Through a complex process, scent molecules are dissolved on the surface of the epithelium and the "smell" is transferred to the area of the brain that controls emotion via electrical impulses. A human's epithelium represents about 1/8,000 of the total skin area. A deer's epithelium equals about 1/80 of its skin surface. Thus a deer can detect odors about 100 times better than we can.

The human body is constantly dispensing odor. For the hunter, offending odors come from three primary sources: Perspiration, respiration and contamination.

Perspiration is the worst offender. Sweat caries only a modest amount of scent, but the warm, moist conditions associated with it provide an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. These bacteria expel the gasses that we know as body odor. The underarms, feet, groin and head produce the lion's share of our human bacteria-borne odors.

Respiration or breathing dispenses scent in the form of your breath. Gasses from bacteria that form in the mouth and trace scents from spicy foods and tobacco are released into the environment as you breathe.

Contamination refers to unnatural odors that are carried into the woods on a hunter's clothing and gear. Examples of scent contamination include that bacon fat you wiped on your pants, the white gas that spilled on your boot, fragrant laundry detergent on your underwear, rifle oil and other items with which we come into contact.

When we consider the efficiency with which a blacktail's nose collects and interprets odors, combined with the fact that our bodies are virtual odor factories, it becomes obvious that a hunter must take aggressive steps to keep human-caused scents from reaching the nose of his quarry. And yet the term "scent-free hunting" is an oxymoron of sorts. It is impossible to remain completely scent free in the field. However, the best hunters are able to reduce their scent and its negative consequences.

THE LESSONS OF ISHI
The process of reducing scent begins well before the hunt. Native Americans that depended on getting within bow range of game for sustenance understood this well. Ishi, the last truly aboriginal native in North America, is a perfect example. According to Saxton Pope, Ishi carefully observed several precautions before hunting deer. He would not eat fish the day before the hunt because the deer could detect the odor. He refrained from smoking tobacco for the same reason. On the morning of a hunt, Ishi would bathe vigorously, including washing his mouth, and he would not eat, all to reduce his human scent.

Today's blacktail hunter should adhere to many of the same precautions. Fortunately for us there are cutting edge products available through catalogs and retail outlets that can help push scent reduction to a new level.

Hunt preparation begins with the proper treatment and storage of hunting clothes and boots. Every hunter should have at least two complete sets of hunting clothes, including underwear and socks. Clothing and boots that are designated for hunting should only be worn in the field to keep them from picking up foreign smells. There are scent-eliminating laundry detergents available. However I prefer to wash my clothing in a combination of scent-eliminating body soap and baking soda. Using body soaps allows me to kill two birds with one stone since I can use the same soap for bathing.