Taking scent control to the extreme

While he has utmost confidence in 33 Point Buck and the Vapor Maker delivery system, avid archery hunter Barrett Van Cleave realizes the necessity of taking scent containment to the extreme.

“If you are a bowhunter, you have to if you want to be a success,” the young hunter said.

Still in his 20s, Van Cleave is amassing a record the envy of much more experienced hunters. His 153-inch 12-point taken Oct. 2 in Wilkinson County is his fourth 150-inch class deer in three years.

“They key is scent control,” Van Cleave said. “You have to be very careful or they will bust you every time. The last couple of years, I’ve gotten a lot of help from the Vapor Maker and 33 Point Buck scent from these guys up in Natchez, but I don’t stop there. I am very serious about scent.”

He uses laundry detergent and personal soap from Vapor Trail, both of which are based on the 33 Point Buck scent formula.

“I wash my clothes in their detergent, but I don’t wash or dry them in the washing machine and dryer,” Van Cleave said. “Think about it, why would you go to the trouble of washing your clothes in scent-control soap in the same machine that just ran through a couple of loads of normal wash in normal detergents. Think about the scents it will pick up in the washer and dryer.”

Instead, he does his clothes by hand using the same wash bucket every time. Then he hangs them to dry naturally.

“Then I put them in a sealed bag with an extra spray of 33 Point Buck,” he said. “I don’t put them on until I’m getting out of the truck to go to the stand.”

Before he leaves home, he showers using the soap and shampoo, and dries with a towel that has been cleaned with the same method he uses on his hunting clothes.

“But the key there is do everything else that you have to do before you shower, and that includes eating, drinking and all the way to having gassed the truck prior to showering,” he said. “You want to limit touching anything between the shower and the stand.”

Van Cleave follows the same pattern every time he goes to the woods, even if it’s just a trip to put up or retrieve trail cameras.

“I know it sounds extreme, but that’s what I do and it works,” he said. “Then once I get to the stand, I take out the Vapor Maker filled with 33 Point Buck, and I spray it all over me liberally and then spray it all around me, too.

“That stuff’s not only a great cover scent but also a good lure.”