First Post… Looking for some expert opinions

I finally made the jump over from the sister site…

Having spent over 20 days in the woods so far this year I’ve had plenty of time to think about hunting… One of the things I’m constantly thinking about and trying to improve is scent control. It seems this year as if I’ve had more issues with scent than ever before (much of it due to swirling wind and having it change directions multiple times after I’d gotten to my stand) so have have a quick question for folks. What are your thoughts on the best type of hunting boot for using during warmer weather during archery season?

Currently have been using rubber boots thinking that they will trap scent better and leave less of a scent trail walking to my stand than a traditional leather/fabric hunting boot. However they don’t breath at all and by the time I get to my stand my feet are usually sweating a lot.

My question for everyone is… Do you think it’s better to use a rubber boot to trap foot odor or use a traditional boot to minimize my feet sweating in the first place?

Granted I know nothing is perfect, but I’m hoping to find the best combination archery season hunting boot that I can… What would folks reccomend? Leather/fabric, rubber, or even neoprene? I’m heading to cabelas tonight to take advantage of the employee pricing sale and looking to pick a new pair so hoping for a quick response.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

It’s about time you joined the hunting site! Welcome aboard Will and what a great question for your first post!

For years I wore rubber boots thinking that was the way to best control my scent but recent studies have shown that rubber boots actually retain more scent than leather and contrary to the industry’s assumption. I now wear Danner boots and I have 2 pairs – one uninsulated for early season and another with 1200 grams for colder weather. I treat them the same as my clothing and only wear them for hunting. They go in the bin right after I get done hunting and I never wear them in the truck.

Here’s an interesting study that shows how rubber retains more scent than leather:

Leather vs. Rubber Boots in Decon Tests

Welcome to the cool side of IDO…

I hunt out of both types of boots. I use the scent killer powder in both and I also spray the heck out them before getting into the woods.

Alright Brad, next time you have good info like that…post it before I drop the cash on a new set of alpha burly’s! Thanks for the read!

FYI, just an observation I see frequently with guys in both hunting and trapping. This goes for any material. Never put your boots on at home or the cabin and then drive to your destination. Put them on field side as you are about to go out. Little mistakes are made along the way – stop at a gas station, walk through forgien matter,….its too easy to pick up a non-natural scent and take it along.
I made a mistake like this many years ago. Stopped at a gas station while I was setting up my K9 line (trapping) over the next couple days, had coyotes walk up to 10 or 15 feet away, and turn from the set. Gas on the bottom of my boots did me in

Thanks Brad! I should have known you’d have exactly the chart I was looking for

After my field observations this fall I was planning on going back to leather boots again. Your info backs up my gut feeling that rubber boots weren’t helping me and actually may have been a negative because my feet were sweating more.

I have also read some interesting articles about using bloodhounds to compare scent trails left by a person walking with boot traditional hunting boots and rubber boots and they both do leave a scent trail which came to the same conclusion.

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Welcome to the cool side of IDO…

I hunt out of both types of boots. I use the scent killer powder in both and I also spray the heck out them before getting into the woods.

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Thanks Kooty… I agree with the spray and powder… One of my future topics of discussion will be scent control brands. One in particular that I have never used but am interested in people thoughts on is “Buck Jammer”.

I also have a receipe for homemade scent control spray that I would be interested in giving to anyone if they lived in the country and were willing to do a little field research for me

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FYI, just an observation I see frequently with guys in both hunting and trapping. This goes for any material. Never put your boots on at home or the cabin and then drive to your destination. Put them on field side as you are about to go out. Little mistakes are made along the way – stop at a gas station, walk through forgien matter,….its too easy to pick up a non-natural scent and take it along.

I made a mistake like this many years ago. Stopped at a gas station while I was setting up my K9 line (trapping) over the next couple days, had coyotes walk up to 10 or 15 feet away, and turn from the set. Gas on the bottom of my boots did me in

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Great advice Randy! I’m with you on that one… I carry all of my clothes in sealed container in my vehicle until I get to my hunting location and dress in the field.. However I do dress before riding in on the ATV. Even then I carry my boots on the ride to the stand to try and keep my feet from sweating as long as possible. I have started to wonder though if even riding the ATV ends up causing some possible exhaust scent on the ride out so I carry spray along and give myself one last spray down after I park.

This advice is huge for fishermen as well… make sure to carry some scent killer soap along and wash your hands if you stop at a gas station to fill you boat up before hitting the water

Here’s my take on scent control. If you hunt in very remote areas or if you are after a really mature intelligent buck, then it matters. Otherwise it doesn’t seem to make any difference for me. I easily passed up 30 deer in 6 days of hunting last year’s muzzleloader season. All were within 30 yards and many were within a few yards just hanging out under my stand.

I don’t use any kind of sent control. I wear the same unwashed hunting jacket that’s hung in my stinky garage for years. I wear the same stinky Carhartt bibs that I use to work on my truck and are covered in oil stains and raccoon blood and all that good stuff. All the rest of my hunting clothes including my boots are covered in common human smells. It just doesn’t seem to matter.

In fact 4 years ago I was hunting on the ground behind my house. I had deer 5-8 yards looking right at me and sniffing away. They just turned and walked 10 yards and bedded down right in front of me. They just didn’t care and I know they smelled me.

But I have yet to have a monster buck come in on me being all stinky and such. So there is a good chance they are avoiding me because they smell me. Then again, perhaps I really do smell like roses and deer just love my smell….

Caincando1,
There is some very good info in what you posted about not using anything. My Dads blaze orange coat stays in the barn year round. Never washed, he just simply doesn’t do a thing for scent control….but actually he is. His clothes match the natural environment of the farm and what these deer smell every day. Same as when I’m running traps up there for coyotes. I’ll walk in manure, scrape my feet through the mud in the corn field, and I have a kneeling pad that is up there all the time. Coyotes are easy pick’ins because the scent control is just matching the enviroment. Now those OLD bucks and big female coyotes have a sixth sense about them

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Welcome to the cool side of IDO…

I hunt out of both types of boots. I use the scent killer powder in both and I also spray the heck out them before getting into the woods.

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Thanks Kooty… I agree with the spray and powder… One of my future topics of discussion will be scent control brands. One in particular that I have never used but am interested in people thoughts on is “Buck Jammer”.

I also have a receipe for homemade scent control spray that I would be interested in giving to anyone if they lived in the country and were willing to do a little field research for me

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I think you meant “Nose Jammer”. I have just heard about it also. Although I am skeptic of it, I know the history of where it came from and they put 100% effort and belief into it so I am curious if anyone has any experience with it?

On a side note, I have 3 different friends with little connection to each other, and all spend an absurd amount of hours in the woods, and all 3 absolutely SWEAR they wont go in the woods without their Ozonics. Anyone with experience using this?

“Nose Jammer” I have used this stuff all season and it works awesome The last 2 deer I shot came down wind at Gunner and I ( sitting on the ground ) and had no idea at all Shot them both at 20 yards

Web,

I’ve heard great things about both products from friends I trust. I’ll be adding an ozonics next fall to my bag of tricks. Bob B here is using one for the first time this fall and we should see a report on it shortly after deer season. I can tell you this, he has been very happy so far.

I know two guys who hunt a bunch and they both love the Nose Jammer product. I have yet to try it, but again, I trust these two guys as they spend way more time in the stand than I. It will definitely be in my of tricks next fall. I’ll see if we can get a product review out of one of them.

Kooty

1’st shotgun season ends here today,I will be trying nose jammer tomorrow night for the 1’st time and I will use it through the rest of the archery season. Especially in a timber I hunt that is very hard to get in without being winded.

I am currently testing the Ozonics HR200 and have never been winded while using it. On opening day we hunted out of a blind with a south wind blowing directly into the bedding area, saw 18 deer throughout the day and never once had one give me a second look more to come after the testing is complete

I think its pretty cool that Ozonics is one of the other products that I really thought might have merit and was going to solicit some of your opinions in a future post… That it was independantly brought up gives me a pretty good feeling about giving it a try myself

Thanks everyone for the input… Looks like I’ve got some new material for the Christmas list

Scent matters alot, but wind direction and hunting the wind matter much more. There is two different views in action with your question. Nothing beats a set of rubber boots to get to and from stands while leaving minimum scent….But as mentioned rubber boots can cause more retained odor to leak while on stand, where comes in hunting stands correctly based on wind direction.
I swear a mature doe or buck will always peg you down wind no matter the amount of spray, high dollar clothing, cover scents, etc. The only exception to this is thermals and swirls, etc which can make it seem to us that we fooled the whitetails nose. We will never fool their nose, everything smells like something downwind. Scent sheild has a smell of its own, as does, our scent locker clothing, soaps, even our rubber boots smell like rubber boots.
I really focus on the least amount of scent I can put down to and from stands and work the wind as to how and when I hunt stands. You’ll never win, one can only try to minimize our intrusions.

Well said Eric

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Scent matters alot, but wind direction and hunting the wind matter much more. There is two different views in action with your question. Nothing beats a set of rubber boots to get to and from stands while leaving minimum scent….But as mentioned rubber boots can cause more retained odor to leak while on stand, where comes in hunting stands correctly based on wind direction.
I swear a mature doe or buck will always peg you down wind no matter the amount of spray, high dollar clothing, cover scents, etc. The only exception to this is thermals and swirls, etc which can make it seem to us that we fooled the whitetails nose. We will never fool their nose, everything smells like something downwind. Scent sheild has a smell of its own, as does, our scent locker clothing, soaps, even our rubber boots smell like rubber boots.
I really focus on the least amount of scent I can put down to and from stands and work the wind as to how and when I hunt stands. You’ll never win, one can only try to minimize our intrusions.

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Well said and I totally agree

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not expecting to find a magic cure to avoid being scented. I spend 90% of my early season hunting on the edges of alfalfa fields and staying out of the woods. Since the deer I’m looking for are usually coming out of the woods behind me I usually hunt only when there is a slight breeze actually blowing out into the field… I usually pass up a ton of deer and get to spend the night watching them graze in the alfalfa and even get to see the young ones chasing each other around like pups at the dog park. Up until this year I’ve never had issues getting scented by deer once they get out 40-50 yds in the field, but this year it happened on a few occasions which i think were mainly due to the warmer temps and how sweaty I would get walking out to the stand which is why next year I’m going to try going back to traditional boots and hopefully cut down on scent once I’m in the tree.