Does anyone use this or do something similar involving using smoke as a cover scent on their hunting clothes? I've considered doing it this year but didn't know if anyone here had bad/good experiences with it.
Not sure about that. You would think that they would be on high alert. What do you do when you smell smoke?
Deer aren't people, therefore smoke doesn't send them running for the hills. The purpose is to cover "Human" scent which actually does alarm deer. The smoke is used as a cover scent and deer DO smell it but they don't get as alarmed. When a deer smells human scent they immediately revert to "danger" mode, smoke on the other hand has a curiosity affect in worse case. Most ignore it and the ones that investigate aren't as jumpy like they are with human pressure.
I get the reason. So the deer smell smoke, grab some corn and sit by the fire. Trust me I know all about covering human scent. Jumpy is not alert? Just making some fun. In 29 years I have never heard of using smoke to cover scent. Does the wood matter like apple trees or even acorns?
From what I have heard most people just use the chips you can buy for a smoker so I don't think wood type matters.
Interesting. What about even just bringing a small burnt log from the night before campfire along with you to the stand?
I think introducing any foreign scent to the woods is probably a bad idea in general. Masking human scent is one thing but adding a strange scent which will make you stand out can't be good.
Seems like most everyone around where I hunt has a wood burner. Very rarely do I not smell smoke when on stand. The deer don't seem to be bothered by it at all. My Uncle had to put down his cigarette to shoot a deer walking right towards him 2 seasons ago. Every spot is different, but around here they aren't bothered by it
Come to think of both my dad and uncle smoked while hunting. I just thought it was all the cover scents they used that covered the smoke smell.
I spent a couple years being skeptical, saying the same things many have said here. No way in my mind could this ever work, deer would be spooked by it, it's ridiculous, might as well hunt over a camp fire, deer will learn to fear the smell, etc., etc., etc.. The only thing that made a little sense to me during all of that was one person's mention of Native American Indians using smoke houses and dousing themselves with smoke in preparation for their hunts. I kept watching people knocking down big bucks and plenty of does and saw all the unsolicited testimonials from people using smoke with success. Some bought bee smokers, some built a bonfire, some used the Scent Smoker, etc.. I had plenty of frustration built up the year I decided to give it a try. The year before I had been busted several times in my ScentLok and Scent Blocker suits, sprayed down head to toe with Scent Killer. The hills I hunt in Ohio are not very forgiving with thermals and often when you try to 'hunt the wind' it fools you or the deer happen to show up where you least expected them. The first year I tried it I put all of my carbon clothing away and stored it sealed like I always did and only tried the smoke thing on a bunch of old camo I had but hadn't worn in years. I will be honest, it took some getting used to having the smell of a bonfire in your clothes while hunting. I had several encounters that year that made me think it might just be working but sometimes the wind was a little more of a cross wind or when the deer showed up from the down wind side of me the wind had switched some. The one encounter that convinced me that it worked was when I decided to sit in a deadfall near a trail that went into a big bedding area. I hadn't hunted this spot much but with the wind direction none of our other stands at the time would 'work' if I were to still consider wind directions. I got settled into the deadfall well before daylight and just at day break I had a doe and two yearlings come up the hill right were I had walked. The wind, a slight breeze, was blowing from me right at them when they stopped at less than 10 yards. I definitely didn't think they would come up the hill there but there they were. After a while the doe could definitely smell something and kept head bobbing, stomped her feet a few times and even threw out a couple short blows. At first I thought I was busted, that the smoke was a gimmick. After all she blew and stomped her feet. Well, after she walked back and forth there less than 10 yards from me she slowly started feeding on leaves as well as the yearlings. Soon they wandered up in front of me and bedded down less than 40 yards away. I watched them most of that morning until they got up and fed about 40 yards further and bedded down again. Other than the unknown smell that was right in her face she had no idea a human being was right there. Good camo and good cover combined with smoke is the only way I go these days. Believe it....or not....
If you hunt withing 10 miles of a populated area using wood smoke on clothes will work. It kills bacteria which is why it is so affective. One of the most successful hunter I know uses it for every hunt.
Most folks here in the country heat with wood in the fall so the woods smell like smoke anyway. Think I might smoke my ghillie suit this year.
I've used it on state land in Michigan, private land in Michigan and our property in Ohio. Many of those spots there aren't many people using wood for heat in early October thru early November. It just works as long as you have good camo and good cover. I think it sparks their curiosity more than anything and somehow with the smoke, carbon, etc. it masks or covers human scent.
