My Scent Control Thread Ozone, Carbon, Smoker, or ???

[Lee Haakenson]

I do all the usual stuff discusssd above. I also use wool in the areas i sweat and it seems to dry out and not smell (hat, neck warmer, gloves, socks). I also always put my boots on the dryer after hunting. I bought a $50 ozone generator on amazon and mounted it on the outside of a large rolling plastic trash can. I ran the hose to the inside/bottom. I screwed a wood rod on the top to hang clothes on. Total cost of about $80 bucks. It seems to help but I always ***try*** to play the wind. I hunt hilly country and the wind doesn't always follow the rules. The property layout and size dont offer alot of stand sites and is also an hour away; I need to have minimal scent as a back up plan. Once I take off work, drive and hour and the wind is a little off, Im still going to hunt. At this point in the year, if my stands and hunting approach isnt getting it done, I get on the ground and become mobile - sometimes a 50 yard shift in location makes all the difference. Basically I try to follow the rules, but by rut Im ready to roll the dice and increase my reliance on scent control efforts. Also bucks seem to really let the guard down now and are more worried about does than human scent

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[swat1018]

I keep a boot dryer in the metal locker I turned into my "ozone locker." My boots are on the dryer, inside the locker. I even put my bow, binos, everything in there about 1 time a week.

 

[Bassattackr]

Here's the short answer - I don't use any of that gimicky crap. I just hunt the wind and thermals, works well for me.

I do wash myself and clothing in scent free soap/detergent and wear rubber boots to minimize my scent profile as others have mentioned. That's as far as I care to go.

 

[Tap]

Here's the short answer - I don't use any of that gimicky crap. I just hunt the wind and thermals, works well for me.

I do wash myself and clothing in scent free soap/detergent and wear rubber boots to minimize my scent profile as others have mentioned. That's as far as I care to go.

Sorry man but ozone is not "gimmicky crap".
It been used in industry for decades . Its science.
It must be nice to hunt where the wind is always 100% stable and never screws you at just the wrong time.
O3 for gear...Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

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[Bassattackr]

Sorry man but ozone is not "gimmicky crap".
It been used in industry for decades . Its science.
It must be nice to hunt where the wind is always 100% stable and never screws you at just the wrong time.
O3 for gear...Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.

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Thanks, but I'm well aware of ozone and its "industry" and "science" uses, I'm in both fields.

My point (as others have mentioned) is that there's no replacement for hunting the wind. I just don't buy the fact that you can use ozone molecules in open air to specifically neutralize human scent molecules. Enclosed environments are a different story, but that however comes with other potential issues to both personnel and equipment.

If the wind swirls or isn't stable I would find a more predictable stand location.

 

[Tap]

Thanks, but I'm well aware of ozone and its "industry" and "science" uses, I'm in both fields.

My point (as others have mentioned) is that there's no replacement for hunting the wind. I just don't buy the fact that you can use ozone molecules in open air to specifically neutralize human scent molecules. Enclosed environments are a different story, but that however comes with other potential issues to both personnel and equipment.

If the wind swirls or isn't stable I would find a more predictable stand location.

I was only speaking about closed environment O3 use, not in field use.
I am not convinced that it works in open air stand hunting. Maybe it does, but I am skeptical.
You should have been more specific as to what you meant when you called O3 a gimmick, but no worries here.

As for just hunting the wind, I agree to an extent. I am anal about wind. But in a lot of hunting areas with complex terrain, limited access to small acreage, and minimal choices for stand locations, it's just not feasible, or smart, to ignore odor reduction and rely strictly on wind.

This is not a "one or the other" deal.
Just like energy production...do should all of the above. Not just windmills, solar, gas, hydro, or coal. We use it all.
Odor reduction is much the same.

There are so many tiny little details of odor reduction. Even if you address each and every one (including the wind) you will still get busted. But busts will be fewer and much less intense with odor reduction. Hunting is a lot more interesting to me when I take control of the things that are within my control.

With O3, I can minimize boot odor and all my other gear that I cannot launder. Treating gear with O3 fixes those weak links. I've proven it to myself that it improves my hunting. I love the stuff.


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[Telemark]

If the wind swirls or isn't stable I would find a more predictable stand location.

That would eliminate about 75% of my opportunities on deer. I mostly hunt in a terrain with very unstable wind, because it's one of the only places available to me.

 

[Bassattackr]

I was only speaking about closed environment O3 use, not in field use.

Gotcha, agreed there.

 

[roymunson]

I don't get too worried about it. I hunt the wind. Try to be decent, but I'm under no illusion that I'll fool a deer's nose if he's downwind, at least not with any reliability.

The best thing I've had happen to beat the wind is scentproof blinds. We've had incredible success with silicone caulk and amazing stuff foam. That's a game changer. When your wind's blowing into the bedding area, and they come out of there wind checking the food, and you, and you still beat them. That's dangerous.

 

[WTNUT]

Saw some Gimmick language above. I will admit, even though I have been familiar with Ozone use in the hotel industry for 25 years, I thought the Ozone in the hunting industry was a gimmick. Yesterday, I had 4 mature does directly down wind of me at 25-30 yards and not a one even batted an eye or stopped to take a second wind check. They just fed on through. Now I don’t think for one second that I will never get winded again, but I will say the combination of several steps and precautions now including Ozone use in a container to help clean my cloths and gear is a big step forward.


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[Mortenson]

If I bought the unit in my link, and took turns placing it in our hunting tubs for an hour at a time, would that be a decent way to get started with ozone? I like the idea of it helping remove scent from boots and gear that can't get laundered. From what I can tell, this unit is $75 cheaper than the exact same model in black. Thanks to 35-acre for mentioning it in a different thread, but I wanted to address it here.

OZ Radial EZ White/Grey | Ozone Generator, Portable Air Purifier | ScentLok OZ

The OZRadial EZ in white/grey is ideal for your odor control needs, and designed to seek out and destroy odors and bacteria in its path. Order your ozone generator.

www.scentlok.com

 

[Mortenson]

Been reading up on the ozone technology and it's pretty confusing. One that worries me is in some of the comments it says that ozone itself stinks. Some have said it smells like chlorine. So is the key to just use a tiny amount of it? Can't imagine chlorine will bring the booners running in.

Then in reading ratings of different units I come across this comment about Wildgame Innovations unit -

• zero trace is the only in-field system proven to safely neutralize human scent—none of the damaging effects to your health or gear caused by ozone.

Not sure what to think there.

Still thinking about ordering the ScentLok OZ just to play around a little.

 

[Telemark]

Been reading up on the ozone technology and it's pretty confusing. One that worries me is in some of the comments it says that ozone itself stinks. Some have said it smells like chlorine. So is the key to just use a tiny amount of it? Can't imagine chlorine will bring the booners running in.

Then in reading ratings of different units I come across this comment about Wildgame Innovations unit -

• zero trace is the only in-field system proven to safely neutralize human scent—none of the damaging effects to your health or gear caused by ozone.

Not sure what to think there.

Still thinking about ordering the ScentLok OZ just to play around a little.

Ozone has a strong and distinctive odor. However, it is very unstable. If you use it in a tub or closet in small amounts to remove scent from your gear, there will not likely be a lingering ozone scent on your clothes, especially once they are exposed to air. Ozone works by chemically reacting with other molecules. Once it has reacted with scent particles, for example, it is no longer ozone and will therefor not smell like ozone. You can think of it like hydrogen peroxide. It's unstable and dangerous, but generally safe to use in low concentrations, and once it reacts it breaks down into harmless molecules.

The Wildgame unit does not produce or utilize ozone. It uses ions instead. I don't know what kind of ions or how they react with human scent.

I am planning to use an ozone unit in the future in a tub or closet, especially for my boots/shoes/jackets/etc. that I don't want to wash in detergent and water.

 

[Mortenson]

Thanks. Still reading. About ready to ditch the effort lol. Looks like you're not supposed to just set a small unit in various tubs, due to them not being piped with a fresh source of outside air. I would've gathered that had I read thru this thread more closely. I probably don't have the discipline to be religious about it, and can picture myself walking away like Trampled. Then having to caulk shut a bunch of holes I drilled into my nice tubs. Still weighing options....

 

[Bill]

Before buying an ozone unit marketed by a company that pits a deer on the box and charges an insane markup check out ozone on Amazon. Many different machines and levels of ozone produced.
I think ozone smells like it does outside after a summer rain. I smell it when I first get dressed but once outside of our ozone room it disappears pretty quickly.

 

[Tap]

My odor reduction scheme has morphed and advanced for a lot of years. I thought I was odor conscious before I started using O3 a long time ago but I now realize that there are a ton of moving parts to reducing odor. Ozone is definitely an important part of the program. Also important is really knowing what the wind is doing at any one time. If your odor isn't actually blowing to the deer then how can you really know what is, or isn't working?
After more than a dozen years using O3 in conjunction with habitual milkweed use, I can say that I am 100% confident that O3 has been phenomenal towards minimizing odor busts. I'm talking about O3 use on gear, I have not used it "in field".

But it's not a magic wand. You can't ignore all the other aspects of odor reduction and simply rely on O3. And deer will still wind you under certain conditions, but the level of alarm will often be almost non existent. Sometimes they will just get a little nervous, and sometimes they will show a slight amount of confusion, as if to say to themselves "Huh?, what's that I'm smelling? Oh well, no problem", and then they go back to their normal behavior. I've seen this behavior countless times.
But those utter panic, full blown odor busts seem to be a thing of the past for me. Ozone is only one part of the system.

I did experience this year for the 1st time, the smell of O3 lingering on an article of clothing while I was in the tree. It was on a polypropylene balaclava that I was wearing I could easily smell the O3 on it for the better part of the day that I wore it. I can't say that I ever remember experiencing that over all the years I've used O3. I do usually smell O3 on my gear when I dress before the hunt, but it does dissipate fairly quickly (to the human nose, bust I assume deer can still smell it). Can deer still smell it? Probably. Does the smell alarm them? I highly doubt it.

 

[Telemark]

One simple fact is this:

The less odor you give off, the less detectable you will be.

If you shower with scent-free soap/shampoo, and wash your clothing with scent-free detergent, it will help. If you air out your clothes, it will help. If you use ozone to remove odors from items you cannot wash, it will help.

I plan to do all those things next year, and continuously from then on. Whatever number of hours it takes to get my gear as scent-free as possible will help more than the same number of hours spent in the woods with unnecessary odor on me. Where I have been hunting the last 5 years or so, my encounters with deer are usually under 50 yards and with unstable wind. My lack of scent control has cost me several opportunities on deer.

 

[Tap]

One simple fact is this:

The less odor you give off, the less detectable you will be.

If you shower with scent-free soap/shampoo, and wash your clothing with scent-free detergent, it will help. If you air out your clothes, it will help. If you use ozone to remove odors from items you cannot wash, it will help.

I plan to do all those things next year, and continuously from then on. Whatever number of hours it takes to get my gear as scent-free as possible will help more than the same number of hours spent in the woods with unnecessary odor on me. Where I have been hunting the last 5 years or so, my encounters with deer are usually under 50 yards and with unstable wind. My lack of scent control has cost me several opportunities on deer.

Agreed but there are a bunch of details within each and every detail.
Showering, mouth hygiene, boot care, and a dozen other details have a right way and a wrong way to do them.
The devil is in the details.

 

[Westwind]

This is a great topic. I can tell there are some posters here who have handled police dogs and weave their tracking dog knowledge into deer hunting and vice versa. Makes for better handlers and better hunters!

I love thinking about scent. I have to figure it all out again. Stay with me here while I ramble.

I have taken about 5-6 years off of hunting due to my kids sports. As I return to the tree stand next year I feel much older and I am not sure I can do now what I did back then. I’m a small property landowner. I really liked to be portable and mobile. I tried to never hunt the “wrong” tree and I tried to not hunt the same tree more than a couple times before giving it a long break. I really liked my lone wolf hang on with sticks and liked my lone wolf climber even better. I wanted to be as high in the tree as I could get. I’m not sure I will be doing that anymore. Maybe I will find out different but I’m not sure I’m up to the climbing any more. I’m going to be closer to the ground. Less mobile. I’ll figure it out but it’s going to be different.

I’m going to say something controversial here- I like wearing rubber knee boots. I will never wear them in a deer stand though. They are loud walking in. They make my feet sweat. They “poof” foot odor out the top of the boot when you walk. No matter what I did, they smelled like…. Knee boots. Every time I almost fell out of a tree it was because I was wearing knee boots. I think you are so much better off having a dedicated pair of good leather boots that are only worn out to the stand. Dried out, kept odor free as possible etc etc. Yet no bow hunter is in a proper bow hunting uniform without an awesome pair of rubber knee boots….

Another thing to think about, think of a deer’s nose as being directional. Think of a deers nose and the way they smell differently than we smell odors. They “see” odor with their nose and their brain starts to immediately work out where it’s coming from. They know that where an odor is coming from means something. They know that cow $h!t smell on the ground is good to go but if its coming from 20’ up a tree it isn’t. When you think about scent imagine you can see it like smoke. How it moves, how it disperses, where it goes when its along the ground or up in a tree.

Scent can pool. It can remain for hours, especially with the right humidity or moisture on the ground. If a dog can track a man 3-4 hours after the man was there, a deer certainly can.

If you are a newer hunter or really aren’t predisposed to thinking about odor, there is something to be learned from every post in this thread! Everyone deals with it differently. There is only one wrong answer- not dealing with it in any way. A fatal combination of not reducing it and not hunting the wind.

 

[Belo]

Love these threads because there's always a bunch of guys who occasionally or maybe even routinely kill nice deer with zero scent consideration. These guys are kind of like vegans to me because they're going to let EVERYONE know about it. And it's cool, you can hunt how you want, but don't bash me for the little extra I do for scent control, which is point #2. It's not really that much of a hassle.

What I do.

The basics. Wash my body and hunting clothes with deer on the bottle stuff. Outside layers rarely if ever get washed during the season and stay inside a tote in the truck. Inside layers washed when they get dirty and base layers that get sweaty washed every 4 or so hunts. I spray down my boots and do the little twirl in the spray dance before every hunt. This I don't think really does anything but it's now just kind of a ritual lol. I do have a scentlok baselayer and I'm not sure it works, but it's part of my layering to keep warm anyhow.

More advanced. I do not wash during the season with my normal dove and head and shoulders stuff or do I use any lotions. Everything is basic scent free stuff (not buck on bag). Cera-ve and vanicream are 2 solid brands here. I have an ozone generator that I use in a tote and wardrobe thing that I run a cycle of between hunts over my gear. I've brought it into the ground blind a few times if the wind isn't right but never in a tree. Oh and just because I do all this doesn't mean I don't play the wind. I do. But the wind swirls and deer come from the "wrong direction" sometimes. I also use scent free detergent/softener/dryer sheets for my bed sheets and towels. The wife says these tend to bother her skin sensitivities less anyhow and why take a scent free shower and then dry off with a towel stinking of lavender? It's not anymore expensive and is simply a matter of using the different stuff for your laundry load. Finally I do have a mini-ozone in the truck and I do a good chemical free clean before the season.

Really not a lot of that is of any inconvenience or expense outside maybe the ozone. This year while bowhunting I had both mature bucks and doe upwind and wasn't busted. That was pretty cool!

I do have my limits though. I'm drinking coffee on the way to my place and I don't rinse out after. I eat protein bars in the stand and II pee out of the tree. I have my limits haha.