Summer Preparation for Fall Hunting Season

The last of the hunting seasons have passed and you can probably already smell the bream making spawning beds, as well as the bass and crappie preparing for their spawning season. But before you start pulling out the fishing gear, lets make sure we stow away our hunting gear properly this spring. And have it ready to pull out this summer to get it ready for opening day of hunting season this fall.

One thing that my hunting buddies often overlook at the end of hunting season is the clothing they wear to bag those mighty bucks, turkeys, or whatever game might be their preference. They spent all of the past hunting season making sure no human sent or odors are absorbed by their hunting garments just to throw it in with the rest of the laundry at the end of the season. Some take it and hang it on the front porch just before opening day of the next hunting season, (much to their spouses dismay) after it spent all summer in a drawer full of other clothing just absorbing all those human scents floating around the house and into the drawer.

Some just throw on the clothing on opening day, going into the woods smelling April fresh and then leave the woods disappointed wondering why they never bag any game on opening day of hunting season. Well, I got to tell you, the animals don't wash their fur in anything that smells fresh, and if you do, then they smell you coming before you step a foot into the woods on opening day of hunting season. So lets prepare our hunting apparel with this in mind.

Often as summer rolls around, you may find deals on the past season's hunting apparel. As soon as you buy it, your first urge, (or possibly your wife's first urge) is to throw it into the washer and wash the excess dyes and anything that might of gotten into the clothing from other people trying them on. Yes, you do want to do this, but not with normal household washing detergents. Personally, I don't use the washer at all for my hunting clothing, because the residue from the bleach and other detergents will still be in the machine.

I have an old aluminum wash tub that I use outside, I use it for nothing but washing my hunting clothing. No detergents of any kind are allowed to get near it with the exception of the Down Dead Wind ScentPrevent Laundry Detergent detergent that I use to wash my hunting apparel in. The ScentPrevent laundry detergent will clean your camo and other apparel used for hunting well, and will remove or cover up any scent that might alert the wild game to your presence.

I wash my hunting apparel by hand in the tub, and rinse the ScentPrevent detergent out with the water hose. Then I hang it out on a line to dry. After it dries thoroughly I store the hunting apparel in multi-layered storage bags that will not let any foreign odors in or out. (Note: make sure clothing is completely dry as any moisture will cause mold and mildew to grow inside the sealed bags)

I store the clothing in RedHead Scent-Free Storage Bags until a few weeks before hunting season begins, then I take them out and wash them using the same process all over again. After dried I hang the hunting apparel under the over hang of the shed or porch, and that is where it stays. I never bring it inside during hunting season or any other time. I wash the hunting apparel in the scent away after each hunt. As I am one of those people that has to fire up a cigarette as soon as I'm out of the woods. Once I have put my gear on in preparation to hunt though, there is no smoking.

Down Dead Wind ScentPrevent also has laundry dryer sheets and other products that I use to wash the underwear and other clothing that I wear under the camo. Underwear is the only part of my hunting apparel that I wash in the washer and dryer, (yes, please wash your undies, just use the right sent away detergent), for the above mentioned reasons. But I still use the Down Dead Wind ScentPrevent Laundry Detergent and Down Dead Wind ScentPrevent Dryer Sheets to cover any flowery freshness that might be left behind in the washer and dryer.

Next, let's talk about our guns, bows, and arrows. Some hunters prefer the gun and some the bow and arrow. Proper maintenance is needed for both, during, after and before hunting season. You more than likely clean and lock away your guns and bows after each hunt and when hunting season ends. But now summer is here, the spring fishing frenzy is over, and your thoughts are drifting back to that big buck you know you are going to bag this year.