Tell Me Bout Smoke!

[LimBender]

Allright, I'm going on 2-3 years readin and hearin about smoke cover scent and it's really got me thinking (since that's all I can do this time of year).  Seems kinda all or nothin - scent free or smell like a campfire. So I never tried it.

Some good hunters swear by it, some scientists talk about how it kills odors, and I'm mighty tempted to give it a shot.  

Seems a lot more "traditional" to stand in smoke and smell like a campfire than to have a 10 step try to smell like nothing ritual.    

[mrjsl]

I hunt in a place where I must camp sometimes, and I suppose I smell like smoke. I do see deer and they aren't smelling me.

My approach is to stay downwind and if I can't I relocate to a place where I can.

[rastaman]

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Here are a few old threads on the subject if you don't get enough responses.

[TxAg]

That's all I used to cover my scent last year. Worked like a charm!

[LimBender]

Thanks Rasta!

I'm not trying to "beat the wind."  I'm just thinking about using smoke as a cover scent in the same way I would try to limit my scent - as an edge for crosswinds, swirling winds, and minimizing downwind spooking.

[bluej]

Where I hunt, the deer will circle you until they smell you.

[SteveB]

Killing/reducing scent is one thing - and possible.

Covering scent is a different thing - and can't be done to hide from most animals.

[Joseph]

I know that when I was in Africa every time we went to a blind along came a bag of dried Zebra dung. The would line them up touching each other and then light the one on the end and it would slowly burn like incense.  It worked very well over there.  I have never tried it in the U.S. though.  Joseph

[Javi]

Pretty much anything you can do to make yourself smell “natural” will work “MOST” of the time. Smoke from a camp fire is natural in some places and not in others. Look around and see what is “NATURAL” then use it.. Using white oak cover scent in a cedar brake is kind of a red flag…  :D   My favorite screwup cover scent is Fresh Earth…. Seen a guy cover himself with it….. while hunting in S. Texas caliche dirt.
Cover scents “DO” work… just keep them natural…

[SteveB]

Unlike humans, animals process multiple smells at the same time - their life depends on it. Add another smell to yours and they smell that AND you.

[smoke1953]

Been using it in the bathroom for years. If it works there it works anywhere.

[GrayRhino]

[Scott Teaschner]

smoke1953 it may work to kill the smell for your nose.I dont know about game but thats a good point! Joeseph I wonder if you burnt Zebra dung in elk country if they could tell the diffrence between Elk dung and Zebra dung. I truly beleave when I was kid on stand hunting White Tails I swore I saw more deer when I had bad gas this is no joke. I dont know but I think they smell so well they can seperate diffrent odors. Some of the guides had earth waffers and cow elk waffers and my god I never smelled earth that strong or cow elk smell that bad JMO. Play the wind that is the best I think. When I am a ball of sweat running up and down a mountain side thats all you can do.

[Terry Lightle]

Indians hunted for a living and they smoked their clothing

[buckeye_hunter]

I think it may help by leaving behind no human scent from your clothes if you rub some brush on the way to your stand.

I couple smoking my clothes with stepping in a puddle or mudding up my boots on the way into my stand. Using that method, I have seen many deer follow my trail with zero clue or alertness to my presence.

Smoke = carbon I think, right? Carbon is what they put in all those expensive suits. So.......

One issue:

If a deer gets downwind, you are usually out of buisness no matter what you try. Play the wind AND try to leave no scent trail into your stand.

[NIGEL01]

A buddy of mine hunted with one of the very popular Wisconsin bluff outfitters, and one of the "famous" outdoor channel couples were hunting at the same time.  He asked them what their "secret" was.  They said they bring a Weber grill with them were ever they go, and before they go out hunting they burn oak leaves in it and inpregnate their hunting clothes with it.  These people rely on sponser's, I have yet to see Weber grills as one of their sponsers.?

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by okla bearclaw:
Indians hunted for a living and they smoked their clothing

X2... It works way better then anything on the market today.

[Huntschool]

I was told to step in a cow pile or hors pile on my way to a stand... That was years ago.. If there are cows or horses around it makes sence...

As to smoke...  I have worn "smokey" clothes to the woods... I also crush a bunch of cedar and rub it on my clothes occasionally...

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Story time! I once stalked a large herd of elk with my uncle and father. We smoked ourselves before closing in and at one point we were downwind of all 250 elk. The elk were anywhere from 30 to 70 yards away and not one of them spooked. we could only shoot browtine bulls and it took 15 minutes of searching the herd to find out that there was not a legal elk. At that point we walked into plain sight and it still took the elk another 10 minutes to clear out. Take it how you will but I am sold on smoke as a cover scent, but only if smoke is a natural scent in the area!

[SuperK]

I like to smoke up my insulated jumpsuit with hickory chips you can buy from the grocery store.  I don't know if it fools a deers nose, but I like the smell.  It reminds me of years ago when I was a kid and .....