Many of the products we see on the shelves of stores,
whether it is a mega store or small specialty shop, are born from
dissatisfaction. The inventor, in the course of their everyday life or while
enjoying a hobby, encounters something that seems out of place, burdensome or
lacking in some way. Eventually they reach a level of frustration that drives
them to do something about it. There are basically three choices; complain
about it but continue on without changing, buy from another company or create
something better.
Scott Whitlock chose to create something better. Throughout
the years as a bowhunter Scott experienced frustration with keeping his
footwear scent-free. He explains, “In my experience of nearly three decades of
hunting deer, I have always been disappointed in the “scent free” hunting boots
available. I have always been extremely scent conscious and no matter how hard
I tried to make my “scent free” boots scent free, I couldn’t do it.” He
continues, “As careful as I am with scent control, ground scent has still
ruined more hunts, and even entire areas, than I care to remember. I’m not
alone in experiencing failed hunts, I’ve heard from too many others who relate
their hunting failures to residual ground scent. Ground scent is the primary
factor that educates big bucks of areas to avoid.”
During a hunt in October of 1998 Scott’s frustration was
peaked as the trophy whitetail he had patterned crossed his trail, picked up
his scent, and bolted. It was at that very moment that he decided to do
something about it, and in its very basic form, Elimitrax was born.
The first step for Scott was education. “I first set out to
learn everything I could about animal’s olfactory systems, I was primarily
interested in how they receive odors and how they interpret them. Wild deer, or
any game animal for that matter, with a sophisticated olfactory system,
associate human and human related scents such as the material odors of rubber
and leather with danger. Smell actually evokes memory more so than any other
sense that humans or animals have. This is an unconscious event, which explains
why a mature whitetail can cut your trail and immediately become cautious,
change direction or explode in another direction. It’s an immediate recognition
that doesn’t need to be thought through.”
The journey to a marketable product, however, would be an
uphill battle. An initial idea many times overlooks some of the more difficult
details. For some, those details present an insurmountable obstacle, but for
others they are just one of the challenges on the road to success. “I
commissioned laboratories to engineer a material that was above all else,
totally and completely scent free. This was an incredibly long process; several
labs worked on the project only to give up months later saying that it couldn’t
be done.” Scott admits, “I was about to throw in the towel myself but proceeded
to interview different companies until I found one that seemed to be very
intrigued and challenged by the project.” After years of effort they finally
came up with a material, named Elimiscent, which seemed to be up to the high
standards that Scott had set.“The final
analysis was extremely thorough and technical and in easier words to grasp,
basically said that the material does produce a minimal out-gas (typically what
animals smell) but the minimal out-gas Elimiscent produces doesn’t consist of
any recognizable odors.In other words,
the out-gas from Elimiscent smells like the air in any given environment which
can not be detected or identified by humans or any other animal”, Scott
explained.
Obstacles were not a thing of the past however, as
pliability became an issue. The new material was brittle and actually cracked
at low temperatures. The lab’s scientists re-engineered and tweaked the
material successfully and it now remains flexible well below freezing
temperatures.
Elimitrax Over Boots
The material finalized, Scott moved on to designing of the
Elimitrax Over-Boot System. They immediately started to test the system all
over the world and on every animal they could find. Scott tells of their
efforts, “We filmed all of our hunts and actually tried to leave scent where we
knew our quarry would either cross, feed or water. This hunting was done in
fair chase situations but also semi controlled environments such as around
water holes in Africa where all of the plains
game are extremely wary just because everything out there is trying to eat
them. We also tested our products extensively on whitetail deer and black bear.
In Africa I literally did laps around the water holes, in Canada I walked all
over the bait piles and down the natural trails where the bears were expected
to enter the bait stations. For the whitetails, I walked all over the area that
our stands were hung. The end result was that not a single animal slowed down
or even took notice to my presence. By the end of the year we had taken over a
dozen mature trophy class animals by bow and had witnessed hundreds of
non-trophy game carry on as normal despite all attempts to contaminate the areas
that we were hunting.”
The system consists of two rubber-like sandals, which have
nylon straps sewn into them, and two large stocking uppers, for lack of a
better term, that also have nylon straps attached. The sandals are a dark gray
and the uppers are available in Realtree Hardwoods Green or Mossy Oak Breakup.
A new plastics technology is used to create the sandal and leaves absolutely no
material odors behind. The uppers are oversized for easy on/off but have two
mid-leg cinch straps to neatly tuck away the excess. Once you have pulled the
uppers over your regular boots they are then secured with the cinch straps
attached to the sandals. The cinch straps have a unique feature in that the end
of the strap has a plastic pull-fixture attached to it for easy tightening. A
simple item, but one that is a big help! The mid-leg cinch straps have the same
feature. Attached to the top of the uppers, in the front, are belt straps.
These attachments employ an elastic cord and cord locks. The cord runs around
the top hem of the uppers and is used as a draw cord for snug fitting on your
thighs. One of the cord locks is sewn into the hem of the upper to secure the
draw cord feature. The cord then continues to and through the other cord lock,
which is attached to the belt loop. This cord lock allows you to pick the
height that the Elimitrax on your leg. The actual belt strap has a snap closure
for placement without having to remove your belt.
In 2003 I received my first pair of Elimitrax. Unfortunately
my season was all but over when they arrived so no testing was done that fall.
During the 2004 Ohio
bow-hunting season I was able to personally put the Elimitrax to the test. At
first it was a little difficult to get familiar with, however, after a few
times using the product in the field it became second nature and took minimal
time to put on over my boots. More than 100 deer and two coyotes crossed my
entry routes throughout the year and at no time did any of them show signs of
detecting my presence. On one occasion when my son accompanied me for a video
taped hunt he wore the Elimitrax and I used my rubber boots. The first deer to
cross our path, a yearling, became spooky and caused the whole herd to become
nervous. When the lead mature doe hit our trail she busted out and exited the
area taking the gang with her. On subsequent hunts when my son joined me I wore
the Elimitrax and carried him on my back for the last 50 – 75 yards. It worked
and all was back to normal – clueless deer. In fact, the first deer of my son’s
life fell to his arrow after it and three others crossed directly over the path
we took to our stands.
Elimiscent Gloves
Elimitrax, still a relatively new company, has experienced
fantastic growth – over 200% per year. The foundation of that growth is an
excellent product and Scott’s driving force, “It’s important to me to provide
them with the very best gear on the planet, gear that I wouldn’t think of
hunting without, gear that I know will make them more successful. We have very
high expectations for the future and will be bringing out several new products
soon. My goal is to maintain our high standards of ethics, morals, values and
principles while making available tools that break the mold of typical
thinking, tools that will make hunters success in big game hunting skyrocket.”
For more information on the Elimitrax Over-Boot System, or
the new Elimiscent Gloves, visit them on the web at www.elimitrax.com
