# dipping



## luv fishing (Mar 5, 2009)

ok guys i thought there was a thead about dipping while in the tree stand last year but i couldnt find it. so my question is, does dipping while in a tree stand ruin the chance on shooting as big buck? i just didnt know if they could smell my breath or if they could smell it when i spit on the ground around my stand? by the way i chew grizzly mint


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## CaptJoe (Jan 20, 2009)

how is that grizzly mint? I'm a cope long cut guy when I do that nasty stuff. Never tried any flavors. Maybe they can come out with prime rib flavor chew, or spicy deer sausage.


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## powerstrokin73 (May 21, 2008)

I use skoal, but not in the stand. The way i look at it is: If I can smell it they can smell it, and it's not like the flavors of chew are native to this area. And we all know they are not stupid and they know it's human related. You breathe out your nose and mouth, which puts the smell of your breath into the air. Same with the spit on the ground. That's my opinion. When I'm in the woods/stand I want the least amount of human scents floating around to give me the best chance at a good buck.


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## monster7 (Nov 17, 2010)

powerstrokin73 said:


> I use skoal, but not in the stand. The way i look at it is: If I can smell it they can smell it, and it's not like the flavors of chew are native to this area. And we all know they are not stupid and they know it's human related. You breathe out your nose and mouth, which puts the smell of your breath into the air. Same with the spit on the ground. That's my opinion. When I'm in the woods/stand I want the least amount of human scents floating around to give me the best chance at a good buck.


I completely agree! Was hunting a double stand with my brother last year and he put a dip in and started spitting on the ground...I almost lost it but figured a brawl in the tree stand would scare away more deer than his snuff. Didn't see a single deer that day...I have heard of people shooting deer with a dip in but I'm sure they had the wind in their favor either that or the deer was looking to bum a pinch.


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## I_Shock_Em (Jul 20, 2008)

I think the smell thing is overrated. I know several guys who have shot their biggest bucks (while bowhunting) while smoking cigarettes. If that doesn't give off a good stink, I don't know what does.


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## fish4wall (Apr 14, 2004)

i've had deer come in out of thin air when i had a dip in...hell i've had spit running down my chin because they caught me off guard (i'm not a lover...i spit...lol) it's like the big debate with peeing in the stand....they have done studies that deer don't care about pee...and i don't think they care about dip also....
i think deer has put 1+1 together with human odor (body) with danger...they haven't put the link with smoking or dipping with humans. now i think if you dip or smoke and they keep busting you all the time (cuz they see you move or somthing) then they'll put that together and then your done... but i'd say try it...if you stop seeing deer then take a spitter with ya. just my 2 cents...


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## Shortdrift (Apr 5, 2004)

I_Shock_Em said:


> I think the smell thing is overrated. I know several guys who have shot their biggest bucks (while bowhunting) while smoking cigarettes. If that doesn't give off a good stink, I don't know what does.


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I have to agree with the above. I shot several bucks while smoking and while ground hunting, not in a tree stand. A good friend of mine smoked like a train and always managed to get large mature bucks during bow and gun season. I feel the ability to limit your motion in a tree stand is much more important than scent control. Being concerned about wind direction and stand/blind position goes far beyond your Dip smell. 
Don't get me wrong. I always tried to minimize scent but was never worried about it to the point that it kept me from deer hunting. The one thung that inproved when i quit smoking was my health.


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## bkr43050 (Apr 5, 2004)

I don't dip but here is the way I see it. I could probably go out and tag deer by getting up in the morning and not showering. I could probably choose to use regular soap and shampoo. Heck I could probably go out in my blue jeans and t-shirt. If the conditions are right and I am well concealed...and if the wind is in my favor. But there is a good chance that any one of these things will get me busted so I choose to minimize that risk. Bottom line is that if guys want to dip while in the stand they will rationalize it anyway. They may very well get a deer and perhaps the deer they were targeting but I think the odds are lowered a bit because of the fact that you are presenting a clue to the deer that you are out there.

I am not stating this to belittle anyone for their choice to dip. I am just saying that discarding the fact that it may affect the deer is a bit naive and self-serving.


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## Roadkil (Mar 11, 2011)

Hi Im a hunter and I chew Grizzly winter green. 

Before I go any further let me start by saying that I am not a trophy hunter. I am a meat hunter and with the current liberal bag limits in my zone I live by the mantra that if its brown its down. I do not pass up deer. It could be a monster of a lifetime, still looking for that one, or a button buck; makes no difference to me. Add to that the fact that I hunt exclusively on public land I learned a long time ago that you never pass up a deer because you never know if you will see another one.

Further let me say that I do believe that the more a hunter can do to control their scent the better off they will be. Before each hunt I shower with no scent soap. I place my hunting clothes in a big plastic tub filled with leaves and sticks. I spray my hunting clothes down with a fresh earth scent prior to going into the woods. Once I reach my intended area I always put on a face net and gloves to cover my exposed skin. I always try and keep the wind in my favor and I try to keep my movements to a minimum while in the woods either on the ground or in a stand. Although controlling scent is a factor I believe it is movement more than scent that gets hunters busted. 

As I stated I hunt public land so I can only speak to what I have observed over the last eleven years while chasing these animals within public areas. Deer in public hunting areas are used to some odd odors in the woods. People walking on/off trails, hikers, horses, and other animals relieving themselves in the woods, horseback riders and the horse droppings, dogs, cats, camp fires, or fires from houses adjoining the area, and for the most part, as far as my experiences go, it has had little, if any, impact on my results as a hunter. 

I have spit on the ground, spit in a plastic bottle, urinated on the ground from my tree stand, or in a bottle and over the years I have come to the conclusion that it has had zero impact on the deer that I have shot. I have never had a deer spook because of either. I have shot deer from underneath my stand where I had been spitting and relieving myself the entire day. I have watched deer walk up to the area where I had been spitting or urinating in and stick their noses in it; often their last act on earth. 

I have shot several deer with my bow while on the ground @ 30 yards or less while either sitting on a log or walking through the woods chewing and spitting on the ground. Two weeks ago I was squirrel hunting, Labor Day weekend, and sitting on a log spitting on the ground. I had been sitting there about 5 minutes when I spotted movement. It was a 4pt. buck and he walked straight to me and passed behind me @ 10 yards. He had no clue I was sitting there until I moved to get a better look at him as he passed behind me. Although alarmed at my initial movement he hung around the area for a few minutes before walking off after grazing for a while. I even raised my gun on him several times just for the sake of practice and he had no clue I was there. 

I was midstream one year while relieving myself from the tree stand. I could not hold it any longer and had to go. I hung up my gun on the hook and was doing what I had to do. As I was relieving myself I spotted a nice 8pt. buck walking into my area. I didnt even think twice about it and once his view was obstructed from mine, still midstream, I reached for and shouldered my gun and shot that buck @ less than 50 yards. Yeah I had some extra laundry to do that night but I walked out of there with a nice deer and story to tell. 

This has been my experiences and observations only while hunting on public land over the last eleven years. Others may have had different experiences under similar circumstances with complete opposite results. All I can tell you is that in the last 3 years alone I have dragged 13 deer off the same public hunting area. The deer have ranged from nice mature bucks, and does, to button bucks and yearlings. I have shot them from a tree or from the ground with my gun from as far as 100 yards to as close as 50 yards or less and I shot them with my bow @ 30 yards or less both from a tree or on the ground while chewing and spitting in the area I was hunting. 

On the flip side I will add that the times that I have been busted, and there have been many, it was because of something dumb I did on my part in as far as moving at the wrong time or getting caught moving when I thought I could get away with it, waiting too long to draw and getting busted or hearing the click of the safety coming off because I forgot to take it off safety earlier when I first saw the deer, or having my tree stand squeak at the wrong time. Those mistakes will cost you almost every time.


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## Roadkil (Mar 11, 2011)

I_Shock_Em said:


> I think the smell thing is overrated. I know several guys who have shot their biggest bucks (while bowhunting) while smoking cigarettes. If that doesn't give off a good stink, I don't know what does.


I will add to that as well. I have two friends that smoke and they both shot their biggest bucks shortly after lighting up.


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## Uglystix (Mar 3, 2006)

Skoal Doe Estrus


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## crappiewacka (Apr 7, 2009)

When we pass by a bakery, we smell bread baking. Deer smell each ingredient in the bread.
If we hunt in, say Northern Saskatchewan, and the deer hardly ever smell human activity, then MAYBE, I would be more concerned.
The deer around here smell our "stinks" constantly, and I think noises and movements are more to concern myself with than smells, in their immediate surroundings.

Like already stated, I personally have pissed in scrapes and have bucks stick their nose in it and piss right back on it.
I chew Red Seal fine cut natural, spit at will, and have deer surrounding me w/no concerns other than occasional look around when the spit hit the ground (or one of them). 
I have had BIG (150 class) bucks, within feet of my stand, they are more concerned with a different smell, NOW (if you catch my drift), than snuff.
There are no guarantees anyway, it's mainly about right place, right time. More time spent, the better the odds.
Many big bucks killed without uses of scent blocks. More big bucks are killed, now a days, because of the shear volume of deer than back in the day (excellent DNR management). I remember hunting in the early 70's when I was excited to see a deer during a days hunt. Now I am disappointed when I don't.


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## Seaturd (Apr 14, 2004)

I got my nicest archery buck within 45 minutes of taking an emergency crap within 12' of my tree with a chew of Redman in my mouth. I was thoroughly po'd at myself with spoiling my stand area but the deer paid no attention to it. Two does came in feeding not 15 minutes after finally getting back in my stand and showed no interest in the scents wafting about. They probably thought one of the neighbors cows had gotten loose.....


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## jamesbalog (Jul 6, 2011)

Ive shot my biggest buck to date with a marlboro in my mouth. Ive always dipped aswell. Ive actually have had young deer under the stand licking where i have been spitting

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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

i,ve never used dip myself, but i,ve been a very blessed hunter while smoking. i hunt in a woods close to some farms, so i think they get these smells on a regular basis. i do believe it might alarm them if you were on the ground and they came in down wind, but as long as they dont see you move i dont think there going to run off. i,ve had so many deer check me out and after a couple of miniuets they would just go about there buisness. i dont move and never look them in the eye. in my early years hunting i made the mistake of locking eyes with them, then when i would blink or move my eyes they was gone.

i,ve even hunted 4 or 5 days in a row without washing or changing clothes. and get my deer the last day. now one thing i do that might be helping. i wash my hunting clothes in soda only. and i try to hunt areas where the deer will come in from upwind or crosswind. but i have got them from downwind. i think movement is your worst enemy. if i move when deer are around i try to catch them not looking and i dont look at them head on while im moving, and i move real slow and freeze if they look in my direction.

i had one come in a few years ago while i was smoking. it walked within 3 yrds of my tree. i waited for his head to get past me then raised my gun and fired. nothing happened the cap didnt fire, so as the deer watched me i slowly put another cap on my rifle and he flicked his tail up and i fired. he dropped right by my tree.

i have a bad heart so i just cant hunt like i use to. so i found me a good spot about 150 yrds from the road. i,ve hunted it about 10 yrs now during our muzzleloader season, and knock on wood but i,ve been lucky enough to get a deer every year so far. but one thing is we can hunt doe or buck in our muzzleloader season. so part of my deer have been does. i would rather have a nice doe to eat any day. when i get a buck i save the loins and have the rest made into summer sausage. hunting is alot like fishing for me. when i get to talking about it i just dont know when to shut up. i could go on all day.

i would say if your dipping and still seeing deer its not hurting you. just enjoy both,LOL.
sherman


one other little thing. i use to have a good friend that was a firm believer in scent control. he wouldnt even brush his teeth in the morning before going out. i dont remember him getting skunked not one time. so it cant hurt to keep your scent down.


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## luv fishing (Mar 5, 2009)

ok thanks guys i didnt think i would make it 4 hours with out dipping


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## wildman (Sep 3, 2008)

I have been hunting 20 years with a dip in. I have spit on small bucks and had many deer walk by my spitting area. I have been tring to not hunt with a dip in for the last 2 to 3 years. Hasn't worked out so well.lol

I think your chances are less on shooting a bug guy. but on the other side. I've shot all my nice ones with one in. 150's and 140's 

They smell you pretty much no matter what you do. the scent lock doesn't work at all... I can Fart and smell it though two layers of scent lock it doesn't work... They can smell if we walked by 4 hours prior. 


As for the pissing and craping....I took a crapand piss. after I was getting ready to leave. I had1 buck across the creak and another behind me. the one behind me came down the trail walked over and smelled it. hung around for 20 minites.. So CRAP ALL YOU WANT DEER LIKE IT!!


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## supercanoe (Jun 12, 2006)

It doesn't bother them a bit.


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## Fish-N-Fool (Apr 12, 2004)

Interesting to read the replies. I don't dip or smoke and never have, but I won't even ride in a smokers truck with my hunting gear on. One guy I've hunted with for years smokes...I can smell him from 15 feet downwind so I know deer can smell him. He fills tags, but he hunts prime property and doesn't kill mature deer while his younger brother has taken 4 BBC bucks of the same property in half as many years hunting it. The smoker has killed 2 very nice mature bucks, but both were during gun season and 100+ yard shots into cut corn fields. Maybe it ain't the cig smell and the guy moves around too much, etc...I'll never know. I've heard of guys taking nice deer with a lit cig in their mouth during bow season...who knows? I do know cig smoke is easy to tell from natural smoke too - must be the paper and tobacco scent.

Specifically regarding dip - The son of a farmer where we used to hunt took up hunting. We helped him out bringing him into the sport...he dipped heavy (copenhagen). We set him up in a prime corner spot that always produced for us (he only hunted weekends). It was a dead oak that fell and you could walk right up into it 15ft high completely hidden with good shots all around the corner. I had never been spotted in this set up - never! I hopped in it one day and I could smell the dip (see it stained all over the area too). A young 7 point came out of the standing corn, jumped the fence and looked right up there at me! Threw his nose to the air and sniffed so loud you could hear it at 60 yards and walked the other direction. 

Again, I KNOW this kid wasn't a good hunter...he took exactly 2 deer in several seasons when he lived on and owned a PRIME deer hunting farm. You could fill your tags out there off the farm equipment. He likely moved around a lot in there and educated the deer, but I couldn't help thinking part of it was all that scent.

Maybe we'd all be better off to toss in a dip as our cover scent and forget about the rest! How about a "doe in heat" scented snuff

I am a over the top on my opinion with scent and deer though and I admit it. Not so much on trying to eliminate it (impossible) or cover it up (I don't use any products, but I use all natural cover scents I gather from the outdoors). Everything I do when I am bow hunting is based off scent..wind direction and strategy. Deer live in another world than humans and their world is scent after they are 2 years old...I'm not trying to kill a deer less than 3.5 years old. 

I believe it is the deer you don't see that is the problem...not the ones you do see. Same reason I am so cautious about entering and exiting my stands....don't want the deer to see me climb in or out so I try to do it in the dark if at all possible. Mature deer constantly scent check the air from 360 degrees....they smell anything a little "off" they change course. Younger deer not so much...they may even follow the scent to see what it is which leads them right to the hunter.


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