Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum What's your favorite?

Thanks Troy, I'm from B'ham and I just might give ya a call one day.

I'm right down the road from Tannehill Park...

Know exactly where Tanneyhill is, thanks Troy.

I have found that serveral different types of smoke have worked for me.

Here is a quote from an article on Field & Stream's website talking about the Scent Smoker:
"According to the manufacturer, the smoke saturates your clothing and other gear with phenol, a naturally occurring antibacterial and antimicrobial. It also deposits lignin (the sticky substance found in woodsmoke), which keeps odor-causing bacteria from growing. (Phenol and lignin are also what prevents smoked meat from going bad.) Activated carbon is released in the smoke as well. Since the smell of smoke is common, goes the argument, it doesn’t spook deer."

I don't use anything that don't come from the woods where I hunt. Most of the time, I don't use anything at all but the wind.

Most of the time, I still get busted. That's what makes it fun.

"since the smell of smoke is common"

That's the part I don't get. I don't have a nose as good as a deer but we don't have many fires at all around our area. No body burns, cause there are no pine plantations, and even camp fires are rare. Not saying it doesn't work, just saying it seems like you would have to be in an area where fires really are common

truedouble check out the time stamps on my pics. Smoked my hunting clothes and went hunting a couple of hours later. Not for everyone but I smokeup all the time.

WOW!!! I would not have the balls to do that!!! LOL! I'd not see a deer for sure then!!! LOL!

When you folks say if the deer are smelling your cover scent they're smelling you too...if I go in and hunt in a stand of pines and spray pine scent on me then it's natural, if I'm hunting where Cedars are, it's natural. I think it helps to cover your scent of course with the help of scent eliminator spray, and put the deer at ease because they are smelling something they are used to smelling. Now the smoke...I dunno! I'd hate to have to sit in the stand and smell smoke on myself all day! LOL!

Usually earth if I'm hunting in hardwoods or pine needles in the pine stands. Fresh mud for my boots before I walk in if I can find a puddle or two. If nothing else I'll use the scent disks in pine or earth.

I like pine myself, its a common smell for the areas I hunt. the smoke works though. If there is a campfire going before the hunt I will stand down wind of it

I'll say up front I've never tried smoke...BUT I cannot believe that it works...I almost NEVER smell smoke in the woods. ???????

troy

Try it and you'll be surprised. I've had a lot of deer come in downwind of me (a couple within 15ft) and never pay me any attention while sitting on the ground in a made up blind or up a tree in my climber. Something I learned from my grandfather that I have seen work time and time again.

Where I hunt now - people burn trash, have a fire in the fireplace, and burn outside all the time. I never smell it while hunting, but see it when I drive by their houses. The distances deer travel - I don't see why they wouldn't be used to the smell.

My answer is the same except I hunt the wind ALL the time. Well I guess that isn't completely truthful. If the wind shifts right before dark, I'll stick it out and hope he comes up behind me. I do often rub crushed pine needles on me if I'm hunting around pines though. I think it is mostly that it makes me think I'm doing something useful and it is a pleasant smell more than it is covering my scent.

"hunting the wind" sounds good in theory, but I find that it dosen't work so well in practice(in the woods). The wind shifts all the time in the places I hunt(hilly) and deer approacj from all directions. Most of em may approach along the trail or area you think they will after scouting and studying the deer/area, but all certainly don't.

Esp in the rut where does will walk "normal" trails, approaches to food, but bucks will slide downwind of those areas getting downwind of you. During the rut there is no "hunting the wind" due to the erratic nature of rut stupid bucks...or are they stupid???

troy

Makes you think your doing something useful...I think that the key! Whether it works of not...who knows but it gives us a piece of mind. Hey, I've had deer bust me plenty of times while using cover scents, scent elimination products, etc. Was it because they didn't effectually mask my scent? Don't know. Was it because the wind had shifted? don't know. Was it perhaps that I moved and spooked the deer? Maybe! It's kinda like deer calls...If I'm out in the woods and haven't seen squat, I'll pull it out and blow on it a bit just to see. Nothings happens, but hey, it made me feel like I was doing something that might help. I've had success with a call a handful of times. Only once did a buck come charging in. Other times they wondered up. Was it because of the call or were they on their way anyway? Once again, don't know, but it made me feel like I did something to help the hunt. Now the smoke may be just so dang powerful and strong that it really does overwhelm your human scent. Don't know!

Smoke is one scent that will over power many other scents... if you've ever been around folks that have been in a smoky bar all night, that is what you tend to smell of them, even if they be wearing purfume or whatever. It definitely works on our sense of smell. Whether or not it over powers a deers sense of smell is questionable. If I were going to put any kind of faith whatsoever in cover scents, smoke would be it.

Do you think a deer has never smelled smoke in the woods before?

Sure a deer has smelled smoke in the woods before! But to me...it's like this, if the area you hunt is near houses with fireplaces going all the time or other things where fire and smoke is common, then yeah, I think it would be ok. What about if you hunt way back in the woods, a couple miles from a house or something, and smoke is not very common, at all? Seems to me wearing smoke on you into a place like that would be akin to spraying down with cedar scent and walking into a pine thicket, where there's not a cedar tree for a square mile. Or walking into a hardwood bottom with pine scent, where there are no pines. I see alot of scents like apple, corn, persimmon among others. Now if your hunting in a stand of persimmon trees, a corn field, or an apple orchard, or maybe perhaps you have been feeding those things! Te-he! Then they would be natural, if not it's UNNATURAL! In my honest opinion, if smoke is not commonly present, it's unnatural. But whatever works for ya'll!

Do I think a deer has never smelled smoke before? Probably does on rare occasions such as when there is a forest fire or hunters start a camp fire. Point is it's not a common smell in most places. I would be concerned that they would associate smoke with human presence and I would also think that a deer 15 yds. down wind of a hunter that is covered in smoke would be a heck of lot stronger than a camp fire 1/2 a mile or more away. Even if it did kind of work I'd hate to smell like smoke all the time. It would have to be the ultimate cover scent for me to even think about trying it, but that's just me.