So first and foremost let's talk ozone. There are multiple companies out today that are selling ozone producing products, Scent Crusher and Ozonics are by far the leading innovators in the industry but lately I've seen HME and ScentLok coming out with their own ozone units. Since, I'm a Field Staff member for Scent Crusher, I'm going to talk about their products.
oxygen atoms (O3), and since its an unstable compound, it's going to try to find a way to become stable. So the O3 molecule uses odor causing bacteria as a catalyst to help it get rid of one of its oxygen atoms which then turns into pure oxygen (O2). To put this simply, it turns odor into pure, scentless oxygen. Now, ozone does have a smell, chances are you've smelled it before too! Remember that fresh yet weird smell after a heavy thunder storm? That's ozone! So since it's a naturally occurring compound, the deer don't spook. I have used Scent Crusher for the past three years and ever since then, I have never been winded by a deer. I've had a big mature nanny directly downwind and if it weren't for her seeing me move, I would've smoked her!
I currently use two of Scent Crusher's products and that is the OzoneGo and the Ozone Gear Bag, but Scent Crusher has products to keep you scent free from the moment you wake up in the morning until you go to bed. Here's a quick rundown, you wake up in the morning and jump in the shower, Scent Crusher has body wash, shampoo, and deodorant that uses copper as the active ingredient to destroy odor, then you go into the kitchen, and Jimbo has a fresh pot of coffee and bacon cooking, enter the Room Clean, it's an ozone generator that treats the room you're in to kill any smell around, then you go into your hunting room and take your treated clothes out of your Ozone Hunter's Closet and put them into your Ozone Gear Bag, jump into the truck, plug in the Ozone Go to kill the smell of wet dog from last weekend in your truck. While you drive to the woods, you can run a cycle in your gear bag, then you get to the stand, your clothes are freshly treated and your up in the stand, the wind shifted, you can pull out the new in the field unit, called the Field Pro and get it running in the stand.
Point being, there are products for every situation, and every one of them is effective, with Scent Crusher, the quality is there for a very affordable price, on top of that their customer service is second to none! If you'd like to see the full line, visit www.scentcrusher.com.
On to scouting tactics, everyone has their own method and there are a vast majority of people that have way more experience and way more success than I do. My knowledge is based off hunting Florida ranch land and swamps and Georgia farmland and planted pines. I'm currently hunting in Illinois on public land so its a very large learning curve. That being said, I start scouting the week following the close of season, the deer are relaxed and you can see where they move along trails and which late season food sources are still around and being utilized. In my opinion, food is key, find a food source, and set up a trail camera on it. Deer are lazy, so they will take the path of least resistance, so if you have a cattle trail that runs through the thickest, nastiest scrub on your property, I highly recommend trying to set up along that trail. Sometimes there are so many trails, you can tell where they go or what to do. This is when I put miles on my boots and follow the trail and see where they go, doing this, I've found bedding areas and small hidden food sources that have been getting slammed. Everyone's property is different though, so the best way is to just get out there and see where the deer are moving. Start with transition areas, set up on the edge of thick brush and open hardwoods, check out a field edge, or hang a stand over a firebreak. If you put your time in it will be rewarded.
That brings me into my final segment, scent control. So we talked earlier about how ozone eliminates human odors and makes your clothing and gear scent free, but what about those long day sits in the hot early season sun? This is where scent control comes into play, you want to try to set up downwind of the predominant area you believe the deer will be coming from. This is something I just started doing more myself, I would always hunt harder, not smarter, and my season suffered. Lately, I've been taking into account the area topography and where the deer usually travel from. You don't want to set your stand on the north side of a food source, if the deer bed on the north side and you have a predominantly south wind. Sure, your wind is best for the food plot, but you just let every deer in that bedding area know you're there. It's a struggle, but from what I've learned, you want to set up on a "sort of ok" wind. Meaning, if the wind is predominantly south, and the deer bed on the north side of your food source, try to set up on the west side. It narrows your chance of getting busted, and keep the deer in the bedding area unaware, and uneducated.
I hope this post helps, again, big shoutout to Tyler for picking this topic for me, it was a tough one, but I hope I was able to shed some light. Thank y'all so much for the support, good luck this season, and God bless!
-Chris
