I would have to disagree, I have been doing mine every two to three weeks. I hang my gear in an apple tree next to one of the fire pits in my back yard and get a smoldering fire going, drink a couple beers, and smoke em good for a couple hours. I can still smell the smoke for a minimum of two weeks so I am sure the deer can as well. Seems to be working quite well for me I might add. Just my .02
Don't want to take a shower and then run out to the tent in the cold so I would smoke up for scent control and forgo the shower. Now I run a heater out to the tent and run an ozone machine. I don't use woodsmoke anymore but I sure would if I had to travel to hunt.
I still wash everything and even myself with scent killer/unscented type soaps. For showers you could pre-smoke towels and wash cloths so when you are done your body has that light scent of smoke on it. Then covering it with smoked clothing is the next step. As far as doing it every time I don't agree or disagree. My best results have always been after I used fresh smoke to make sure I got my face, hands and hair as well as the bottoms of my boots, equipment, etc..
I never heard of it on TV=because it is home made and can't sell on commercials. Just did it last week but I hunt where there are very few deer so I can't comment on its effectiveness. I'll keep using as my cover scent and washing my under layers in scent free.
Just started using it this year. Smoked all my gear and myself. Put my clothes in my duffle opened the zipper a lil and pumped smoke in there and let it sit. Tossed it around and did it a few more times that way. I'll never buy another bottle of spray or scent cover. I had does all around me last weekend with the wind swirling and they never even flinched. Ended up shooting my buck. Thanks guys.
I smoked my gear last year for the first time and I had deer show up downwind from me. Do I think that it was only because of the smoke, no. But I think what most people fail to understand is that the concept of smoking is not a cover scent. Smoke has a very low PH, it kills and inhibits the growth of bacteria. The benefit as I understand is that it acts as a constant scent eliminator. I did an early season sit last year, walked back to my car in 80 degree, sweating my balls off. When I got in the car I did not smell the expected B.O. smell, but instead a mild smoke smell. I am not naive enough to think it kills all my scent, or will let me walk up and grab a buck. But I do believe there is a benefit to it and as I continue to try new tactics as a hunter, this is one I will keep doing for the time being.
Exactly. When I researched this i also discovered it puts a thin layer of active carbon on you. Mind you, "thin". but it still will absorb some some smell. To me its kind of the Trifecta. -Scent cover, if its a smell that deer are used to in the area. -Scent eliminator, as stated it kills and inhibits the growth of bacteria -Scent absorber, thin layer of activated carbon. And it's super cheap and readily available to boot.
Giving this thread a bump. I have been going back and forth trying to decide if I should go the ozone route like a scent crusher bag or give smoking my clothes a try. The only thing that worries be about ozone is how harmful it can be to the elastic and plastics in your clothes decreasing their life span. Have any of you made the jump from smoke to ozone or visa versa and which do you prefer?
I used ozone all last season for the first time. I have not noticed any problems with elastics and plastics in any of the clothes but only did it for a season but it treated every thing after every hunt. May we 30 hunts. So I was used a ton. Probably to much. Hope that helps? Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Def would work. Try storing you clothes with a pine branch or two as well, but the best scent cover is using the wind correctly. Happy Hunting! Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk
I smoked my gear numerous times a few years ago. At first it seemed like the deer would only be cautious if they caught wind of me but they wouldn't spook hard. It seemed to work pretty well. It seemed like later in the season I started getting some bad reactions to it. I figured they were just more educated to the scent. So the next season I did it again. Immediately got nothing but bad reactions every time. I think what ended up happening is the clothes start to take on an odd smell that I could never get washed out. Almost like the old mildew-like smoke smell. No matter how much I washed them I couldn't get this smell removed. The problem is it was all my gear and not cheap gear by any means. I haven't smoked my clothes since and have slowly replaced all of this gear. If you're going to do it just keep in mind there's no going back with getting that scent out of your clothes. I still have a few items laying around that I can still smell this on especially if I put it in an airtight container.
Coop427 - that's an interesting observation. I've been smoking my gear for about 6 years now and have not noticed anything like what you describe. I wonder if it is a reaction to the material being smoked or the wood used or some other reactionary cause. I have noticed that several pieces of clothing have retained the smoke smell even after being washed. Other clothing that gets the same treatment do not seem to retain the smell for long periods of time. I think I will have someone else check these items and see if my sniffer has just gotten accustom to the odor or if there is a problem. I have not noticed any issues when deer are around.
This might be a good thing for me to try on my next trip to Kentucky. Where I am hunting the tobacco is being harvested which means the tobacco smoker barns are running at full tilt. You can't go much of anywhere there and not smell smoke in the air.
In this area we have a lot of Red Cedar trees. From 2' to 30'. In case some of you are not familiar with Red Cedar, they have a very strong lasting odor to them. I rub my outer layer with fresh cut Red Cedar branches and it is good for 3-4 days or more. Even makes the basement smell where I hang my clothes. Cheep and a natural odor to the deer. Ask me around January 10th if it really works as this is my first full season tree stand hunting.
