I'm curious to hear what other folks' experiences have been with ScentLok. I had full ScentLok clothing for the last month of the season, my first experience with ScentLok. I approached it like this: I needed new camo anyway. My predator camo was over 10 years old and lived a good life. I got the ScentLok on sale at a pretty fair price, not much different than just buying decent camo gear. If it works, great. If it's not what it's cracked up to be, I still needed new camo. I'm using the Savannah head covering, a medium weight jacket (can't remember the model name), light weight base layer top, Savannah pants, and I even grabbed a pair of their medium weight wool socks.
I refresh the ScentLok in the dryer per their recommendations (time/hourly use intervals), and use an ozone unit to kill any odor on the outside of the clothing (which they also recommend). My underlayers get cleaned in Dead Down Wind detergent and also ozone'd. All of my layers get kept in tight totes. I also clean and ozone my towels that I use after scent-free showers, and periodically ozone my boots. On any hike in, if I anticipate sweating, I pack as many layers in on my back in my pack, and dress near the stand. I also spray down my pack after those long hikes with scent killer. My pack and saddle, also kept clean and ozone'd periodically. My routine does not change. I keep things clean, always shower, and use an ozone tote.
What has not been consistent has been my results with deer downwind. I have had sits where I undoubtedly think it works and works great. My first sit I had a pair of 1.5 year old bucks inside 20 with the thermals dropping right to them. No issues. My second sit I had a bunch of deer downwind within 70 yards, no issues. When I anticipated issues was on my long public hikes in. Going over a mile, I will sweat a lot no matter how much I strip down. One of those long hikes, I had three does downwind inside 30 yards. The first deer walks through calmly. The second got something and snorted, bounced 30 yards, and snorted some more. The 3rd walked through and never got alarmed. I swear the two that didn't bust were looking at the other deer like "WTF?" I had a big doe straight downwind inside 20 in the brush after a 1.6 mile hike, not alarmed. The big buck that I encountered the last weekend got nervous when the wind swirled to him at 40. He never blew, but he got something and walked away. The worst encounter I had with it was the last night of season. A doe fawn snorted and blew out after getting to 30 downwind.
I'm not sure what to think about it so far. I've felt like it has worked some, and not worked at other times. I'm also not sure why the results have been inconsistent when my prep has stayed the same. The biggest head-scratcher was that last doe because that was an easy walk in, short in distance, and I was clean. I didn't sweat getting in, but damn she had my ass. I'll continue to try to hunt the wind as best I can and hope for the best when deer end up downwind.
Curious to hear what others have to say, and what others have experienced.
I refresh the ScentLok in the dryer per their recommendations (time/hourly use intervals), and use an ozone unit to kill any odor on the outside of the clothing (which they also recommend). My underlayers get cleaned in Dead Down Wind detergent and also ozone'd. All of my layers get kept in tight totes. I also clean and ozone my towels that I use after scent-free showers, and periodically ozone my boots. On any hike in, if I anticipate sweating, I pack as many layers in on my back in my pack, and dress near the stand. I also spray down my pack after those long hikes with scent killer. My pack and saddle, also kept clean and ozone'd periodically. My routine does not change. I keep things clean, always shower, and use an ozone tote.
What has not been consistent has been my results with deer downwind. I have had sits where I undoubtedly think it works and works great. My first sit I had a pair of 1.5 year old bucks inside 20 with the thermals dropping right to them. No issues. My second sit I had a bunch of deer downwind within 70 yards, no issues. When I anticipated issues was on my long public hikes in. Going over a mile, I will sweat a lot no matter how much I strip down. One of those long hikes, I had three does downwind inside 30 yards. The first deer walks through calmly. The second got something and snorted, bounced 30 yards, and snorted some more. The 3rd walked through and never got alarmed. I swear the two that didn't bust were looking at the other deer like "WTF?" I had a big doe straight downwind inside 20 in the brush after a 1.6 mile hike, not alarmed. The big buck that I encountered the last weekend got nervous when the wind swirled to him at 40. He never blew, but he got something and walked away. The worst encounter I had with it was the last night of season. A doe fawn snorted and blew out after getting to 30 downwind.
I'm not sure what to think about it so far. I've felt like it has worked some, and not worked at other times. I'm also not sure why the results have been inconsistent when my prep has stayed the same. The biggest head-scratcher was that last doe because that was an easy walk in, short in distance, and I was clean. I didn't sweat getting in, but damn she had my ass. I'll continue to try to hunt the wind as best I can and hope for the best when deer end up downwind.
Curious to hear what others have to say, and what others have experienced.