>>184207That. The deer is going to smell you no matter what. In my youth, I used to do crazy shit just like he was saying. Hell...I used to put my goddamn coveralls in a sack of corn overnight. You want to avoid scent? Hunt facing upwind. I've had big bucks get pissed off at me when approaching from the downwind side (in the rut they sometimes still approach but are alert as hell).
For stalking, you scout your area, find out where the deer move, then sit it up (I'm on the ground). When the deer come through, they're rarely in bow range...you stalk after them. Moving when you can...and I can't really convey how to do this over the internet (plus, I'm loaded).
Areas of the country are different - I hunt in East Texas NF..the terrain is totally different there then say, Virginia. Your methods change with the area. I wouldn't scout/stalk a deer in West Texas the same as I do in the piney woods (of course...many of you should know this).
Here in Texas, the vast, overwhelming majority hunt on feeders, managed or semi-managed land, and with compound bows that a novice can be relatively proficient with within hours. There's very little "hunting" that goes on in this state. The only ones I really scoff at are those who sit in stands on year-round feeders and plaster Trophy Hunter stickers on the back of their trucks. If you want to scout your area, and use your experience to determine where the deer are most likely to move and set up properly with no feeders, then you are already actually "hunting" more than 95% of the "hunters" around here.
