Thoughts on Smoker vs. Nose Jammer
Whitetail Deer
This is not about playing the wind; I totally get that concept. Where I hunt we seldom get a steady wind. I check the wind before choosing stands but it's a crap shoot at best. The 2 methods for attempting to cover scent that intrigue me the most are the bee smoker and Nose Jammer. Let's hear your thoughts and experiences. Thanks!
I had a situation last year where the only entry in to a new stand location was to walk down the deer trail. I'm not normally a fan of taking this route but the rest of the area was so thick it's all I could do without clearing the woods by being too loud coming in. I tried nose jammer and had a 146" buck follow my every foots step like he was intrigued by the vanilla smell. Not completely sold on the stuff but it seemed to work well in that instance
Let me start out by saying I am a scent fanatic. I will not hunt any of my stands with a bad wind. I am so anal with my scent routine than some of my buddies refuse to hunt with me. That said, I still have to worry about deer down wind. Part of it is because the best wind for me would not be the best for the bucks I am hunting. So I compromise to a almost wind. Almost bad for me, and almost perfect for the deer. Going in clean, being super picky about entry and exit routes helps a lot. But smoking all my clothes and gear with the bee smoker really helps also. Almost everyone in the area my land is in burns wood, so it's always in the air in the fall. Plus the hardwood smoke naturally kills odor causing bacteria. It's a lot nicer to "smoke up" in the cold than spray cold scent killer on your skin. It's a lot cheaper. Plus I like the smell;)
Bottom line is I would try your best to get the wind in your favor or close as you can. But don't be afraid to try the smoker. It's not going to cover BO and everyday smells, so be as clean as possible before you smoke up.
I only hunt on the ground for muleys and whitetails and I've had GREAT luck with Nose Jammer. I can't explain why, but for some reason it confuses them. I try to stay as clean as possible but where I hunt I can only get a real shower every few days. I've called and rattled-in many bucks and does that crossed my scent stream and paid no attention.
The thing is, you don't spray it on yourself. You spray it on either side of you, on a tree or log or whatever. It also works for elk - I killed a 350+ bull that crossed my scent stream at 25 yards.
Like I said, I don't know why it works, only that it sure seems to, and other super-experienced bowhunters I know who use it agree. BTW, I'm not affiliated with Nose Jammer in any way.
Never tried Nose Jammer. I used another vanilla scent before with mixed results and surely not a life confirming experience. Now, last year smoking up my clothes with hickory chips was a great experience. I have a spandex type face mask that I could never get the old hat smell out of by washing in any detergent, more of a rubber smell but smoking it up with all my other garments did cure the smell. I just yesterday got all my smoking equipment set up to run this fall. I use a WalMart portable shower enclosure to hang and store the clothes in while the bee hive smoker works it's magic. The smoke smell isn't like that of garbage but more like a food smell, not offensive to me. It gets stronger if you sweat a little or get rained on.
I had much the same experience as Lou did. I tried Nose Jammer the first year it came out. Had a buck walk a circle around me at 10/12 yards. Once he stopped and stuck his nose in the air as if trying to sort something out, then came around in front of me where I shot him. At one point, I could have almost spit on him. This was from a 12' tripod in a creek bottom where the wind is never dependable. And this was not my only experience. I've had several doe groups get downwind of me and do the whole head-up-nose-in-the-air thing. Only once out of several times did they run away. The other times they just sort of milled around and eventually settled down and kept eating in whatever food plots they were in. It's like they suspect that somethings up, but can't find it. I was a skeptic, and I still don't purposely hunt the wrong wind, but I do think that Nose Jammer at least partially works. And I have a can in my pack at all times.
I tried smoking my clothes and myself last season a few times, but I did it with with twigs and dried leaves. Built a little fire and then covered it with leaves and stood in the smoke. Can't really say if I t worked or not, saw very few deer last year.
Two years ago I was at bass pro and saw NJ and bought a small can. I hunt public so can't always play the wind on the day(s) I hunt so I figured it was worth five bucks. I purposely set up my little ground stand upwind of where the deer come out, and had a mature doe come out and she had no idea I was there. I spray the bottoms of my boots when I walk in and then spray around my stand, seems to work.
I use cover scents, and the wind, depends on the spot, smoke has its place too, any wood based material will be good for smoke, never used nose jam, did cover my scent with what ever was nearest, apple juice, buckbomb,grape and at times and places some deer have seen all tricks before, that's when scent control is the most important. Had some guys hunt near me once and you could smell they just came from Mc Donalds, not to smart to wear hunt clothes in a diner'.
Deer Dander works well. Watched a doe all attentive knowing I was around. Sprayed some deer dander and see her sniffing then relax. A friend of mine uses it regularly and has had similar experiences. I only us it as a last resort.
I hang my clothes in a converted cabinet where I installed an Ozone machine. That works well, but like RutNut@Work, when I have an almost wind, I will use Nose Jammer going in. It seems to always work and if it works I go with it until it doesn't.
Tony
I've used smoke on Elk and deer, works great on coyotes too. I've never tried a nose jammer, but I'm a little biased with smoke.
Jaquomo x2......same experience. Whitetail stand hunting. I still only hunt the stands where the wind is right, including entry and exit.
I spray some on the tree at head level on the backside of the tree I am in.
I also religiously stop at a mudhole and thoroughly get big helping all over my boots.
Good luck,
Mark
I've read Lou's Nose Jammer tales for several years, and danged sure believe him.
It's done nothing for me, though. Downwind is a gone deer, no matter.
I'll try it again, though.
You can hunt the wind but something is always downwind of you somewhere and many times possibly may end up being a critter you'd like to take. Ever watched a deer moving into your scent stream 2 or 300 yards away in an open field and you felt helpless and the eventual happens exactly where you think it will smell you. Like they run into a brick wall, stop and look your way and then turn tail and run or trot back the way it came? These deer will probably never end up circling upwind of you for a shot because they know exactly where the danger smell is. A spooked deer will return to it's perceived safe zone (where it came from).
If you can cover your scent with a powerful but non threatening scent, you might end up seeing those deer upwind of you or at least somewhere within bow range later in the hunt that day. (stand hunting).
I've seen just that scenario last year while using smoke for a cover scent,, for the first time in 42 years. Understand, I have allergies and what the doctor says is acute non allergic rhinitis, or a fancy way to say your nose is over sensitive to things in the air. Sneezing can drive me nuts sometimes and smoke is one thing that gets me sneezing a lot... I also hate the smell and it takes a lot for me to do this to myself in preparing my clothing this way but I've seen enough to stick with it because it's worked well for me last fall.
OK guys...I took the bait. For a "free" site, visiting this place sure costs me money....LOL!
Will be elk hunting solo in a few weeks and will have a can of Nose Jammer on my hip. If a bull comes in from a less than desirable direction, I'll give it the test and see what happens.
pav, true story. My hunting partner is super-skeptical of everything (he didn't believe the deer hat would work until the first afternoon when I deked three P&Y-class bucks into bow range...) and has a super-sensitive sniffer. I let him hunt my elk ground blind behind a bush two years ago, which I'd liberally dosed with Nose Jammer the day before. He got all worked up because he could smell the Jammer before he even got to the blind. It would for sure scare the elk away.
Later that evening, with shifting winds, he had a 368" bull at 10 yards, and killed it at 22 yards when it finally gave him a shot after ten minutes of hanging around the edge of the waterhole.
I always thought that Nose Jammer stuff was a gimmick. I always believe that you need to hunt the winds, which I try to do at all times,, BUT, I hunt in SE Ohio and the winds will shift all the time. They come from every direction in the course of a hunt, so playing the winds is nearly impossibe. Add that to the fact that when in camp, we can only shower every couple days, you start smelling rank, and the deer will bust you from a ways away.
Anyhow, long story short, I bought some Nose Jammer and have had deer coming in from every direction and don't get busted. They seem to know that something smells different, but they don't come in alerted of wired out. I also used the Deer Herd in a Stick and have had very positive results with each of these products...
By the way, I am NOT affiliated with, a paid endorser or an equipment pimp in any way shape of form. I just know that when I hit the woods, I have a small can in my pocket and a big can in my pack.
Good luck out there guys, Jay
So... The nose jammer seems interesting.
But which nose jammer? Do you do the full program (clothes, hair wash, body wash, deorderant, etc)?
If you just use the spray, do you coat your entire outer layer? I'm quite hesitant to deliberately add a scent to my clothes.
As I mentioned before, I only spray it on logs or the tree on either side of me. I know others who spray their boots for a cover scent while walking in. One famous bowhunter who told me that his outfitter sprayed his back and pack with it on an elk hunt, and all day long he was hungry for raisin cinnamon rolls. :-)
Its just a little better than being doused in Cow in heat all day!
Mark
Thanks guys. I'm going to use both methods this year and try and decide which one is most effective. I hope it's the smoker as it's cheaper. :)
Good for you Jasper let us know what your observations are later in the season. The smoke does last longer between applications. Just last night on the way home from work I smelled smoke (I live in the country) and knew someone had been burning a brush pile somewhere. I started thinking like a deer, "there's that smell, I don't know what causes it, where it comes from or how far it is away from me but I know it won't hurt me".
