The Wyndscent line from Fourth Arrow Archery was launched at the ATA show in Louisville back in January of 2016. Since that time, the Michigan-based company has made a few improvements to their flagship product which utilizes electronic scent dispensing vapor technology. This product is unique in that it heats up a gel-like liquid which is converted into vapor. Wyndscent’s proprietary scents include several whitetail attractants, human cover scents, and some other bear and elk attractants. Because the Wyndscent is still a relatively new product there isn’t a lot of information available on it. So let’s dive in a take a deeper look at what it is, what it does, and how we as hunters can use it.
Utilizing a small tripod allows the Wyndscent unit to be self-standing in the field.
UNBOXING THE WYNDSCENT
This is the main Wyndscent unit comes in a sleek package (center). Here is is seen with a doe urine scent, tripod and telescoping stake add-on.
The Wyndscent unit comes in a simple plastic see-through box. The base unit sells for $119, however it does not include any lures or scents to be used with it. Proprietary Wyndscent scents are required to be used in the unit which sell for around $12.99 + shipping . The unit that we received to review was the 2016 model and did not include the remote as does the new 2017 model. However, there is a new program that allows a 2016 unit to be upgraded to be programmable with a remote like the new version.
What you will find inside the box is the complete unit, a rechargeable battery, a battery charger, a 2 prong key.
The additional accessories available now are a tri-pod, stake, and a flashlight head option to replace the scent dispersing part of the unit.
Wyndscent optional accessories include a flashlight head to turn your unit into a flashlight, telescoping ground stake, and remoavable tripod. All accessories are available at www.wyndscent.com.
SET UP / CONFIGURATION
Putting the unit together for the first time is not hard, but it does take a few minutes and a reference or two of the directions to make sure you do it properly.
The scent coil, which is the coil that heats the liquid, needs to be screwed into the tank with a special key (included).
Next, the tank needs to be filled with the desired scent. As I mentioned earlier, the Wyndscent is only compatible with Fourth Arrow-brand scents and attractants. It would be cool if Wyndscent could come out with a gel formula that could mix with existing deer lures and make a type of blend usable in this unit. I think this could make the product even better and it give users a lot more variety to be utilized with the vapor technology.
Fourth Arrow states that a 15 ML bottle of their scent can last 20-100 hours depending on the time settings utilized on the unit. I received a bottle of the “Doe Urine” scent to test, and to my human nose, it smells like regular doe pee that I am used to. The vapor smells like doe peer but faint. (Note: Wyndscent does not recommend inhaling the vapor)
Scent is added into the hopper through the fill hole with the top removed. Ironically when upside down and with the top back on, it doesn’t really leak.
Now, it is important to wait 5 minutes for the cotton scent wick in the coil to absorb the gel liquid from the tank. As long as the tank is not leaking now, the unit is ready to go. It turns on simply by holding the one and only control button down for five seconds. Another press of the button will start to run through the three time interval options which tell the unit how often to heat up and disperse the vapor including 1, 3, or 5, minute intervals. The indicator lights that correspond are red, yellow, and green. The unit itself has seconds listed on it instead of minutes which played tricks with my brain. The control unit can be turned off again by depressing the button for 5 seconds.
Holding the button down for five seconds turns the unit on and automatically starts a cycle of 300 seconds (5 min) unless clicked again.
GENERAL USE OVERVIEW
The unit turning liquid gel scent into a visible vapor cloud.
The concept of using a heated unit to heat deer attractants is not a new one as products have been on the market for years attempting to do that. These products have used everything from chemical reactant hand warmers to battery heated wicks, to a small fan blowing scent through wafers, but this is the first Vapor unit we have seen.
The price point for the product is higher at $119 than what we would consider its “competition” seen at the bottom of the review, but it also does things that the others can’t compare to. The programmable release, the vapor concept, and the proprietary scents make this one a bit unique.
I popped the cover off of the unit to peak inside. I probably voided my warranty too!
The concept of heating a liquid / gel into a vapor aerosol state does give it some advantages compared to existing scent products. First of all, this vapor won’t freeze because it is constantly being warmed. So for cold weather purposes, this product seems to have that covered. It is an interesting concept because clearly the suspended particles in the vapor will travel with the air streams / thermals and currents and spread into the environment that you are hunting in compared to a liquid product that evaporates slowly and relies on smells to travel at room temperature. We can compare this to a human sneeze, as millions of small particles are now suspended in the air and travel with the currents.
If you think about it, deer pee isn’t cold when its fresh. It does cool to the air temperature shortly after, but the constant heating of a scent would be presented more of a fresh dose over and over. But, I guess it’s not 250 degrees either, as some vaping units heat their liquids to. However, it clearly and visible is dispersing scent farther down range. It’s no secret that a hot apple pie smells better to our noses than a frozen one. We know that scent molecules are heated up, they are more active and spread more and travel farther. Combine that with what we know about a deer’s nose that it is 10,000 times stronger than ours, and we have some real physics and chemistry going on in the hunting woods in our favor.
Here is a close-up of the cotton filled coil that seats inside the scent tank housing similar to what we would see in an e-cigarette.
I like that the unit is is re-usable, but I find that if a user plans to use the unit for both deer attractants as well as cover scents, it may be wise to purchase an additional Wyndscent Tank replacement for $19.99 This would eliminate any tank contamination from the different scents.
One area that I feel that it could be really useful is that it gives hunters a new option with the cover scents to run the unit from a tree stand or hunting blind. I anticipate more cover scents coming from the company. Something like an Earth or ozone replica would be really cool. I think that even with the current apple and pine cover scent, it could be a product that offer some of the same “nose jamming” techniques that ozone gas does. I am not suggesting that this vapor has the same scent eliminating effects that ozone does but one thing it could do is inter mix with human odors for a long range and confuse deer.
So how can this work with your current system? Well, if you are someone that loves technology and has to have the newest iPhone, this unit is for you because its the coolest and newest hands down. If you are someone who hunts diverse locations and struggles sometimes with scent reaching into areas that you don’t want to walk into tight areas such as a bedding area, this is also a great option to stretch farther.
Wyndscent is also now providing a winterizing / remote upgrading option for $29.00 on their website for units that have been purchased that didn’t have a remote. I like the remote option to have the ability to turn the unit off depending on the hunting situation. It does not go into detail about what the winterizing procedure is, but I imaging that it includes a thorough cleaning at a minimum.
Field Test
I did hunt with the unit in October 2016, but I didn’t sight any deer while using it to comment on how the animals reacted to it, but I plan to use it more this upcoming season and watch the deer reactions to some of the different scents. I personally like the tripod adapter better than the 38” telescoping stake. One application that would be useful I believe would be to hang the unit from a tree stand location while using cover scents.
Backyard testing of the tripod and Wyndscent unit.
I also noticed that if I filled the unit up with the scent product and I did not use it all during the hunt, if i continued to store the product upright in my pack, it leaked very slowly down the unit. Now, I reached out to the company and their customer service responded very quickly. They informed me that due to the fact that the scent gel is gravity fed and absorbed by the cotton coil, when the unit is not actively heating and vaping, the product by its design continues to absorb and could leak. So, the fix for this if you have extra scent product left in the unit is to make sure that the cap is tight and remove the tank from the control unit and store the tank upside down. It will not leak this way. I am sure the more you use the product, you get used to how much scent lasts in the machine.
A view of the Wyndscent unit from the treestand. One added benefit is it tells wind direction.
One other thing that I found useful was that while the unit was intermittently activating every 60 seconds or so, it would give me an update on the wind direction on the ground. I felt this was a secondary benefit, but a useful one as long as you can see the unit from a tree stand.
Additionally, the scent gel is a little bit sticky and no one likes to have their hands smelling like doe pee, I don’t care who you are. Wyndscent recommends cleaning the unit (especially the coil) with a q-tip after each use. I found that washing with warm water and light soap got the unit cleaned nicely. Just a word of caution DO NOT put the electronic control unit / battery in the water.
Disassembling the unit was very easy and cleaning with warm soapy water and a q-tip was easy. Here it is air-drying.
Summary
Overall, I think this is an exciting new product. Only time will tell where the absolute best uses for this exact product are whether that is with scent attractant of cover scent options. It is quite possible that it continues to be a great option for both! Considering the uniqueness of the product, and its advantages of scent projection, it may prove that adding this unit in your pack give you an unique advantage that you haven’t had before. Considering all the factors and positive attributes, this Wyndscent unit is definitely unique and could do things for hunters that hasn’t been possible before. Check them out at www.wyndscent.com.
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