For the white tailed deer or feral hog hunter, scent control should be foremost in their thoughts. In this article, I will share my thoughts on this subject and share the things that I do to control my scent.
I begin with a kit that I purchase from Walmart for around $20. At my local Walmart, there are about three different manufacturers to choose from. I have used Hunter's Specialties "SCENT-A-WAY" product for years and I am very satisfied with them. Many times I have had deer come down the same trail that I did coming to my stand, a few times just minutes after me. They never smelled me. This kit contains a bar of body soap, deodorant, a very large plastic airtight bag for clothes storage, dryer sheets, laundry detergent, and a bottle of spray for spraying down before entering the woods. Purchased separately, these items would cost you more than twice as much as the kit. For those of you that are like me and don't care much for bar soap, you can purchase a bottle of liquid soap separately. The kit comes in either "odorless" or "earth scent."
CLOTHING - I wash my hunting clothing in the detergent and then dry them using the dryer sheets. After taking them from the dryer, I immediately store them in a tote with a lockable lid to keep it airtight. I also use the large bags that come with the kit to store jackets, boots, and miscellaneous gear. I have another bag that I store my kids' clothing in to keep it separate from mine. Inside the totes and bags, each year I put a small fresh cut pine limb. Down here in south Georgia, there are very few areas where you cannot find a pine tree. It makes for a very good cover scent, and the best thing about it is that it is free! The totes and bags are very easy to transport back and forth from home to the hunting camp.
BODY - Before heading to the woods, I shower using the bar or liquid soap. After showering, I use the deodorant. I try to dress quickly and head on out so that I don't spend too much time in the house in my clothing, soaking up odors. After I get out of my truck or off my ATV, I will spray myself and my gear down with the spray, paying particular attention to my boots.
While I do not believe that anyone can totally eliminate human scent, I feel that using these methods will come very close to scent elimination. The pine scent and earth scent of the clothing and spray mask what little human scent remains. By using these methods, I never worry too much about wind direction. To the best of my knowledge, I have never been busted by a deer that has smelled me. The times I have been knowingly busted, movement is what gave me away. There are other methods used by various hunters that probably do work, but these are the methods that work for and have been tested by me.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Muzzleloader Hunting
Yesterday morning was my first time ever hunting with a muzzle-loader. Primitive Weapons season opened in Georgia yesterday. My brother-in-law loaned me one of his, an older flintlock style with iron sights. The only thing missing from my hunt was some buckskin clothing and a pair of moccasin boots!
The sun arose upon a beautiful morning overlooking the pea patch. I have seen many deer on camera and several from the stand on the other end of this food plot so far this season. Around 8:30 yesterday morning I was looking down the patch to my left. Several hundred yards to my right, someone let off a couple rounds from a shotgun. As I instinctively turned my head, I looked down and there he was. A young 8 pointer I had been seeing on camera was standing less than TEN FEET from my stand. He looked in the direction of the shots and then right back at me. Two seconds later he wheeled and high-tailed it in the direction he from which he came (which was also the trail I had walked in on earlier that morning!) He didn't run too far, but just far enough to be out of range and a couple more steps put him out of view.
About 15 minutes later I was texting my brother-in-law about it when I looked up from my phone and down the slope in front of me. I noticed something out of place, and then realized it was the front shoulder, leg, and chest of a good sized deer. He stepped out from behind the tree and immediately began leisurely heading away from me. It was another 8 pointer but with a larger rack and a good bit bigger body. He was about 75 yards away when I first saw him, just beyond what I believed at the time to be the range of the weapon I was using. I didn't have any kind of calls with me, as usually this time of year the deer don't seem to pay any attention to them. I would have liked to have had something to try to turn him with. I tried a mouth grunt, and that stopped him for a couple of seconds, but didn't turn him. From now on, I will be carrying my pack with all my gear even in early season! I hope to have at least one more encounter with this buck this year, hopefully an up close and very personal one.
I didn't see any more deer, nor any from the stand that evening. My father-in-law and nephew did get busted by one as they were climbing down at dark. He blew at them and ran off. About ten seconds later, he blew a couple more times. I heard him all three times, but the way the sound carried through the bottom, I thought it was down in front of me where my brother-in-law was just cranking up the Mule. I thought at first that the deer had busted him.
Before we headed out for the evening hunt, we ate fresh fried fish and a bunch of oysters off the grill.
Not too bad a way to start and end my first day of hunting with a muzzle-loader. It won't be my last, for sure....
The sun arose upon a beautiful morning overlooking the pea patch. I have seen many deer on camera and several from the stand on the other end of this food plot so far this season. Around 8:30 yesterday morning I was looking down the patch to my left. Several hundred yards to my right, someone let off a couple rounds from a shotgun. As I instinctively turned my head, I looked down and there he was. A young 8 pointer I had been seeing on camera was standing less than TEN FEET from my stand. He looked in the direction of the shots and then right back at me. Two seconds later he wheeled and high-tailed it in the direction he from which he came (which was also the trail I had walked in on earlier that morning!) He didn't run too far, but just far enough to be out of range and a couple more steps put him out of view.
About 15 minutes later I was texting my brother-in-law about it when I looked up from my phone and down the slope in front of me. I noticed something out of place, and then realized it was the front shoulder, leg, and chest of a good sized deer. He stepped out from behind the tree and immediately began leisurely heading away from me. It was another 8 pointer but with a larger rack and a good bit bigger body. He was about 75 yards away when I first saw him, just beyond what I believed at the time to be the range of the weapon I was using. I didn't have any kind of calls with me, as usually this time of year the deer don't seem to pay any attention to them. I would have liked to have had something to try to turn him with. I tried a mouth grunt, and that stopped him for a couple of seconds, but didn't turn him. From now on, I will be carrying my pack with all my gear even in early season! I hope to have at least one more encounter with this buck this year, hopefully an up close and very personal one.
I didn't see any more deer, nor any from the stand that evening. My father-in-law and nephew did get busted by one as they were climbing down at dark. He blew at them and ran off. About ten seconds later, he blew a couple more times. I heard him all three times, but the way the sound carried through the bottom, I thought it was down in front of me where my brother-in-law was just cranking up the Mule. I thought at first that the deer had busted him.
Before we headed out for the evening hunt, we ate fresh fried fish and a bunch of oysters off the grill.
Not too bad a way to start and end my first day of hunting with a muzzle-loader. It won't be my last, for sure....
Friday, April 1, 2011
Baiting for Deer and Hogs in South Georgia
The Georgia House and Senate have passed bills allowing baiting for deer and hogs in the Southern Zone in Georgia. The Senate made a few changes to the bill, so it is now going back to the House for approval. Hunters in the southern zone have been calling for this for years now, with the strongest murmurings coming in the past year or so. GON (Georgia Outdoor News) magazine has run polls over the years to gauge how hunters feel about this issue. Hunters were overwhelmingly in support this year.
Individuals are already allowed to "legally" bait by planting food plots. They were allowed to spread out other foods such as corn, wheat, etc. for deer and hogs as long as they did not hunt within sight of or within 200 yards of the bait. Many hunters use this tactic in conjunction with trail cameras to gauge the quality and quantity of the wildlife on their property on a year round basis. The changes to the law will allow Southern Zone Hunters to actually hunt over these bait sites. This is just a basic summary of the bill, but the entire bill can be read here, www.legis.ga.gov, by entering HB 277 in the search bar on the home page.
In my opinion, this is a good thing for the southern part of the state. People living in town may not be aware of the damage caused by wildlife in agricultural settings, particularly by the wild hogs who are reproducing faster that hunters can kill them,. Deer can also eat their share of a farmer's livelihood. Also, when the population rises, then more deer/vehicle accidents occur and this causes a dangerous situation.
While I can live with or without being able to hunt over bait for deer, I think it is beneficial for hog hunters. In my experience, hogs seem to come to the bait more in daylight hours than deer do. This would help in keeping that population down by allowing for many more of them to be killed.
While it may seem unethical to some, it isn't to others. Deer and hogs are primarily nocturnal creatures. Just because an individual may have bait poured out 50 feet in front of a deerstand does not guarantee that that individual will kill a deer. A person still has to be sitting in that stand at the right time on the right day AND has to make a successful shot while their heart is trying to beat its way out of their chest. The animals may choose to come to that food source more often than another one if it is a preferred food, but it will still be mostly at night.
Another thing to look at is that if most hunters choose to put out bait, then there will be multiple places for the animals to go eat. Nothing guarantees that the animals will go to the bait site that you want them to. They will go to the preferred food source, wherever that may be. Currently if there are only 2 or 3 bait sites on a hunting lease, then those sites will be hit the most. If the law is passed, then the number of bait sites will rise exponentially. As an example, let's assume that Slickhead Huntin' Club has 15 members. Out of those 15 members, in the past only a couple of them hunted over some very hidden bait sites. That was only 2 bait sites on their property. This year, 10 of those members choose to hunt over bait sites, and each one of them have 2 different sites apiece. Now this gives wildlife about 20 different bait sites to choose from, in addition to all the other food sources on the property.
Just because someone throws out a pile of corn, that still is not a guarantee that deer will choose that food. There may be other food sources, either planted or growing naturally, that are more preferred by the herd at that point in time. In the dead of winter the bait sites are more apt to be chosen, but during the warmer months of the year, there is usually plenty of browse for the wildlife.
Another thing this bill will help is our DNR rangers. They are already spread so thin that they cannot effectively do their job. Now, they can worry less about people hunting over bait, and concentrate on more serious offenses.
In summary, I feel like hunting hogs over bait is almost necessary. Hunting deer over bait is debatable. It might allow hunters with lesser abilities and skills to kill a deer or two more than they would without being able to hunt over bait. It might also help those lazy hunters out there who aren't willing to put in the work involved to scout out an area, hang a stand in a great location, and put in a little elbow grease to help improve the habitat. I personally believe that I will be prouder of the animal taken without the aid of bait than one that falls dead in a pile of corn in front of my stand. But, for the purpose of maybe seeing more deer with my child in the stand with me, or maybe during bow season, I may choose to hunt over a bait site if it is legal in the state of Georgia.
Individuals are already allowed to "legally" bait by planting food plots. They were allowed to spread out other foods such as corn, wheat, etc. for deer and hogs as long as they did not hunt within sight of or within 200 yards of the bait. Many hunters use this tactic in conjunction with trail cameras to gauge the quality and quantity of the wildlife on their property on a year round basis. The changes to the law will allow Southern Zone Hunters to actually hunt over these bait sites. This is just a basic summary of the bill, but the entire bill can be read here, www.legis.ga.gov, by entering HB 277 in the search bar on the home page.
In my opinion, this is a good thing for the southern part of the state. People living in town may not be aware of the damage caused by wildlife in agricultural settings, particularly by the wild hogs who are reproducing faster that hunters can kill them,. Deer can also eat their share of a farmer's livelihood. Also, when the population rises, then more deer/vehicle accidents occur and this causes a dangerous situation.
While I can live with or without being able to hunt over bait for deer, I think it is beneficial for hog hunters. In my experience, hogs seem to come to the bait more in daylight hours than deer do. This would help in keeping that population down by allowing for many more of them to be killed.
While it may seem unethical to some, it isn't to others. Deer and hogs are primarily nocturnal creatures. Just because an individual may have bait poured out 50 feet in front of a deerstand does not guarantee that that individual will kill a deer. A person still has to be sitting in that stand at the right time on the right day AND has to make a successful shot while their heart is trying to beat its way out of their chest. The animals may choose to come to that food source more often than another one if it is a preferred food, but it will still be mostly at night.
Another thing to look at is that if most hunters choose to put out bait, then there will be multiple places for the animals to go eat. Nothing guarantees that the animals will go to the bait site that you want them to. They will go to the preferred food source, wherever that may be. Currently if there are only 2 or 3 bait sites on a hunting lease, then those sites will be hit the most. If the law is passed, then the number of bait sites will rise exponentially. As an example, let's assume that Slickhead Huntin' Club has 15 members. Out of those 15 members, in the past only a couple of them hunted over some very hidden bait sites. That was only 2 bait sites on their property. This year, 10 of those members choose to hunt over bait sites, and each one of them have 2 different sites apiece. Now this gives wildlife about 20 different bait sites to choose from, in addition to all the other food sources on the property.
Just because someone throws out a pile of corn, that still is not a guarantee that deer will choose that food. There may be other food sources, either planted or growing naturally, that are more preferred by the herd at that point in time. In the dead of winter the bait sites are more apt to be chosen, but during the warmer months of the year, there is usually plenty of browse for the wildlife.
Another thing this bill will help is our DNR rangers. They are already spread so thin that they cannot effectively do their job. Now, they can worry less about people hunting over bait, and concentrate on more serious offenses.
In summary, I feel like hunting hogs over bait is almost necessary. Hunting deer over bait is debatable. It might allow hunters with lesser abilities and skills to kill a deer or two more than they would without being able to hunt over bait. It might also help those lazy hunters out there who aren't willing to put in the work involved to scout out an area, hang a stand in a great location, and put in a little elbow grease to help improve the habitat. I personally believe that I will be prouder of the animal taken without the aid of bait than one that falls dead in a pile of corn in front of my stand. But, for the purpose of maybe seeing more deer with my child in the stand with me, or maybe during bow season, I may choose to hunt over a bait site if it is legal in the state of Georgia.
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