Deer Hunting Forums banner

Opinions on dipping (chewing tobacco) while hunting?

109K views 58 replies 35 participants last post by  nhathongminh 
#1 ·
I love a good chew while I hunt, as I'm sure that many of us do.

Can deer smell it on your breath? Can they smell it on the ground from downwind and does it spook them?

I have heard many arguments about this between my hunting buddies (one of which is a registered Maine Guide.)

He argues that he would shoot me out of my stand when I hunt with him if he saw me dipping (chewing.)

His son thinks that he's full of it. He shot a few deer with a mouthful of chew in.

Our good friend sat on his property last year with a cigarette in his mouth, on his cell phone, with a beer between his legs and low and behold had to end the call early to shoot a 210lb. 9-pointer that walked up on him.

So, what are your opinions on chew?
 
#28 ·
IMHO I dont think it really matters or bothers the deer.I smoke and dip copenhagen,and do both while hunting.Have killed many deer with a marlboro in my mouth when I pull the trigger.Every deer I killed I have been either smoking or dipping and average 5 per year.Just need to play the wind right.I dont use any of that fancy washing powder or soap
 
#32 ·
I have been chewing Cope on and off for 10 years have quit once or twice last one lasting me 2 years until my next Military Deployment. It is very hard to quit all good luck with quitting. I have hunted with it and without it. Deer match scent to a specific incident or experience. If they have learned to associate the smell of chew before to danger they will take off. They also may be curious if it is there first time smelling it they may investigate but do so cautiously. Deer are just like us they have to learn and associate the smells to danger predator or Safety.
 
#34 ·
Wrong Tator. Regs don't say a thing about who owns the land. The focus is on the use of a vehicle, not where you are. That includes a boat or an ATV.

As for the dippin...been spittin on em and at em for years. never spooked one yet but I have had em lick it.
 
#37 ·
None of us mind BUD LIGHT commercials, but know we cannot partake as we hunt. Grown up decisions are for grown-ups, go figure!!

I had 4 deer walk thru my spit "field" while they were feeding this year and not pay one ounce of attention. Oh, and it was directly underneath my stand.

Spit, DON'T spit, no spit off my back. But kids.... think about things before you choose to do something that can be harmful to your health. Although it's not nearly as harmful as riding in a car for you :whistling:
 
#38 ·
I have killed 3 deer in my modest hunting career. I wash, spray, etc. and dip in the stand. I have killed all 3 with a dip in and have seen alot of deer while dipping. It seems to me, just an observation not a fact, that alot of the deer I see walking through the woods walk with the wind. In saying that, the dip on the ground MAY make them more cautious, because it is a foreign odor. If they don't see you, hear you, or someone else, they don't seem to mind. I have had does walk through a spit spot on the ground, smell it, get antsy, and then calm down and keep on doing what they were doing. Just my opinion.
 
G
#46 ·
Why not try this one

Hi,

if you are concerned about drippings, why not try snuff (also known as dry snuff) instead? If you go for an unscented variant, the flavor should be so subtle that the deer should be less likely to smell it, because it basically stays up your nose.
I think if you are a smoker or otherwise used to tobacco, the effects of using no tobacco will be probably more negative, because you will be experiencing some kind of withdrawal syndrome.
What you could also try is to use "Snus" a kind of chewing tobacco from Northern Europe, which is a variant of chewing or dipping tobacco, which leads to less saliva production.

I hope this helps.

P.S.: Somebody is drinking beer while hunting? Now, that sounds more weird to me than dipping... ;)
 
#47 ·
I chew on the stand and feel it has no effect on my hunting. Our breath is a major source of odor. I laugh at ppl who buy a full set of sent lock clothing then do nothing about the smells from their mouth. If you are up wind of the deer; they will smell you. If you are down wind; you will smell them first.

Here are my keys. I do not spit so when I am done with my pinch of snuff I simply place it in my piss bottle and screw the cap back on. I set all my stands facing north and at least 100 yards from the food plot. All my stands are much higher than the field I am looking over. I never access a stand by walking across or near a field.
 
G
#48 ·
dipping

honestly, i dip every time i hunt, I'm no pro but I've shot some decent size whitetail bucks where i hunt (south carolina) and i don't think I've ever been winded because of it, then again it all depends. when i hunt in a box stand i usually just spit on the floor but when I'm in a tripod or a leaner i typically spit on the ground but sometimes i bring a spit can just incase. it also has to do with the flavor of dip you use, i dip skoal mint or grizzly wintergreen. if you use something like skoal peach or apple they may pick that up but it also has to do with the wind direction, if the wind is in your face you will usually be fine. hope this helps
 
#51 ·
honestly, i dip every time i hunt, I'm no pro but I've shot some decent size whitetail bucks where i hunt (south carolina) and i don't think I've ever been winded because of it, then again it all depends. when i hunt in a box stand i usually just spit on the floor but when I'm in a tripod or a leaner i typically spit on the ground but sometimes i bring a spit can just incase. it also has to do with the flavor of dip you use, i dip skoal mint or grizzly wintergreen. if you use something like skoal peach or apple they may pick that up but it also has to do with the wind direction, if the wind is in your face you will usually be fine. hope this helps
I also chew a good bit while on stand and one of my favorites is an apple scented/flavored chew. Two incidents stand out to me; in 2010 we were in a drop camp in the Alaskan bush and awoke to find a bear ambling thru camp (camp consisted of one 9X9 tent). After it ran off, later that day my buddy could not find his bag of chew. It was found a few hours later with the distinctive claw marks of a bear on it and having been 3/4 eaten by said bear. That bear ignored all other food in the camp and only took the chew.

In 2011 I was on a bear hunt in Idaho in a wilderness area. I was sitting in a homemade blind overlooking a bear bait some 75 yards away. I turned my head to see a mule deer buck (in velvet) walk by me at less than 15 yards en route to the bait where he spent 20 mins licking the cooking grease off the bait left there. On his way back up the mountain he came even closer, and at about 5 yards, turned and walked right up in front of me, within less than a yard just on the other side of the branches making up my makeshift blind.

I wondered why he would be so interested in eating the grass right in front of my blind, but then noticed he wasn't eating, but licking the grass and then the branches, making up my blind right in front of me. It then dawned on me that he was licking my.....spit....my apple flavored spit. At one point I slowly slid my hand into the branches and he actually licked my hand (well, glove on my hand). He didn't seem a bit worried about that spit....lol.

Yup, true story. :biggrin:
 
G
#49 ·
Dipping/chewing on the hunt

In my years of hunting I enjoy putting in a pinch of tobacco. Every time I dip in the stand I think of the effects it may or may not have on the deer. Spitting in a bottle for instance or on the ground. One evening I can remember sitting in my stand and I had no bottle to spit in, so I spat on the ground. I was set up about 15 yards from a solid trail and before I knew it here came a doe out of the nearby thicket. As the doe walked the trail closer to me it kind of wearied of the trail and began walking toward my tree. I was amazed to see the doe smelling my spit and just wondering what it could be. It then got back on the trail and continued walking.
 
#50 ·
that Doe was basically saying "HEY Hunter", "your spit is so stinky, I can smell it all the way over there on my trail" !!!
it's natural for animals to check out the scented contaminants in their woods, don't think for one minute chewing stinky tobacco should be an acceptable practice during your hunts.

A Deer's nose is FAR too advanced to challenge. Good Luck
 
#53 ·
I have seen deer and killed deer while on stand bow hunting, while dipping. I have had deer walk directly under my stand, stop, look around, and keep walking (not spooked). A deer's nose will far surpass anything you can do to prevent your odor. Dip is a foreign odor but it does not seem to spook them. They will walk down wind, up wind, crosswind, and with no wind. They also use thermals which bring scent up and down to them. If you are in a spot they use it makes NO difference. Some deer may avoid an area you are in, but if you are between point A and point B, you will get them.
 
#55 ·
Heres my thoughts on this. The first dew time i went hunting i did the whole spray down and dont smoke/chew routine. But call it laziness or just in a rush to get to the stand after work i quit doing all that. I am addicted to smoking. Ive been doing it for almost 20 years so quiting is rough. So yes, ill smoke while in the stand. Does it hurt me? Maybe, but ive taken some nice bucks through the years. And i dont really buy into the whole scent blockers and sprays. Do they work? Probably. The science is there, but remember all that stuff is relatively new to hunting. Our grandfathers and theirs didnt have all this technology and they still managed to get great bucks. Like i said, just.my opinion.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top