For nearly as long as humans have been hunting animals, there’s been one common source of frustration that we’ve spent millennia trying to combat: scent. We’ve tried everything from smoke to deer urine in our attempts to solve the problem of how to hide ourselves from our quarry’s nose. Has it worked? To an extent — but there are still trouble spots. Scent elimination sprays try to get rid of human odor, but they wear off. Cover scents try to cover up the human scent to confuse game, but in the end, you still give off an odor that animals can detect through the cover.

The game changed with the introduction of ozone devices, which can actually chemically alter human scent by changing oxygen into ozone, leaving the hunter undetectable. Because your body is always producing scent, no spray can keep up — but an active scent management tool like those from Ozonics can reduce, alter and eliminate your odor in the field by creating a constant stream of ozone. An Ozonics unit can make you undetectable to game by generating a sort of scent-free cloud of ozone around you, cleansing the air between you and your quarry. We’re not talking about masking or blocking your human scent, but eliminating or altering it to the point that animals can’t recognize it. Ozonics uses scientifically proven technology to deliver just the right oxidant concentration to bond to your scent molecules.

It’s amazing technology, really, offering you more leeway than you’ve ever had before when it comes to hunting the wind. We still wouldn’t tell you to ignore the wind completely, but with a cloud of odor-eliminating ozone surrounding you, you can put yourself in places you know game will travel regardless of the wind conditions.

Sounds high-tech and complicated, doesn’t it? Fortunately, Ozonics has distilled sophisticated technology into an easy-to-use package that doesn’t take up much space and can mount easily to your treestand or ground blind. It’s quiet, of course, and uses innovative air flow technology to ensure the proper amount of ozone is deployed. You won’t need weeks of scent-control preparation for your treestand location, your clothes, your hair and everything else — just bring out an Ozonics device and start hunting where you think you’ll have the most opportunity.

The lastest product in the Ozonics line is the HR500, which takes active scent control to the next level with a Hyperboost mode, Bluetooth, and even quieter operation (40% quieter than previous models). You can control it through a smartphone app that lets you keep track of battery life, local weather conditions, and more. Adjust the ozone output on your phone without having to fiddle with the device itself — a real advantage if you’re already in range of a deer and you’re trying to stay stealthy.

You can also add a remote key fob if you’d rather control the output at the press of a button rather than pull your phone out. Did the wind shift? Did more deer enter the field? Are the does acting shifty and nervous? Did a trophy buck walk out and you want a little extra insurance that he won’t smell you no matter how close he gets? Press a button and the HR500 has you covered.

An XL battery on the HR500 gives you double the battery life — up to 10 hours in standard mode, eight hours in boost mode or six hours in Hyperboost mode — and the interface couldn’t be easier to use, with simple-to-use functions. It’s covered in rubber overmolding for sound dampening and a sure grip during setup, which is simple and quiet thanks to the integrated EZ Mount technology. And, of course, it’s compact and easy to carry — the HR500 weighs about a pound and measures 7 x 2.5 x 6.5 inches. Pair it with Ozonics’ DRiWASH Bag or other gear for additional deodorizing and scent control.

When you consider the various ways humans have tried to hide their scent from game animals over the millennia, it’s clear that the generations of hunters who came before us could only have dreamt of this kind of scent control. Ozonics’ new HR500 has truly taken scent control to the next level, altering your scent at the molecular level to give you the best chance of beating your quarry’s nose that you’ve ever had.