"The wind is everything, and we all know that deer can pick apart the wind and ID all of the scents within it. So a heavy smoke cover may give you a few more seconds to draw your bow....but it sure as heck won't make you invisible."
You nailed it! I thought about this idea a long time ago. Ever wake up the next day after being around a campfire, you smell like smoke. Assuming dogs and deer have similar capabilitys, I contacted a search and rescue organization. The guy was very friendly and told me lots of neat stuff. He said there are houses/buildings that the smoke smell will burn your eyes, yet the dogs walk right in and can tell you EXACTLY where the fire started, assuming it was started with an excellerant. He said if deer are like dogs, then they can pick apart the air and tell you exactly whats in it. We walk into a house and all we smell is the apple pie being cooked. A dog can smell everything that is being cooked. I also spoke with a dog trainer for the police department. He said they could leave a trail thru a field, dog could follow it. They burnt the field, dog still could follow it. They plowed the field, dog could still follow it. Scent is EVERYWHERE and you cant hide or mask it. He said they would wear rubber gloves and wrap drugs in various materials and place it in a glass jar with a lid. The dog could find it every time. They figured the scent got on the outside of the jar, simply from transfering the drugs to it. As for scent lok type clothing, it gets even better. They made a fully zippable sleeping bag out of the material and put a guy in it. The dog found him easily. They made two of them one inside the other and put a guy in it, dog found it again. This all assumes a dog and deer can smell the same. Charles Alsheimer said he had bucks in his pen hanging out on the one side of the fence during the rut. He said he believes they could smell a hot doe(s) on the ridge upwind of that enclosure. The nearest cover on that ridge was 300yds away.