bullsi

Yes I smoke In my stand and killed many does and a nice 9pt while smoking,had to put it out before shooting him.I carry a tin for my butts.I use a pee bottle will not pee from tree.I use earth scent cover spay.Deer are used to smelling smoke for camp fires to smoke stacks,my dad used to hang his camos by the fire for cover scent and killed amany a deer.ITs the stange oders I stay away from and I hunt high up too.

BwHunter7

I would agree that smoking is a lousy, dirty habit. I' ve quit for years and gone back to it, as I am now. As far as smoking on stand, I do. I am only aware of one young buck hightailing it when I was smoking and I believe he saw me move.
(I also relieve myself from my tree stand and have watched as a young buck walked up to the base of my tree, stuck his nose into the puddle and just slowly walked away. Not at all concerned.) I have taken four P&Y bucks while smoking on stand. I don' t think the smell of the smoke is alarming as it is a natural thing, as is urine. Incidentally, there have been studies done on the urine thing and the results indicate that it is just urine, no different than a deer or fox, etc. Just my two cents and 35 years of bowhunting. Below are my best.

jerseyhunter

Smoked for almost 30 years gave it up 7 years ago and by far see and kill more deer now. I think its more the movement of smoking that alerts the deer. Just my opinion.

gleninAZ

After the millions of acres of wildfires the west has had and a long term drought plus the radical enviros that don' t care if the world burns down as long as not one log gets cut and sold I guess we don' t have the same views as those with water and nice green woods. I dip skoal and have done good hunting but still think the animals can smell it. Just wonder if they might like it better than butt breath from a non tobacco user. If you don' t use it don' t start and if you have to smoke don' t do it in dry country. Good hunting.

Bulzeye

I don' t smoke either, but it just doesn' t sound like a brainy thing to do when hunting deer.

It' s a very pungent odor, one that deer either know doesn' t belong in the woods or that they would associate with fire if they have encountered fire before.

If they can pick up my human scent when I' ve gone out of my way to be scent free, I can' t imagine wanting to risk lighting up and tipping them off even more easily than usual. That' s not to say I' m easily detected-I' ve only been busted twice(that I know of anyway), and only one of those was by smell, and she got within 10 yards. If she wouldn' t have been directly behind me with too many bushes in the way, my freezer wouldn' t be so empty right now.

BobCo19-65

Personally, I believe in the scent free belief, but I also think that it can be gone overboard. I used to be a fanatic with it to the point where it was unconfortable to hunt. I have stepped back a little recently and want the whole thing to be an enjoyable experience. For example, I no longer wear my rubber boots throughout the season because it personally made me uncomfortable. Am I risking not seeing that big buck, maybe, but the risk is worth it for me cause now I can stay in the stand longer without thinking about how much my feet are sweating or how unconfortable they are.

Smoking is an addictive habit, one that can not be understood unless you are a smoker. I am not a smoker and never was and I am only starting to understand how addictive it is after seeing my wife trying to quit time after time. I feel for her, I really do.

So what I am saying is that each person needs to weigh the benefits versus the possible consequenses for you personally, and if you have to light up on the stand, then do it and don' t feel guilty about it.

I used to know some old timers that used to purposely blow pipe smoke on their hunting stuff before and during a hunt to disguise the human scent. Did it work? Who knows, but they did get some nice bucks.

Dalejbrass

Who knows for sure, right? I do know this, some of the greatest hunters of all time (native americans) used to stand in their camp fire smoke as a way to mask the human odor, long before scent killers and such arrived.
Deer typically will not spook just because they smell smoke or other foreign odors, unless they associate that smell to humans, as they smell smoke from burning fields and such all the time. What they do not like is humans. So if they smell you, your busted.
Just read an article last night that five different deer biologist from all over the country agreed that deer cannot distinguise human urine from fox, coyote, or coon urine. Therefore, you can pee in your stand, on your stand or anywhere near your stand and not spook deer.
Hummmm.....not sure I am ready to believe that or not. If I decide to experiment, it will definetely be towards the end of the season and after I' ve filled all my tags! Certainly would be easier to just let er' fly from the platform wouldn' t it?
Keep on keeping on........