Smoking in the stand?

[highestview]

I've been getting hits on my bait stand and am planning on hunting it all next weekend. I'm in a very mosquito infested area and have always found cigars to be a pleasant, all natural form of bug repellant. Anyone have any experience on whether cigar/pipe smoke affects bears behavior in any way?

[Daveinthebush]

Try a Thermocell instead. They work great, cost less and won't kill you.

[Mountain Man Jack]

Dont know about cigars, but I hear bears love weed. haha

[akdube]

I was smokin a swisher last Friday and saturday night when I had two bears come in. IMO its just a smell that they are curious about same as everything else. Mountain Man...I "hear" the same thing..

[FurFishGame]

I smoke salmon....do you think that would affect the bears??

[stick+string]

Ha! You're gonna ask a bunch of guys who purposely leave their B.O., spit Copenhagen, and piss at their bait sites if some smoke would matter. I'm gonna guess most on here won't think it'll matter at all.
Me, I'm going to "waste" a bunch time and money on scent killing body wash, deodorant, laundry detergent, spray, disposable rubber gloves, and I'll save the cigar for after I've got the big bear down.

[AlaskanOutdoorsman]

There is no smoking allowed in or around my stands (or in camp for that matter) and I don't eat, spit, or do anything else on stand minus drinking bottled water. Bears noses are thousands of times stronger than our own and I'm not going to complicate things any more than need be. Everyone has their own thoughts and opinions on this but I believe Daveinthebush has it right.. buy a Thermocell - they work and there is NO smell. IMO they are worth their weight in gold.

[Zinker]

I smoked at mine well the 3 of us all did. We started when we found the area and ended up smoking everytime we were there. I harvested a bear on the 16th and actually smoked about 2 hours before he came in. I think he associated the smell with me and more food!

[highestview]

I was just weighing my options. My train of thought was that the smell of bug dope (which I hate the feeling/smell of) might be way more harsh and off-putting than a sweet cigar or some pipe tobacco. I got eaten alive when I restocked last night so I'll have to either wear bug dope or burn something. Maybe just a flimsy excuse to smoke a cigar in the greatest outdoors, but hey.

Never looked into a thermocell but I've only heard good things about them. How much do they cost and where?

[caseymarre]

There is no smoking allowed in or around my stands (or in camp for that matter) and I don't eat, spit, or do anything else on stand minus drinking bottled water. Bears noses are thousands of times stronger than our own and I'm not going to complicate things any more than need be. Everyone has their own thoughts and opinions on this but I believe Daveinthebush has it right.. buy a Thermocell - they work and there is NO smell. IMO they are worth their weight in gold.

I spit chew all over around my stand and piss off of it as well. Why deal with bears that are afraid everytime your smell is their when you can leave your smell in the area at all times. In my experience after some time they will get used to your smell and asssosiate the smell of humans (aka you) with food. I want them to know when they smell me, their is food. They tend to be very comftorably aproaching the bait while i'm their.

[AlaskanOutdoorsman]

[...]Maybe just a flimsy excuse to smoke a cigar in the greatest outdoors, but hey. [...] Never looked into a thermocell but I've only heard good things about them. How much do they cost and where?

LOL - your not alone; I'm always up for a good cigar (I'm still looking for my favorite brand of Acids). For the Thermocell, look at any outdoor retailer like Sportsman's Warehouse, etc. (even Wally World has them); you can buy them anywhere from $20-$25 each.

[baitem907]

Cherry Tobacco! My husband smokes a pipe and bears don't seem to mind.

[stick+string]

The answer to this and the all the "scent" questions is going to depend on what your underlying belief about how your scent affects bear behavior is.
My belief is that human odor alarms bears and they avoid it. A lot of other guys on here operate under a belief that their own scent equals food so the bears have a positive association with their scent.
The trouble is, if you are trying to kill a 6.5 to 7 foot bear, that is a 10+ year old bear who has made his living around the Parks, Glenn, Seward or Sterling Highways, that bear did not get to be that size and age by being careless, uncatious, letting his stomach overpower his good judgement, etc. Just because you have younger, less experienced bears crawling all over each other to get to your bait does not mean that your smell does not alarm bears.
Those younger less experienced bears are less adept at getting other food sources - catching and killing a moose calf or other animal or running a wolf or a smaller bear off of a kill. Those inexperienced bears "need" your bait much more than a trophy bear does. Those smaller bears are under pressure to get to the bait barrel and get some food while they can before a larger bear shows up to kick their butt. The fact that you had 15 different bears at your station last year does not mean that your scent does not alarm them.
That said, there is no way I'll believe that the sweat-spit-piss method of getting bears used to your scent is superior to doing everything I can to cover up as much of my scent as I possibly can.
If you are happy with a 4.5 foot bear because he makes for better table fair what I've said is irrevelant. But if you want to kill a trophy, the "smelly" method will bring in every bear except the trophy.

[MacGyver]

A rep point to stick+string and Alaskanoutboorsman if I could.

[pike_palace]

The answer to this and the all the "scent" questions is going to depend on what your underlying belief about how your scent affects bear behavior is.
My belief is that human odor alarms bears and they avoid it. A lot of other guys on here operate under a belief that their own scent equals food so the bears have a positive association with their scent.
The trouble is, if you are trying to kill a 6.5 to 7 foot bear, that is a 10+ year old bear who has made his living around the Parks, Glenn, Seward or Sterling Highways, that bear did not get to be that size and age by being careless, uncatious, letting his stomach overpower his good judgement, etc. Just because you have younger, less experienced bears crawling all over each other to get to your bait does not mean that your smell does not alarm bears.
Those younger less experienced bears are less adept at getting other food sources - catching and killing a moose calf or other animal or running a wolf or a smaller bear off of a kill. Those inexperienced bears "need" your bait much more than a trophy bear does. Those smaller bears are under pressure to get to the bait barrel and get some food while they can before a larger bear shows up to kick their butt. The fact that you had 15 different bears at your station last year does not mean that your scent does not alarm them.
That said, there is no way I'll believe that the sweat-spit-piss method of getting bears used to your scent is superior to doing everything I can to cover up as much of my scent as I possibly can.
If you are happy with a 4.5 foot bear because he makes for better table fair what I've said is irrevelant. But if you want to kill a trophy, the "smelly" method will bring in every bear except the trophy.

So your saying if you leave lots of your scent around the stand and bait area, you will only bring in less desirable bears and no big guys.

I cannot agree with that at all. There are plenty of pics of big bears on bait sites that people have "smelled out" to the max. They will get used to the scent, although their demeanor will not change. They'll still be cautious, but to say they won't go to the bait is just nonsense. Years of baiting has already proven that to be untrue.