Smoke cover scent?

[Chris in TN]

If you showed me empirical data that campfire smoke made deer less likely to smell me, I'd still want a shower after a night of sitting around the campfire.

I just prefer to be as scentless as possible, whether it's smoke or my own body odor or deer pee or pine needles, and am most comfortable when my own smells aren't detectable to myself and are being blown away from where I think I might see game. That's not to say that I don't enjoy having a sense of smell or enjoy certain smells; I just don't want to walk around smelling like, well, anything.

YMMV.

 

[minas stiris]

I have had a hive smoker for about five, six years now. I don't start smoking my clothes until the weather turns cold and people out around my property start using the fireplace. It works, well. I've had plenty of deer come in downwind of me and they may be a little more alert it's rare they blow out.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

If you showed me empirical data that campfire smoke made deer less likely to smell me, I'd still want a shower after a night of sitting around the campfire.

I just prefer to be as scentless as possible, whether it's smoke or my own body odor or deer pee or pine needles, and am most comfortable when my own smells aren't detectable to myself and are being blown away from where I think I might see game. That's not to say that I don't enjoy having a sense of smell or enjoy certain smells; I just don't want to walk around smelling like, well, anything.

YMMV.

This isn’t directed at you, Chris, but more generally to the topic.

I happily shoot deer every year wandering around the woods all day with the wind swirling this way and that, often with a dog on a leash (she won’t stay at the house), taking a hot shower every night, and paying zero attention to my scent. Sometimes I will skip shaving, but that’s because I am a nasty, undisciplined thing, not because I don’t want the deer smelling my shaving cream. I would go insane worrying about a wind that changes direction every ten minutes. I’ve shot bucks while taking a break to peel an orange, while eating a lukewarm bacon and cheddar sandwich, and just after pulling my pants back up from taking a field shit. I’ve also killed a buck while gutting or dragging another buck I just shot.

Move slowly (and not at all if you know you can be observed) and look carefully. A whitetail might move slowly to avoid you if he smells you, but he’s only running if he sees you. And if he is moving, he’s easier to spot.

This stuff just doesn’t matter that much for rifle hunting, especially during the rut.

 

[Chris in TN]

This isn’t directed at you, Chris, but more generally to the topic.

I happily shoot deer every year wandering around the woods all day with the wind swirling this way and that, often with a dog on a leash (she won’t stay at the house), taking a hot shower every night, and paying zero attention to my scent. Sometimes I will skip shaving, but that’s because I am a nasty, undisciplined thing, not because I don’t want the deer smelling my shaving cream. I would go insane worrying about a wind that changes direction every ten minutes. I’ve shot bucks while taking a break to peel an orange, while eating a lukewarm bacon and cheddar sandwich, and just after pulling my pants back up from taking a field shit. I’ve also killed a buck while gutting or dragging another buck I just shot.

Move slowly (and not at all if you know you can be observed) and look carefully. A whitetail might move slowly to avoid you if he smells you, but he’s only running if he sees you. And if he is moving, he’s easier to spot.

This stuff just doesn’t matter that much for rifle hunting, especially during the rut.

I've done all of those things and would agree that you can get away with a ton if your local deer are used to your sight/smell and even moreso during the rut. A long time ago I used to smoke and I have even shot deer while smoking a cigarette. If I was the sort of person who hunted 3-5 days per year around the holidays on a place I didn't see the rest of the year I would care much less about wind.

However, it has been my experience that being careless with scent in November, our rut season here at home, correlates with reduced deer sightings in December. If I want to see deer during the winter, I have to be gentle in how much I bother then in fall, or they'll go nocturnal. I've never been able to 'hunt the wind' perfectly. There are always swirls or days when you hunt a marginal wind and it pushes around further than you had hoped. But the less of those days I have in November, the more deer I see at home during December. I've spent years observing that to the point that I take it on faith now without question. I only have 50 acres here and if I am careful I will see deer here all winter. If I am not, I stop seeing them after maybe Thanksgiving but still get nighttime pictures of them. It isn't the random wandering bucks I'm worried about, it's the does that live here year round. They know. And because of it we go to great lengths not to bug them. There'll be times every year that deer are feeding around after dark and I'll ask my wife or one of the kids to drive the SxS out to my stand and push the deer away so I can leave the stand without them knowing I was there. I'd 100x rather push them with a SxS than them realize they'd been feeding right in front of a dude in a tree. And I'll also happily concede that if we lived closer to a bunch of people where deer were more used to human interactions, or if we had more land, things might be different. But where we are here, my hunting has greatly improved since I started paying more heed to the wind. I have stands that are huntable from different directions and I will quite often wake up and not know which stand I'm hunting until I get to the middle of my yard and stand there a moment to feel the wind and figure out which stand is safest.

 

[Poser]

I used to know some guys who hunted with dogs, they said they would try to avoid burn areas because it would mess with their smell for a couple days. Stands to reason that the smoke smell would have a somewhat similar effect, probably just not as intense.

Meh. That's a rather extreme example with very concentrated smoke from a recent burn. Standing in front of a fire is fractional at best compared to an actual burn. Then there's the fact that an elk's nose is roughly 1,000 times more acute than a dog's nose.

 

[Donny Land]

I was with a hunting buddy who was smoking a bowl yesterday right before I shot an elk. I think that kind of smoke scent seems to work. I can’t try doing that though since I get drug tested.

And you'll plow through all of your snacks!

Back on topic, this has been discussed for years, mixed reviews is really the outcome I've always gotten. But out west animals smell smoke all the time, so why not give it a shot.? You'll still need to play the wind, but a quick wind shift, the smoke cover scent could give you a little edge.

 

[Yoder]

I spray myself down with liquid smoke

I just light my clothes on fire.

 

[Swamp Fox]

As said, it’s all a joke. Keep them from getting your wind or your cooked.

That being said, I remember as a kid smearing that cow in heat goo all over my boots and pack. Then when I came across the first elk bed I’d rub my hat in the elk piss. I walked all over the woods nauseous. That cow in heat shit would make your stomach turn.

When I finally gave up on that stupid shit I actually started smelling real elk.

Anybody ever tell you you were doing it wrong?

LOL

 

[nubraskan]

I just light my clothes on fire.

Superior results require sacrifice

 

[Ucsdryder]

Anybody ever tell you you were doing it wrong?

LOL

Nope, back in the day we didn’t have a forum full of know it alls. We figured it out the hard way. And the learning curve was steep. Lots of years wandering the woods taking my bow for a hike, effing up encounter after encounter.

 

[SMOKYMTN]

I was talking with a guy at work and he had mentioned that he “smokes” his clothes before hunting. Either he will put them out around a bon fire, or hang them by his wood burner. Has anyone else ever used this method? Has it worked for you? I guess I have never thought to use it as a cover scent. Let me know your thoughts/experiences.

Situationally, it has worked for me BUT with a caveat. I have an acreage of mountain top land that is surrounded by a handful of cabins. It's roughly 200 acres or so, choked with rhododendron and mountain laurel, and riddled with swirling wind. Why does this matter? Because it is impossible for me to "play the wind" and any encounters I do have are typically close in nature. Trying to neutralize odors is a must even if it seems futile. I tried a little bit of everything to limit my scent but it dawned on me one day that every house in the general vicinity burns wood nearly every day in November and December, and the general area as a whole is constant with the smell of wood fire. So I figured I would try it. First time I tried it, I had a doe and 2 yearlings come through. They could tell something wasn't quite right in the area, but ultimately ended up bedding down at the base of the tree I was in for almost 2 hours. 2nd time, I sat on the ground and was completely surrounded by deer as close as 10 yards. One doe ended up nailing my location but didn't spook. It was odd. I ended up harvesting a mature buck on that hunt. Last year I had similar experience in the same location, with deer all around me and ultimately seeing a mature buck that I could not get a shot off at.

With all that said, I've tried the same in other locations with not nearly the same success. So my conclusion is this: Is smoke a natural smell? Sure. Is it a common smell? Not always. In my humble opinion, if they smell it regularly it has a great chance at working as smoke is very potent odor neutralizer. If they don't, then it could be alarming. Generally I don't like to sit around smelling like smoke but for this location I will.

My advice? Try it and see if it works for you!