100% new hunter please help

[NelsonV]

I wash my clothes in scent free detergent and that's it. No scent free spray, no cover scent, no Ozonics. I just let the wind do its job. I hunt 30ft up most trees so even if they sneak in behind me I still get a crack at them.

[Txbownut]

Don't forget to spray down your gear; bow, quiver, hunting pack etc. I use a plastic tote to store all my clothes also and change when I get to the woods. Don't go overboard with cover scents and attractants. Use what is natural around you; cedar branches, green pine straw. My theory is that especially on public land, there will be every commercial scent possible sprayed all over the place. Remember this... deer pattern the hunters way before the hunters pattern the deer. Try to approach your hunting area from down wind. Another trick I learned hunting public land is to not hunt the open areas. You may see deer feeding in right of ways or fields, but deer don't like the open as much as they do thick cover. I have seen deer ( bucks and does) stand 25 -60 yards off of a pipeline crossing or a field edge for 30 minutes or more just watching and smelling. If you move, and they spot you, they usually just slip back the direction they come from. Don't forget to use the competition to your advantage. The other public hunters will hunt until about 9am, give or take 30 minutes. About an hour after they get out of the woods, the deer will move. You just have to outlast them. Welcome to the green screen and good luck!

[Mudslinger]

Keep it simple and forget all the expensive clothing and such. Stay claen body wise before each hunt if possible, smoke all your hunting clothes and play the wind. Very effective,very easy and simple and very cheap.

[Okiehunter]

Keep your nose to the wind my friend, keep your nose to the wind. If they get down wind you are busted.

[Texas Grown]

Many times on cooler days and warm ones, I will wear a minimum of clothing to get to the stand. The object here is to keep the perspiration down. Then done my camo before or after climbing in. If I've been sweating. or expect such walking to a stand, I also take a 1 or 2 gallon zip lock baggy with me to put my sweaty shirt in and seal it shut. Then put it in my pack for additional sealment. And put the clean dry shirt on for the hunt. Same with coats and coveralls/overalls, I pack in on my pack, not on my back . Same goes when leaving a hunt area if possible.

Edit: I also use zip-lock bags for keeping all things electronic dry, TP dry, extra flashlight or headlight batteries dry, mini DVD dry, nitrile(sp) field dressing gloves dry, ect. If you need to take energy snacks because of an all day sit, Zipp-em in a zip-lock bag. Try not to take anything to "crumbly" where crumbs may fall fro your stand. I also use Gator-aid a lot in the quart sized bottles. Usually the grape flavor. Wild grapes are a natural forage here in Texas. And deer love wild grapes! The empty bottle serves as a urinal afterwards.

I also try to get as high as possible to get my scent cone up off the ground, to when it dose get back down there, it is way way out there. And maybe the deer will walk under it, not through it. When given the opportunity, I also try to play a cross wind, not down wind. I try to sit across from where I expect the animals to come from. That way, if they circle down wind, they may not catch my scent.

[artillery]

Second hunt ever and stalked a doe to about 20 yard then regretfully let her go on her merry way because I hunt at lbj grasslands wish she wish she would have been there last Monday. Sure would like some meet in the freezer. No bucks though. But for my second hunt ever i will call it a win getting that close to a deer. Couldn't have done it with out all the research and help from all of y'all. I wouldn't have gotten close.

[jljjdye]

Don't forget to spray down your gear; bow, quiver, hunting pack etc. I use a plastic tote to store all my clothes also and change when I get to the woods. Don't go overboard with cover scents and attractants. Use what is natural around you; cedar branches, green pine straw. My theory is that especially on public land, there will be every commercial scent possible sprayed all over the place. Remember this... deer pattern the hunters way before the hunters pattern the deer. Try to approach your hunting area from down wind. Another trick I learned hunting public land is to not hunt the open areas. You may see deer feeding in right of ways or fields, but deer don't like the open as much as they do thick cover. I have seen deer ( bucks and does) stand 25 -60 yards off of a pipeline crossing or a field edge for 30 minutes or more just watching and smelling. If you move, and they spot you, they usually just slip back the direction they come from. Don't forget to use the competition to your advantage. The other public hunters will hunt until about 9am, give or take 30 minutes. About an hour after they get out of the woods, the deer will move. You just have to outlast them. Welcome to the green screen and good luck!

Good stuff there

[jljjdye]

I have also found that using skunk as cover scent and sitting in double bull ground blind I have yet to be busted. This is after doing all the above scent free care. See ya out there