Early Season Deer Hunting Clothing and Scent Tips

If you consider yourself among the “traditional” deer hunting crowd, you might not always pursue the latest and greatest hunting gear out there. What worked twenty years ago still works today, right? Well, unfortunately, that’s not always true. If you’re still sporting flannel shirts and blue jeans in the deer stand, you’d probably be amazed at the comfort and performance of today’s hunting clothing, not to mention all the other hunting equipment you could use to stack the odds in your favor! This year we are striving to take our deer hunting clothing and scent control to the next level with our newly developed triple threat approach and 4 step scent control process to help you master early season hunting!

The Issues with Early Season Deer Hunting

If you’re facing the early season, the hot and humid conditions can be really challenging for a deer hunter. When using traditional hunting clothing, you’re not able to regulate your temperature or sweat as well, and you’ll start to really stink from a deer’s perspective. The first weeks and months of deer season are when a deer’s nose is at the top of its game. The humidity and heat allow for deer to pick up on scent particles a lot easier. This is why early season bow hunting is one of the most difficult times to hunt deer.

You should note just how powerful a deer’s nose actually is. Deer have 297 million olfactory scent receptors in their nose. For you to reference we have around 5 million and dogs have around 220 million!   In other words, the odds are pretty stacked against you. Again, hunting the humid early season further increases the level of difficulty to avoid a deer’s nose by increasing the amount and integrity of the scent molecule. The only way we can actually attempt to avoid a deer’s nose is by taking a few extra steps to ensure we stay as well hidden as possible. You can do this by practicing an increased level of attention to the wind direction and take your hunting clothing and scent control very seriously.

So if your hunting clothing and scent control process could use an upgrade, here are some recommendations and a great system to use for the best results possible! Try using this approach this fall and see what level of success it might bring to the table.

Our Choice of Hunting Clothing

We have just recently made our own upgrade to our hunting clothing. Michael, T-Bone, and Nick have sought after a worthy hunting clothing company for quite some time. So we asked a question that inevitably leads us to a great conclusion. Where is the most rugged, durable, and dependable clothing needed when hunting?

Some might answer with a western big game hunt, some a northern whitetail hunt, yet others might actually have the same thought as we did! Arguably the best hunting clothing comes from the frigid waters of the duck hunting blind! In what other hunting situation does extreme weather, plummeting temperatures, and ice cold water have such an impact on the hunt? Knowing this we turned to a clothing company that knows a thing or two about waterfowl hunting.  Surely they would have a worthwhile deer hunting clothing system that could offer functional clothing that could be thrown up against the worse deer hunting conditions imaginable. We were right! The Drake Non-Typical™ deer hunting clothing system brings some serious gear to the table.

“It is exciting to work with a company that has built a great product like the Non-Typical™ clothing.  However, when you combine the product with the whole family and team behind the company, being every bit of great as the clothing they make…now you have got the perfect situation!” – Michael Waddell

The clothing is designed for early, mid, and late season hunting. It offers an ultra-quiet soft-shell fabric that stretches with your movement. The lining of the fabric is made of a lightweight microfleece for warmth and comfort. Finally, and arguably one of the most important features of the clothing, is its scent control technology. Embedded in the Non-Typical™ clothing is Agion Active XL™ scent control. The Agion Active XL™ offers 360° human odor protection by treating the clothing with a dual-action anti-odor technology.

This clothing, combined with the tips below could completely change the way you approach scent control, scent management, and how you hunt the early season!

The 4 Steps to Better Scent Control

These four steps should help you optimize the process of scent control, significantly decrease your human odor, and help you kill more deer down the road.

Step 1: Look in the Mirror

Aside from your hunting clothing, your own hygiene has a big role to play when it comes to scent control during the early season. For example, if you stay in a camp setting for deer season, you may not always be the most fresh-smelling. After waking up in the morning, eat your breakfast, drink your coffee, and do whatever else you need to do that smells like a human. Once these are done, brush your teeth in a non-scented toothpaste and take a shower with scent eliminating shampoo and body wash. The next step is critical, especially when it comes to early season deer hunting.

Hot humid weather will cause you to sweat on the way into the stand. One thing you might have missed in the past is applying a scent-free antiperspirant. By the time you get settled into the stand you might notice your armpits are sending off an unpleasant odor. If you can smell it go ahead and assume the deer have vacated the county. One other critical tool that could help you stay cool and clean in the stand is by loading your hunting pack with plenty of scent eliminating wipes. Using them to wipe down sweat and kill bacteria will help you keep any exposed skin not enveloped in your hunting clothing from putting off too much scent. Once you get this initial process down and achieve a clean start, it’s time for the most important part: scent elimination clothing!

Step 2: Anti-Odor Hunting Clothing

To be really effective in the field, your hunting clothing needs to be waterproof, quiet, breathable, and scent-proof. Again, this year we are trusting our deer hunts to Non-Typical™ clothing by Drake. The clothing accomplishes all these with their base layers, hunting jackets, and hunting pants. The Agion Active XL™ Advanced Control clothing is constructed from a very quiet material with an anti-odor technology that works to combat odor and neutralize your scent.

If you’re relying on old or discount hunting clothes, the fabric has likely spooked deer when you move or you’ve been disappointed in its water repellency (or lack thereof). Of course, camouflage clothes also need to hide you from a deer’s eyesight. The Realtree Camo on the Non-Typical™ clothing will not only keep you quiet but help you stay hidden from all of a deer’s senses all the while keeping you comfortable so you can hunt longer.

Step 3: Scent Elimination in Transit

While wearing the best hunting clothing is a critical first step you shouldn’t pass up, wearing it to the gas station on the way to your hunting property will just undo your efforts. To keep your hunting clothing as scent-free as possible, store them in a Scent Crusher® gear bag or ozone tote to remove any introduced scents and transport to your hunting area (you should still wear street clothing in the truck though). Once you arrive and the truck exhaust is gone with the wind, you can dress in your deer hunting clothing and be confident in the woods.

This also can apply to your hunting clothing and gear storage at home. The Scent Crusher® Ozone Hunter’s Closet will allow you to not only deodorize your equipment but keep it scent free. The full line of odor eliminating products from Scent Crusher® also offers several other applications at home and on the go.

Step 4: Scent In the Field

While the hunting clothing system discussed above will keep you well-hidden from a deer’s nose, you might also want to practice in the field scent techniques. This does not only apply to scent eliminating products like the previously stated scent wipes but also includes field sprays. The Swirling Wind Scent Elimination Spray will apply one final insurance that you and your hunting gear are scent free.

On the other hand, one other key component might be to use the deer’s nose to your advantage. With human odor now eliminated, it might just be time to introduce deer odor. If you really want to pull a buck in on a string, try combining the best deer hunting clothing with some attractant scents.  Deer scents can be either hung on a scent wick on a tree branch or drug along your entry trail. When a mature buck smells this estrous doe in the area and doesn’t detect any human scent, that’s a winning situation. During the early season, one critical scent could be the use of a mock scrape starter. By utilizing a mock scrape, you might be able to create just enough interest to sway a buck away from his typical pattern.

The early season is an exciting time for you, but it can also be a difficult one. A deer’s nose is your biggest enemy in this hot and humid weather. Take notice and employ these hunting clothing and scent control tips. This triple threat and 4 step process utilizing Drake Non-Typical™ clothing, Bone Collector scent-eliminating products, and Scent Crusher® deodorizing tools can and will eliminate your human odor. We are relying on these products this year and upgrading our scent control techniques. Should you do the same?