Hunter’s Specialties Scent Away Scent Elimination System

As I have grown older, I have each year taken a little bit more care in controlling my scent when I hit the woods. Being raised how to hunt the “old school” way, I had never been taught  much about scent control until I became a deer hunting knowledge nut during my highschool years. Since then I have tried scentlok clothing, carbon based,  Scent Killer and Scent Shield sprays, and I’ve kept my gear in a scent free bag at all times.

This year I realized I needed to take it to the next level and boy am I glad I did. I have adopted the Hunter’s Specialties Scent Away system, after being convinced of Scent Away’s superiority based on recent Deer & Deer Hunting research findings. I now wash all of my clothing in the scent-free laundry detergent and also use the scent-free shampoo/body wash in the shower every morning. Just prior to hitting the woods, I remove my clothing from my scent-free container and I spray down everything with the Scent Away spray.

So was it worth it? Well in my three days of total hunting this fall, I had two obvious situations in which my scent-free nature was put up to the test and my precautions had me passing with flying colors. The first happened the weekend of October 23. As mentioned in a previous post, I had a buck cruising about 60 yards in front of me, at which I called at to no avail. But little did I know, this buck circled back downwind of me and came up behind me. 15 minutes after calling to him, he showed up not more than 10 yards to the right of me, with no idea I was there. The wind was blowing right through the area he just came and I was sitting on the ground, but he never winded me.

Scent Away: 1    Deer Nose: 0

If you read my post recounting my latest bow kill, you will already know how this encounter went down, for  those who haven’t, check it out here. Long story short, I got busted by a mature doe and spent about 45 minutes with four doe circling and approaching me, heads bobbing, legs stomping and noses held high trying to wind me. As this went on, a buck moved in and began trying to catch my scent as well. They never did, the does finally moved off and the buck followed behind them. I had passed the “scent check” test and the buck met his maker soon after.

Scent Away: 2   Deer Nose: 0

Needless to say, the extra work I put in to scent control this year has paid off ten-fold and I am very happy with the Scent Away product. I look forward to fooling many more deer’s noses in the weeks and years to come.

PSE Bow Madness

I spent a lot of time online and in the archery shop this fall as I went about choosing a new bow. I was looking for more power, speed and accuracy from a reasonably affordable bow and I found that in the PSE Bow Madness. Check out my  pre-purchase research findings on thePSE Bow Madness here.

It seemed to shoot straight and fast on the range, but how did it handle in the field? My initial experience out in the woods with my PSE BM was not a positive one. It was the day after I purchased the bow and I was hunting with it for the first time this morning  (let it be noted that ideally you want weeks or months of practice with a new bow before taking it out hunting, I did not have this luxury). A buck presented me with a shot opportunity at about 30 yards. I attempted to draw, but immediately was met with more resistance than I remembered on the range, probably a product of the cold and my nerves. Nonetheless after another try, I reached full draw, settled behind the bucks shoulder and squeezed my release. I pulled the shot a few inches to the right and I nicked a sappling, resulting in my first miss on a deer. I initially tried to blame this on the bow, but I believe it was truly a result of not enough practice and human error.  I needed a chance to redeem myself. Well I got that chance two weeks later, in the same blind, with the same bow. This time with more practice under my belt with the new bow and another buck standing broadside at 25 yards. Similar situation, but this time my arrow was true (little high) and I double lunged him. The PSE Bow Madness sent that arrow speeding towards him and I was able to use my first pin on him at about 25 yards. After range practice and my in field experience, I can attest that this bow is FAST (with proper tuning and accessories), relatively quiet, smooth enough and very very light in the hand. If I could ask for anything more, I would say that a smoother draw cycle would be nice and I’m still unsure on my thoughts about the very thin rubber grip on the riser. All this being said, overall I’d say I’m very happy with my purchase, it got the job done on last weekend’s buck and I’m sure it will drop the hammer on many more in the future.

Rage Broadheads

WOW. I must say, these bad boys are not just hype. My 2 blade Rage tore a hole through this buck like I have never seen and made a blood trail that I could easily follow the 120 yards to the buck. Blood was sprayed 3 feet wide in some spots and at times it looked like someone had sprayed an aerosol can of blood all over the leaves and trees along the trail. I had great penetration, perfect expansion and field tip quality flight. The Rage worked as advertised and I couldn’t be happier. I expect to stick a lot more with the ole Rage in years to come.

Well I pulled off the California miracle. Stuck in Cali for the fall, it looked like I would have only about 4 days to hunt back in MI. With my short season, any buck was in my sights, but my expectations were low. It wasn’t going to be easy to tag a buck with only a few days to hunt and very little time for preparation, I would have to play my cards perfectly and then hope for a lot of luck. Today I’m excited to say that I made it happen, got ‘er done and got venison in the freezer.

On Saturday morning, November 7, I got settled into my blind at about 6 am. I had a good hour before daylight, but the moon lit up the woods pretty well. Within maybe 20 minutes I had a flagging doe move through, followed by another 3 deer. I was  just able to pick out their sillouhettes as they moved by. 30 minutes after the sun rose, I had another two doe come crashing by and I thought for sure there would be a buck on one of their tails, but still no luck.

Finally at about 8 am, four doe moved in from the East. Long story short, the largest of the four doe moved in my direction and I decided that if she offered a good shot, I would take her. As she moved into about 20 yards, I waited for her to step into my shooting lane, but before drawing I turned my head just a touch, to make sure the other three doe weren’t looking at me. This was a huge mistake. That mature doe instantly spotted my slight movement and immediately locked down on me. Foot stomping, head bobbing, she stared me down for five minutes until finally snorting and running  30 yards off. But curiousity got the best of her and for another 15 minutes her and the other doe circled around me trying to pick up my scent or catch me making another move. They failed on both accounts.

Well as I’m frozen with my bow held up and these four doe eying me down, I spot movement from the North. Here comes a buck, headed right towards the doe and I. But of course, things have to be difficult. Seeing these four doe being so uneasy, he takes an interest in what I might be. So now I have four doe and a buck, stomping, staring and trying to wind me. Luckily, I didn’t flinch and I had gone to great lengths to control my scent. After maybe 30 minutes of this, the matriarch doe finally turned to leave and the other three doe followed. Immediately the buck lost interest in me and turned to follow the doe. He stepped into my shooting lane at about 25 yards and my mind turned to mush.

I always seem to stop consciously thinking when shot opportunities occur, my body just moves. My bow was drawn and a slight bleat came from my lips, stopping the buck broadside. My shot connected behind the shoulder, albeit a little high, with a loud thud and the buck took off like a bat out of hell. He busted through the brush along a hillside for about a 100 yards and then crashed like a ton of bricks, just out of eye sight.

I nervously waited half an hour and then crept out of my blind to check the spot of impact. Although I never did find the arrow, what I did come upon was a blood trail straight out of a h0rror movie. The 2 blade Rage lived up to the hype and absolutely blasted through this deer. After waiting another hour, I headed to where I heard him drop and spotted him laying a little over a 100 yards from my blind.

This is no Pope & Young monster deer, he’s a young 6 point buck, but still a trophy in my eyes. My season was short and dependent on a lot of things going right, if I wanted to harvest any deer at all. Although I don’t want to typically take young deer like this, given the circumstances, I was more than happy to fling an arrow through this 6 pointer. I consider myself lucky and blessed to have been able to have the opportunity to take this buck and I can’t wait to eat some back straps!

More to come soon on what I learned from this hunt, how my new gear worked and what the keys to my success were.

Here are the specs and features reported on PSE’s website.

Brace Height: 7″

IBO Speed: 326-318

Let Off : 80% or 65% Adjustable

Mass Weight: 3.5 lbs

• Highly preloaded 10 ½” split limbs
• Madness high efficiency single cam system
• Extremely smooth draw cycle
• Ultralight mass weight cam for increased performance
• 6″ of draw length adjustment without a bowpress
• 80% letoff adjustable to 65%
• Asymmetric Idler Wheel for improved performance
• Vibracheck Backstop-Instantly terminates string vibration
• Biomechanically Ergonomic Slim Throat (B.E.S.T.) Grip
• Past parallel limb geometry
• New pivoting split limb pockets
• Stainless steel stabilizer bushing
• Tuning alignment marks
• Multiple sight mounting holes
• Ultra lightweight riser for a total bow weight of 3.5 lbs.

Here is but one review of many rave reviews found on Cabelas and Gander Mountains websites.

“I’ve shot or owned about all of the top bows over the past 2 years. I’ve owned 12 new bows in the past year and a half including the top models from Elite, Bowtech, Mathew’s, and Pse, and I’ve shot several Hoyt’s. As far as I’m concerned the Bow Madness is the best bow on the market for any price! You see posts on here that say it’s great for the price but that’s not exactly true it’s the best bow on the market period and exceptional for the price. Shoot it and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. It has the best of both worlds, great speed, absolutely fantastic smooth as silk draw, great back wall, it’s shock free and quite, it holds great and it’s very light weight. There’s absolutely nothing about this bow not to like, especially the price. I’ve sold or traded my other bows and now have the bow Madness and Bow Madness XL and I’m very happy. Give the Bow Madness a try and you’ll be impressed, and also be prepared to buy it because you will.“

Here’s another great review from Petersen’s Bowhunting Magazine.

After reading through the endless specs, reviews and talking to some buddies from Gander Mountain, I’m feeling very confident in my decision. Can’t wait to pick one of these up and start throwin arrows!

Anyone have any thoughts on the Bow Madness? Anyone shoot one? Love to hear what you think.