If you have tried smoking your clothes/gear to fool a deer's nose and did it for a while and didnt see and differance or you had negative reactions, I would like to hear about it. THere are several pro smoking your clothes/self threads and it seems pretty well received and it sounds like there are lots of fans of it but I hoped to use this thread to hear from those that tried it and for whatever reason, no longer use the smoke method? Again, there are a lot of pro clothing smoking threads to post positve results in, Im looking for guys that have tried it without sucess to get their opinions and then quit. Perhaps that person doesnt exist and everybody that does /did it is sold on it. Again, Im not interested in succes for this method, only negative results or why you quit.
Again, there are a lot of pro clothing smoking threads to post positve results in, Im looking for guys that have tried it without sucess to get their opinions and then quit. Perhaps that person doesnt exist and everybody that does /did it is sold on it. Again, Im not interested in succes for this method, only negative results or why you quit. I hoped to use this thread to hear from those that tried it and for whatever reason, no longer use the smoke method?
I'm also quite interested in this topic. The only negative feedback I've gotten was from people who have not tried smoking. I'd experiment myself but I don't really want to ruin my hunting clothes.
I think this thread could be pretty helpful to guy contemplating smoking their gear if guys that used to do it and quit are willing to speak up as to their resons for quitting (re it wasnt effective, it was a hassle, etc) Im just not interested in hearing from the success stories since there are already several threads to that effect. I thought I would try an "It didnt work for me" and here's why thread.
It's just smoke, it won't ruin a thing. I have no input for this thread since this will be my first season trying "smoke" but will be on the look out to see what is said with others replies. I am using a scent smoker for the first time this season and have yet to hear any negative results as of yet. The concept made perfect sense to me and this is how the Indians hunted many many years ago, so I pulled the trigger on one. I am going out tomorrow for my first sit, will be washing my camos and gear tonight with scent killer then smoking them up with red oak. Once I see how it works and effects the deer, maybe I can contribute...but I have a good feeling the experience will not be a negative one.
As I said, perhaps that guys doesn’t exist which makes me think smoking ones gear is a good idea. Its easy enough to do and test for myself (and I still may) but thought it worth asking here for input from those that no longer smoke their gear.
"Trying it and giving up" doesn't mean a technique doesn't work. It just means it wasn't done properly, or the person conducting the experiment did not know how to scientifically evaluate the data. And those are NOT the people I want advice from. Since the technique HAS been shown to work before, I'm not sure what is being gained from the question.
That’s why I posted “I hoped to use this thread to hear from those that tried it and for whatever reason, no longer use the smoke method?” And “Im looking for guys that have tried it without success to get their opinions and then quit.” And “Again, Im not interested in succes for this method, only negative results or why you quit.” Leaving it up to those that have given the smoke method a try and stopped using it. Then I will take their comments and use them as I see fit in my contemplation on using the method.
I have done it and did not continue it. I'm a beekeeper and just used my bee smoker, same thing. I used apple leaves from the trees here in the yard. Worked fine as far as I could tell. (which is clear you're not interested in hearing positives) What you stated you're interested in is the why I discontinued the practice: I'm generally late wrapping up the work day for afternoon hunts and mornings I don't really care to go through the hassle at 4am of getting the smoker going and making sure it's out while I'm still likely not 100% "with it" yet. It is a hassle to fire it up and smoke yourself and deal with the entire "thing". Far too convenient to just grab a bottle of fresh earth scent spray and hose down in two minutes and hit the stand. Everything has disadvantages and advantages...I also don't like getting wet from the spray but it's a bit less of an annoyance than firing up a smoker. Unless they have special smokers that are different than a bee smoker? I've not looked at the hunters version lately. WHich btw...a bee smoker is half the cost of a scent smoker. *Edit* Looking at this concept and smokers on Amazon, the thought occurred to me (later in the season I didn't have good apple leaves) I wonder if a person used incense like vanilla, cinnamon, apple, etc...what the effects would be. Just a thought.
Thanks for that. Time and hassle is one consideration that seems like a likely reason. I expect wearing your smoked gear in your truck would make the cab of the truck smell smokey as well. That and other reasons I havent even thought of yet are what Im searching for. I think I have read enough reasons for why to do it but hearing from guys that discovered negatives or that it didnt work for them are of value to me so thank coveymaster.
You're very welcome. I didn't mind the smell of the smoke, actually I quite like it so I may be weird that way. It was mostly I just found myself in a hurry, partly just being anxious to get to the stand and out of convenience foregoing it for the spray bottle. I do hate getting wet from that damn spray bottle though...did I mention that...I did? Oh well, it's worth mentioning again because at 4-5am I'm not generally eager to spray myself with a mist bottle before a four hour sit in a treestand in 30F+ temps. I definitely see why a spray bottle worked wonders when I trained my dogs and cats.
I've just started smoking my gear, opening weekend I had something sniffing past me (Saturday). Never saw what it was. Went out Sunday and it went sniffing behind me, again never saw what it was. I checked a trail cam and I'm pretty sure the sniffing was coming from that doe. I think she smelled the smoke scent but never really spooked off of it. My theory is she smelled it and just went around it because it was a different smell. If I could have seen her I believe she would have been within 30 yards by judging the sniffing sound. I'm not completely sold yet, but I'm not going to give it up yet either. I'm on the fence, I do notice even after I had sweated alot moving stands around in 80 degrees, I still smell like smoke and not sweat. I moved to a new stand location and should be able to give more feedback this weekend.
It's just too much hassle for me when I can wash my clothes every few hunts with dead down wind detergent and spray down with scent eliminator.
How about cigarette smoke? some of the people i know have killed very nice bucks while smoking cigarettes
This is promising. Its seems those that smoke their gear stick with it meaning it must be working for them.
I did try smoke but a 8 point found me and took off and i stop after that so i use dead down wind and dip some skoal apple and hope the apple will not give me away.
DnH_Scents I know you are looking for people who have stopped using the smoke and not advocates but I hope you don't mind if I add a little to the subject now that the thread has progressed for a while. I have had only a couple instances where if I had only those encounters I may have said it may not work. The first time was the first year I had used it. I had a big spike come past me and went completely downwind of me and once he got to about 20-30 yards he started to blow. He definitely smelled something. I thought the gig was up and even though he and another buck settled down and began feeding 50 yards or so from me downwind I still had a feeling that maybe it wasn't working like 'advertised'. The next time, a story I think I've shared on here before, was when I sat on the ground and had a doe with two fawns come up next to me under 10 yards completely downwind. She also began to blow and I thought for sure the gig was up and my day was ruined. Had she not bedded down with her two fawns under 40 yards away I would have thrown in the towel right then. The do smell something, no doubt and they can pick you out if you aren't careful. As far as the hassle of smoking up just before a hunt, I can understand that. There are plenty of mornings where I wake up late or don't give myself time to do it before I leave. That's why I pre-smoke all of my clothing and gear days or even weeks before I hunt. You can use a pop up ground blind, an old shed, just hang them on a clothesline and smoke or in my case I have a changing shed next to our pool (actually a well kept outhouse!) that I use. I even go so far as to smoke up a couple of towels that I use to dry off with after a shower. For some the smell is just too much and I can understand because it does get everywhere, in your car, on you, etc.. For me, heck opening those totes from last year only makes me think of being in a treestand.
I think as long as we are breathing while on stand they can smell us. I bought the smoker and thought is was a great idea. I smoked my back pack real good the night before my hunt and put it right into a scent bag. The next morning I couldn't smell any smoke on it at all. Smoked my cloths the next two hunts and got busted by everything that came in downwind. Third hunt I put some "Acorn Rage" in my scent bags the night before and shot an 8 pt the next morning but it came in upwind. Again, if your breathing, they can smell you. Kilboars Hunt Club
I agree, one thing I always wear is a face mask that I smoke up as well. Any time deer are approaching downwind I make sure it's in place and breathe through it.
