Scent Masking with Nature?

CobrayCommando · February 23, 2006, 06:29 PM

Hello all, I was wondering if anyone has tried using dirt or foliage to mask scent? And by this I mean rubbing damp dirt over the skin and maybe using crushed leaves in the underarms and crotch. I figured the major problem to hunting bear with a sword (

kidding) would be masking scent and wondered if anyone had tried this before.

FirstFreedom · February 23, 2006, 07:15 PM

Funny you mention that. Since I have made natural scent blocker from cedar tree 'leaves' (boiling; straining), I have been contemplating just taking a bunch of leaves & dirt from the hunting grounds, and doing the same, for a homegrown fresh-earth scent. Haven't done it yet though.

CobrayCommando · February 24, 2006, 11:31 AM

Thats awesome, tell me how it turns out!

You could sell it as cologne in California.

youp · February 24, 2006, 12:09 PM

LMAO

If you would rub some nice coarse river sand in your crotch and place a few poison ivy leaves under your armpit I am sure you would be in the proper odorless state of mind to trail and attack a Black Bear with a sword. Please do not try to use a small under powered sword. Use enough sword.

zeisloft · February 24, 2006, 12:25 PM

I have found that overindulging in gin helps when sword hunting bears in juniper country. I suppose it would work in the cedars too. By my logic since many whiskeys are aged in oak or hickory barrels, a fifth of Jimmy Beam applied to the tongue and tonsils ought to assist in masking your sent in the hardwoods. Remember sword safety; always keep your safety cork on the tip of your sword until you are ready to use it. Remind me to explain my theory on attracting wild turkeys with Wild Turkey; I have developed a system to bring them in to mace distance. But that’s too easy, now leopard hunting with a stun gun…there is a challenge.
~z

Clayfish · February 24, 2006, 01:04 PM

I've found that building a small fire with leaves and standing in the smoke works really well. I read about an indian tracker that does this and have tried it several times.

fisherman66 · February 24, 2006, 01:57 PM

You can store your hunting clothes in a bag with a few cedar boughs and it will be far more comfortable than rubbing yourself with dirt.

loggerhead · February 24, 2006, 03:23 PM

The natural scents work. Try breaking a few odeferous limbs near where you will be sitting up, such as cedar or pine or peal a piece of the bark off with your sword.

This way you avoid the sandy crouch and poison ivy armpits.

Makes you a lot easier to get along with in the camp house too.

stevelyn · February 25, 2006, 09:12 AM

Covering yourself with cedar boughs or anything else for that matter doesn't really mask human scent. All you end up doing is mixing your scent in with the cedar boughs.

The key to eliminating or minimizing human scent is controlling the bacteria that causes it. There are a few products that can, but they don't eliminate it entirely.

The best thing you can do to minimize scent detection is to be aware of the wind direction and thermals and avoid having any scents on you that would be out of place for your location.

loggerhead · February 25, 2006, 12:45 PM

very few cover scents work unless you first eliminate as much "normal" scent as possible with the odorless bacterial neutralizing soaps. If you do this and use natural native scents, forget about the wind. Do not try this with scents not natural to the environment in which you are hunting.
IF you go out smelling like bacon frying or an old bar rag, you are gonna get busted, I don;t care what you use.

Rembrandt · February 25, 2006, 07:47 PM

As previously stated, cover scents don't work like you'd think.

Nearly all wildlife have straight nasal channels that directs scent straight to the olfactory.... if a buck can distinguish the individual scent between multiple doe's, it will certainly be able to seperate human scent from a bottle of cover up.

Human nasal passages are spiral shaped, unlike long nosed animals. The spiral shape mixes the aromas before it gets to the olfactory, that's why humans can't distinguish the difference in odor. If you stepped in cow poop....all you smell is a combination of cow poop, cigarette smoke, frying bacon, cologne, or whatever all mixed together. A blood hound dog can still distinguish your original scent no matter what else is on you.

Best advise is to be as clean as possible and use the wind.....

drhunta2 · February 26, 2006, 09:31 AM

I have a friend I hunt with in the Adirondacks. We hunt a farm up there and somewhere he got the idea to put his clothes in a bag with some dried cow dung. Everything went well until he work up a sweat. Evidently the heat and moisture awoke some small critters that were in the dung. The fleas, flies and other no-see-ums bit him up pretty good.

Went to a sportsman's dinner last night and the main speaker Steve Rockey talked about using urine from a holstein that was in heat. Funny image to think of him standing behind the cow to collect the urine, but his permise was that deer smell estrogen and it doesn't matter what animal it's from. Any thoughts or experience?

loggerhead · February 26, 2006, 08:57 PM

An ole friend of mine who has since deceased, Ben Rogers Lee, of Coffeeville Alabama was one of the greatest hunters that there has ever been. He successfully hunted deer with a knife, now thats a different story.
He use to say that the reason for strings on a tampax was so you could tie used ones on the bushes (not george) around your deer stand. He always claimed that women hunters had the advantage over men hunters.

Wild Bill Bucks · February 27, 2006, 11:59 AM

I have raised several deer that have had their mothers run over, and were brought to me.
Up until last year I had a buck that had been with me for three years. I don't fence them in, and they have complete run of the yard, and are free to leave at any time. Sam, was a little buck that could barely walk when I got him, and was the first buck I had been given. I watched him VERY carefully as he grew up, and some of the things I noticed about him were fairly interesting, and taught me quite a bit about how he was.
First thing I noticed, was his ability to pick ONLY the good acorns out of my hand. He would smell maybe 20 acorns in my hand and pick only 2 or 3 to eat, leaving the rest in my hand. After careful observation of the remaining acorns, they were either hollow or had worms or were water soaked. I thought it was pretty neat that he could tell them apart by just smelling them.(Of course, if you had a habit of losing your chewing gum in a chicken yard, you would probably get pretty good at picking it out pretty soon)

Another thing I noticed about Sam was his dis-interest at any kind of loud noises that I made around the house. He could be laying 100 yards from me, and I could bang a spoon on a hub-cap, and would barley get a response out of him. But if you flick your Bic lighter, he would jump up and immediatly put some distance between you.

My Wife made fun of me because every time I would catch him peeing I would try to get a pan under him and catch some, thinking it might be good for a cover scent.
As far as I could tell, it just made me smell like deer piss. I don't think it helped at all during a hunt.

Learned quite a bit off ole Sam, but he dissapeared a couple of years back. He had a 12 point rack last time I saw him and the wife and I figured he probably wouldn't make it through the next hunting season.
Probably just as well, he was getting to be a pretty big pest. He liked the Ice out of my wifes tea glass, and he was getting a little to big for her to be feeding it to him. I don't think he would have intentionally hurt anyone, but his horns were getting to be to big to be around.
Their sense of smell and hearing are so good that I don't think you will ever find a product that will totally block your oder from them. Best thing is to keep oder to a minimum and watch the wind.

CobrayCommando · February 27, 2006, 02:44 PM

I can't tell if some of you guys are laughing with me or at me...

I was joking about hunting bears with a sword!

I'm archiving this thread in microsoft word, I've learned a lot of things here, so thanks everyone for responding!

After I started this thread I read something online. Someone said that the main reason American Indians would fast and go into sweat lodges before a hunt would be to eliminate as much body odor as possible. As a vegetarian I think I have a natural advantage with this (although my sweat still stinks) as herbivores would naturally be wary of the body odor of a carnivore/omnivore.

This seems to make sense. Also it does seem that women hunters and hippies would have an advantage due to higher levels of the chemical estrogen in their bodies.

I guess it all depends on how dedicated you are to hunting something with your bare hands... To fast for days while staying in 120 degree heat and then rub menstrual stuff all over your body... Pretty damned dedicated!

Desertfox · February 28, 2006, 02:42 PM

As a vegetarian, what are you doing hunting? Feeding the family?
None-the-less, there are body soaps and shampoo for eliminating or at least controlling the bacteria causing odor. There are laundry soaps and dryer sheets for this also.
ScentBlocker suits, Gum for your breath, fresh earth scent, fall blend scent, Ghost pills for your sweat glands, rubber boots for your scent trail, and I have not even gotten into cover scent.

The market is full of multi million dollar companies selling scientific products that enhance your scent problem.

You could burn dried cow dung and stand in the smoke. A personal choice you should probably talk over with whoever is riding with you.

I read a story where a guy rolled in water and ash and then rolled in crushed up leaves. He actually tried to pull white hairs out of whitetail deer as they stepped over him on the trail.

No scratchy pits or sandy drawers. And I aint sweating it out for days in a hot anything just to rub menstral anything on me.
Me, I will spend 3 bucks for the barsoap and 5 bucks for the spray and call it love.

buckster · February 28, 2006, 04:11 PM

I just rub Female deer scent on me. That brings the bucks every time. Oh and try not to fart.

CobrayCommando · February 28, 2006, 07:33 PM

Yeah, I never said I was hunting anything. If I did trust me, the meat would not go to waste.

February 23, 2006, 06:29 PM	#1
CobrayCommando Junior member Join Date: November 21, 2004 Posts: 1,631	Scent Masking with Nature? Hello all, I was wondering if anyone has tried using dirt or foliage to mask scent? And by this I mean rubbing damp dirt over the skin and maybe using crushed leaves in the underarms and crotch. I figured the major problem to hunting bear with a sword ( kidding) would be masking scent and wondered if anyone had tried this before.

February 24, 2006, 12:09 PM	#4
youp Senior Member Join Date: December 15, 2005 Location: south of Canada, eh? Posts: 438	LMAO If you would rub some nice coarse river sand in your crotch and place a few poison ivy leaves under your armpit I am sure you would be in the proper odorless state of mind to trail and attack a Black Bear with a sword. Please do not try to use a small under powered sword. Use enough sword. __________________ Use enough gun.

February 24, 2006, 12:25 PM	#5
zeisloft Senior Member Join Date: June 7, 2005 Location: Amarillo TX Posts: 419	I have found that overindulging in gin helps when sword hunting bears in juniper country. I suppose it would work in the cedars too. By my logic since many whiskeys are aged in oak or hickory barrels, a fifth of Jimmy Beam applied to the tongue and tonsils ought to assist in masking your sent in the hardwoods. Remember sword safety; always keep your safety cork on the tip of your sword until you are ready to use it. Remind me to explain my theory on attracting wild turkeys with Wild Turkey; I have developed a system to bring them in to mace distance. But that’s too easy, now leopard hunting with a stun gun…there is a challenge. ~z __________________ A scalpel can be just as effective as a broadsword Obviously, Occam was not a reloader

February 25, 2006, 09:12 AM	#9
stevelyn Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2004 Location: Fairbanksan in exile to Aleutian Hell Posts: 2,655	Covering yourself with cedar boughs or anything else for that matter doesn't really mask human scent. All you end up doing is mixing your scent in with the cedar boughs. The key to eliminating or minimizing human scent is controlling the bacteria that causes it. There are a few products that can, but they don't eliminate it entirely. The best thing you can do to minimize scent detection is to be aware of the wind direction and thermals and avoid having any scents on you that would be out of place for your location. __________________ Stop Allowing Our Schools To Be Soft Targets! http://fastersaveslives.org/ East Moose. Wear Wolf.

February 26, 2006, 09:31 AM	#12
drhunta2 Member Join Date: January 20, 2006 Location: Rochester New York Posts: 70	Using cow scent I have a friend I hunt with in the Adirondacks. We hunt a farm up there and somewhere he got the idea to put his clothes in a bag with some dried cow dung. Everything went well until he work up a sweat. Evidently the heat and moisture awoke some small critters that were in the dung. The fleas, flies and other no-see-ums bit him up pretty good. Went to a sportsman's dinner last night and the main speaker Steve Rockey talked about using urine from a holstein that was in heat. Funny image to think of him standing behind the cow to collect the urine, but his permise was that deer smell estrogen and it doesn't matter what animal it's from. Any thoughts or experience?

February 23, 2006, 07:15 PM	#2
FirstFreedom Junior member Join Date: May 31, 2004 Location: The Toll Road State, U.S.A. Posts: 12,451	Funny you mention that. Since I have made natural scent blocker from cedar tree 'leaves' (boiling; straining), I have been contemplating just taking a bunch of leaves & dirt from the hunting grounds, and doing the same, for a homegrown fresh-earth scent. Haven't done it yet though.

February 24, 2006, 11:31 AM	#3
CobrayCommando Junior member Join Date: November 21, 2004 Posts: 1,631	Thats awesome, tell me how it turns out! You could sell it as cologne in California.

February 24, 2006, 01:04 PM	#6
Clayfish Senior Member Join Date: May 19, 2005 Location: Valdosta, GA Posts: 953	I've found that building a small fire with leaves and standing in the smoke works really well. I read about an indian tracker that does this and have tried it several times.

February 24, 2006, 01:57 PM	#7
fisherman66 Senior Member Join Date: August 22, 2005 Location: The Woodlands TX Posts: 4,679	You can store your hunting clothes in a bag with a few cedar boughs and it will be far more comfortable than rubbing yourself with dirt.

February 24, 2006, 03:23 PM	#8
loggerhead Junior member Join Date: February 10, 2006 Location: Right of the Mississippi but South of the Mason Dixie line Posts: 132	The natural scents work. Try breaking a few odeferous limbs near where you will be sitting up, such as cedar or pine or peal a piece of the bark off with your sword. This way you avoid the sandy crouch and poison ivy armpits. Makes you a lot easier to get along with in the camp house too.

February 25, 2006, 12:45 PM	#10
loggerhead Junior member Join Date: February 10, 2006 Location: Right of the Mississippi but South of the Mason Dixie line Posts: 132	very few cover scents work unless you first eliminate as much "normal" scent as possible with the odorless bacterial neutralizing soaps. If you do this and use natural native scents, forget about the wind. Do not try this with scents not natural to the environment in which you are hunting. IF you go out smelling like bacon frying or an old bar rag, you are gonna get busted, I don;t care what you use.

February 25, 2006, 07:47 PM	#11
Rembrandt Senior Member Join Date: August 10, 2002 Posts: 2,108	As previously stated, cover scents don't work like you'd think. Nearly all wildlife have straight nasal channels that directs scent straight to the olfactory.... if a buck can distinguish the individual scent between multiple doe's, it will certainly be able to seperate human scent from a bottle of cover up. Human nasal passages are spiral shaped, unlike long nosed animals. The spiral shape mixes the aromas before it gets to the olfactory, that's why humans can't distinguish the difference in odor. If you stepped in cow poop....all you smell is a combination of cow poop, cigarette smoke, frying bacon, cologne, or whatever all mixed together. A blood hound dog can still distinguish your original scent no matter what else is on you. Best advise is to be as clean as possible and use the wind.....

February 26, 2006, 08:57 PM	#13
loggerhead Junior member Join Date: February 10, 2006 Location: Right of the Mississippi but South of the Mason Dixie line Posts: 132	An ole friend of mine who has since deceased, Ben Rogers Lee, of Coffeeville Alabama was one of the greatest hunters that there has ever been. He successfully hunted deer with a knife, now thats a different story. He use to say that the reason for strings on a tampax was so you could tie used ones on the bushes (not george) around your deer stand. He always claimed that women hunters had the advantage over men hunters.

February 27, 2006, 11:59 AM	#14
Wild Bill Bucks Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2005 Location: Southeastern Oklahoma, Next door to Sasquatch Posts: 1,266	I have raised several deer that have had their mothers run over, and were brought to me. Up until last year I had a buck that had been with me for three years. I don't fence them in, and they have complete run of the yard, and are free to leave at any time. Sam, was a little buck that could barely walk when I got him, and was the first buck I had been given. I watched him VERY carefully as he grew up, and some of the things I noticed about him were fairly interesting, and taught me quite a bit about how he was. First thing I noticed, was his ability to pick ONLY the good acorns out of my hand. He would smell maybe 20 acorns in my hand and pick only 2 or 3 to eat, leaving the rest in my hand. After careful observation of the remaining acorns, they were either hollow or had worms or were water soaked. I thought it was pretty neat that he could tell them apart by just smelling them.(Of course, if you had a habit of losing your chewing gum in a chicken yard, you would probably get pretty good at picking it out pretty soon) Another thing I noticed about Sam was his dis-interest at any kind of loud noises that I made around the house. He could be laying 100 yards from me, and I could bang a spoon on a hub-cap, and would barley get a response out of him. But if you flick your Bic lighter, he would jump up and immediatly put some distance between you. My Wife made fun of me because every time I would catch him peeing I would try to get a pan under him and catch some, thinking it might be good for a cover scent. As far as I could tell, it just made me smell like deer piss. I don't think it helped at all during a hunt. Learned quite a bit off ole Sam, but he dissapeared a couple of years back. He had a 12 point rack last time I saw him and the wife and I figured he probably wouldn't make it through the next hunting season. Probably just as well, he was getting to be a pretty big pest. He liked the Ice out of my wifes tea glass, and he was getting a little to big for her to be feeding it to him. I don't think he would have intentionally hurt anyone, but his horns were getting to be to big to be around. Their sense of smell and hearing are so good that I don't think you will ever find a product that will totally block your oder from them. Best thing is to keep oder to a minimum and watch the wind.

February 27, 2006, 02:44 PM	#15
CobrayCommando Junior member Join Date: November 21, 2004 Posts: 1,631	I can't tell if some of you guys are laughing with me or at me... I was joking about hunting bears with a sword! I'm archiving this thread in microsoft word, I've learned a lot of things here, so thanks everyone for responding! After I started this thread I read something online. Someone said that the main reason American Indians would fast and go into sweat lodges before a hunt would be to eliminate as much body odor as possible. As a vegetarian I think I have a natural advantage with this (although my sweat still stinks) as herbivores would naturally be wary of the body odor of a carnivore/omnivore. This seems to make sense. Also it does seem that women hunters and hippies would have an advantage due to higher levels of the chemical estrogen in their bodies. I guess it all depends on how dedicated you are to hunting something with your bare hands... To fast for days while staying in 120 degree heat and then rub menstrual stuff all over your body... Pretty damned dedicated!

February 28, 2006, 02:42 PM	#16
Desertfox Senior Member Join Date: January 26, 2006 Location: Arkansas-Oklahoma Line Posts: 336	As a vegetarian, what are you doing hunting? Feeding the family? None-the-less, there are body soaps and shampoo for eliminating or at least controlling the bacteria causing odor. There are laundry soaps and dryer sheets for this also. ScentBlocker suits, Gum for your breath, fresh earth scent, fall blend scent, Ghost pills for your sweat glands, rubber boots for your scent trail, and I have not even gotten into cover scent. The market is full of multi million dollar companies selling scientific products that enhance your scent problem. You could burn dried cow dung and stand in the smoke. A personal choice you should probably talk over with whoever is riding with you. I read a story where a guy rolled in water and ash and then rolled in crushed up leaves. He actually tried to pull white hairs out of whitetail deer as they stepped over him on the trail. No scratchy pits or sandy drawers. And I aint sweating it out for days in a hot anything just to rub menstral anything on me. Me, I will spend 3 bucks for the barsoap and 5 bucks for the spray and call it love. __________________ Teach a kid to respect wildlife, then teach a kid to hunt and fish.

February 28, 2006, 04:11 PM	#17
buckster Senior Member Join Date: January 24, 2006 Posts: 674	Scents I just rub Female deer scent on me. That brings the bucks every time. Oh and try not to fart.

February 28, 2006, 07:33 PM	#18
CobrayCommando Junior member Join Date: November 21, 2004 Posts: 1,631	Yeah, I never said I was hunting anything. If I did trust me, the meat would not go to waste.