Prior to my hip replacement surgery, I was given a bottle of antibacterial soap and told to use it twice on the mourning of my surgery. They said it was to reduce potential for infection and since I wouldn't be able to shower for a few days, after the surgery it would minimize bacteria that causes bad things including odors.
Prior to a wilderness hunt where I would only be able to use a wash bowl for cleanup, I used the antibacterial soap, thinking it could be beneficial.
Bottom line, I don't know if it was beneficial.
Any thoughts by other hunters?

Most of the ideas about scent control work on the assumption that a game animal's sense of smell is the same as a human's, only much more acute. In other words, they smell the same things we do in the same way that we do, only better. If we find a certain odor noticeable or even offensive, such as locker room B.O., they will surely find it all the more disagreeable and easier to detect.

I'm not so sure about this.

Game animals can detect odors that we have no idea even exist. They may be able to detect human odor from the invisible trail of particles that we inevitably leave behind as we walk. Maybe it's an undetectable (to us) odor in the air we exhale that has nothing to do with dental hygiene. No magic soap or scent shield is going to stop this.

The Natives and our pioneer ancestors were able to subsist on hunting without the aid of scent control products and clothing. Think of the old time buffalo hunters that practically wiped out the vast herds. Can you imagine what those guys smelled like after being out on the plains for months at a time with only an occasional dip in the river for bathing?

Watching the wind direction worked back then and it still works today.

I've hear of vegetarians and vegans claiming that they can approach deer without alarming them. It's as if the deer knows what eats meat or not. This may be nonsense but who knows? Deer certainly react differently to the presence of a human, wolf or bear than a rabbit, squirrel or skunk.

There is a chlorophyll based tablet called Nullo that was originally intended to reduce odor from colostomy bags. When I used to bowhunt, I'd start taking these pills a few weeks before the season opened. I don't know if they did anything other than turn my poop a funny shade of green.

peronally i do not like anti-bacterial soaps, they remove all bacteria from your skin, a lot of which is beneficial. on a hunting trip, where i may have to re-use socks, or at least be in sweaty socks/boots for extended periods of time, i want all the beneficial skin flora i can get to help prevent things like athelets foot. for soap i use "defense" soap, teatree oils and other natural stuff that keeps your skin flora healthy.

for b.o. i like the mineral salt deoderants. it's the single best thing i've ever found to keep me from being stinky. it's a block of salt that you run water on and rub on like you would a deoderant. it sucks that it's wet, but i air dry for a few minutes then pad dry if needed. it's what i use every day now.

when the wife has gone out of town on travel, i've tested this salt deoderant by not showering for a couple days (i work at home, so i was not offending anyone), getting a little ripe, and just applying the deoderant. it took my smell away. i was convinced after that. the idea being the salt prevents the bacteria from growing in a natural way. i'm a fan. just my 2c.

i just buy it at a grocery store around here, but it's a product similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Crystal...neral+salt+deoderant

Atsko, the company that makes Sno-seal, also makes

No-Odor. I've used it for years after getting a bit "ripe." It's just like a talcum, powder.

I read a test about anti bacterial soap. It removed 97% of the bacteria .repeating the test with regular soap ? that removed 96% of the bacteria !! More scam products !
Deer ? they smell lots of things very well .There's a very rare soap that doesn't include perfumes. Chemicals in clothing , in you is easy for the deer to detect.
Chemicals in clothing include permethren in some products which is said by the maker will last 70 washings !! You can't even wash out the stuff. Might as well rub yourself with apples , the deer will come and sit on your lap !

as far as just using it for general washing up I think the anti soap is a pretty good idea.
your getting little cuts, scrapes, and dings and are exposing yourself to stuff you don't normally see at home in the city.

mule deer use their nose of course but their big thing is eyesight and hearing.
seeing them first will pay off 90 sumthin times out of 100.
not making clinky clanky sounds they aren't used to will pay off that last little bit.

smelling a little ripe after a few day's isn't that big of a deal, you already smell like a forest fire, have undercooked bacon and egg burps, blood from your buddy's kill, and whatever else you spilled on you or stepped in the last 2 days.

Only if the wind is in your face!

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
There's a very rare soap that doesn't include perfumes.

Sports Wash

I'm with Ray and Venandi. Back before I stopped smoking, I was able to approach elk and deer to within what should have been ridiculously easy bow range by keeping a cigarette burning during the stalk and watching the wind.

Problem was, this was before compound bows and sights came along. I was such a lousy archer I couldn't hit a tank at three feet with my recurve bow.

Bill Quimby

Here's a true very obnoxious story from 1957-61.
As a teen, I spent summers in the high country haying and playing in the mtns in the same hills we hunted elk in. We ate elk year around except the 5 steers we butchered to feed the hay crew.
Rancher wore his jeans til the grease and dirt was caked on them. Used a knife blade at times to scrape it off in layers. Only time he changed clothes was when we went to town twice a summer. He slept in the same blankets as long as I knew him, some 30 years and never knew him to wash or replace them. I'm sure the smell was bad, but, living with him I got used to it. I guess. He only had a meager flow of ice cold spring water into the house. What washing and shaving we did was heated on the wood cook stove.

Us hay crew kids would drive 4 miles to the resort and take hot showers. The only time I ever saw him naked or wet was twice the first two summers. We'd strip off naked and dive as far out in the spring fed pond as we could and swim like hell to the other side. Stand on the bank til we felt we could make it back. Something around 75 feet. Man that water was COLD!

Many a day we'd walk the hills looking for an elk to eat. One time going up a trail toward a salt lick. One side was a steep rocky bank, other side was heavy willows. Neither could be accessed without a battle.
He stopped and motioned me back into the willows, I barely got in far enough he could stand on my toes almost and be off the trail. A doe came along obvious she knew something was wrong. She went past about 10 feet and turned right around and came back. Stopping right in front of him. Like a FOOL, he touched her in the flank with the butt of his rifle. When it was all over with, he was on top me, bleeding onto my glasses and wondered what the Hell had happened.

She'd kicked that rifle and it struck across the bridge of his nose, cutting both eyebrows and closing one eye. The joke was on him of course. "I'll know never to do that stunt again!"

Since that day I'm a non believer in scent block of any kind other than no perfume or soaps with it.

George

I'm very suspect of so-called scent control products. I regularly do quite a bit of whitetail hunting on ranches where stands are relatively close to areas regularly frequented by the ranchers.

I've had several older white tail bucks come up wind to my elevated stand even passing within a few yards of the bottom of the ladder where I took a pee. No reaction. I've had groups of deer all around the stand with no evidence of alarm.

I take no scent control precautions, other than trying to stalk into the wind when stalking, and I've been in those stands for hours in dead calm to very windy and the results are the same. Now, if I'm stalking from ground level the errant breeze will scatter the deer that are down wind almost every time, amazingly not always, it depends on if I am in active use areas by ranch workers.

I have found that dandruff shampoos with zinc in them work well in controlling rashes and general stink when used as body wash.

If you have the wind it does not matter what you smell like.

As has been mentioned, all soap is anti-bacterial. Some may be better than others. I would hate to live on the difference.

Tom

A very good soap to use is Kirk's Castile. It has no fragrance or odor and rinses out completely.

https://www.amazon.com/Kirks-O...t/dp/B004JMML9I?th=1