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Will smoke scare deer off?

M

Madison county

Member
I have a dumb question. I have a fire burning in my fire pit, it’s approximately 100’ north of my foodplot. Does the wood smoke scare the deer? I’m going to go sit in my tower blind....we shall see.

I assume it won’t because a lot of people burn wood in the fall/winter to heat their home but I’m curious what you think.
 
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IMG_20171202_153150384_HDR-1024x1820.jpg this picture was taken 200 yards from my fire pit still burning smoldering. The wind was non-existent to possibly a little bit from my back I could smell the smoke. The deer got within 3 ft of the ground blind and never spooked. Might be a coincidence I don't know but it seemed to work for me on that day.
 
In general smoke does not scare deer. I have even intentionally set a fire in my burn barrel when the wind is right so I could walk in the smoke as a cover scent to get to my stand. I do think 100 feet is pretty close. I would think a crackling fire might make them nervous that close . Let us know how it goes .
 
I didn’t see anything last evening but that doesn’t mean that the smoke scared them. During first season a few nights ago I saw 4-6 does and one big buck.

I’ll give it a try again tonight.
 
The WMA I hunt in East TN has several fires burning last year on opening weekend of ML season. Everything for miles smelled like smoke. We saw more deer, closer than normal, and they didn't seem to smell us like normal. I think the smoke acted as a giant cover scent for miles and miles.
 
Many people use smoke as a cover scent/odor eliminator on their hunting clothing. I gave it a go a couple years ago with decent success. So I'd say what you're talking about will likely not scare deer away.
 
Ive used smoke as a cover scent before. Fill a metal coffee can with leafs light um up stand down wind in your hunting clothes put lid back on the can and walk into the woods, and shoot a big buck it’s really that easy.
 
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