Awesome...I've been doing this since the 80's...shared the Indian practice a few years back on another channel hunting site and the naysaying kiddies came out of the woodwork. A little oak campfire smoke before you head out to your stand puts the force field in your favor. Fire and smoke are common odors to animals. Smoke...the best cover scent made yet.
Mannnn. Love that guy…. Here is another great Indian cover scent using black walnuts. Gather them while they are green in a 5 gallon bucket and let them soak in water overnight. Then after soaking overnight depending on the temperature? After the walnuts have broken down into a liquid you can pour the liquid into spray bottles. Make sure to filter the liquid first. You can use a old t shirt and fasten it over the 5 gallon bucket using a bungee or large rubber band. Etc. Hope everyone has good luck this season Todd👊🏼
Yup. That works. I tried it last year, and my daughter and I both got bucks a few days apart. I watched a buck stop and sniff where I had walked earlier, and he just slowly walked by and kept on his path/direction. I have walnuts soaking in a bucket right now, actually.
Ive got walnut trees in my yard and my hunting property. I store a couple dozen green walnuts in my dry bag with my early eason gear and it has worked awewome! Grandad showed me the smoke trick years ago and it is my go to cover scent as soon as the leaves drop and the wood stoves fire up. Good luck this season fellas
The deer in my area will eat them very late season as a last resort but deer generally do not like the smell of black walnuts, it will make for good scent cover but wouldn't be my top choice, my trick is to just leave a shirt I wore out near my stand and eventually they do not care about my scent, just replace it with another shirt weekly easy as can be worked for me for years
I started smoking my clothes and gear last year. Although not a huge sample size, I had two deer directly under my stand on a still evening and never spooked. I had a doe downwind of me milling around at last light and never spooked. I have not had a deer blow last year or this year
Smoke is an alerting smell to most wild animals, so back in the 1970's, the one thing we found that was better than smoke was using cedar and pine branches and needles in an unscented large garbage bag with our hunting clothes, including any underwear, stuffed in. Sometimes, we would even add oak leaves and forest dirt into the bag as well. After a couple of days in the bag, our hunting clothes were filled with the deep, rich smells of the forest, and it was not uncommon to have doe deer walk right up and sniff us while sitting by a tree in camo. After returning from the day's hunt, simply place the clothes back into the bag for the night. If you wish to keep the pine and cedar needles out of your clothes, just place them in a cheese cloth or similar netting bag or wrap them before placing in the garbage bag. This is most effective when all your hunting clothes have been washed with unscented soaps and then rinsed using baking soda in the rinse water and hung outside to air dry. This will neutralize all scents before entering the scent bag. Also, be sure to take a quick shower each morning and use unscented soap like lye or Ivory unscented. Also, never wear your hunting boots around gas stations nor pump gas after putting on your hunting clothes. All these techniques has allowed us to obtain some very close distances to game, especially during bow seasons.
You're also bonding yourself with nature my grandfather he was a flathead Indian blood from his people from Montana also did this he also ran his hands through the smoke and over his head and said little prayers it's really dual purpose gives you an opportunity to ask to be successful and for everyone to have a safe hunt in return home it sounds like woo woo but it's very effective I take this time to speak to my ancestors while I'm doing it ask for their wisdom and insight and guidance from the spirit world on the hunt that we are about to embark 💀💯
They love it. In a light wind, I had a flume come out my mouth and travel across the field and down into some thicker oak woods about 70-80 yards. My stand was on the bottom leftside of a rectangular shape field so the part of the field it blow over was the skinnier side amd the majority of the field cut out to the right of the stand. I had a bowl that day and I had 4 or 5 thick flames travel right over thatside part of the field and roll down into those woods. I smoke right when I get in stand and it was early. Usual sit for an hour before I see deer in the afternoon. Less than 1min after my last hit a 8 pt. buck amd a Doe came out into the field right where that smoke had rolled down into the woods. Pretty much every deer I've taken refer has been in the air. Not everytime, but lots and lots. I know for a fact it doesn't bother them
I've been using a bee smoker for about 3 years and it helps. I smoke everything and i mean EVERYTHING! (Gear and myself included) fyi smoking the bottom of your boots will keep green jeans' dog from trailing you to your stand.
For years I have hunted a 400 acre managed plot from fixed tree stands. After parking the vehicles and prior to entering the woods, I break off a few thick bunches of cedar or pine needles and thoroughly scrub my boots and legs from the knees down. I do the same at the bottom of the tree stand and have always had good success with harvesting deer. 🦌
I’ve often had this conversation with my family members that hunt but our grandfather was a heavy smoker he smoked on the way into the hunting grounds he smoked while sitting and watching he smoked while still hunting his way through the woods and seems like he took a deer every year most years it was a freezer deer but occasionally he would take a big deer
I started hunting in the mid 60's. There wasn't very effective mosquito repellant then so I would stand in the smoke to repel the mosquitoes. As it turns out the smoke was also effective for masking my scent while moose hunting. I never hunted deer until about 10 years ago but I will have to try this on them too. It works on Elk, Moose, Black Bear etc so it should work on deer.
Here’s something i have noticed from years of having wood burning heat and years of back country camping. When I lived in Colorado the only readily available wood was a coniferous tree, pine, Douglas fir etc. Last time camped in Colorado several of my clothes were absolutely doused in smoke, it took 5 months for a few of those items to not smell of smoke. Now i live in Tennessee and i burn wood almost daily for a brick oven i built , seasoned and green. The hardwood smoke I use here comes out of my clothes within a few days, no washing required. The conifer smoke stayed on my clothes after several washes. If you’re looking for long lasting smoke smell, go with pine, get a decently hot fire and plop a thick mat of needled branches over it. Just beware, everything you have on will smell of smoke for an uncomfortably long time
My grandmother was Blackfoot ,she said she remembered her father and grandfather using wild onions. She said they'd hang them around them ans upon them. She taught us the acorn lid whistle and grass reed
nothing like a good camp fire at deer camp. i just got back from a colorado elk hunt and a 4 day deer hunt here in oklahoma and for scent i use smoke and the scent blender. the scent blender you can blender pine needles and acorns stuff like that and it works. nothing compares to smoke but ill get a headache sometimes so may not be idea for some. try scent blender i get 3-6 deer a year with it and never get winded
i'm that crazy guy that would hunt anyway even if I am injured... I was cutting brush to brush in a blind for my son and chopped myself in the leg. I was a security contractor and was trained as a medic and designated marksman. I cleaned my wound really well, got stitches out of my pack, put super glue inside the wound to stop the bleeding, sewed myself up, moved the blind and cleaned the blood off the brush with my hydro pack, and cleaned my pants then sewed them up while in the tree stand. shot an 8 point from the tree stand and my son got the ten point he was after while it was sniffing the spot where I sewed myself up. my grandfather (step grandfather actually) was a full blood blackfoot born on the reservation in 1899, taught me to use smoke. he taught me a little different though. he taught me to find pulp wood like you use to tan buck skin. make a very small fire, like five or six small sticks. just enough to light a baseball sized pulp knot. when the pulp gets a good coal going so it starts smoking good take it out of the fire. move the pulp ball all around you to get good and covered then we would put it in an old soup can that had a cord sting in it so we could hang it on our shoulder. we carried it with us. you could add green pine needles or green leaves to it when you built a blind and have it in the blind with you. with fruit or pine leaves it would attract does to the blind. I don't know why it worked. if you can find stuff an estrous doe peed on and put it in the can to smoke bucks would come out like ants to a soda can.
@peregrinegrace8570 yes sir. I'm in north Texas, it is everywhere you find a downed oak tree and those are everywhere. I have two 40gallon trash bags full in my shop for smoking buck skin, and smoking blades I make. Smoking a blade with lard on it blackens the blade like a cast iron pan. Makes stuff not stick to your blade and prevents rust just like on the pan. Pulp doesn't really get hot, about 175⁰, so it won't mess with the temper of the blade. It is called seasoning on cast iron. The blackening also prevents blade flash.
I’d heard of the smoke and I’m gonna try it. If you are hunting an area like a swamp or creek bottom where beavers are present, Beaver castor is a great cover scent. I learned this firsthand back in the 70s. I was doing some beaver control for a relative and had exclusive hunting rights to this bottom. I used used castor based lures for trapping then removed the castors. To sale or make more lure. Result every thing I had smell like beaver castor. I noticed deer just walking up on me or letting me get close the them. I killed 3 bucks that year while working my traps 8:58 the castors fthe beaver
My dad always hunted the ground and showed me to lift up the leaves and let out the scent under the oak trees and rub that dirt over the clothes, skin everything. Perfect cover scent. I have had animals step within arms reach where I had to hold my breath and close my eyes so they didnt see any eyes or cold air breath.
Best cover scent you can possibly use (fresh soil being a close second) is deer hair scent, you’ll hate the smell but not the results. Can also use it in a spray bottle by pouring water on a rag, wiping a freshly killed deers hair both sides of rag then rinsing it into a spray bottle, or wet the deer down and keep soaking it up with the rag. Will have to do the steps a dozen times but it works.
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen Exactly my thought.... They have a strong smell....this might be a good one as long as those glands dont seep some kind of warning. Idk
Been using the deer hocks for years, save them ,vacuum seal ,thaw it when you get to the area where you intend to hunt rub the hock on your jeans etc, then I usually hang It under my stand or on a limb outside of my blind , I've killed several good bucks using this trick , if I kill a buck my coveralls or hunting jackets will smell like a deer 🦌 after handling it , don't run home and throw it in the washing machine ,hang it on a hanger on the back porch or something when you go back to woods put it back on you'll still smell the deer ESPECIALLY if the Buck was a mature Rutting Buck , Grunts work better and rattling works better because they smell the Buck scent on you, You can dry those hocks and grind it into a powder and use it as well ,, Thank me after take your biggest Buck ever 😉
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen Dan Fitzgerald sells Deer Dander. I haven’t tried it but have a couple of friends that swear by it. Would not hunt without it. lol
An old bow hunter tpught me this a few years back i always remeber seeing deer and getting closer after standing around a campfire with my hunting buddys drinking some cold ones and after that older guy told me this its makes since
I have a wood stove. When it's deer season here. I go stand by the chimney before I go out to the stand. Burning firewood for over 25 years. Deer smell it every witch way the wind blows!
@@whitehondarider22smoke doesn't come from humans. There are natural fires all over the world. This method has been used for thousands of years. If you use vinegar washing all your clothes and use unscented deodorant and soap first it works very well.
I'll give ya a tip better than the smoke! What ever area I hunt I take hands full of the dirt from the ground and I rub it on my clothes, skin , bow ,firearm etc works like a charm !!! And it's free lol!!
@DarrenBunyan-f7k: Wow i just commented saying the same then scrolled down and seen your message. Definitely works. Idk why people buy fresh earth spray when it’s free on the ground.
Yes i agree i’m southern illinois i w been putting my hunting gear in a bag diet and leaves from where i hunt at on the regular and i have deer in my almost daily
Yep im from south Carolina and still hunt here and ive never used cover scent i get off work then instantly hit the woods and ive never had a issue @@joeaultman3475
Like the smoke!!! Also, have you tried homemade deer hide boot gaiters ( need fresh deer hide buck or doe) make two gaiters from hide from knees down use zip ties to secure it. Not long term but good for couple of days of hunting. In conjunction with doe/buck hocks. Thanks for sharing video.
I saw a movie about 30 yrs ago about a man escaping from rogue law enforcement in Alaska who did that so he could run in a large herd of caribou so the trackers couldn't follow his tracks. The large herd of caribou were covering his tracks completely. Was a near concept, and now I'm seeing in in real life.
Most ppl are hunting “semi-domesticated” deer these days (these deer live and die in an environment filled with automobiles, tractors, farming equipment, campfires, etc.) so all of those scents may be “unnatural” but are every bit natural to them. This smoking method really works wonders.
Here's an old Indian strategy: Find milkweed, use the milkweed seeds (they are housed in pods and I use them) to determine wind direction and approach/set up, upwind (the seeds are way better than spraying mist). Many seasoned hunters set up 2 tree stands so they have options.
I've been doing this for years! When I was growing up we had a campfire when we're out deer hunting to stay warm, and the smoke did not bother the deer! So I thought that was a good cover for your scent it was natural, and I could afford natural at that time because I didn't have any money!
3 hr ago in Sabine parish I killed a doe using your suggestion about smoking my clothes and the doe didn’t smell me in my blind that was 20 ft from me , really works
This is how I prepare my gear because the Native Americans did this. Smoke and using walnuts. Walnuts are everywhere around my area. It makes a big difference! I've had deer smell me, but they didn't panic. They knew something but didn't connect it to danger.
Yes, this will work, like in the south near tobacco farms when in the fall they hang and smoke the tobacco for curing, so I tried it ONE TIME ONLY, I have never been blowed so many times by ALL the deer on the farm , I will never use this method again, I went back to the tried and true baking soda method.
Travis is badass! My favorite guest yall have had. I love his reasoning that smoking meat kills bacteria, and how this method of smoking up kills bacteria. Bacteria contributes to body odor etc. Smoking up and the killing wind! This man is a national treasure.
Do you hunt in area where you or neighbors have fires during the day or at night? Can’t see this working if not, deer associate smells based on safety, danger and food. If they don’t know a smell they’ll stay away from it. If smoke is going threw the valleys most days or their feeding area at night than i can see it working.
I would love to talk with Travis. I had an elder Hupa native teach me the same thing! Stay southern? I say get saved and stay humble. Jesus is King! Great video
Old School is cool. But this year I started using an ozone device I got for 6o bucks on sale. I had 5 deer downwind of me this year for a solid hour and not one of them busted me. I actually called one the bigger does with a bleat call and smoked her at 35 yards
Wish I could bottle this. I'm In a suburban setting east coast MD hunting public land and can not do this so I rely on scent sprays(scent away autumn formula)
I use a beehive smoker and hang my clothes in the outbuilding and get a good smoking and then instantly put them in a plastic bag and seal it until I hit the woods. But this doesn’t work in my area until people start their wood burners and fireplaces and the deer smell smoke dialy
Boom, i knew that’s why it would work in some areas. They have to get use to the smell to where they associate it with safety. If any hunter goes into an area where deer don’t get the fire smell coming from a house or houses than they’re going to hear some snorts.
Smoke is legit. We always have a fire going at deer camp and never use any other cover scent. I hunt with a long bow and am often with 10 yards of deer. Smoke works.
I have had people look at me like I was crazy for 10+ years for keeping a bee smoker in my truck and smoking up before every hunt I also have unscented insence sticks that the vodo people use lol I’ll stick them in the bark of the tree I’m hunting and have yet to have a deer wind me
They sale those burning wicks in earth scent cover and deer urine/estrus. I wouldn’t try the smoke unless people around the property had fires all the time to where deer are use to the smell.
@@letsgobrandon7297 yeah I agree but smoke is definitely a natural scent that I don’t think wildlife pay much attention too I’ve always hunted around houses and cities so I’ve not had the chance to see what wide range of wilderness without human activity would do or how wildlife would react
Beehive smoker with hardwood chips. Small hand full of chips light with a propane torch while working the bellows for about thirty second. Let the fire burn and get the plate hot for a couple minutes. Then throw another small handful on and close the lids. You get a nice heavy thick smoke. I actually just smoke my bare body like a piece of meat. Hardwood smoke is a antimicrobial
When I first started hunting years ago, I ran across an old hunter that always had a little fire going and sat with the smoke in his face. He shot his Buck every year until he either quit or died
The old timer who taught me, swore that using hickory was the best (wild cherry was his second favorite, followed by sage brush), he thought it smelled like salt to the deer, i guess that was what the poor people used back when salt was expensive, theyd leach salt out of chips of hickory wood. Ive got a bunch of hickories on the windy ridge of my farm, and one will blow down just about every year. Ive yet to see chew marks where the deer have been going at the hickory wood like beavers, hah, but that old timer walked up on a lot of deer, hah. Used this super cheap fiberglass bow, looked like something youd see at boy scout summer camp, but he got a lot of deer.
It’s sad to say- I’ve smoked cigarettes for years while sitting in a tree stand or in a blind. I have had very few deer ( that I HAVE seen) alert and leave. I generally take 4-6 deer a year with my bow. Usually 25 yards or so. I have taken many directly down wind but I’m usually about 15 feet up in a ladder stand. Various times of the day. Naturally, my son hates me smoking and he’s right but at the same time I generally take more game each year. Even pigs have been down wind and get an arrow in them. I’m guessing smoke is smoke to them?
AI backs this up. Smoke can kill odor causing bacteria. Reduce bacterial load on you and your clothes and bam, they may still smell you but think you are further away. Remember the stories of old timers killing deer while smoking cigarettes? I bet it helps reduce breath smells too. Hmm, might be puffing on my cigar before next hunt, after smoking up clothes and skin. Thanks southern brothers (from Southern VT)
A friend said his dad would build a fire to sit around for them and his brother on super cold days. The smoke permeates the woods and hides their smell and everything smells the same, like smoke. They are used to smelling it, especially around logging sites where they burn the brush piles. Almost always fresh deer tracks around those and heavy equipment.
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen works great..of coarse you need to learn the dance I do around the fire before it really starts working..I’m not sharing that secret..lol
i smoke in my treestand and always kill my big buck each year, all of my hunting clothes have burns in them from trying to snuff out my cig when i see the big boy coming. the guys i hunt with always ask me for one of my cigs (jokingly) even though they dont smoke.
Thanks for doing this video. More people need to know about this. Below is just a little about the subject that I can share. My grandfather would smoke cigarettes all the time. I thought it would be bad for hunt. I was wrong. One day when I was home from military leave, we went hunting together. We were about 100 yards from each other. I could see him on his 6' tree stand, smoking away. Down wind from him I could see two bucks walking straight to him with there noses in the air. With his double barrel shotgun & two shots later... he said, come on boy. You got work to do. We only been hunting for about 30 mins. So I get started skinning out two bucks. 😅 I do smoke-in all my equipment & myself at home & once I get to my hunting area. It totally works. I been doing it forever now. I do like mixing in some of the sweet smelling plants. the deer love it!
I don't agree with the gentleman who claims that you can not cover your sent. I have practiced the habit of not eating meat or spices washing my clothes and rubbing myself with plants that are found in the area I hunt. I've had deer so close to me that I could have touched them. I ve had coyote and fox pass within 3ft of me and they gave no indication that they knew I was there..
100%. I do the same, i hunt archery off the ground without a blind (not bragging about it cause i would like to be in a stand) and have deer including mature bucks come down wind and never smell me. It’s awesome experience having a buck or any deer walk right next to you while you’re behind a fat tree. I try to play the wind but if it’s not in my favor i don’t let it ruin my hunt. Plus most areas i hunt in the wind changes directions all the time. I would never try this smoke thing unless people around the property had fires all the time where deer are use to the smell.
Animals smell smoke all the time. Using smoke to cover your scent before hunting has literally been done for thousands of years! It works. You don't have to worry about whether a specific property has fires around it all the time, animals instinctively know what smoke smells like, because it is something that happens in the wild naturally on a consistent basis. Lightning strikes happen in the wild, and things catch on fire and smoke is produced. So they know what the smell of that is and it doesn't bother them, in fact it can make them very curious and cause them to even come to you more than they would if you just covered your scent with plants that you've rubbed on your skin and your clothes etc.
@cjdowney4444 with out a doubt smoking your gear does work. I personally think the main facts are it diluted your sent leaving the impression 🤔 that you were present some time ago,rather than giving an overpowering sent of a human.
@@MatthewMacNaughtonwhat do you mean you don’t eat meat? Like the day before a hunt or the morning before the hunt? Or like during archery season you’re a vegetarian
@GooseChaseCycles I make it a practice to not eat meat of use any spices ,garlic onions, cumin curry etc for 2 weeks prior to hunting. I belive that these linger in the body and give you a unnatural oder to the body.
Awesome...I've been doing this since the 80's...shared the Indian practice a few years back on another channel hunting site and the naysaying kiddies came out of the woodwork.
A little oak campfire smoke before you head out to your stand puts the force field in your favor.
Fire and smoke are common odors to animals. Smoke...the best cover scent made yet.
We are glad you enjoyed it!
Mannnn. Love that guy….
Here is another great Indian cover scent using black walnuts. Gather them while they are green in a 5 gallon bucket and let them soak in water overnight. Then after soaking overnight depending on the temperature?
After the walnuts have broken down into a liquid you can pour the liquid into spray bottles.
Make sure to filter the liquid first.
You can use a old t shirt and fasten it over the 5 gallon bucket using a bungee or large rubber band. Etc.
Hope everyone has good luck this season Todd👊🏼
Thanks for the great idea as well! We are glad you enjoyed the video!
Yup. That works. I tried it last year, and my daughter and I both got bucks a few days apart. I watched a buck stop and sniff where I had walked earlier, and he just slowly walked by and kept on his path/direction. I have walnuts soaking in a bucket right now, actually.
Ive got walnut trees in my yard and my hunting property. I store a couple dozen green walnuts in my dry bag with my early eason gear and it has worked awewome! Grandad showed me the smoke trick years ago and it is my go to cover scent as soon as the leaves drop and the wood stoves fire up.
Good luck this season fellas
The deer in my area will eat them very late season as a last resort but deer generally do not like the smell of black walnuts, it will make for good scent cover but wouldn't be my top choice, my trick is to just leave a shirt I wore out near my stand and eventually they do not care about my scent, just replace it with another shirt weekly easy as can be worked for me for years
I started smoking my clothes and gear last year. Although not a huge sample size, I had two deer directly under my stand on a still evening and never spooked. I had a doe downwind of me milling around at last light and never spooked. I have not had a deer blow last year or this year
Smoke is an alerting smell to most wild animals, so back in the 1970's, the one thing we found that was better than smoke was using cedar and pine branches and needles in an unscented large garbage bag with our hunting clothes, including any underwear, stuffed in. Sometimes, we would even add oak leaves and forest dirt into the bag as well.
After a couple of days in the bag, our hunting clothes were filled with the deep, rich smells of the forest, and it was not uncommon to have doe deer walk right up and sniff us while sitting by a tree in camo. After returning from the day's hunt, simply place the clothes back into the bag for the night.
If you wish to keep the pine and cedar needles out of your clothes, just place them in a cheese cloth or similar netting bag or wrap them before placing in the garbage bag.
This is most effective when all your hunting clothes have been washed with unscented soaps and then rinsed using baking soda in the rinse water and hung outside to air dry. This will neutralize all scents before entering the scent bag. Also, be sure to take a quick shower each morning and use unscented soap like lye or Ivory unscented.
Also, never wear your hunting boots around gas stations nor pump gas after putting on your hunting clothes. All these techniques has allowed us to obtain some very close distances to game, especially during bow seasons.
I store my gear in large Rubbermaid bins and store pine and cedar branches inside with it. This smoking thing seems very interesting, good info.
You're also bonding yourself with nature my grandfather he was a flathead Indian blood from his people from Montana also did this he also ran his hands through the smoke and over his head and said little prayers it's really dual purpose gives you an opportunity to ask to be successful and for everyone to have a safe hunt in return home it sounds like woo woo but it's very effective I take this time to speak to my ancestors while I'm doing it ask for their wisdom and insight and guidance from the spirit world on the hunt that we are about to embark 💀💯
I smoke up like 5 times a day in my stand😊. I have seen deer walk right by me only to get downwind and smell the bud and come back curious.
They love it. In a light wind, I had a flume come out my mouth and travel across the field and down into some thicker oak woods about 70-80 yards. My stand was on the bottom leftside of a rectangular shape field so the part of the field it blow over was the skinnier side amd the majority of the field cut out to the right of the stand. I had a bowl that day and I had 4 or 5 thick flames travel right over thatside part of the field and roll down into those woods. I smoke right when I get in stand and it was early. Usual sit for an hour before I see deer in the afternoon. Less than 1min after my last hit a 8 pt. buck amd a Doe came out into the field right where that smoke had rolled down into the woods. Pretty much every deer I've taken refer has been in the air. Not everytime, but lots and lots. I know for a fact it doesn't bother them
I've been using a bee smoker for about 3 years and it helps. I smoke everything and i mean EVERYTHING! (Gear and myself included) fyi smoking the bottom of your boots will keep green jeans' dog from trailing you to your stand.
😂😂 you’re awesome for that
You should treat yourself, get an "A" smoker.
@@bondvagabond42 😂🤣😂😂🤣
I started beekeeping in 2020 and got my first buck bow kill and was wondering if it had something to do with it.
If you ever sat by a bon fire you know how well it works
I started seeing MUCH LESS deer after I quit smoking😂
Ive always said that them smokes helped cover my scent
My dad was doing this 25 yrs ago! Works!
this guy has to be my fav deer hunting podcast guest
Well don't miss his next episode with us!
He's the real deal!
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmenestimated drop date?
@@BL-ub8er most likely sometime in November!
For years I have hunted a 400 acre managed plot from fixed tree stands. After parking the vehicles and prior to entering the woods, I break off a few thick bunches of cedar or pine needles and thoroughly scrub my boots and legs from the knees down. I do the same at the bottom of the tree stand and have always had good success with harvesting deer. 🦌
I do that very thing, and also step in any Cow manure I find.
The bee hive smokers work great been doing it for 3 years now
Awesome! Thanks for watching!
I’ve often had this conversation with my family members that hunt but our grandfather was a heavy smoker he smoked on the way into the hunting grounds he smoked while sitting and watching he smoked while still hunting his way through the woods and seems like he took a deer every year most years it was a freezer deer but occasionally he would take a big deer
I started hunting in the mid 60's. There wasn't very effective mosquito repellant then so I would stand in the smoke to repel the mosquitoes. As it turns out the smoke was also effective for masking my scent while moose hunting. I never hunted deer until about 10 years ago but I will have to try this on them too. It works on Elk, Moose, Black Bear etc so it should work on deer.
Thanks, I did put it into practice yesterday, nothing yet but loved to try 😊
Here’s something i have noticed from years of having wood burning heat and years of back country camping. When I lived in Colorado the only readily available wood was a coniferous tree, pine, Douglas fir etc. Last time camped in Colorado several of my clothes were absolutely doused in smoke, it took 5 months for a few of those items to not smell of smoke. Now i live in Tennessee and i burn wood almost daily for a brick oven i built , seasoned and green. The hardwood smoke I use here comes out of my clothes within a few days, no washing required. The conifer smoke stayed on my clothes after several washes. If you’re looking for long lasting smoke smell, go with pine, get a decently hot fire and plop a thick mat of needled branches over it. Just beware, everything you have on will smell of smoke for an uncomfortably long time
My grandmother was Blackfoot ,she said she remembered her father and grandfather using wild onions. She said they'd hang them around them ans upon them. She taught us the acorn lid whistle and grass reed
nothing like a good camp fire at deer camp. i just got back from a colorado elk hunt and a 4 day deer hunt here in oklahoma and for scent i use smoke and the scent blender. the scent blender you can blender pine needles and acorns stuff like that and it works. nothing compares to smoke but ill get a headache sometimes so may not be idea for some. try scent blender i get 3-6 deer a year with it and never get winded
Lately I’ve used a thermacell with evercalm pads in it hanging it 10 feet below my stand and let the wind do the rest…working well so far
Works really good if you live where people use wood stoves for heat, smell of smoke is always in the air and deer are used to it.
i'm that crazy guy that would hunt anyway even if I am injured... I was cutting brush to brush in a blind for my son and chopped myself in the leg. I was a security contractor and was trained as a medic and designated marksman. I cleaned my wound really well, got stitches out of my pack, put super glue inside the wound to stop the bleeding, sewed myself up, moved the blind and cleaned the blood off the brush with my hydro pack, and cleaned my pants then sewed them up while in the tree stand. shot an 8 point from the tree stand and my son got the ten point he was after while it was sniffing the spot where I sewed myself up. my grandfather (step grandfather actually) was a full blood blackfoot born on the reservation in 1899, taught me to use smoke. he taught me a little different though. he taught me to find pulp wood like you use to tan buck skin. make a very small fire, like five or six small sticks. just enough to light a baseball sized pulp knot. when the pulp gets a good coal going so it starts smoking good take it out of the fire. move the pulp ball all around you to get good and covered then we would put it in an old soup can that had a cord sting in it so we could hang it on our shoulder. we carried it with us. you could add green pine needles or green leaves to it when you built a blind and have it in the blind with you. with fruit or pine leaves it would attract does to the blind. I don't know why it worked. if you can find stuff an estrous doe peed on and put it in the can to smoke bucks would come out like ants to a soda can.
What exactly is pulp wood?
@silverious1le299 it is the rotten chip wood from downed trees.
Punk wood, white and soft before it rots and goes black.
Extremely useful survival resource , if you can find it.
@peregrinegrace8570 yes sir. I'm in north Texas, it is everywhere you find a downed oak tree and those are everywhere. I have two 40gallon trash bags full in my shop for smoking buck skin, and smoking blades I make. Smoking a blade with lard on it blackens the blade like a cast iron pan. Makes stuff not stick to your blade and prevents rust just like on the pan. Pulp doesn't really get hot, about 175⁰, so it won't mess with the temper of the blade. It is called seasoning on cast iron. The blackening also prevents blade flash.
I’d heard of the smoke and I’m gonna try it. If you are hunting an area like a swamp or creek bottom where beavers are present, Beaver castor is a great cover scent. I learned this firsthand back in the 70s. I was doing some beaver control for a relative and had exclusive hunting rights to this bottom. I used used castor based lures for trapping then removed the castors.
To sale or make more lure. Result every thing I had smell like beaver castor. I noticed deer just walking up on me or letting me get close the them. I killed 3 bucks that year while working my traps
8:58 the castors fthe beaver
My dad always hunted the ground and showed me to lift up the leaves and let out the scent under the oak trees and rub that dirt over the clothes, skin everything. Perfect cover scent. I have had animals step within arms reach where I had to hold my breath and close my eyes so they didnt see any eyes or cold air breath.
Best cover scent you can possibly use (fresh soil being a close second) is deer hair scent, you’ll hate the smell but not the results. Can also use it in a spray bottle by pouring water on a rag, wiping a freshly killed deers hair both sides of rag then rinsing it into a spray bottle, or wet the deer down and keep soaking it up with the rag. Will have to do the steps a dozen times but it works.
Now that's an interesting idea! Thanks for sharing that!
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen Exactly my thought.... They have a strong smell....this might be a good one as long as those glands dont seep some kind of warning. Idk
Best ive found is put an older bale of haynext to your stand
Been using the deer hocks for years, save them ,vacuum seal ,thaw it when you get to the area where you intend to hunt rub the hock on your jeans etc, then I usually hang It under my stand or on a limb outside of my blind , I've killed several good bucks using this trick , if I kill a buck my coveralls or hunting jackets will smell like a deer 🦌 after handling it , don't run home and throw it in the washing machine ,hang it on a hanger on the back porch or something when you go back to woods put it back on you'll still smell the deer ESPECIALLY if the Buck was a mature Rutting Buck , Grunts work better and rattling works better because they smell the Buck scent on you, You can dry those hocks and grind it into a powder and use it as well ,, Thank me after take your biggest Buck ever 😉
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen
Dan Fitzgerald sells Deer Dander. I haven’t tried it but have a couple of friends that swear by it. Would not hunt without it. lol
I like these videos with Travis, hope more are coming
We have another one coming out early next week!
An old bow hunter tpught me this a few years back i always remeber seeing deer and getting closer after standing around a campfire with my hunting buddys drinking some cold ones and after that older guy told me this its makes since
The Goat is Back. More Episodes coming?
Make sure you’re subscribed and be paying attention 👀
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen Absolutely👍
I have a wood stove. When it's deer season here. I go stand by the chimney before I go out to the stand. Burning firewood for over 25 years. Deer smell it every witch way the wind blows!
I had two bucks wind me after I did this. They never spooked but could tell I was near. It does work.
Glad to hear that!
So it doesn't work you mean. They winded you. They didn't spook but they knew you were there. So it doesn't work. They were probably young deer
So it doesn't work because they winded you
🤷🏻♂️your glad to hear it doesnt work, glad you understand this video was a complete waste becuase deer know where smoke comes from…. Humans
@@whitehondarider22smoke doesn't come from humans. There are natural fires all over the world. This method has been used for thousands of years. If you use vinegar washing all your clothes and use unscented deodorant and soap first it works very well.
That’s pretty cool!! Thank you, I was really curious about that.
This solves all my scent issues except for Copenhagen Longcut…
My dad killed a young buck that followed his spit trail of skoal wintergreen all the way to the magnolia he had climbed into 😂 so you never know
I was told deer can smell your breath way before your body odor.
I'll give ya a tip better than the smoke! What ever area I hunt I take hands full of the dirt from the ground and I rub it on my clothes, skin , bow ,firearm etc works like a charm !!! And it's free lol!!
@DarrenBunyan-f7k: Wow i just commented saying the same then scrolled down and seen your message. Definitely works. Idk why people buy fresh earth spray when it’s free on the ground.
Yes i agree i’m southern illinois i w been putting my hunting gear in a bag diet and leaves from where i hunt at on the regular and i have deer in my almost daily
We don't use any cover sent. And the deer 🦌 walk the same path and come straight to the corn. Even the big bucks. And I have on my work boots.
Yep im from south Carolina and still hunt here and ive never used cover scent i get off work then instantly hit the woods and ive never had a issue @@joeaultman3475
@@letsgobrandon7297I don’t know… is the dirt in the middle of the woods organic dirt 🤣😂🤣jk
Old School! Great Video guys!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Like the smoke!!! Also, have you tried homemade deer hide boot gaiters ( need fresh deer hide buck or doe) make two gaiters from hide from knees down use zip ties to secure it. Not long term but good for couple of days of hunting. In conjunction with doe/buck hocks. Thanks for sharing video.
been doin this for years.. central GA👍
That's great to hear! How does it work for you?
I've been doing this for a while. never heard of anyone else doing it
this is amazing, i had thought of it, but figured the smoke would scare off the deer, im definitely going to try this this weekend.
I saw a movie about 30 yrs ago about a man escaping from rogue law enforcement in Alaska who did that so he could run in a large herd of caribou so the trackers couldn't follow his tracks. The large herd of caribou were covering his tracks completely. Was a near concept, and now I'm seeing in in real life.
We’ve been doing this for years. Night before and morning before we head out, we hang out at the fire pit. Greatest cover scent there is.
We get smoked up around a firepit all the time too. Wether hunting, going to the movies or just out to eat… its always more fun when smoked up.
@ 🤣
So i need to smoke a lotta green before hunting! Man I like this channel 😂
😂😂😂😂
Most ppl are hunting “semi-domesticated” deer these days (these deer live and die in an environment filled with automobiles, tractors, farming equipment, campfires, etc.) so all of those scents may be “unnatural” but are every bit natural to them. This smoking method really works wonders.
Here's an old Indian strategy: Find milkweed, use the milkweed seeds (they are housed in pods and I use them) to determine wind direction and approach/set up, upwind (the seeds are way better than spraying mist). Many seasoned hunters set up 2 tree stands so they have options.
Just have to make sure no poison ivy or oak. If you allergic to it can I have and cause internal reaction from inhaling smoke from it
My Dad taught me to stand in campfire smoke to cover scent 40 years ago.
I've been doing this for years!
When I was growing up we had a campfire when we're out deer hunting to stay warm, and the smoke did not bother the deer!
So I thought that was a good cover for your scent it was natural, and I could afford natural at that time because I didn't have any money!
Wow, this is what I do! It definitely works.
Very interesting
3 hr ago in Sabine parish I killed a doe using your suggestion about smoking my clothes and the doe didn’t smell me in my blind that was 20 ft from me , really works
This is how I prepare my gear because the Native Americans did this. Smoke and using walnuts. Walnuts are everywhere around my area. It makes a big difference! I've had deer smell me, but they didn't panic. They knew something but didn't connect it to danger.
I have a bee smoker. Great way to smoker up.
Yes, this will work, like in the south near tobacco farms when in the fall they hang and smoke the tobacco for curing, so I tried it ONE TIME ONLY, I have never been blowed so many times by ALL the deer on the farm , I will never use this method again, I went back to the tried and true baking soda method.
Fantastic info. Thank you!
In Colorado I would put my camouflage gear in garbage bags with fresh picked sage, pine branches, and dirt!!
Travis is badass! My favorite guest yall have had. I love his reasoning that smoking meat kills bacteria, and how this method of smoking up kills bacteria. Bacteria contributes to body odor etc. Smoking up and the killing wind! This man is a national treasure.
Don't miss his next video with us that will come out early next week!
I think you're on to something, you're not just covering scent you're eliminating it
Never thought to do this for cover scent for hunting, however I have been doing this for years to repel mosquitoes, ticks and chiggers, naturally
I've been using a bee smoker for years
We cover ourselves in smoke every am and pm before we head to the stand! It works for sure
We are glad to hear it works for you! Thanks for watching!
Do you hunt in area where you or neighbors have fires during the day or at night? Can’t see this working if not, deer associate smells based on safety, danger and food. If they don’t know a smell they’ll stay away from it. If smoke is going threw the valleys most days or their feeding area at night than i can see it working.
I would love to talk with Travis. I had an elder Hupa native teach me the same thing!
Stay southern? I say get saved and stay humble. Jesus is King!
Great video
Amen, brother.
Old School is cool. But this year I started using an ozone device I got for 6o bucks on sale. I had 5 deer downwind of me this year for a solid hour and not one of them busted me. I actually called one the bigger does with a bleat call and smoked her at 35 yards
Wish I could bottle this. I'm In a suburban setting east coast MD hunting public land and can not do this so I rely on scent sprays(scent away autumn formula)
Try a bee smoker
Indica works great ☺️
I use a beehive smoker and hang my clothes in the outbuilding and get a good smoking and then instantly put them in a plastic bag and seal it until I hit the woods.
But this doesn’t work in my area until people start their wood burners and fireplaces and the deer smell smoke dialy
Boom, i knew that’s why it would work in some areas. They have to get use to the smell to where they associate it with safety.
If any hunter goes into an area where deer don’t get the fire smell coming from a house or houses than they’re going to hear some snorts.
I love to see when y'all have boots on the ground and not just in the studio. And the phrase "smoking up".. the jokes write themselves 😆
Smoke is legit. We always have a fire going at deer camp and never use any other cover scent. I hunt with a long bow and am often with 10 yards of deer. Smoke works.
Lucky Strikes work for me.
I have had people look at me like I was crazy for 10+ years for keeping a bee smoker in my truck and smoking up before every hunt I also have unscented insence sticks that the vodo people use lol I’ll stick them in the bark of the tree I’m hunting and have yet to have a deer wind me
They sale those burning wicks in earth scent cover and deer urine/estrus. I wouldn’t try the smoke unless people around the property had fires all the time to where deer are use to the smell.
@@letsgobrandon7297 yeah I agree but smoke is definitely a natural scent that I don’t think wildlife pay much attention too I’ve always hunted around houses and cities so I’ve not had the chance to see what wide range of wilderness without human activity would do or how wildlife would react
Sorry my graphic designer mind is working...but your logo is awesome! I have a weird obsesseion with logos.
Thanks man!
Best phrase I've ever heard, "Can't enjoy a hunt with 3rd degree burns ". Hahaha
So true 🤣
I saw more deer when I used to smoke cigarettes. They can't tell cigarettes or wood smoke. Now I don't smoke I get busted more .
Marlboro Reds seems to do the trick I continue smoking up even in the stand
Beehive smoker with hardwood chips. Small hand full of chips light with a propane torch while working the bellows for about thirty second. Let the fire burn and get the plate hot for a couple minutes. Then throw another small handful on and close the lids. You get a nice heavy thick smoke. I actually just smoke my bare body like a piece of meat. Hardwood smoke is a antimicrobial
We been smoking our clothes with cedar forever where I live
What state are you in?
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen Oklahoma
I've always done this my boots too. I hang my hunting clothes under my lean-to, smoke and then toss into my clean action packer for the next morning.
When I first started hunting years ago, I ran across an old hunter that always had a little fire going and sat with the smoke in his face. He shot his Buck every year until he either quit or died
I use a bee smoker to do my stuff.
Been using smoke as a cover scent for years. Works!!! I hunt a state park with a campground so I blend rt in with the campfires.
The old timer who taught me, swore that using hickory was the best (wild cherry was his second favorite, followed by sage brush), he thought it smelled like salt to the deer, i guess that was what the poor people used back when salt was expensive, theyd leach salt out of chips of hickory wood. Ive got a bunch of hickories on the windy ridge of my farm, and one will blow down just about every year. Ive yet to see chew marks where the deer have been going at the hickory wood like beavers, hah, but that old timer walked up on a lot of deer, hah. Used this super cheap fiberglass bow, looked like something youd see at boy scout summer camp, but he got a lot of deer.
So whats the difference between this and cigarettes
It’s sad to say- I’ve smoked cigarettes for years while sitting in a tree stand or in a blind. I have had very few deer ( that I HAVE seen) alert and leave. I generally take 4-6 deer a year with my bow. Usually 25 yards or so. I have taken many directly down wind but I’m usually about 15 feet up in a ladder stand. Various times of the day. Naturally, my son hates me smoking and he’s right but at the same time I generally take more game each year. Even pigs have been down wind and get an arrow in them. I’m guessing smoke is smoke to them?
@timbow50 so you're saying I'm going thru nic fits for nothing.
Never heard this thanks! Do you know if this will work on coyotes to?
Love it!!
Smoking up with that green stuff...boy howdy!
Outstanding
I always smoke cigarettes while hunting. Helps with scent and a great wind indicator.
Farm land area diesel is the best cover scent.
I smoke myself out and then cover myself in Camo dust, works like a charm.
This had me rolling!! 😉 😂
Lol, many people are going to mad when they hear that snort.
In the fence or private property yes work
I also smoke up often when hunting
AI backs this up. Smoke can kill odor causing bacteria. Reduce bacterial load on you and your clothes and bam, they may still smell you but think you are further away. Remember the stories of old timers killing deer while smoking cigarettes? I bet it helps reduce breath smells too. Hmm, might be puffing on my cigar before next hunt, after smoking up clothes and skin. Thanks southern brothers (from Southern VT)
I am a chain smoker and the proficient bow hunter in my family
I want to learn how to whistle with an acorn shell
What if I stand outside or leave my hunting gear by the wood stove chimney?
My friend's dad used to shoot an elk almost every year while sitting by a small fire to keep warm, he was also smoking cigarettes while at the fire.
A buddy and me did that last season and never got busted . And I killed my biggest buck .
That's awesome to hear! Thanks for watching!
A friend said his dad would build a fire to sit around for them and his brother on super cold days. The smoke permeates the woods and hides their smell and everything smells the same, like smoke. They are used to smelling it, especially around logging sites where they burn the brush piles. Almost always fresh deer tracks around those and heavy equipment.
Been doing that for 20 years
How has it worked for you?
@@thesouthernoutdoorsmen works great..of coarse you need to learn the dance I do around the fire before it really starts working..I’m not sharing that secret..lol
What kind of shell?
lol i smoke up 3 to 5x a day minimum
Damn i wish i could
i smoke in my treestand and always kill my big buck each year, all of my hunting clothes have burns in them from trying to snuff out my cig when i see the big boy coming. the guys i hunt with always ask me for one of my cigs (jokingly) even though they dont smoke.
we call that a nat smoke. keeps the nats away. we build ours in metal shovels
Thanks for doing this video. More people need to know about this. Below is just a little about the subject that I can share.
My grandfather would smoke cigarettes all the time. I thought it would be bad for hunt. I was wrong. One day when I was home from military leave, we went hunting together. We were about 100 yards from each other. I could see him on his 6' tree stand, smoking away. Down wind from him I could see two bucks walking straight to him with there noses in the air. With his double barrel shotgun & two shots later... he said, come on boy. You got work to do. We only been hunting for about 30 mins. So I get started skinning out two bucks. 😅
I do smoke-in all my equipment & myself at home & once I get to my hunting area. It totally works. I been doing it forever now. I do like mixing in some of the sweet smelling plants. the deer love it!
I don't agree with the gentleman who claims that you can not cover your sent. I have practiced the habit of not eating meat or spices washing my clothes and rubbing myself with plants that are found in the area I hunt. I've had deer so close to me that I could have touched them. I ve had coyote and fox pass within 3ft of me and they gave no indication that they knew I was there..
100%. I do the same, i hunt archery off the ground without a blind (not bragging about it cause i would like to be in a stand) and have deer including mature bucks come down wind and never smell me. It’s awesome experience having a buck or any deer walk right next to you while you’re behind a fat tree. I try to play the wind but if it’s not in my favor i don’t let it ruin my hunt. Plus most areas i hunt in the wind changes directions all the time.
I would never try this smoke thing unless people around the property had fires all the time where deer are use to the smell.
Animals smell smoke all the time. Using smoke to cover your scent before hunting has literally been done for thousands of years! It works. You don't have to worry about whether a specific property has fires around it all the time, animals instinctively know what smoke smells like, because it is something that happens in the wild naturally on a consistent basis. Lightning strikes happen in the wild, and things catch on fire and smoke is produced. So they know what the smell of that is and it doesn't bother them, in fact it can make them very curious and cause them to even come to you more than they would if you just covered your scent with plants that you've rubbed on your skin and your clothes etc.
@cjdowney4444 with out a doubt smoking your gear does work. I personally think the main facts are it diluted your sent leaving the impression 🤔 that you were present some time ago,rather than giving an overpowering sent of a human.
@@MatthewMacNaughtonwhat do you mean you don’t eat meat? Like the day before a hunt or the morning before the hunt? Or like during archery season you’re a vegetarian
@GooseChaseCycles I make it a practice to not eat meat of use any spices ,garlic onions, cumin curry etc for 2 weeks prior to hunting. I belive that these linger in the body and give you a unnatural oder to the body.