dip, eat some dorito's and grab a coffee and head out the door. They start the truck, ooops, they forgot their favorite Deere hat that they wear to work every day at the shop...... Go back and grab the hat and head to the farm.
Everyone arrives and they talk over half a pack of cigatettes and then decide that since it will be light soon, they better get into their stands..... (Meanwhile, I had made the sloth-like treck to my stand an hour before)..... So, the gang piles into one pick up truck and they drive across the field to the stands, dropping each man at the base of his tree (god forbid they actually get some exercise as that whole "out of breath thing" just sucks.
They each get into their stands and the hunt is on. I have been sitting in my stand for almost 1.5 hours at this point and have watched all of the driving across the fields, shining flashlights like there was an escape from the local jail and the coughing from the smokes and the 10 yard walk to the tree,,,,, exhausting!!!
So, as I sit in my tree, excited about the hunt ad the prospect that the whole aforementioned scurrying probably pushed every deer on the property down to me. Its borderline light now. Squirrels are scurrying to collect acorns and get their grub on to start the day. In other stands on the farm, its turkey sandwiches, burrito's from the 7-11, coffee and lord knows what else. Me? Some bread that was placed in a sandwich bag to remove all noise from the equation.
Now to the hunt. Its light and a beautiful morning. I have not seen anything except for about 300 squirrels and a fox. (Not gonna light him up and ruin the hunt)..... The morning wears on and its yet another day of squat. And then........ BAM!!! BAM!!!
I say to myself, HMMM, that's Donnie.... I wonder if he got him? Well a few minutes later, the yelling and further commotion begins. OK, he is walking. Maybe I will get some deer pushed to me. After all, I smell like NOTHING and have been here half the night so I will be rewarded with that 12pt slinking away from the commotion and looking to escape. I grab the H&R, pop the scope caps off and get ready.
The commotion gets closer, and closer, my palms sweaty at the prospect. Closer, closer, I can hear rustling of leaves in the thicket. Closer, closer, squirrels scamper away and up trees. Closer, and then? Donnie, walking through the bedding area with a Marlboro Full flavor wafting in the wind..... I'm Done...
I get down and meet up with him. He is the one that is always getting free drinks from friends at the bar. He knows everyone and there is never a pretty girl that he has not hugged. The crowd favorite. The type of guy that you can't hate. He is just DONNIE!! Well, he is a farmer and has been working on his tractors and combines. He has transmission oil and motor oil covering almost every square inch of his coveralls. His burrito is smudged on his chest and half is still hanging from his 4 day growth of facial hair. The grin on his face is priceless... "Did you see anything coming thru here after I shot??? Nope, I said with a little disgust. Well come on then! We need to find my deer! Ok. So, I grabbed my stuff and off we went.
Here are the pics of his deer!
So, what did I learn from this? Since its about the 50th time that this has happened, I am now convinced that deer are attracted to burrito residue, motor oil, transmission oil and cigarettes. So, before the next hunt, I am sleeping in my clothes and stopping at Donnies shop so can moisturize with motor oil before the hunt!!!
Save your money on the scent free crap and just enjoy the hunt!
GREAT MORNING READ KEVIN! NICE DEER TOO BUT THAT IS THE WAY IT GOES DOWN!
WHICH BRINGS TO MIND:
I REFUSE TO BUY ANYTHING THAT IS LABELED SCENT FREE BECAUSE I DON'T BELIEVE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS SCENT FREE WHEN IT COMES TO A DEERS NOSE.....IF HE DOESN'T SMELL YOU I FEEL IT IS MERELY YOUR DAY-YOUR TIME AND NOT HIS...
NOW SURE CERTAIN STEPS MUST BE TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION SURE....LIKE WIND ETC....BUT
BUT SCENT FREE? COME ON....
LET'S ASSEMBLE 10 HUNTERS AND HAVE EACH OF THEM COVER THEIR BODIES IN SCENT FREE CLOTHING AND PLACE THEM IN A 10X10 ROOM AND CLOSE THE DOOR.
CERTAINLY IN A FEW MINUTES ONE OR MORE OF THE MEN WILL CERTAINLY RIP A FART.....IT'S THE LAW OF NATURE! I PROMISE YOU THAT ALL TEN MEN WILL BE GAGGING AND CHOKING ON THE GASES DESPITE SCENT FREE CLOTHING...
DO IN SPRAY COVER UP ON MY CLOTHING? YEP.....BUT I ALSO KNOW IT IS NOT100% ...NOT EVEN 70%...HELL AS FAR AS I KNOW IT PROBABLY AIN'T 30% COVER UP WHEN IT COMES TO A DEER....BUT LIKE EVERYONE ELSE I HOPE FOR JUST ONE GIMMICK TO WORK
EVER WONDER WHAT IS IN THESE COVER UP SPRAYS? EARTH SCENT THEY SAY.....DUH HUH......IS THAT SOIL, LEAVES ETC? IT DOES SAY EARTH DOESN'T IT? EVER WONDER WHY SOME SCENT COVER UP BOTTLES DISALLOW YOU TO REMOVE THE CAP? THAT'S SO YOU CAN'T REPLENISH THAT BOTTLE WITH SOME EXTRA WATER..........THEY WANT YOU TO GO BUY ANOTHER $10 BOTTLE OF DIRT SPRAY
TRY TAKING THE CAP OFF THESE COVER UP SPRAY BOTTLES FOR SALE.....MOST WILL NOT COME OFF....."SCENT AWAY " BRAND IF THE ONLY ONE I HAVE FOUND WITH A REMOVABLE CAP
That's some funny stuff guys!! You just have to have a buck Magnet with you at all times!! That's right a buck Magnet!! At least that is what my hunting partner says....
I have had to put out a cigarette more times than I can count to shoot a deer......seem's like they always snuck up on me right after I lit up....from down wind none the less, hell I might be on to something.....the Marlboro buck bomb. My theory.....the more remote the area you are hunting the more cautious of your scent you need to be.....Most of my archery stands are in the suburbs in small patches of woods, they are never more than a few hundred yards away from human scent so it does not bother them one bit.....same thing on a working farm, How many deer do you think get shot off the back of the farmers tractor.
Here is another question.......pre season scouting, not all camoed up and in street clothes I could get within easy archery range of deer while out scouting.....All camoed up I couldnt get within 40 yards, one day after work.....yes smelling like machine oil and greese and in my work clothes....I took a stroll with my bow and walked right up on a nice 8 pt that looked at me for a little to long for his own good....and it cost him Deerly
Big bucks aren't scared of farmers................
So dress like a farmer................
Act natural......................
Look at the farmer turned hunters clothes..... jeans and a solid green shirt..... white under shirt exposed a lot (farmer trait)............not sure I understand the camo hat though....hmmmmmmm
Just before jumping in the truck, I head down to the barn feed the horses, check water, throw a flake of orchard grass hay in the field and turn them out. Thats all the scent cover up I need. Wyatt shot a doe at 17 yards last Saturday while setting on the ground with me. Deer never knew we were there as we were sipping on coffee and sprite.
awesome read. I killed a bunch of deer while smoking in my earlier years. Had lots of friends that smoked/chewed and killed plenty of deer. By far the best most consistant deer hunter I ever knew smoked his whole life. He, Larry Wayne Britt, also just died of cancer a couple weeks ago. Box you may remember him as the guy who had big deer mounts in the country store on what is now Wendover. Also ran the store in Starr. I hunted with Larry Wayne for many years and he taught me most of what I use now to get on deer. You could draw this guy a rough map of your deer land and he would draw the major trails on it having never set foot on your property. I mean deadly accurate too.
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