Is ozone part of your hunting strategy? If not, now’s the time to learn more so that you can apply it and experience the benefits of this hunting season.
By FeraDyne Staff
Ozone products have become increasingly popular across the whitetail world for mitigating and masking human odors. However, if ozone and ozone units such as those from Scent Crusher are new to you, perhaps you’re curious to learn more. In this article, we’ll discuss how ozone works to destroy odors, and we’ll also highlight some Scent Crusher products that can help you prepare your hunting clothes for the early season.
As we investigate the ozone topic, you’ll quickly learn that it’s a miraculous scent-elimination product that truly makes scent control more convenient and effective for even novice hunters. So, it’s no wonder that Scent Crusher has products repeatedly hitting the market to help hunters eliminate scent and get more shot opportunities when the wind is less than perfect.
If that sounds like an advantage that you want in your whitetail arsenal, follow along.
What Exactly Is Ozone?
Ozone — scientifically known as O3 — contains three oxygen atoms compared to the two atoms we normally inhale as oxygen. Ozone is often referred to as activated oxygen and can be extremely powerful in neutralizing odors. The properties we describe below will help you understand how effective it can be at killing odors and managing scent when chasing big whitetails.
Now, that additional oxygen atom is the one that does all the damage to odor. When ozone encounters contaminants, this third atom attaches itself to odor molecules and changes the chemical structure of odor and bacteria to neutralize it and remove the odor. This process is called oxidation, and it’s advantageous for all hunters.
Now that you understand how it works, let’s look at five keys to scent-free hunting this deer season.
1. Keep Your Body As Scent Free As Possible
Scent control begins in the bathroom. Shower before every hunt. Be sure to scrub all of the dead cells from your skin. It might sound a little extreme, but this measure is critical when considering a deer’s sensory abilities. Store all of your hunting clothes in a scent-free tote, and do not put your hunting clothes on until you reach your hunting destination.
2. Use Scent Crusher’s Ozone Gear Bag
Laundering your hunting apparel takes time, but it also creates wear and tear on your hunting garments. As an alternative, you can conveniently throw the clothes in your Scent Crusher Ozone Gear Bag and let ozone do the work for you. The clothing will come out scent-free and ready for your next hunt.
3. Check For the Right Wind
Although ozone is extremely effective, don’t get complacent. Be very calculated in playing the wind the best you possibly can. Also, be cautious with your entrance and exit to stand locations. Choose a steady breeze and select treestands or blinds that are downwind from where deer will be as you enter or exit. You can’t over-exaggerate playing the wind and being as scent-free as possible. Whitetails can smell certain odors from 100 yards away that humans have trouble detecting right under our noses.
Nothing is absolute in the whitetail woods, and even the most thorough scent-control efforts aren’t 100 percent effective. But, every step we take to control our scent boosts our odds just a bit. Playing the wind, even when using scent-control products such as ozone devices, is still a big step in avoiding detection.
4. Eliminate Scent Transfer
Pay very close attention to scent transfer to and from your hunting setup. When entering your hunting location, be very conscious not to walk on deer trails. Use rubber-bottomed boots and keep them clean and treated with Scent Crusher’s Field Spray. Scientifically formulated to eliminate foreign odors, the spray’s charged copper ions work as an oxidation catalyst to rapidly and permanently eliminate odors.
Rubber doesn’t absorb odors like other footwear materials, but it’s still best to only use the boots for hunting, and don’t wear them until you reach your hunting property. Whenever you touch or rub against objects in the woods, whether it’s grabbing a tree limb or your clothing rubbing against brush or grass as you walk to your stand, you’re leaving traces of foreign odors that are strong enough for a deer to detect. All whitetails will smell what you touch. The duration that your scent lingers depends upon time, temperature, humidity and a few other factors.
5. Hunting Success Begins With Scent Control
Scent control is an extremely important component in our quest to outsmart white-tailed deer, but it’s only one part of the equation. Even though proper scent-control techniques can increase your chances and perhaps buy you those few precious seconds that you need to make the shot on your target animal, you still must hunt the wind and be aware of which direction your scent “cone” is traveling. That combined with mitigating odors using Scent Crusher’s line of odor-eliminating products will give you the edge you need to be successful this fall.