The scent away stuff works great. I take a shower the night before and then again that morning. I leave all my clothes and boots in airtight containers and wash them in a scent free detergent/ backing soda mix. I also don't put my boots on until I'm in the woods. Once in the woods I spray down with a dirt scented spray. I also put a few drops of doe pee on my boots and then walk to my shooting box. If it's windy I will spray bursts of doe p every 20 feet or so. I know this sounds anal, but it's worth time and effort. It has really paid off for me this year.
I don't do anything special to control my scent becasue I know that no matter what I do games will scent me if they are down wind of me. I've seen hogs that were about 175 yards away react to my scent when the wind changed direction and carried my scent to them. Few days ago I stalked up to a large hog from 200 yards away. I just kept the wind in my face the whole time and I managed to get within 25 yards of him by staying down wind and keeping quiet.
IMHO based on my very limited experience games are most sensitive to scent, followed by movement.
I've found that all deer constantly check the wind for scent. The ones around the farm that are in close proximity to humans (the ones that are eating acorns under the trees in the yard when you drive up after dark) don't seem to react as the deer in the big woods. They test the wind and if they catch your scent, they seem to be extra cautious till the scent stream moves, then they resume their feeding still checking the wind. If the deer in the big woods catches your scent he will usually react more quickly by blowing and then leaving the area. So scent control is very important and wind direction dictates which stand you need to be in or what direction you are still hunting. One thing we don't consider is the deer don't always play by the rules and they sometimes approach a stand from unexpected directions. I'm guilty of looking for them where I saw them last time and am usually surprised as they show up from an unusual angle. Anything you can do to improve your chances is worth doing. Treefarmer
What's really interesting is to hunt inside the woodline of a subdivision. There can be kids playing soccer 100 feet from the deer and they will pay no attention to that whatsoever. But they will still bust you in a ladder stand 20 yards from them. I swear they can tell how far away a human is by the strength of the scent. To watch the deers reactions in a subdivision is a real learning experience to their survival instincts
IMO, the scent control business is making lots of $$$. you cannot disguise scent. We have had this discussion before. A 15' ladder stand or wind direction is probably the best scent manager. Just an opinion, and you know what they say about that. Everone has one.
