Smoke and mirrors

This post is less specific to alloys and load development and more for tactics and practice of whitetail hunting.

Been hunting for years with rather decent success but always open to better ways of doing things....this community seems to have more experience than I could ever find at the local gas station huddles or diner.

I hunt in North Louisiana, and nearly all interaction is within 100 yards. We have 60 + acres of family land and a booming whitetail population....too booming. Louisiana allows a tag limit of 6 per year...I have 3 boys (3,2,1 and just found out we are expecting another this April)...deer meat is fantastic and we ate on the 3 I took last season all the way up until June. I'd like to get all 6 this year and save on the grocery budget...

I found that overhunting the stand I have drives them nocturnal...so I set up another in the deeper bottom area.

Still I'd like to keep my presence minimal in those hunt sites...smell is a big one. I usually soap up with scent neutral soap and keep my hunting clothes in a box outside to keep any perfumes and such from the kids/wife off.

As a side note I started beekeeping with 3 successful hives this year....and now have a smoker. I was wondering if any of you use smoke as a scent concealer and how well that may work. It'd be super easy for me to light up the smoker on my way out to the stand and get good and smokey. Also can smoke the inside of the deer stand easily to keep it scent neutral or non alarming to the deer.

So I have two stands, about 250 yards apart....very different terrain between them...I'd like to between the both catch my limit at 6. I believe my tactics have to be on point to do that.

How do I prevent them from going nocturnal by being out on the stand and them smelling presence.

What strategy have you guys used? What other thoughts are worth considering to keep myself hidden for longer in their environment (I have camo and all the kit)



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Char a log or two and keep it in the box with your clothes. The carbon will absorb scent and the scent of the burned log will saturate your clothes with a scent game animals are used to.

I keep my hunting clothes in scent free bags with a charred piece of oak or three in each one.

Deer naturally go nocturnal in most parts of the country during pre-rut.

Do you live on the land? Is the land farmed? My experience, when I stand hunted, was the disturbance moving to the stand. I still hunt mostly now, so I tend to only sit a “stand” once a month. I hunt a larger area, so may not be for you on 60 acre tract.

We have several deer living on our property year around and it is like clockwork. Those deer go almost totally nocturnal on the opening day of archery season (this weekend) and stay that way until the end of muzzleloader season (mid-December). The only exception is a couple days of the rut in November. We only have does on our place, too. The bucks live 1/2 mile down the road until rut. The process is always amazing that they seem to know. I asked our little "yard doe" when she walked by me yesterday on the way to the peach tree to bring in a couple of those bucks to our lawn in November so we can harvest the smaller that I don't want breeding her.

John, I have some of the same set-up here that you mentioned in your post. We live on about 60 acres here and it is mostly wooded. I have three stands on the property which are about a quarter mile apart. My two sons almost always come and spend the night before opening morning. We get to our stands 30 minutes before opening light. We only a few times have each tagged out opening morning. We usually have 2 down with a few more seen but "passed" on. My boys are done opening day and usually they have to return to their normal lives after a day or two. I do have some light hunting pressure on all three sides of the small area we hunt. I think good scent control is needed as the deer are very wary of movement and smell.
I put my clothes in a bag with a container of dirt for a few days prior to the hunt.We also usually each put out one scent attractant container such as doe in estrus. I have seen that stuff really work at times and not so much other times. Here it boils down to one thing for our stands-location, location, location.

Deer are schedule feeders, like a baby. Most areas of the country feed 4-5 times a day. Even when they go nocturnal, they will get up around mid day to brouse close to bedding. Also, when they go nocturnal, they will "breakfast" in a safe, secluded plot or mast close (usually within 200 yards) of bedding before moving on to socialize and hit the big plots and ag areas for their main meals. Identifying bedding, locating mast or browse close by but not being intrusive can be key to small lot hunting.

Greetings
I am a bow (recurve) hunter. I rub myself down with apples. I have corn crunchers track me.
Mike in LLama Land

deer are going to react to hunting pressure, period
nothing to do about that except hunt less
and if you are like me that's not an option
try and move around more and if you can shoot more deer while you can,
multiple deer in one hunt if possible
save the trophy hunt for later in the season

Greetings. I see most replies have to do with pressure, movement, etc. I will just say a bit what I have heard about smoke. My brother worked at an archery shop for a few years, and the owner is a big bow-hunter. He (the owner) has within the last several years switched to smoke as a cover scent. He keeps a 1 gallon tin can with him, lights it, puts leaves on it to make it smoke, and then holds each layer over the smoke before he puts it on. He has been absolutely impressed with the method, and has never had a deer wind him when he used smoke. As an archery store owner, he has had plenty of opportunity to use other scent control methods. Last i knew he still utilized smoke. The property where he often hunts is a small patch of woods in the middle of a development on the edge of town. I have been there with my brother, and I would guess maybe 15 or 20 acres at best. So for him smoke works well in a small woods situation.

As far as other scent control goes, what works well in one area may not work in another. A few years ago, the "nose jammer" stuff came out that was going to revolutionize scent control. Supposedly it actually "jams" the nose of a deer, causing it to not be able to smell you. And guys have had really good success with it, and some swear by it. My 2 brothers and I got some to try when it came out. On several occasions, we have had deer come in, but then a big doe would get nervous. It was always the smart old does, they didn't like something, and would hang up at 60 yards, and then turn and bypass the stand. It happened every time we used nose jammer, and when we stopped using it, the problems stopped. My brother actually harvested the big old doe that was causing most of the problems. She was very old, and we got 75 lbs of meat from her, which is a really big Pa deer. All this to say, that had we been "stuck" on the nose jammer stuff, I am pretty sure we would have struggled more to harvest any deer with a bow. Feel free to experiment with scent control, but let the deer tell you if it is working or not. My brothers and I saw our close deer encounters go up significantly when we stored our hunting clothes in a tote with leaves. When we got to where we parked, we would strip down to our boxers, and then put one layer on at a time, spraying each layer with something like scent killer gold. We would also spray our boots good, and if we knew we would likely sweat going out to the stand, we took the bottle of spray with us. Once in the stand, I would spray myself again, paying special attention to the head, armpits, and groin. Oh, and i almost always am in my stand at least 30 minutes before daylight.

just some observations of my 15 years hunting. Take it for what it is worth!

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Originally Posted by Jevyod

Greetings. I see most replies have to do with pressure, movement, etc. I will just say a bit what I have heard about smoke. My brother worked at an archery shop for a few years, and the owner is a big bow-hunter. He (the owner) has within the last several years switched to smoke as a cover scent. He keeps a 1 gallon tin can with him, lights it, puts leaves on it to make it smoke, and then holds each layer over the smoke before he puts it on. He has been absolutely impressed with the method, and has never had a deer wind him when he used smoke. As an archery store owner, he has had plenty of opportunity to use other scent control methods. Last i knew he still utilized smoke. The property where he often hunts is a small patch of woods in the middle of a development on the edge of town. I have been there with my brother, and I would guess maybe 15 or 20 acres at best. So for him smoke works well in a small woods situation.

As far as other scent control goes, what works well in one area may not work in another. A few years ago, the "nose jammer" stuff came out that was going to revolutionize scent control. Supposedly it actually "jams" the nose of a deer, causing it to not be able to smell you. And guys have had really good success with it, and some swear by it. My 2 brothers and I got some to try when it came out. On several occasions, we have had deer come in, but then a big doe would get nervous. It was always the smart old does, they didn't like something, and would hang up at 60 yards, and then turn and bypass the stand. It happened every time we used nose jammer, and when we stopped using it, the problems stopped. My brother actually harvested the big old doe that was causing most of the problems. She was very old, and we got 75 lbs of meat from her, which is a really big Pa deer. All this to say, that had we been "stuck" on the nose jammer stuff, I am pretty sure we would have struggled more to harvest any deer with a bow. Feel free to experiment with scent control, but let the deer tell you if it is working or not. My brothers and I saw our close deer encounters go up significantly when we stored our hunting clothes in a tote with leaves. When we got to where we parked, we would strip down to our boxers, and then put one layer on at a time, spraying each layer with something like scent killer gold. We would also spray our boots good, and if we knew we would likely sweat going out to the stand, we took the bottle of spray with us. Once in the stand, I would spray myself again, paying special attention to the head, armpits, and groin. Oh, and i almost always am in my stand at least 30 minutes before daylight.

just some observations of my 15 years hunting. Take it for what it is worth!

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Thanks, I'll likely use the bee smoker this year.... it's easy to use and portable...as long as you aren't careless with it very safe (ie you aren't likely to burn down your stand or the woods)

It also gives the ability to directly blow smoke exactly where I want it ...whether that be inside my stand, on my clothing or even on the trail I walk to and from the stand to cover any scent left around.

Pressure is pressure...I'll give it a try and see how it does this year. If it works well it may be a boon for those here that hunt close in. Bee smokers can be had from Amazon for about 15$ shipped....would last a lifetime of deer hunting use. Hopefully it will work

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I put a dummy all year round in my tree stand
deer get so used to it that in hunting season they come to apple put near the stand without caution
once or twice a year I change the dummy cloths for human scent
try it it works

My guess is the smoke would have the deer wondering why in the heck is that human covered in smoke. If you don't want them to smell you work the wind, particularly in how you approach the stand. I do bow hunt, try to get above their sight line and immediate scent level but I don't go crazy with scent control. No perfumed soaps and aftershave. I think most "scent control" products are designed to shift the content of the hunter's wallet to the maker, rather than do anything to help the hunter fool deer.

Funny story. I am not a deer hunter but was in an elevated (10') box stand looking for hogs. City guy with my jeans and tee shirt - just out of the laundry. I do smoke. Had a large doe walk up next to the stand, like almost under it! I actually leaned out the window to watch her! She eventually walked off. Adjacent property is actually a paid hunt property with maybe 10 ground stands. Next morning I went to the stand at daybreak, already a 8 pt and doe at the feeder. No hogs.

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Originally Posted by Rick Hodges

My guess is the smoke would have the deer wondering why in the heck is that human covered in smoke. If you don't want them to smell you work the wind, particularly in how you approach the stand. I do bow hunt, try to get above their sight line and immediate scent level but I don't go crazy with scent control. No perfumed soaps and aftershave. I think most "scent control" products are designed to shift the content of the hunter's wallet to the maker, rather than do anything to help the hunter fool deer.

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I mostly agree
Back track the deer,find their beding areas,and sit on it.if smoke gives you confidence then use it. I played with scent control for a few years then one day the penny dropped,if it's near a 100*,you're not going to stop sweat or control the ordor. To take the numbers of deer your wanting to harvest your going to have to hunt really hard, all day which means finding the bedding area's and adding a stand or two. Does LA allow feeders?

If you are in farm country, diesel fuel is an excellent cover scent.

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Originally Posted by Texas by God

If you are in farm country, diesel fuel is an excellent cover scent.

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It is in general farm country but not specifically seeing alot of activity in our area. There are thousands of acres adjacent under timber....North Louisiana has alot of wooded acreage...some logging activities here and there on small plots but none in our area in the past decade. Our property butts up along the South to a swampy bottom full of old growth oak and nut bearing trees.... thick underbrush gives amazing habit for whitetail bedding and short travel to grazing areas. Only thing it lacks is wide area of grass to browse during winter....we will often see deer in our yard munching grasses and persimmon within feet of the front door.

Thick underbrush is great for bedding areas but also makes openings and opportunity to take shots pretty close range. Getting to and from stand areas can be a challenge too. Typically you'll blaze a trail to the stand and clear it of debris, sticks, limbs and leaves so entry and exit are silent as can be...but approach based on wind direction is not easy as you'd need multiple trails blazed and kept clear during season....not terribly easy though not impossible. Doing that for multiple stand locations would be a real problem though

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My grandpa never used any scent blockers, I don't even know if they had them when he was still hunting.
He would just fill up a thermos full of coffee and go find a log to sit on. Always got a deer that way.