I have an interesting questions about wool hunting clothes..... Does wool have a "natural" scent that isn't alarming to game animals?

The reason that I ask is that this weekend while out hunting (dressed in wool from head to toe) I had two bucks come in from down wind of my position. Obviously, deer are known for their acute sense of smell. Scentwise, I was basically doing everything wrong. I had taken a shower that morning with whatever scented soap and shampoo my wife decided to try this month, I don't wash my clothing with any fancy scent eliminating soap, and as I said the deer came in from downwind and I would have thought been able to wind me under the best of circumstances. Was it my wool outerlayers that masked the human scent, scented soap, and laundry detergent scent? Any thoughts or similar experiences?

Thanks,
Bob

Naw I have worn wool for 40 plus years first I have heard of this.

I am heading to the newer fleece materal now days lighter and warmer. Drys faster ect.

It depends on the lanolin remaining in the wool after processing. Wool with a relatively high lanolin content does tend to mask odors, especially if wet. The old timers used to add lanolin back into the wool (most of the lanolin is removed in wool processing) to help in this regard and more importantly to make the wool more water resistant. Wool with a relatively high lanolin content does have a distinctive odor.

I always thought I smelled like a wet dog when wearing wool top to bottom but after switching to a few synthetics I noticed it was just me.

I am sure your deer were used to people in their area and if they had never been threatened that smell would not have meant danger either. I personally prefer wool to some of the new synthetics and when I went to silk instead of longjohns I became a very happy camper. I do wish more wool pants were available at the surplus stores. Us fatties have a hard time fitting into the military woolies that normally fit a youg stud running 10 or 20 a day.
Frank

Don't know about the odor of the wool, but a study was done that showed wool did not allow the growth of bacteria that other fibers did. So maybe it is that there was less production of foul scent????????? I read the article not too long ago. Maybe there is something to it?