Scent Control Clothing for the Active Hunter

Every big game hunter thinks about scent control. If you don't, you should. Options range in complexity and cost, from scent-blocking clothing to simply playing the wind and several points in between. In our previous post, we discussed two key qualities we demand from our gear: reducing movement and minimizing time needed to access gear. This post is all about our take on scent control clothing and how it relates to active hunters.

First and foremost, we believe that a quality anti-microbial base layer should be the foundation for any hunting wardrobe. Anti-microbial clothing is most effective when worn next to your skin, and it destroys odor-causing bacteria before it can form. RutWear^© has a full line of anti-microbial base layers in Mid-Season and Late Season weights available now, with an Early Season model available Summer 2010. Next, RutWear clothing with our HyperShield™ technology does a great job of blocking odors not destroyed by the anti-microbial base layers. This is possible because the unique breathable "pores" in our HyperShield membrane are smaller than most scent molecules. Also, most of our outerwear has neoprene cuffs, an adjustable cinch waist, and an extended stand-up collar to help keep scent inside the garment. It really does work. One of the co-owners of the company has a test he likes to call "The Onion Test". This is simply done by placing an onion in a jar and covering it with a small piece of our fabric cinched down with a rubber band. It may sound odd, but you honestly can't smell the onion until 24+ hours of leaving the fabric on the jar. I'm not sure how long most people hunt, but I think 24 hours at a time should just about cover it.

Lastly - and most importantly, despite what some clothing companies say - hunt the wind. Keeping your clothing in scent-proof bags or plastic tubs until you reach your hunting location is another great idea. Scent-killing sprays can also be highly effective. The best part about the combination of anti-microbial base layers, hunting the wind, and using sprays is that you can instantly regenerate the effectiveness of your system. No special carbon detergents and no clothes dryers... the perfect situation for active hunters that want to spend more time hunting and less time doing laundry.

Use all of these tools at your disposal to maximize your success. We may never completely fool the noses of big game animals, but we can follow some simple common sense steps and make them think we are hundreds of yards away when actually we're already settling our thirty-yard pin behind their shoulder.

Time & Motion

In our introductory post a few weeks ago, several benefits of RutWear clothing were mentioned. We wanted to elaborate on the first of these benefits, reducing the amount of time and motion required to access gear. We've all been there... a slight movement and a flash of antlers catches your eye and you freeze up a little bit. You fumble around for binoculars, a grunt call, or a rattle bag but before you can make the right move the buck is either gone or, worse yet, spotted you moving in your stand.

RutWear clo-thing is designed with features that help save time and reduce motion, both critical factors in successfully harvesting trophy animals. We call these features Trophy Points. Our pockets are configured to make crossover movements more easy. In other words, the pockets on the left side of our jackets are designed to be quickly accessed with your right hand, and vice versa. This helps you make natural across-the-body movements that can be done without changing your posture or moving much more than your wrists. Another great thing about our shirts and jackets is that we include enough pockets to hold essential gear close at hand, so you don't have to dig through a backpack in search of your favorite grunt call.

Some hunters think they don't spook deer with their movement because they never hear deer snorting and bounding off through the woods. But what about all the unseen big mature bucks that hang back on the edge of a thicket or a food plot, scanning the area before they walk into the open? The slightest movement or noise can be all it takes to send that buck slipping back to thicker cover until he feels the coast is clear - or maybe he never comes back. When we hunt, we don't like to leave those variables to chance and RutWear gear helps us minimize motion and stack the odds in our favor on mature trophy deer.

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Jeff Punches His Tag Early

We got our Kansas whitetail permits in the mail on July 14th. By then, we had already been refining our bow and arrow set-ups for about three months. But with the Kansas tags in hand, we had a goal... something to push each other and work toward. We had about two-and-a-half more months of dialing in our equipment until the season opener. So after all that thought and preparation, it may seem anti-climactic that Jeff filled his tag on just the 5th day of the season - but not when you consider the fact that the deer was an incredible 160" giant.

We eased into opening day with the sense of possibility of an entire season of hunting ahead of us. We had a few guests in camp, so our first priority was to make sure they were on deer every day. Jeff hunted every morning, but he skipped the afternoon hunts Monday and Tuesday to cook dinner at camp. Thanks to Jeff, we ate like kings so nobody twisted Jeff's arm to go out and hunt in the afternoons. Jeff hunted morning and afternoon on Wednesday and Thursday, but overall it was pretty uneventful. Camp cleared out Thursday evening, but Jeff and Bobby stayed on through the weekend to try and make something happen.

Friday afternoon, Jeff chose to hunt a small corn patch bordering a big set-aside CRP field - a stand that had been good to him in the past. He spotted a heavy, high-racked deer across the CRP standing at a fence as daylight was just starting to fade. The deer paced back and forth along the fence and seemed uninterested in crossing it. A smaller buck slipped through the barbed wire fence and the bigger buck just had to follow. He cocked his head to the side in attempt to go through the fence, but realized he couldn't fit and awkwardly jumped over it instead. Daylight was slipping away as both bucks eased across the field and into the standing corn. The small buck passed by and the big buck slowly - almost too slowly - fed down through Jeff's only shooting lane. The big buck passed into a blind spot and Jeff took this only chance to draw back his bow. In one of those rare textbook moments found in bowhunting, the buck stopped almost perfectly broadside with his head down feeding and Jeff zipped an arrow right through the boiler room. Another five minutes and shooting light would have vanished. The high-racked 11-point buck made a short 60 yard dash before toppling over. Jeff's good decision to stay a few extra days, plus some karma for being such a selfless guide and camp chef, really paid off. The buck measured just over 160" P&Y and makes Jeff's second 160+ buck with a bow in Kansas.


Jeff's Set-Up
- Hoyt Katera, 70#
- Easton Full Metal Jacket arrows
- G5 Tekan broadheads
- Norway Fusion vanes with OneStringer custom arrow wraps
- G5 Optix XR2
- QAD Ultra Rest

Jeff's Gear
- RutWear Endurance Stage 2 Fleece Pullover, 2010 prototype
- RutWear Endurance Stage 3 Vest, 2010 prototype
- RutWear Endurance Stage 3 Pant, 2010 prototype
- RutWear Hunt Pack with QVS



CW

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Early Season Success in Kansas

We kicked off our '09-'10 hunting season with a trip to Kansas for the season opener. The season opened Monday, Sept. 21 and we were met with thunderstorms about an hour after daylight. The morning was pretty slow, but almost everyone in our group of five hunters saw some good action that afternoon. The next two days proved to be a little slow as well, but one of our guests connected with a really cool 12pt buck with split brow tines on Thursday afternoon... pics of his deer will follow this week.

Johnny and I had to leave on Thursday, but Bobby and Jeff decided to stay on through the weekend and that turned out to be a great call. I got the call Friday afternoon from Jeff... he had stuck a good buck and his arrow indicated he had made a good hit. Jeff said he was pretty sure he saw the buck go down, but he decided to go meet Bobby before searching for the deer. They decided to play it safe and give the deer some time, so Jeff got to sit on pins and needles during dinner. They went back to Jeff's stand site about 10:00pm and the search was on. Luckily, it wasn't much of a search. The buck was down a mere 60 yards from the stand. Jeff made a well-placed shot through the heart and left lung and his 100 grain G5 Tekan broadhead did the rest. Congrats to Jeff on a great Kansas whitetail! The deer has long tines and some great mass, turning in a green score of 161" P&Y. Here is a lo-res photo for the time being, but we'll post more photos this week.

CW

Who We Are

We're new to the blogging world, so we will start from square one. RutWear is a big game clothing and gear company with one simple philosophy - hunting gear should help you hunt smarter, not harder. After years of frustration with all the hunting clothing available, we set out to design gear that accomplished a few basic, yet necessary, functions:

• Reduce the amount of movement required to access pockets
• Place features and pockets so that gear can be reached quickly
• The fabrics must be silent
• Integrate a scent control technology that requires little care and maintenance

These requirements may seem simple, but nobody else was doing it. We feel we've accomplished these goals in the RutWear product line. You can see at www.rutwear.com that our products are not your typical hunting clothing. That is exactly what led us to develop the tagline "Non-Typical Gear". Over the next few days, we'll take a closer look at what makes our products so unique. But for now, more scoop on the company...

RutWear is based in Olive Branch, MS, and owned by the same company that makes Drake Waterfowl, Ol' Tom Technical Turkey Gear, and McAlister Clothing. Everyone in our sales, marketing, design, and product development departments are life-long hunters. We feel like this deep-rooted love of hunting is what helps us design the best big game clothing on the market. When you call our company with questions about a product, no doubt you can speak with someone who 1) hunts, 2) has used the product, and 3) can help make product suggestions based on your own hunting needs. Stay tuned and we'll give you a peek inside our office (and the archery range out back!!).

Got to go... need to pack for opening day in Kansas