No matter what four-legged critter you're pursuing, the one thing that will get you busted most often is invisible, drifting on the air. From varmints to every big-game animal, it's the defensive sense of smell that can either ruin your day or work amazingly well in your favor. With the right combination of cover and attractant scents, you can keep your presence concealed and draw the unwary quarry close enough to distinguish detail in their fur.

Author: Frank Ross

A drag is a great way to draw deer to your stand and cover your own scent trail.

With their noses, animals find food, locate potential mates and scour air currents for potential danger. Since we have to breathe, and our breath carries our scent, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to totally eliminate our scent; however, you can reduce it to a point where it isn't a factor. And now there are several products that deodorize or mask your breath, so you can even minimize that. Just remember that minimize is the key word.

Animals expect a big whiff of scent from humans when they're close and just a hint when they're far away. When you take every step to eliminate odor, reducing it to a mere trace should an animal detect it, the minimal amount that you are dispersing will make it appear to the animal that you are in the area, but too far away to put it on alert.

To minimize your scent and maximize your chances of success, consider these four areas of concern: odor elimination in your laundry, scent-control technology such as Scent-Lok® in clothing and footwear, cover scents that mask your presence, and attractants that close the deal.

Start out with a Scent-Lok® base layer.

The laundry
A good scent-control program begins in the laundry, so start with a clean slate. You'll find a number of products in which to wash your hunting clothes, eliminate odors in them and reduce the amount of scent that is present after they're dry. Most serious hunters put their hunting clothes in a bag they can seal tightly, right out of the dryer. I've also seen hunters put their clothes in a bag only to wear their coat in their vehicle on the way to the stand, dropping doughnut crumbs, coffee and cigarette ashes down the front. Another killer mistake is wearing your "lucky" hat that has five years of sweat and odors embedded in the band. If you must wear your lucky hat, wash it with scent-control soap.

Top-quality scent-control laundry soaps not only eliminate odors in the washer, they have special inhibitors that continue to eliminate odors for several days. Once your clothes come out of the laundry, spray them with a scent-killing spray and then bag and seal them tightly. Scent-killing sprays work for days, even after the spray has dried, but it's a good idea to give your boots and clothes a quick dose once you're ready to leave your vehicle.

Cabela's Scent X-Terminator kit

Personal hygiene
While some people don't perspire much, even a little is too much. The foundation to maintaining an unscented trail begins in the shower. Wash with a scent-free body soap and shampoo. Then use a scent-free deodorant that will provide protection no matter what your body's tendency is to sweat. Your body produces and dispenses odors like a game feeder scatters corn. As you walk into any area, you leave your scent on the ground, on tree leaves and on the air. Game that cross your trail will pick up on your scent and leave before you are aware of their presence. Using scent trail boot pads coated with a cover scent is an excellent tactic for eliminating your own trail.

Cabela's Shower Shelter

In the field
When you're in camp for a few days you may notice the faint presence of yourself. The accumulation of body odor and smoke from the campfire add up to a clanging alarm bell of odors to any nose that is working the air. A portable camp shower is the best way to deal with this problem, and the added benefits of a hot shower at the end of the day will more than compensate you for bringing one along.

Towels
During the day you're going to handle things that will leave odors on your hands. The worst of these is filling up at the gas station and having the smell of gasoline or diesel spending the day with you. You'll also eat something during the day and maybe slip a pinch between your cheek and gums. To eliminate the lingering scent on your palms and fingers, take along a pack of scent-removing towels. They come in a resealable plastic bag and don't take up much room in your pack, and they're very handy for multiple-day hunts when no shower is available.

Buck Bomb Scent Fog

Animal and plant-based cover scents
Cover scents can be either environment related, such as cedar or pine scents, acorn and earth scents or those derived from animals. Animal scents such as the aroma of skunk, fox urine, coon urine and others do a good job of concealing your presence, especially for varmint hunters.

Bear and hog
Smoke scents are available in flavors that stimulate the desire to feed in bears and hogs, two species that are partial to eating. Scents such as anise and dead fish are standard fare for bears, and berries and fruit scents attract both bears and hogs. Spoiled meat scents also work for hogs that have curious eating habits.

Elk attractants
Elk hunters use cover scents extensively to mask their presence, and use sexual attractants such as cow-in-heat scent to draw in marauding bulls. For deer hunters, the options are more varied.

Deer attractants
Once you've eliminated your own scent, you're still just a guy sitting in the woods hoping something will stumble into your location. Attractants increase the possibility of that happening by dispersing scents that lure a testosterone-charged quarry. Attractants can be the scent of a female in estrus, female urine or male urine that causes a buck to think a philanderer is in his territory. Attractants are also available in liquids, sprays, dust applications and smoke sticks. Smoke sticks come in a variety of scents including sexual attractants, apple scent, curiosity scents and others for different species.

The more cleverly you distribute attractants, the better your chances. For best results, use an attractant scent in a combination of several presentations, including mock scrapes or active scrape enhancement, elevated scent strips and dragging a strip enroute to your stand or blind.

Another benefit of using attractants is the distraction they create that allows you to set up a shot. While a buck is focused on a hot scent, his mind is totally distracted, which gives you the opportunity to make your final adjustments required to squeeze off a shot.

James Valley Scents Scrape Gel

Scrapes
If you're fortunate enough to locate an active scrape that a buck is checking regularly, the most effective technique is to add a doe-in-estrus scent to make him think he has a receptive doe waiting for his return, and throw in a little buck scent to create a sense of urgency.

Lacking an active scrape, you can create your own by "pawing" away the leaves with a stick and adding the appropriate scents. The best way to do this is by using a hanging scent bag. A drip bag positioned over the scrape will allow you to influence a buck's nocturnal habits. Heat-triggered bags release drops of scent only during the daylight hours, convincing the buck that the doe is showing up in the daytime, during shooting hours. With this type of regulation, an ounce of scent will last several days. A good strategy for scrapes is to use both doe-in-estrus and buck scent, to convince the buck that an interloper is working his territory.

Scent strips
Felt strips or pads dipped in doe scent should be placed on tree branches about 5 feet high. At this height the scent will carry farther and draw bucks from a greater distance.

Wafers
Wafers are a convenient way to cover your scent or to use as attractants. These wafers are pinned to your hunting clothing to effectively mask human odor with a natural cover scent or attractant. Solid-scent wafers use a concentrate that will not spill, freeze or wash away.

Hunter's Specialties Prime Time Scent Wafers

Freshness
It takes a bit of effort to implement an effective cover scent and attractant program, so don't waste that time and the opportunity it presents by using last year's leftover scents. This is especially true with attractants. You want your estrous scents to be as fresh as possible so the buck that sniffs them will be convinced that romance is just around the next tree.

Once you develop a scent-control system and a routine to implement it, you'll be well on your way to bagging that long-sought trophy.

Check out the full selection of cover scents and attractants.