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Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette #5958327 10/03/15 01:28 AM
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Brian C. Offline OP
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I can imagine this has been posted before and or debated but after some recent tailgate talk I wanted to get the forums opinions and experiences on just how much or little campfire and cigarette smoke affects deer?

Last edited by Brian C.; 10/03/15 01:29 AM.

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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958332 10/03/15 01:31 AM
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IMO if it happens year round and is random in occurrence, then they are used to it. If it starts now then it might effect them.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958338 10/03/15 01:34 AM
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I try to avoid it and try my best to be scent free but had a friend that smoked like a freighttrain in the stand and he killed as many or more decent bucks as anybody in our area. Go figure.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958352 10/03/15 01:44 AM
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I have seen the argument that cigarette smoke is the same as a campfire or wildfire and therefore a natural smell for them. WRONG!!!!! There are over 4000 chemicals in a cigarette and if I can tell the difference between the smell of a wildfire/campfire and a cigarette you can bet dang good and well a deer can.

Will they run from the smell of smoke???? Some will and some wont. I would rather them smell a cover scent like Raccoon or Fox pee than a cover scent like smoke. Smoke represents fire and fire represents danger. At the very least the smell of smoke will put them on alert and yes a deer can decipher several different smells at once. I think the number I seen thrown around is 7 different smells they can detect at once.

As long as I have a buck tag in my pocket I try to avoid wearing my hunting clothes around the grill or campfire. Once I have my buck I don't pay that much attention to it.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958436 10/03/15 02:39 AM
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My dad kills deer every year while smoking in the stand. Now i take it more serious and dont want to chance it but to each their own.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958615 10/03/15 09:39 AM
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I wouldn't call it a cover scent. I don't think they make a "cover" scent that will fool a mature deer anyway. Always always hunt the wind period, that's the only way I've ever fooled them. I smoke in the blind if I have the right wind and have had mature doe and buck within bow range while smoking.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958627 10/03/15 10:23 AM
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My father smoked while ground stand hunting and always tagged out. He also wore plaid shirts, a cowboy and only hunted with a shotgun. That man could hunt.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958652 10/03/15 11:53 AM
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I smoke in the blind. Blinds range from 75yds to 120yrds.

Last year I had 3 bucks show up on the 75yd blind. They stayed over an hour and I smoked the whole time. The oldest buck, my guess he was around 4-5yrs, didn't seems to mind so the younger bucks didn't either.

I killed a 150" - 6.5yr old last year from 60yrds. Had to put out my cig before I shot him.

I personally think it's all luck anyway.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958678 10/03/15 12:20 PM
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Yes deer can smell smoke and tell the difference between campfire and cigs. They can also smell your hair shampoo, body soap, deodorant, car exhaust, sweat, and that Allsup burrito on your breath that you ate this morning. Not to mention that odor eliminator you just sprayed all over yourself.

If you are concerned, hunt into the wind - proven to work for hunters for the last million years or so for all sorts of game.

Some deer are put off by smoking, some aren't.

A lot of guys kill a lot of deer every year while smoking. Big deer too. But they never know the deer they don't see because they spooked off.

Truth be told, deer get cautious around new smells, sounds, etc. That's why you sometimes see deer - big deer - standing next to busy highways or in neighborhoods close to people playing, etc.

Mix your butts with corn or leave them continuously next to your blind, and eventually deer will ignore the smell.

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5958897 10/03/15 03:22 PM
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My thought is that why risk it? If it's not there on a regular basis, then the odds are very good that a smart old mature buck is going to recognize that something isn't right and avoid the area. Young and dumb little bucks might hang out, and if you are in an area thick with deer, it might not matter.

I had a series of game camera pictures showing a group of hogs coming to the feeder every evening half an hour before dark for over a week. A friend who had never shot a hog and his dad who claimed to have shots tons of them where invited to come get his first hog. They showed up late in the afternoon and I sent them out to the blind to wait. They came back an hour after dark saying they didn't see anything. I was disappointed, but figured that's just hunting. The next day I went out to the feeder to get the chip out of the camera to see what time the hogs showed up and then went by the blind to make sure they cleaned up and didn't leave a mess. Right in front of the blind, next to the stairs, they had built a camp fire and from the smell of it, cooked dinner before going into the blind to wait for the hogs!!!!

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5959754 10/04/15 03:55 AM
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Simple, save your money on all the scent killers. If u want to smoke, pass gas, whatever, fine...just keep the wind right..


Freedom is a fragile thing ...Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again.
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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5959785 10/04/15 04:30 AM
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Sorry guys, but if you smoke... even if you don't in the stand... the deer can still smell you. The smell is saturated into your skin. You smell it all the time and can't tell that it is there anymore. I used to smoke, but I quit. So I have seen it for myself. That smell just hangs around you like a dark cloud. Anything you touch with your smoking hand will smell like it too. If you smoke in the stand, you won't be putting out that much smoke, but remember it might affect you downwind.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5959848 10/04/15 08:54 AM
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We have camp fires almsost nightly
I've stood around then in my hunting clothes and worn the same clothes the next day and killed deer

Having some smoke smell on you isn't as bad as smelling hung over and still reeking of booze


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: EddieWalker] #5959849 10/04/15 08:59 AM
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Originally Posted By: EddieWalker
My thought is that why risk it? If it's not there on a regular basis, then the odds are very good that a smart old mature buck is going to recognize that something isn't right and avoid the area. Young and dumb little bucks might hang out, and if you are in an area thick with deer, it might not matter.

I had a series of game camera pictures showing a group of hogs coming to the feeder every evening half an hour before dark for over a week. A friend who had never shot a hog and his dad who claimed to have shots tons of them where invited to come get his first hog. They showed up late in the afternoon and I sent them out to the blind to wait. They came back an hour after dark saying they didn't see anything. I was disappointed, but figured that's just hunting. The next day I went out to the feeder to get the chip out of the camera to see what time the hogs showed up and then went by the blind to make sure they cleaned up and didn't leave a mess. Right in front of the blind, next to the stairs, they had built a camp fire and from the smell of it, cooked dinner before going into the blind to wait for the hogs!!!!




Unbelievable!
And I bet they were puzzled as to why they didn't see anything


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5961313 10/05/15 03:28 AM
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Personally I have mixed feelings. Growing up I hunted type 2 land around Palestine and Caddo N.G. were deer were about reclusive as Bigfoot himself. This hard to catch prey turned me into a fanatic about scent control and remained this was for the part of 2 decades.

Now in resent years I have hunted with smokers and personally seen buddy bowhunting on the ground with me and see deer walk 360* while cig. lite. MIND BLOWN. Still stuck in my old ways for the most part but I guess I dont stand 50 yards away from the camp fire in my cameo.

Always an interesting conversation to discuss, my personal experiances have lead me to belive that it all depemds on the specific piece of real estate. Some deer dont care and some seem to find new zip codes over anything associated with human.

Good luck out there this year guys


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5961539 10/05/15 12:17 PM
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the deer came in






then the hogs came in and scared the deer off





Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5961635 10/05/15 01:26 PM
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We give deer entirely too much credit IMO. Yes, they have a good sense of smell, just like alot of other animals, but they aren't superman. Nobody made this kind of a big deal about smell until companies started putting out the scent blockers. My great grandpa killed hundreds of deer in his life. Usually while smoking a cigar.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5961736 10/05/15 02:39 PM
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Sitting in box blinds etc. I don't much care our setups are such that the wind is in our favor unless we have a very unusual wind blowing.

When I bow hunt im sitting on the ground usually about 15-20 yards away, I don't wear my hunting clothes to work around camp.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: vanguard] #5961802 10/05/15 03:25 PM
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Originally Posted By: vanguard
the deer came in






then the hogs came in and scared the deer off





Thank you for settling the debate.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5961820 10/05/15 03:35 PM
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If it is a smell the deer have been exposed to and they have not associated the smell with danger, then it won't bother them when they smell it. We have filled feeders, drank beer while doing filling them, even smoked cigarettes and threw the butts down on the ground. When the feeder went off before sundown, the deer were back at the feeder.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5962005 10/05/15 05:26 PM
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heres a vid of me in a bow blind a mere 9 yds from the feeder, hogs come in and i light one up and deliberately blow smoke towards them. towards the end one gets a whiff of it or me and looks at the blind and growls, but the corn is to much for him to give a flying you know what.


Last edited by vanguard; 10/05/15 05:30 PM.


Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Brian C.] #5962035 10/05/15 05:37 PM
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I like the idea of visiting the blind and feeder as much as possible. Getting the deer accustomed to your scent not being a threat is a good thing. I think staying away from a blind and suddenly showing up adds noise and scent that the alert deer.


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Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: vanguard] #5962146 10/05/15 06:48 PM
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Originally Posted by vanguard
heres a vid of me in a bow blind a mere 9 yds from the feeder, hogs come in and i light one up and deliberately blow smoke towards them. towards the end one gets a whiff of it or me and looks at the blind and growls, but the corn is to much for him to give a flying you know what.



Dang - that's awful close to be on the ground next to all those big oinkers;
I'd be afraid a couple might end up INSIDE that ground blind when they scatter after an arrow flies . . . .

Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: oldoak2000] #5962172 10/05/15 07:04 PM
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Originally Posted By: oldoak2000

Dang - that's awful close to be on the ground next to all those big oinkers;
I'd be afraid a couple might end up INSIDE that ground blind when they scatter after an arrow flies . . . .


ya that was the owners son in laws bow blind, he set it up there even after repeatedly telling him its to close, hes one of those know it alls that doesnt know squat. he would even move my tripod closer to the feeder, the owner finally told him if its not yours dont touch it. i work on this place all year long and he shows up once in a blue moon and wants to change everything around.



Re: Smoke!!! Campfire and Cigarette [Re: Simple Searcher] #5962176 10/05/15 07:06 PM
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Originally Posted By: Simple Searcher
I like the idea of visiting the blind and feeder as much as possible. Getting the deer accustomed to your scent not being a threat is a good thing. I think staying away from a blind and suddenly showing up adds noise and scent that the alert deer.


Good advice. up


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