I'm going to research this topic to death. But I'll start here.
I want to get my scent control skill up as far as I possibly can. But I just can't tell what is B.S. and what is really worthwhile. I'm talking about the various scent control products out there.
I have an idea though. While I am a human and so I am no good at really smelling human scent, and laundry detergent, and stuff like that, there are other things I can smell just fine. Cologne, red fox pee,oranges, stuff like that. So I am thinking I could run my own tests. Rub orange on a cloth and make sure I can smell it real well. Then spray the cloth with scent eliminator and see what happens. Then try it with the fox pee, that stuff stinks. I also have skunk spray. I'm sure you can see where I am going with all of this.
Now the snag could be that maybe a deer doesn't actually smell the way we do. I understand they can distinguish different smells, so just from that I have wonder if cover scents have any use at all. So maybe my cover scent test would be useless. Just the way they see different than us, smelling different than us my skew my tests.
Any thoughts on this? I intend to learn to be as close to invisible as I can.
Thanks

I just realized I have a great tool at my disposal. My border collie has a GREAT nose, especially for stuff like hotdogs, or cooked chicken.
I'm sure she can help me with this.

You will be in better shape learning to put the wind to your advantage. All that stuff they sell like urine and such is just so much snake oil in my opinion. I have found that keeping down wind is best, I once got to with in 17 yards of a Buck, because the wind was right and never got a wiff of me, thou he did see movement, right up till I put a bullet thru his neck. I also had wind blow it big time for me as well, its hunting after all.

I totally agree and I work the wind as much as I possibly can. I want to get as many advantages as I can for if the wind changes or whatever.

If you want to become invisable to a deer's nose, here's all you need to know;

scent smoker

Been deer huntin since 1966 and this is the only thing I've seen work 100% of the time. Whether I'm 'dirty' or clean doesn't seem to matter. Something about the smoke doesn't allow them to smell anything else.

Frank,
Are you bow hunting and sticking them at 15 yds or are you sitting in a stand and shooting them from 100 yds.+
In the first case I think you would want to be as scent free as possible,use a non scented laundry product, a cover scent and use the wind to your best advantage.
In the second case I don't think it matters.
I base this on years of both bow hunting and rifle hunting in east texas and the texas hill country. Many times in october and novemeber where I hunt, it will be in the upper 8o's and 90's and I won't have bathed for a couple of days, smoked cigars, and been around a campfire. I still kill deer. Particularly when I'm elevated and a hundred yds. or so away.
I think motion is much more alarming to deer than scent.
GWB

Over the last twenty-five years of bow hunting for elk on a spot and stalk method, I believe the best scent is no scent.

Number one thing is to always try and keep the wind in you're favor, wash you're clothes in unscented soap and take showers daily if all possible.
All the time I see hunters wearing their hunting clothes while driving to their hunting location. Or stopping and fueling up the hunting vehicles etc.
I keep my hunying clothes in coolers and only wear them when I hunt, then after I return to camp or truck I always change out of my hunting clothes and either put my camo back into my cooler or hang in a near by tree to air out.

However, different hunting situations call for different measures.
Hunt with the wind in you're face and the sun at you're back. Best of Luck

Steve

quote:

Originally posted by ncboman:
If you want to become invisable to a deer's nose, here's all you need to know;

scent smoker

Been deer huntin since 1966 and this is the only thing I've seen work 100% of the time. Whether I'm 'dirty' or clean doesn't seem to matter. Something about the smoke doesn't allow them to smell anything else.

Ok this is a bit interesting. The reason is because I am a primitive skills enthusiast and I have been using a smudge fire for scent control sometimes. My instructor said standing over a compfire for 15 minutes works well . What I often do is start a small fire with grass then throw green cedar bough on it. It smokes a lot. I will say I have had deer cross my sent line where I walked on the same day as I was busted by a fox.
The other thing that is intereisting is the fact that I am a beekeeper, so I recognize the metal can, which I have with the rest of my gear.
Very very interesting stuff, thanks.

Geedubya, I hunt with a rifle or pistol, but it is intentionally close. The place I hunt is filled with brush. Most shots are 50 yards or less. The last deer I killed with my .458 Socom was from a ground blind at 17 yards. I used a 12 gauge on a buck at 10 yards.

Steve Lefforge, I follow most of the same procedures as you. Clothing in plastic bins with pine and cedar branches.
I was walking back from goose hunting yesterday cursing because I could feel my bare arms sweating in my hunting coat.

And here is some of my own input into the discussion. Some people have noticed that humans smell like what they eat. A person who smokes has a different body odor than a person who doesn't.
I have a friend who did some work in Panama. He could smell the enemy because they smelled like mango.
Which brings me to the native americans who's religious ceremonies sometimes involved fasting for 3 or 4 days , and lots of bathing and sweat lodge, before the "sacred hunt".
No food going in means nothing to have it's own odor, and the bathing to eliminate smell on the outside. I think then there was also smoking with sacred sage or whatever.
Anyway just some stuff to think about.

Today I'm going to start training the dog to track bits of hotdog. She is going to LOVE this experiment.

Remember that smoking out your clothes and yourself is not really scent control it is sent cover up. Now a deer may or may not be alarmed by this smell but I can guarantee he will smell it. I agree with George Semel the best defense is using the wind so the deer never gets to smell you.

Of course at close range stuff happens, winds swirl and Murphy's law comes into effect. For me I don't want to have a strong smell of anything including smoke. Like everyone has been saying wash your cloths, wash yourself all in scent free soap. Do it daily if you can. I even go as far as to use baking soda for my morning toothpaste and take chlorophyll tablets to help naturally decrease my "odors". Also try to eat as bland a food as you can. No beans no curry in camp.

A guy I really respect a ton takes baking soda with him and goes in every creek and lake he crosses for a "rewash" while hunting. I haven't had the guts to do that here in Northern MN in Nov. but maybe in VA that is an option for you.

I crush fresh garlic cloves, rub them all over my naked body and then eat the leftovers.

This seems to work as good as any other *wasted* effort other then staying downwind.

If a dog can smell a sack of dope in the middle of a gas tank, I don't think you can get a cover scent that will mask you.
I don't think being clean hurts but as far as the special soaps and stuff to wash your cammies with and cover scents and all are just snake oil.
Spit on your finger and hunt toward the cool side.
And if you smell this really bad reek in the woods, it'll be Tony doing his imitation of a garlic clove.

The dog smells the dope in the gas tank because everything is porous, and eventually, the smell of the dope works it's way through the gas. The dog smells gas and dope, after a while. The dog is able to distinguish multiple individual smells. Put the dope in a fresh sealed container and the dog won't be able to smell it. Not until the smell penetrates the container.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
If a dog can smell a sack of dope in the middle of a gas tank, I don't think you can get a cover scent that will mask you.
I don't think being clean hurts but as far as the special soaps and stuff to wash your cammies with and cover scents and all are just snake oil.
Spit on your finger and hunt toward the cool side.
And if you smell this really bad reek in the woods, it'll be Tony doing his imitation of a garlic clove.

For everybody saying scent eliminators don't work, is this based on anything? Or is it just a guess? Please name your tests or whatever.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
The dog smells the dope in the gas tank because everything is porous, and eventually, the smell of the dope works it's way through the gas. The dog smells gas and dope, after a while. The dog is able to distinguish multiple individual smells. Put the dope in a fresh sealed container and the dog won't be able to smell it. Not until the smell penetrates the container.

quote:

Originally posted by wasbeeman:
If a dog can smell a sack of dope in the middle of a gas tank, I don't think you can get a cover scent that will mask you.
I don't think being clean hurts but as far as the special soaps and stuff to wash your cammies with and cover scents and all are just snake oil.
Spit on your finger and hunt toward the cool side.
And if you smell this really bad reek in the woods, it'll be Tony doing his imitation of a garlic clove.

Your dog example points out an important reminder that you are only just playing percentages. No matter what you do if you stand right next to a deer he is going to smell you.
Decide what your effective killing range is with your weapon and skills in your hunting terrain and then do what ever you feel is worth it to increase your success percentage within that range.

If you think that eliminating as much sent as possible is only going to give you a 1-2 percent better chance is that worth all of the hassle?
If that one deer 10 years from now is a mature 185-pt monster does that change your answer?

Frank,
At this stage of the game you probably have heard the saying, (nice version), "Opinions are like noses, everyone has one and most of them smell!

Here's one more opinion from a guy who hunts year round and kills lots of stuff.

Last time I hunted fox, it was 104 degrees F when I left camp. I had not bathed in three days and we don't have A/C. I smelled worse than a french whore. On top of that I smoke cigars and eat sardines. I went out and called in three fox to within 20 yds. using a game call. Now foxes are't deer but you get the drift.
Last buck I shot was shortly after Christmas. Once again, had been without a shower since christmas day (we have a dry camp, no power or water). Had been around a cedar campfire, had smoked several cigars that afternoon. I was sitting in a box blind and had corned a trail that was a deer pathway about 40 yds from the box blind. Nice buck came out about dark thirty. Wind is alway blowing where I hunt. You could tell he was a hoss. Piss all down his tarsal glands and antlers all bruised up and the tip of the main beam broke off. He had more on his mind than my smell.



Here is a doe that was taken at 23 paces. I probably stunk pretty good but I was 15' up on a ladder stand. One of two I arrowed that weekend on a doe cull.



I don't know about you, but I do this for fun. I don't need to make a self sacrifice of myself with a brillo pad or walk through burning coals to kill deer.
GWB

I've been reasonably successful with whitetails for 40+ years now and have never used any kind of scent control. I've been in many situations where the deer couldn't possibly not have scented me, but they didn't seem alarmed. Include in that a couple cases where large bucks walked right up on us in the open, apparently just to check us out.

That was all in an area with much hunting pressure and constant human presence. In another much wilder area, I've had deer see me then go out of their way to circle around to pick up the scent, then freak out when they got it. They reacted like hitting an electrified fence.

It's just a theory you understand, but I really believe what they do with your scent depends a lot on how accustomed they are to it.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
For everybody saying scent eliminators don't work, is this based on anything? Or is it just a guess? Please name your tests or whatever.

Guess I'll have to reach way back to my college days and what I learned a bit about since then. That could be a chore since I have a hard time recalling what happened yesterday much less 50 years ago.

Like dogs, deer and other big-game animals have a sense of smell that is at least, though probably even greater than 1,000 times of what we possess. Their nasal passages are loaded with many millions of olfactory receptors, and their brains even have a larger area than we have to specifically process what passes through those receptors.

The main reason for this is their sense of smell is VERY important to their existence in many more ways than ours is to our existence. The keen sense helps them avoid danger, find food & water and reproduce.

As for humans ridding or masking scents, it's dang near impossible as long as someone is alive and breathing. No matter what ones does, they will always have a scent cone around them.

Humans give off scent in a bunch of ways: glands, breath, sweat, skin and hair.

We have glands all over our bodies, even on our scalps, and just the mere processing of fat in our systems provide the secretions from certain glands to process into odors.

When we breathe, that breath will smell. Sometimes it's minimal and other times it's worst, ala my garlic breath. Regardless, it will be enough for a deer to scent, just as a bird dog locks up on the scent cone given off by a teeny 4 oz. quail at 30 yards.

Next time anyone goes quail hunting, take a heavy sniff with your nose in its feathers. You ain't gonna smell much.

We also possess MILLIONS of sweat glands that secrete a mostly colorless liquid that pretty much evaporates as soon as it hits the air. While it is odorless to us, animals will pick up on it because it normally contains traces of ammonia.

Obviously, as exertion and/or humidity/temperature increase, the slower that sweat dissipates into the air. The true stinky body odor results when that sweat remains long enough in fairly warm areas such as the underarms for bacteria to grow. This smell is usually enough for even us to run from.

Next we have our hair; every one on our body has a gland attached to the follicle. That gland continuously secrets an oily substance. So regardless of how many times one washes his hair, the glands will immediately begin to produce the oils again.

If I recall, over a lifetime, humans shed about 50 lbs. of skin and if there are any bacteria present, which there nearly always is, the shed skin will be odorous.

Now, some comments on:

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
The dog smells the dope in the gas tank because everything is porous, and eventually, the smell of the dope works it's way through the gas. The dog smells gas and dope, after a while. The dog is able to distinguish multiple individual smells.

That's pretty much dead-on. Both dogs AND deer have the ability to separate one scent from another. If we take a whiff of a plate of stew, we smell stew; if a dog takes a whiff, it will smell meat, carrots, celery, peas, etc.

Sooo...now think about this ability to separate one odor from another; just how effective can it be to spray on doe or fox piss, pine scent, etc. when a deer can easily separate human odor from those? If the strong smell of gasoline can't mask the smell of weed to a dog, how will urine mask human scent to a deer?

Lastly, my wife keeps open boxes of baking soda in our two refrigerators. They do a nice job of absorbing any odors. So be sure to rinse clothes VERY thoroughly if you wash them in baking soda.

Something I should add to the above.

A deer's ability to smell a human will always exist, but certain factors can affect when and how well.

Obviously, wind is a key factor, but humidy, temperature and terrain might also come into play because odor molecules either remain on the ground or float through the air.

At certain times of the day, thermals will cause the scent to rise as the temperature rises. In contrast, higher humidy causes scent to remain closer to the ground. The opposites also apply.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
Any thoughts on this? I intend to learn to be as close to invisible as I can. ...

Hey Frank, I support your efforts and believe you will actually "improve" your chances of seeing HUGE Trophy Bucks. I base that on the first-hand experience of 3 people in particular.

Two made/make a strong effort to be as clean as possible, take care of their clothes and use a particular thing on their Boots to mask the odor where they walk in. The 3rd guy does none of it, doesn't believe in it and rarely sees any Deer within 200yds. He also NEVER has one cross where he walks in.

Even if it "only" built confidence in your chances, it is well worth the effort. But..., I do believe your efforts will eventually result in closer Deer and seeing larger Deer.

Do not forget about the firearm having it's own scent from cleaning fluids. I have some Oak and Cedar Scented cleaning fluids, but found that the Deer I hunt will walk right up to a firearm, chainsaw, axe, shovel, rake, limb trimmer and take a whif of it. You have to keep an eye on a Fox like Geedubya mentioned, because they tend to "scent mark" stuff they find.

Anyway, I support your efforts. Don't get discouraged if you get busted a time or two. It is really a special feeling to sneak in amongst them and back out again without them knowing you were there - at that time.

all these scent control items you see for sale are for making money only
genuine b.s
the best control is between yer ears
use the wind and stay in the shadows

I have hunted with my older brother my entire life. He doesn't practice any scent control at all. He also doesn't hunt the wind.
I wash all of my clothes, shower each morning and wear my hunting boots just for hunting same with my hunting clothes.
I am careful of my stand placement and try very hard to hunt the wind.

In my life Of hunting with him some of the products that I think are best to come along are the soaps and deoderants.
20 years ago there was no sentless soaps or deoderants.

All this being said my brother and I have been hunting the same farm for 10 years together.It is woods and ceader so even rifle season shots are close. We hunt the same ammount of days. He is 63 years old and I am 40. He has roughley 23 years of hunting experience on me. Year after year I kill and see way more deer than he does and in that time frame I have killed 4 trophey class deer with 2 not to shabby bucks. He has killed no bucks over 100" nor does he see many deer.

Un- Scientific sure.....but it's all I can share. I am confident that if you lower your scent signature to the best of your ability and hunt the wind you will be more succesful than those who don't.

My thoughts;
Scent loc can't possibly work like they say, but there are some nice clothes in camo patterns I like, so I bought them. I don't believe in their odor eliminating properties.

Scent shield and the like are baking soda, distilled water, and unscented hydrogen Peroxide. Veterinarians recommend bathing dogs in baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to eliminate skunk scent. the stuff works to eliminate existing odors in clothes, but it is no barrier to new scents. Its cheap.

I use a lot of doe urine, not doe in heat. It smells like deer, and does not hurt, I think it helps. Its cheap.

High in a tree is better than low in a tree, for scent and movement. Altitude is less of an advantage on the side of a hill than on level ground.


I always hunt with the wind in my face, i still see lots of deer downwind of me, even when I stink. They still show up downwind, but the smart ones move off quickly, leaving little chance for an archer.

Learn if thermals are at work at your spot. At our farm, the prevailing wind is from the wwest at the top of the hill, but in the hollow its usually from the south in the morning, and from the north in the evening. Its not that predictable, though. Usually the wind is wrong, even if I move.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:

quote:

Originally posted by ncboman:
If you want to become invisable to a deer's nose, here's all you need to know;

scent smoker

Been deer huntin since 1966 and this is the only thing I've seen work 100% of the time. Whether I'm 'dirty' or clean doesn't seem to matter. Something about the smoke doesn't allow them to smell anything else.

Ok this is a bit interesting. The reason is because I am a primitive skills enthusiast and I have been using a smudge fire for scent control sometimes. My instructor said standing over a compfire for 15 minutes works well . What I often do is start a small fire with grass then throw green cedar bough on it. It smokes a lot. I will say I have had deer cross my sent line where I walked on the same day as I was busted by a fox.
The other thing that is intereisting is the fact that I am a beekeeper, so I recognize the metal can, which I have with the rest of my gear.
Very very interesting stuff, thanks.

Beekeeper ... the plot thickens but that's fodder for another forum.

As usual, when I post about the scentsmoker we get a lot of replys basicly saying the same thing.

... none of these guys have ever used one. If they had, they'd be talkin about how it really really works.

ftr, I've killed over 170 deer with a bow and several hundred more with guns of various types, nearly all of them without a scentsmoker.

You don't HAVE to use a smoker to kill deer.

quote:

I want to get my scent control skill up as far as I possibly can.

This will require the smoker.

Find a shagbark hickory and you can get several years worth of 'free fuel' quickly and without damaging the tree. You already have the smoker.

Be careful. Some animals get ill when startled up close.

Try to control your scent. Cover ups are hit or miss, BIG deer (bucks and does) get big because they are the most skittish of the bunch. When they smell something that is not absolutely commonplace to them, and sometimes even when it is, they will deviate from their course, and often elude you as a hunter.

Sprays like 'scent shield' etc. help prevent the gas that forms and produces scent from disappating into the air. It is proven to help reduce scent.

I see deer 360 regardless of the wind in all kinds of different hunting environments, i.e. thick brush to open CRP. Again, the big ones are really 'abnormal' and lots of times don't follow the pattern you might expect.

I think if you are really serious, effort to manage your scent is worthwhile for sure, hunting with the wind at your best advantage is surely important too, but I choose my stand/huntin locations based on where I think the deer will be, NOT the way the wind is blowing alone.

quote:

Originally posted by white eagle:
all these scent control items you see for sale are for making money only
genuine b.s
the best control is between yer ears
use the wind and stay in the shadows

I'm with the eagle! I don't use any of it, I also don't use an elevated stand but generally sit on the ground or stand. I also generally shoot my deer at 75 yards or less.

I am going to add to the mix some more stuff here, just for the sake of discussion.

I know at least 4 people, personally, who have touched wild deer. I'm sure I know a lot more, I just never asked them.
One is a very good local deer hunter who told me about touching the doe when I asked him if believed in the scent lock clothing. He said that experience made him a believer as that is what he was wearing while sitting in his ground blind. He is also as patient as water.

The others are primitive skills enthusiasts. Touching a wild animal is kind of a benchmark of hunting skills. I've touched a squirrel.
The primitive skill guys use the smoke thing mostly, it is what's available. And it is in addition to hunting the wind. Hugh stayed in place wrapped around a cedar for 5 hours until a deer walked under his hand. I don't have that kind of patience, no where near.

Touching a deer is my goal for this year. It was also my goal last year, no such luck. But I did have a fawn come to within 4 yards of me.(I know fawns are not as smart), I think it either winded me or figured out what it was looking at. I was camoed, on the ground, in the open. Its mom,and her boyfriend 6 pt passed me at about 10 yards. I put the crosshairs on the back of his head and played with the trigger while I considered it. But I declined. It was already a great day.

Wahl, I don't think your success at touching a deer has a damn thing to do with using the latest craze amongst the boys with the ready pocketbooks.

I was up in the woods cutting wood. I had on my shit kicker farm boots that I wear around the place and to change the oil in the truck and to town and so forth. I had on clothes that I'd worn two or three days. My underwear and body had started out clean but that was several hours ago. Over all this I had a set of coveralls that hadn't been washed since I bought them. I put the saw down to rest, leaned back against a sunny stump and promply fell asleep. I woke up to see a doe deer standing not 10ft from me. Peering at me. I didn't look directly at her but would peek at her from the corner of my eye under my hat brim. she would bob her head, nod from side to side, stamp her feet and then come closer. She finally came all the way up and smelled my boot toe. I never moved and she eased off thru the woods.

My point is that you can buy all of the snake oil you want to, you can buy the latest cammo with the scent blocker weave, you can wash in the special soap and all that good stuff but it ain't gonna do you no good if you can't be still. Folks buy this stuff and think that absolves them of any responsibility of observing even the basics of woodscraft. They blounder thru the woods downwind, they talk on their cell phones, they think they're sitting still and they herk and jerk around like they've some sort of palsy, they get 8 feet up in a tree and squirm around like a kid in church.
And every time a deer bust one of these clowns, it makes it harder on the real hunters.
I'm gonna opine that the folks that are touting these wonder products would be good hunters without them. Daubing a little gopher pee on your shoes ain't gonna make you into no Dan'l Boone.

As some of the eastern white tail hunters have indicated - reliance on "scents" is really all that good. White tails in the Eastern US,anyway, are perfectly accustomed to picking up human scents. What spooks white tails in our part of the northeast US is 1)movement by the hunter 2)talking 3)smoking. Let me return to that first one I posted -"movement by the hunter". If you really can learn to "settle down" and become like a statue (so that the chipmunks walk over your boots)-that is the real deer killer. Trust me.

I meant to say, of course, in the first sentence of my last post that reliance on "scents'is NOT all that good.Sorry for the oversight.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
I know at least 4 people, personally, who have touched wild deer.

Make it five.

In fact, over the last 50 years, I've touched dozens of deer and a few dozen other wild animals, including a few bears, despite NEVER using any sort of scent control other than the wind. And the only smoke I've ever used was from the cigarettes hanging from my lips as I hunted.

These two older threads show some of them:

Outdoor Writer's Room

A few test shots


P.S. - Does it matter if they were already dead when I touched them???

quote:

P.S. - Does it matter if they were already dead when I touched them???

Not fair. You so had me going.

Actually I do have to make it 5. At my last skills gathering my friend who lives up on the border of the national forest told me he touched one with his knife. He was camo and smoked when he spotted them coming. He knew where they would go so he dug himself in on the close side of a fence he knew they would jump.
One of them jumped it.

I can probably post at least six anecdotes of where I have been close enough to deer and elk to almost touch them -- again, with no scent control at all. And without even trying, since I never had an urge to intentionally get that close. I once came face-2-face with a 6x6 bull elk at three yards while I had a bow in one hand and Camel in the other. We scared the bejesus out of each other, but he didn't spook for at least three minutes -- about the time it took me to VERY slowly drop the cigarette, squish it under my boot and get an arrow out of my quiver. I never got to nock it, though.

BTW, it's been a while, but when someone else tried selling that funky smoke dealie here, I visited the site and read all it is supposed to do. It was somewhat humorous seeing how it supposedly killed and sealed in all the bacteria by smoking one's clothes while wearing them.

And comparing that to the process of smoking meat, which is already DEAD tissue, was about as ludicrous a claim. The smoking process works by removing moisture -- one of the factors necessary for bacteria to promulgate. But it better be VERY dry, such as beef jerky or bilton. Because if it's like a smoked ham or such, it WILL produce bacteria and decompose if left unrefrigerated.

So unless the miracle smoke machine does the same to the hunter, his LIVING tissue will always harbor the ability to produce bacteria continuously, especially in his mouth, crotch and anal areas and in his armpits. And of course, the meat smoking process takes hours, not just a couple squirts of hickory smoke on one's shirt and pants.

Now, I do think certain scents can be a repellent. I once read where putting black pepper on the ground will keep tigers away. So I've been putting some in my front and back yards since 1980. I haven't had one tiger show up in all that time.

quote:

Originally posted by Outdoor Writer:
I can probably post at least six anecdotes of where I have been close enough to deer and elk to almost touch them -- again, with no scent control at all. And without even trying, since I never had an urge to intentionally get that close. I once came face-2-face with a 6x6 bull elk at three yards while I had a bow in one hand and Camel in the other. We scared the bejesus out of each other, but he didn't spook for at least three minutes -- about the time it took me to VERY slowly drop the cigarette, squish it under my boot and get an arrow out of my quiver. I never got to nock it, though.

BTW, it's been a while, but when someone else tried selling that funky smoke dealie here, I visited the site and read all it is supposed to do. It was somewhat humorous seeing how it supposedly killed and sealed in all the bacteria by smoking one's clothes while wearing them.

And comparing that to the process of smoking meat, which is already DEAD tissue, was about as ludicrous a claim. The smoking process works by removing moisture -- one of the factors necessary for bacteria to promulgate. But it better be VERY dry, such as beef jerky or bilton. Because if it's like a smoked ham or such, it WILL produce bacteria and decompose if left unrefrigerated.

So unless the miracle smoke machine does the same to the hunter, his LIVING tissue will always harbor the ability to produce bacteria continuously, especially in his mouth, crotch and anal areas and in his armpits. And of course, the meat smoking process takes hours, not just a couple squirts of hickory smoke on one's shirt and pants.

Now, I do think certain scents can be a repellent. I once read where putting black pepper on the ground will keep tigers away. So I've been putting some in my front and back yards since 1980. I haven't had one tiger show up in all that time.

So without putting it to the test, you are saying the scent smoker does not work?

I think he's inferring that black pepper works much better on tigers!


GWB

I use Neutrogena UNSCENTED bar soap and wash all my clothes in Baking Soda and Borax then hang em outside to dry until I go hunting. Baking Soda is also good toothpaste. And you do smell like what you eat. Try not to eat spicy foods before hunting. Quite often I eat an apple on the way to the hunt site.

I have tried alot of the commercial products and I smell different than when I use the above. I don't know how many deer I have less than 10 yards away in a season. Sure some will bust ya but that is hunting.

Clean equipment, clothes, rubber boots, and play the wind too. It takes it all. The deer will still smell you often but may think you are far enough away to be no harm.

Let us know how your tests turn out.

Good Luck and God Bless, Louis

quote:

Originally posted by ncboman:
So without putting it to the test, you are saying the scent smoker does not work?

Works for what -- making smoke? That it probably does well. I think I explained the ERRONEOUS and ludicrous claims made in the last post.

Hopefully you won't claim someone who used it killed a trophy deer. I know a lot of guys that haven't used it -- including myself -- that also killed trophy deer.

I'm going to stick to carrying my good luck Teddy bear.

Tony, where do you get one of those 'lucky bears'?

quote:

Originally posted by Outdoor Writer:

quote:

Originally posted by ncboman:
So without putting it to the test, you are saying the scent smoker does not work?

Works for what -- making smoke? That it probably does well. I think I explained the ERRONEOUS and ludicrous claims made in the last post.

Hopefully you won't claim someone who used it killed a trophy deer. I know a lot of guys that haven't used it -- including myself -- that also killed trophy deer.

I'm going to stick to carrying my good luck Teddy bear.

ok, nothing like an open mind.

for everyone else here's a link to 29 pages of discussion and testimonials from various Ohio hunters.

web page

As a personal, I've used it and have been amazed at the results with deer and yotes. I find a blind quite useful for hanging outer clothing for smoking.



Smoking outer clothing seems to be all that's needed. I have no doubt animals sometimes smell the smoke but they are never alarmed, mostly paying no attention to it. I think the smoke overpowers other odors to the point the other(human) odors aren't picked up. Whatever the reason, it sure works.

It has always surprised that merely smoking a deer hide actually changes the hide. I wouldn't think that enough smoke particles actually touch the hide, but they do.