Smoking

[adkmountainken]

he hear a story a will tell even though it is a gun hunt. back in the day i was a scent freak! clothes washed scent free, plastic tubss, yada yada yada. scent free soap, shampoo, deorderent ya know the story. in preperation for an early morning hunt i had brought all my hunting clothes and gear to my mothers house which is where i hunt out of most of the time, that way i could just drive up in sweat pants and change. had everything in plastic tubbs and the works. got up bright and early, walked thorugh the door to find all my clothes layed out by the fire place which is an old one and smokes out of more holes then the economy!!! my clothes STUNK so bad of smoke i couldn't stand it but they were all i had there.  i left for the woods knowing i didn't have a snoballs chance in hell!! got settled in my stand and at first light had 3 does come in UPWIND from me. they came in slow and looked nervous but fed as they walked untill they were 60 yards from me then calmed down and milled around. from behing me i could hear a heavy deer walking. a BIG 8 point came around the tree i was in and started chasing the does. i KNOW these deer smelled my clothes but many of the local houses burn wood and i believe that calmed them down. that day changed a lot of my thought process. i am very intrigued by this post and i like to try things out for myself. i will pick a weekend this year and give it an honest 2 day trial smoking my clothes.

[lpcjon2]

Smoking has a long history of cleansing  bad spirits away from ones self and has been used to cleans a house to remove unwanted spirits. I may be wrong but I think Sage was used.So if you or your house need to be cleansed from spirits(even the ones that keep deer away)fire up the smoke pot and I will be over,it can't hurt.  

[pdk25]

If it works for you, great.  I try to minimize odors, hoping to get an extra couple of seconds when it counts.  When I've become as scent free as possible, I've still been busted by the wind.  I've also had a few stupid deer come in, directly down-wind, when I was as sweaty as can be.  I don't care for the smell of the smoke, and don't feel like going through the trouble.  I seriously doubt that having my clothes smoked would have made any difference in any of my hunts.  I've certainly killed plenty of deer without it.

[Winterhawk1960]

Hopewell Tom,

I store all of my clothes in a large rubbermaid container with a lid that seals pretty well. I do smoke my gloves, mittens, hats, and even the inside as well as the outside of my boots (if I'm wearing leather ones). I also, do occasionally fire the smoker up and give myself a once over, including my hair......your hair can and does hold a lot of "human smell". I've done away with all the "scent free" stuff, and both my wife and I have used this method for two years now.

As I said.......I had an ongoing internal argument with myself over even trying this for several years......it works, and that is what matters most to me, it makes the area "downwind" of me worry free. Those that don't want to "bother" with it........to each his own, but I have spent a small fortune in the last 20 years on things that for the most part didn't work worth a crap. I am a health care professional, and I was kinda concerned with the smoke smell lingering on my person......most especially my hair. I haven't had any complaints, and have asked people if they could smell any of it on me. I will say that when you get in the shower after a day in the woods it seems like the water really concentrates the smell.........but nothing that a couple of shampooing's won't take care of.

As I said, I believe that a deer can "learn" to associate the smoke smell with danger, but if things work out right........they won't get the chance to.

Winterhawk1960

[Zradix]

I have had deer walk by my a few times less than 10yds from me when I was hunting on the ground. I had the wind blowing right at THEM and had a lit cigarette. (way back when)

Figure the smoke covered or at least mixed with my scent enough not to spook em.

[crotch horn]

I for one am going to at least try it and see how it goes. I figure it might help and if I get bad results then I will stop doing it.

[adkmountainken]

i'll let ya know how i do as well. i like to take things and test them myself liking peeing out of a treestand and peeing in a scrape, very interesting the things you find out when you go do them!

[Mudd]

I second the question on making a bee type smoker. Any suggestions? or know something that works as a smoke?

God bless,Mudd

[vernon]

My experience is that camp fire smoke/smell does not both game as much as we think.  I try to take care of my clothes and my scent but I also spend a lot of time in the backcountry which involves sitting around a campfire at night.  Last year my hunting buddy and I were sitting on a ridge having a fire to stay warm and pass the afternoon time until the evening hunt.  Spotted a bull elk, put the fire out, hiked approximately 1/4 mile and shot the bull at 6 yards with my pronghorn.

[Tyler2045]

I have always set around camp fires and the smoke that goes with them. I have killed deer after being around smoke. I always try to stand in the smoke as much as possible to kill my sent. I think it works great.

[RAU]

Jeff Miller mentions smoking his clothes in one of his deer hunting books. He has nothing but really good things to say about it too. I've never done it, but have been meaning to for the last couple years since reading that book It only makes sense right? Its a very natural smell in the country where lots burn wood for heat and we all know how strong the smell of wood smoke on skin and clothing is. I will try it this year!

[Friend]

Two friends of mine that hunt together seem to prepare totally against the books. They have poor hygiene, wear same clothes for days, do no low profile scouting and just go in the woods and hunt. Their campfire is always large and they covered in smoke. They seem to always get their deer. Go figure..The smoke must have contributed to their success.

[B/W lvr]

This thread got me to remembering my early years of hunting up in the UP of Michigan. All the old timers would build a small fire at their stand sites and keep warm all day. They also shot more deer  than anyone else. I always thought it was stand location but now this has got me to thinking and those guys had deer coming crazy close before they shot them. Guess who's going to have a smoke tent next elk season? Frank

[GREATBROWNKNOCKEMDOWN]

There are alot of camp grounds out here by the public land we hunt and camp fires galore and i also let my hunting clothes hang out by the hardwood fires as long as nothing else is being burned or cooked. I have had many close encounters with deer while being SMOKED UP and i use it now instead of paying for all that other stuff. fires are an every day thing in most parts of the world and i think it doesnt spook the animals at all, not from my experience anyways. Hey that might be a good topic for a new thread ( any bad experiences while being SMOKED UP)!!. Dont think there will be any though.

[pdk25]

This is a good topic, and I'm glad people are sharing their experience's.  I didn't catch it, but is there anyone who is routinely smoking their clothes and shooting mature deer downwind on a regular basis?

[KentuckyTJ]

A tad off subject but relative I believe. I used to hunt a farm right next to the highway. One day sitting in the stand it occurred to me that Diesel fuel exhaust may just be a great cover scent. The farmer had an old tractor up in the front of the place. He was out on it one day when I stopped and I filled my clothes box with the exhaust fumes (boy did I get some strange looks for that one). After that I had numerous downwind encounters while remaining undetected. I frequently would stop and have my hunting clothes fumigated. Gotta use what you have! Here is a buck I killed there. He at one point was straight down wind from me. I now refer to him as "the Diesel buck".

   

[Doc Nock]

It is said by the old trapper magazines and books that canine noses are ever so much better than even deer...and they always said to make a small fire, add greens from the area and smoke yourself, backet, tools before you headed out.

But regardless of all the data we share, the bottom line, as said, is the individual deer and their past experience.

There are a few perfume scents I've learned to avoid...cause of the women that wore them and I don't want to chance it.    

Might be that deer learn to associate any given smell, movement or location of a stand the same way!

[Mint]

How is it that dogs trained to find drugs can separate out all the cover scents the drug trafficers use and still find the drugs sealed in plastic bags? I think when you cover yourself up with smoke the derr smell smoke and human scent. I think their noses are that good. Just my 2 cents.

[Mudd]

If you think you'd like to give it a try.

Do a search for bee keeping suppliers and you can pick up a smoker for about 27 bucks that'll last you a lifetime.

God bless,Mudd

[ChuckC]

I don't think it helps the BO, but it does make some sort of cover scent.  Watch danf near every Fred Bear film and watch him, and many others do exactly that.
ChuckC