Here is a link to a news report (KDFW) that aired last hunting season on this topic:
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home....1.1&sflg=1Deal or Dud: Deer Scent Blocker
Last Edited: Wednesday, 29 Nov 2006, 10:13 PM CST
Created: Wednesday, 29 Nov 2006, 6:19 PM CST
DALLAS -- A deer’s ability to detect scent is the stuff of legends.
If a pine needle falls in the forest, an eagle will see it, a bear will hear it, and a deer will smell it.That’s why something that can block a deer’s scenting ability is something consumers will buy, and our job to test.
Dave Korus is a self-professed, obsessive compulsive when it comes to preparing for the hunt.
He says to suit up with scent free products sets him back five to six hundred dollars and he’s not sure whether the carbon clothing designed to block scent really works.
The first test is whether or not a dog can sniff out a carbon-clad tester, and if the dog can, does that mean a deer can?
A representative from Scent Lok promises if you have a big game animal this is scent sensitive downwind, his products will leave the animal unalarmed.
Critics of the technology say there’s not enough carbon in scent blocking clothing to really make a difference and dispute claims from carbon clothing manufacturers Scent Lok and Scent Blockers ads that claim once the carbon is saturated it can be reactivated by simply throwing the clothes in a dryer.
In fact, at home dryer temperatures, the carbon is not reactivated.
The spokesperson from Scent Lok admits that the reactivation claim is a bit misleading from a scientific standpoint and says “de-sorb” might be a more scientific word to describe the process.
He also states the company’s honesty is in the guarantee and results the products produce.
Both companies say that lab tests and field tests prove their clothing works.
Scent Lok provided this video of a deer within yards of a carbon clad hunter. To test it, our tester follows all preparation and handling instructions and heads to a Police K-9 Training Facility where she dresses head to toe in carbon clothing from Scent Lok.
A Canine Officer sends a dog searching, and the dog picks up her scent as soon as he’s downwind from her hiding spot 17 seconds later.
Next, our tester dressed in gear made by Scent Blocker, and once again the dog finds her.
It seems even if the carbon catches most of her human odor, there’s more to scent than that. The Officer explains that the rubber of the boots have a scent, the glue in the boots, the cotton fabric and the charcoal itself all have scents.
The two scent blocking companies discount the dog test saying the dogs have been trained to detect very minute odors and are trained to follow it to that end. A deer brain, they say, will allow a certain amount of odor not to alarm them.
While it’s virtually impossible to run a controlled test with deer, our tester did mange to spot two doe just 35 yards away while dressed in carbon clothing, but both deer were upwind of her.
A third deer came in about 20 yards downwind of her. Leaving consumers to continue hunting for the only true judge.
To give you an idea of just how popular products like this are becoming, according to US Patent Office data, Scent Lok reported its sales from nothing in 1991 to $100 million today.