Smoke to mask scent?

[iccyman001]

I have a buddy who will light a fire every morning and then dance around in the smoke because he says it masks his scent?

Has anyone ever done this before hunting?
Has my friend lost his mind?



Thoughts?

 

[F M]

Nope I have never done that. We don\'t even have a camp fire in camp.

I am probably all washed up thinking this but to me smoke smell is danger to animals. Plus I don\'t think the smoke would hide your scent anyways.

 

[Ol' Arky]

I would think smoke to an elk means trouble... Fire... Fire come from humans... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

I hope your friend has Obama Care cause it sounds like he may need it...

 

[VTHOKEE]

I know this has been discussed heavily on the archerytalk forums before. My personal preference is to be as scent free as possible.

 

[iccyman001]

Im with all of you guys. I think fire would be associated with danger or humans.


I.E Wild fire or camp fire......

 

[otcWill]

I don\'t usually do much burning in my own camps but I\'ve hunted with guys who take every opp to start a fire and have a big one every night in camp. Both with and without fires, I\'ve filled my tags so I can\'t say I\'ve seen any evidence to support it having any negative effect.

 

[Tdiesel]

I\'m kinda on par with Will I don\'t believe smoke smell triggers danger these animals smell smoke all the time even if it is from a camp fire a mile away but since they can be a mile away and nothing disturbs them they do correlate that to a smell of danger. I do believe that even if you run around in the smoke your really not masking anything. If your wind is wrong the elk is just gonna think a human walked through smoke. They will still smell the human scent.

Kinda like hanging a tree car air freshener in a porta-potty it just makes someone think man the last guy crapped a pine tree still smells like crap

 

[cohunter14]

I personally don\'t believe in masking scent. I don\'t care if you take a bath in elk urine, if you end up upwind of an elk they are going to smell you. You need to stay downwind regardless of if you are wearing scent-lok, you sprayed yourself in some cover scent, or if you danced around in smoke.

 

[Ol' Arky]

I personally don\'t believe in masking scent. I don\'t care if you take a bath in elk urine, if you end up upwind of an elk they are going to smell you. You need to stay downwind regardless of if you are wearing scent-lok, you sprayed yourself in some cover scent, or if you danced around in smoke.

Yep me 2... Well said, Derek... :upthumb: :upthumb:

 

[WW]

Here is a little story about scent or scent eliminator and how effective or ineffective they are. I don\'t remember where I first heard this story. But the guy swore it was true. So here goes!

This guy was out hunting one day when he found a bear with its head buried in a rotten elk carcus having his lunch. The hunter figured this would be a slam dunk shot as the elk had been laying there for maybe a week or so and was so rank that that bear would never be able to smell him. And besides, the bear had his head buried deep inside the elk. So the hunter started closing in for a good shot. He was maybe 100 yards out when the wind swirled for just an instant. The bear instantly pulled his head out of all that rotting meat and looked directly at the hunter.

Just goes to show that no matter what you use, KEEP THE WIND IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!

 

[Ol' Arky]

Here is a little story about scent or scent eliminator and how effective or ineffective they are. I don\'t remember where I first heard this story. But the guy swore it was true. So here goes!

This guy was out hunting one day when he found a bear with its head buried in a rotten elk carcus having his lunch. The hunter figured this would be a slam dunk shot as the elk had been laying there for maybe a week or so and was so rank that that bear would never be able to smell him. And besides, the bear had his head buried deep inside the elk. So the hunter started closing in for a good shot. He was maybe 100 yards out when the wind swirled for just an instant. The bear instantly pulled his head out of all that rotting meat and looked directly at the hunter.

Just goes to show that no matter what you use, KEEP THE WIND IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!

And the bear in the wind... :lol: :lol:

 

[Don K]

Just noticed this thread

Last year was the first time I hunted a friends private farm here. We got on the subject of wind, and being scent free and he tells me I \"smoke\". I\'m thinking what the heck. ( I have known him for a long time and hes not that type).

So he takes me out into the barn and here is a little wooden shed inside that looks like a outhouse. Inside is a bunch of hooks on the with his camo hanging there. Next to the shack (he calls it his smoker) is a large box of dried oak leaves. He takes a bee smoker opens the top and crams it with leaves and lights them. He gets the smoker going, opens the door and fills the shack with smoke and closes the door. Whens he gets ready to go out he also puts on his clothing, fires up the bee smoker and covers himself with the smoke as he heads out.

He tells me there is no way you can cover all of the human scent so he does this to \"help\" cover his human scent. He says when the deer get downwind they will smell the smoke, stop and look around, then proceed on. He claims they do not spook.

I was there for a week with him, and like to be scent free as possible and watch the wind. Later in the hunt he finally talked me into trying this out and I gave it a shot. I covered myself up in smoke, filled my pockets, hat, bow and all. I sat in the stand that night and had 8 deer come in all downwind and 2 where very large bucks. All the deer stopped when they got straight downwind and put their nose in the air, smelled and proceeded on. Not one spooked but all where just outside my bow range.

Now I still am sceptical as this is private land, and it against everything I do at being scent free. But my friend swears by it, and wont go out unless he does this, and all the large deer on his wall must not have cared.

I will attach a picture of the bee smoker he uses. He takes this with him when he hunts other places and uses it wherever he is at. (just uses the shack at his place)

 

[iccyman001]

Very interesting story!
Thanks, Don. :upthumb:

 

[elky McElkerson]

i was told, if you hunt burns, smelling like smoke might not suck.

i did hunt a private ranch once. mule deer. they were always burning tumble weeds and brush. the deer quit being scared of the smell.

and diesel trucks. my tiny chevy truck would send deer scurrying. drive by in a rattley diesel..they barely looked up.

me, i always hunt the wind. after a few days, i feel like burning my clothing from the stink. i KNOW a deer can smell me if i can smell me.

 

[elky McElkerson]

and first animal i ever arrowed was a Javalina. my brother and i help at a roundup. and got a quick invite to arrow one of the plentiful javalina. i think our sad stories of never having arrowed anything helped.

the ranch was vast. and the ranchers son was tasked with taking us around. brother and i were full camo...face paint, etc. this was our maiden voyage with bows, and we went all out.

the rancher kid: blue jeans, cowboy boots, a stained WHITE shirt, and a lit cigarette the entire time. we were on a free hunt, so telling the kid to put out the cigarette was not gonna happen. we steeped in that truck on the drive out. we stunk.

we saw pigs way out and had to hike around to get the wind right. that kids stood right next to me smoking a cig when i arrowed that thing. i did ask him to put it out then..he laughed and said the wind was right.

my brother and i doubled. lessoned learned..play the wind.