Case: Crossbows, cover scents and hunting advice to the letter(s)

I hope all of my faithful readers of “Guns & Cornbread” would agree that we don’t deal with sensationalism around these parts.

Those in the hunting, fishing and shooting world generally like things plain and simply put. Give us meat and potatoes, not fancy French cuisine with names that we can’t pronounce.

Having said that, we are happy to lay a little information on you that may not have known about in another edition of “Letters to the Outdoor Writer” this week!

Dear Outdoors Writer Guy In The Paper,

I am fairly new to archery hunting for deer, and there are some things I don’t understand that maybe you can clear up. How come there is so much controversy about using crossbows during the archery season? Some bow hunters seem to think crossbows should be illegal. What are your thoughts?

Confused in Bluefield, West Virginia

Dear Confused,

Don’t feel like the Lone Ranger. I have never understood the animosity toward the crossbow by some archers either.

Some dedicated bow hunters say things like the crossbow gives the hunters an unfair advantage, using the crossbow is too easy, and if too many hunters use it, this will cause too many deer to be taken and harm the overall population.

To all of this I say respectfully: Nope!

The crossbow has been a boon in getting more hunters young and old, out there doing what hunters are supposed to do. Hunting. In many areas, the game management agency for that state will tell you they would like to reduce the numbers in the deer herd, especially the doe population.

Recently the Michigan Department of Natural Resources released a report on this very subject, addressing if the use of crossbows is detrimental to the population of deer and turkeys in that state. The study covered a two-year period (2023-24) and found that so far there are no ill effects from the use of crossbows.

I think if crossbows are legal in your area and you want to use one, you should do it. And if you want to use a vertical bow instead, have at it.

Dear Guy In The Paper That Writes About Hunting And Stuff,

The guys I deer hunt with have endless arguments about scent control. Some seem to use a large amount of cover scent spray, detergents for their hunting clothes, odor-masking devices and doe-in-heat products. Others in this crowd don’t seem to use anything and only talk about “hunting the wind” instead.

It is all pretty confusing to me. Do you know anything about this?

Downwind in Dalton, Georgia

Dear Downwind,

Fear not. My staff and I are here at the epicenter of guns and outdoors writing at an undisclosed location deep in the Appalachian Mountains to help. (Well, it sounded good.)

The question of scent control in hunting whitetail deer has been debated since Moses built that big boat and put all the wildlife on it. There is no doubt that deer have an incredible nose and use it to detect danger. Wildlife biologists estimate that deer may have as many as 50 million (with an M) olfactory sensors to smell you with. Just for comparison, humans have about 400.

To combat all this, we have a multimillion-dollar industry of cover scents, attracting scents, odor-masking devices, laundry soap for hunting clothes, and on and on.

Deer hunters often fall into two main categories. First, there are those who use many of these products and are serious about a “scent control regimen” when they head to the field or woods. They spray religiously with cover scents; they keep their hunting clothes in airtight containers and may change when they get out of the truck at the hunting site. These guys are serious.

Then there is the other side. These guys may wear rubber boots for walking in to their stand (this can help), but they generally don’t get all wrapped up about a bunch of products for scent control. What this group often does is “play the wind” as you mentioned. If a deer is downwind of you, that is the wind is at your back blowing toward the deer, most hunters think that deer is going to smell you no matter what cover scents you may use. If you are upwind, that is the wind is blowing from the deer toward you, they are not going to smell you.

Actually, there is third group we should mention. These hunters are often a little older, they are often someone in the group’s uncle, and they are usually named Ed. This group cannot even spell scent control, they wear the same clothes hunting as when they work on their truck (which is often), and on a normal day in the stand, they will smoke about a pack of Camel nonfilters.

The confounding thing to all the other groups is that Ed often gets the big buck. Go figure.

So yes, I do know a little about scent control.

Regardless of which group you fall into, don’t forget the Little Debbie cakes (I may drift toward the Fudge Rounds this season), potted meat, and of course the deer hunter’s staff of life, Vienna sausages.

“Guns & Cornbread” is written by Larry Case, who lives in Fayette County, W.Va. You can write to him at larryocase3@gmail.com.