Compost as a Hunting Aid

The time soon arrives when hunters all across America will stalk the elusive whitetail deer.

North America’s most sought game animal has superior hearing, eyesight well into the ultraviolet range and a nose with more scent receptors than a dog. Scent control is job #1, particularly when still hunting from the ground. There are a lot of expensive products on the market to help with scent control, but if you are a Mini Farmer, you already have everything you need to do it for free.

Prior to the hunt, wash all clothes to be worn (including undies) using Brett’s handy-dandy no-scent no-UV-brighteners hunting wash: 1 cup of baking soda + 1/4 cup borax

Hang them outside to dry instead of using the drier, which is probably permeated with dryer-sheet smells.

No matter what, during the day, your natural body odors will start to permeate the clothes.  That’s when a cover scent comes into play.  Here is what I do.  After washing and drying my clothes, I go get some finished compost (about a cup) from my pile, and put it in a drawstring muslin bag.  I put that bag and the clothes into an unscented trash bag, and knot it.  I leave it like this in the wood shed for a couple of weeks before the clothes will be used.  When I pull out the clothes, they are filled with a nice earthy compost scent that will last all day.

If you are a MiniFarmer, you already have borax because you use it for micronutrients in your beds, and you already have compost.  Baking soda is in every cupboard.

So, for zero extra cost, you have everything you need to remove human scent from your clothes and replace it with a natural cover scent.