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Smoking

Old Man Hunter said:
As to my method of using the smoker. I bought a bee smoker off of Walmart.com for $13, bag of hickory chips $2, and a torch from Home depot for #15 including the gas cylinder. When I get to my hunting area first thing I do when I get out of my truck is put a small handful of chips in the smoker light the torch and get it to burning. Once it's burning I close the lid and let it start smoking. As I dress I just stand in the smoke and get my cloths saturated with the smoke. I also smoke everything I'm carrying into the wood especially if it has anything fabric on it. Just for kicks I put the smoke on my gun or bow to eliminate the contact points where I have touched it. As stated earlier I do bath in the green scent eliminating soap before each hunt. This routine is an every hunt routine. I have put my cloths in a pop up blind I have and lit the smoker to saturate them with the smoke but I think this was too much. At least it was for me I had to roll down my truck windows on the way hunting the next day it was so strong. As you can see the total cost to get started is less than $30. I use around 2 bags of chips a year and I usually hunt around 40 hunts a year or more. As someone else said I believe this is not actually a cover scent but a scent elimination process that works similar to how the carbon suits work by the smoke (carbon) soaking up the human scent. It is still important to hunt the wind but this does give me some assurance that when the wind shifts I will still be good as to my scent stream. Try it the cost is minimal, you might get the same results as I do but there is no guarantee when it comes to deer hunting and scent elimination in my opinion. But I'm no expert just a seasoned hunter that is willing to give an idea a try.
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Thank you! Good info.
 
As a side note. After starting this thread I read some the thread John Eberhart has about his scent elimination routine. I don't want anyone to think I am trying to imply that my routine is anything compared to what he does. It's just a simple way to achieve what for me is a working system. From what I know of Mr Eberhart he is a very knowledgable man that is an excellent hunter. I wish I had a small amount of the ability he has when it comes to understanding deer and their behavior plus how to put it all together to hunt them. I have never met him but have tremendous respect for him as a whitetail hunter.
 
I'm curious as to how long an average time that a smoker will burn? Does it have to be extinguished before being left unattended or does it burn out in a few minutes?
 
Allegheny Tom said:
I'm curious as to how long an average time that a smoker will burn? Does it have to be extinguished before being left unattended or does it burn out in a few minutes?
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Hmm. Good question. Guess I imagined dumping the remaining wood chips on the ground and extinguishing with water prior to walking in the woods. Would that work?
 
Old Man Hunter said:
As to my method of using the smoker. I bought a bee smoker off of Walmart.com for $13, bag of hickory chips $2, and a torch from Home depot for #15 including the gas cylinder. When I get to my hunting area first thing I do when I get out of my truck is put a small handful of chips in the smoker light the torch and get it to burning. Once it's burning I close the lid and let it start smoking. As I dress I just stand in the smoke and get my cloths saturated with the smoke. I also smoke everything I'm carrying into the wood especially if it has anything fabric on it. Just for kicks I put the smoke on my gun or bow to eliminate the contact points where I have touched it. As stated earlier I do bath in the green scent eliminating soap before each hunt. This routine is an every hunt routine. I have put my cloths in a pop up blind I have and lit the smoker to saturate them with the smoke but I think this was too much. At least it was for me I had to roll down my truck windows on the way hunting the next day it was so strong. As you can see the total cost to get started is less than $30. I use around 2 bags of chips a year and I usually hunt around 40 hunts a year or more. As someone else said I believe this is not actually a cover scent but a scent elimination process that works similar to how the carbon suits work by the smoke (carbon) soaking up the human scent. It is still important to hunt the wind but this does give me some assurance that when the wind shifts I will still be good as to my scent stream. Try it the cost is minimal, you might get the same results as I do but there is no guarantee when it comes to deer hunting and scent elimination in my opinion. But I'm no expert just a seasoned hunter that is willing to give an idea a try.
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X2. When I used smoke this is exactly what I did too. All this talk is making me want to go back to it!...
 
Red Beard said:
Hmm. Good question. Guess I imagined dumping the remaining wood chips on the ground and extinguishing with water prior to walking in the woods. Would that work?
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I whittled down a wine cork to fit in the spout of the smoker. When done smoking, close the top down and put in the cork to smother it. Leave it on the ground, truck bed or tailgate until you get done hunting. I remember seeing some guys who would hang it from their trailer hitch.

I wouldn’t dump it unless you are 100% sure there’s nothing hot left to start a forest fire. Filling the smoker with water works but made a big mess for me.
 
Allegheny Tom said:
You could say the same thing about hunting from trees. 40 years ago, deer never looked up, and in some areas, they still don't. In my area, they have stiff necks from constantly looking up but we still hunt from trees.
As far as smoke goes, its not a cover scent, its a bacteria eliminator.
To your point...how will deer ever relate smoke to danger? Deer on my property walk thru my yard and heavy smoke when I'm lighting my wood stove. They do not associate smoke with humans.
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Sorry, I had no idea smoke eliminated bacteria. Learn something new everyday! And I don't always hunt from trees for that reason. Deer you hunt may never relate smoke to danger but the ones being killed seemingly have no concern for the smoke leave the ones that won't walk by your smoke left over to breed. Think of it how MRSA evolved (which apparently we now can kill with smoke.) I guess I'm just a little skeptical smelling like a forest fire hunting on the edge of a corn field in September but maybe I'll give it a shot. Maybe you're just effectively applying scented carbon to your clothes by smoking them?
 
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Soooo. Being an addict of cigars is there an opinion if this method may help to cover up previous nights indulgence?
 
Allegheny Tom said:
I should rephrase that...
More accurately, chemical compounds in the smoke have an antimicrobial effect. Bacteria fall into the microbe category.
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I'm just trying to understand what makes the smoke work. If it's the smell, we could buy liquid smoke, dilute and spray on pre-hunt (might be easier than actually smoking). If it's the antimicrobial effect then silver threaded clothes should have that taken care of. If it's the carbon, maybe this is just a cheap diy scentlok? Seems like a lot of smoke and mirrors.
 
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I have some questions that I'm not sure are easily answered.
I have been a fairly hard core believer in odor reduction (and wind observer) for many years but 2 things I have not tried is going vegetarian (no chance that is gonna happen) and smoke.
I'm a total rookie when it comes to bee smokers and the different fuels for smokers, but I am very interested in adding smoke to my regimen.

Question #1: Do the mechanics and reasons of how smoke works for bees directly correlate to what we need for odor reduction for hunting? I've read about "clean" smoke being preferred for bees. Certain fuels like cotton seem to produce a cleaner smoke that is healthier for bees. But is "clean" smoke the kind that is most effective for odor reduction? Maybe "dirty" smoke contains crap that's bad for bees but is more effective for our purposes? Maybe dirty smoke has more compounds that inhibit microbes than clean smoke? Does it even matter?

Question #2: How long does a smoke treatment inhibit microbe growth? Can clothes or gear be smoked and then stored in airtight containers and still be effective days or weeks later?
I really believe ozone kills bacteria and reduces odors on contact but does O3 continue to "work" after O3 is no longer being applied? And if so, could smoke have more longevity toward killing microbes than O3?

Question #3: How much of our stuff really needs to be smoked? I assume smoke reduces odor produced on our skin and even base layers of clothes, or things we've touched and deposited skin oil, but is there any need to smoke mid layers or outer layers of clothing?

Question #4: We always read about tests where all sorts of evasion techniques have been tried to avoid detection by dogs. Has smoke ever been used in any tests?

I guess understanding the different types of odors we produce comes into play when considering the effectiveness of smoke for our needs.
@Bwhana posted an interesting article about human scent and its detection. It's a lengthy read but I think a lot of the info in it could help us better understand odor production, odor transfer, and odor detection by dogs (which should equate to deer as well).
One amazing thing the article talked about was the "boat" test. Subjects traveled a lake in a boat and never touched the ground on shore, but dogs still could detect...not only the human odor...but also which direction the human in the boat traveled!!
The block of wood test was interesting as well. The subject touched a block of wood and the test showed how well dogs detected the odor. Proof why we should never touch stuff in the woods if we don't absolutely have to. Years ago, an old doe taught me just how much odor was in a single finger print.
This is a good article. Thanks for posting it John.

Machines are coming with better noses than deer!

I can see it now, who needs night vision or thermals you can own a handheld "nose" that is better than a deer's, and detect THEM from downwind! https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/kent-csi/vol5no2/html/v05i2a04p_0001.htm
saddlehunter.com
 
Allegheny I don't know the answers to your questions but I do know doing the smoke treatment to my cloths and soft articles I carry in hunting seems to help reduce the reaction deer have when down wind of me. Why it appears to work I don't fully know but I know it works for me. I hunt in north Georgia where it is mainly woods with cutovers, hills, power lines, mature forrest and some fields. I am conscious of my scent when hunting and try to use the wind to my advantage but in the hilly terrain I hunt the wind swirls so I tried the smoke technique suggested by a friend and know it has helped cover or eliminate my scent to a point that the deer I visually see down wind of me have virtually no reaction to my scent. They might raise their nose and test the air but they don't appear to have any reaction indicating they are spooked. Normally they go right back to doing what they were before they got down wind. If you try it I hope you have success with it if not the cost isn't significant.
As to the question as how long it burns in the smoker. I don't put but a small amount of hickory chips in my smoke which usually burns up in 5 minutes or so. If any are still hot I usually rake off a spot to the bare dirt dump them out and water them down. Turn off your light and you will see any embers that are still hot.
As to treating bottom layers, I personally don't worry with that. I keep them clean with scent free soap, and smoke my upper layers. Good luck with it if you try it and if you chose not to try it Good luck anyway.
 
I have to give it a go, already ordered the bee smoker. This is a year of switching up the routine for me so I might as well give it a go! Thanks for the info. guys!
 
Native Americans were doing this before any white man set foot on this continent. I think it needs to be done every few days to be effective. I usually just use oak leaves.
 
Heck with it, I’m gonna try this! I have honestly never heard of it. So I have been called a scent freak by most of my huntin buddies and rightfully so. Pee bottle in the stand, going to extreme measures to avoid any odors on my clothes etc. etc.. I’ve started to back off on a lot of that because quite frankly it’s a pain in the butt! That being said, I can’t wait to see their faces when they see me whip out my new bee smoker and wood chips this weekend! They’ll probably think an alien has taken over my body!
 
This morning was my maiden voyage. Hit all my outer layers and boots for 5 minutes with smoke using Walmart hickory chips and an Amazon bee smoker. Had a spike literally walk down the path I took to my tree. I took a 25yd shot at him with buckshot and (don't laugh) seemingly missed. He darted 20yds and stopped, showing no tell-tale signs of being hit. Then, he began feeding again. Eventually worked his way around to the back side of my tree. To me, he was either REALLY interested in the smoke smell or he had given up on this old world and knew I was willing to help him make a quick escape. Either way, I will probably smoke my clothes again before I go out next time too.
 
Not quite the same smoke, but I wore the clothes in this evening that I had on while blowing leaves this afternoon. The wind was going to blow partially into the food plot, but there is a house directly across the river and I decided the deer should be somewhat used to 2 cycle smells. It worked as three does came in and the big doe tested the air several times down wind, but finally flipped her tail and started feeding.
 
I had a young 4x4 walk down wind of me tonight and stood for awhile waiting for it to get dark then walked out into an open wetland after it was dark. I was at work all day in diesel fumes and I hunted near a lake with houses around them tonight which probably have diesel machinery and pickups. Maybe this counts as smoke too? Oh, I had my Scentlok base layer on too. :)
 
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