Hunting Success Up In Smoke?
Does smoking while on stand destroy the chance of being successful in bagging a deer?
No doubt, most of us would answer yes if asked this question. Scent reduction plays an important part in being successful while hunting. Just take a look at the sheer number of products available geared toward masking, reducing, or eliminating a hunters scent and the general acceptance of it’s importance is evident.
But what about the hunters who never worry about reducing scent? You know the ones I’m talking about. They smell like a mixture of fast food and gasoline and traipse off into the woods with a cigarette dangling out of their mouth. And at the end of the day, they’re the ones who come out of the woods dragging a deer behind them.
Does this mean scent reduction isn’t as important as we think? I don’t think so. It just means they’re lucky.
Was the wind in their favor? If so, then the smell of the smoke was eliminated by it, and it’s still the same as controlling your scent. Another thing to consider is how old are the deer they take? Are they mature deer, or are they younger ones? A younger one is more likely not to pay as much attention to a foreign smell as their older and wiser counterparts. For them, the smell isn’t yet linked to a source of danger, so they basically ignore it.
If by chance they have taken a huge buck, then I would have to still wonder about the consistency of doing so. If it’s just once, the old saying ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day’ comes to mind. Anyone can end up in the right place at the right time, no matter if they try to or not.
hunting, scents, scent reduction, hunting techniques, hunting success
April 9th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Where and how you hunt are the keys to this.
I smoke, unfortunately, and go to great pains to always be on a stand where the wind is in my favor. Most people do not have this luxury. I laugh at the hunters with their masking scents and fox pee etc. because the wind is the #1 concern for all of us. Use the wind correctly and you can have a bonfire and still not have a deer smell you.
April 11th, 2007 at 6:36 am
I’d have to agree with you, Rex, using the wind is the biggest factor. No matter how much work you do to keep scent free, there will always be some. ANd if the wind isn’t in your favor, you’ll pay for it.