TV windchecker

[tonybow]

I know it's TV, but the other day I saw a TV hunter check the wind with a small cigarette lighter. I was taught to use the small puffers with white powder. Anyone here ever use a cig. lighter? My only reservation would be the slight noise they might emit. I don't own one, as I don't smoke, and the lighters for my grill are a little large!!

[Woods Walker]

The problem with using a lighter, other than the reason you stated, is that all the relatively small flame is going to tell you is what the wind conditions are are the end of your hand. A puff bottle or a milkweed pod will carry a good distance away from you, so you can see if the air currents are pooling or swirling back towards you. The other issue is that in realy cold weather butane tends to not work too well. You'd have to keep the lighter buried deep in your clothing to keep it at the right temperature, or right next to your handwarmer, if you have one.

When I stillhunt, I have a piece of shredded dental floss tied to the tip of my bow, AND I carry a puff bottle which I use constantly.

[tonybow]

Gotta be unscented dental floss, of course!! Ribbon style, to catch more wind?

[Woods Walker]

Gotta be unscented dental floss, of course!! Ribbon style, to catch more wind?

Unscented, of course! But I acutally use the old fashioned string type so I can unravel the first couple of inches of the end, and then it floats like milkweed down, catching even the slightest air currents. Try it. It works really well, and is CHEAP!

[DanburyBowhunter]

Cattail seeds work well too. I take a pod(?) just before they start to fall apart and put some in an old film canister. The float very well and are biodegradable/edilbe so won't really leave anything behind.

[kellory]

save those 35mm film canister, the also work well as scent bombs. fill them with tight packed cotton balls, saturate them with what ever scent you are useing, spray paint it hunter orange so you can find it again, and mark it's side so you know what is in it. when you are in position, swap the cap for caps with holes in them and toss them where you want them to be( with gloves of course) Cover scent or attractant, they work well, and pick them up when you are done hunting( No scent of you where they end up) Anybody else use these?

[Woods Walker]

I used those 35mm canisters and a lot of other scent stuff 25+ years ago. NEVER, EVER had them work. At best, the deer would ignore it, and at worst they spooked off 2 nice bucks in one morning. That was it for me. I stopped at the first roadside garbage can on the way home, and threw ALL that stuff in the trash. Lures, scents, cannisters, cotton, drags, whatever. Don't miss 'em, and I save A LOT of $$$!

I know a lot of hunters swear by attractants, and I don't doubt them. But like I said, they've NEVER worked for me in a positive way. I figure 2 decades + of trying most all of them is a pretty good trial period!

[kellory]

Really? Which 2 decades? I did alright with doe pee in one and accorn in the other, brought in a 6 pointer. toss them in your kill zone. I don't see B&C's unless they're on someone else's land, but I'm hunting meat, not rack. My largest is an 8 pointer with a heavy frame body. I got it before I got my scale, so wieght is just guessing.

[Woods Walker]

80's and 90's. Skunk Skreen, Fox urine, Code Blue, Code Purple, Tinks, Stinks, Binks, Still Steamin', Still Dreamin', Still Fermenting, Matriks, Uncle Pete's, Uncle Buck's, Uncle Ernie's...you name it, I probably used it. Same result....ZERO.

The only positive results I've ever had is when I pee in a scrape. Most of the time that will get some attention.

I'm at the point now where I believe that the best scent is NO scent. I want those deer to be completety at ease and as unalerted as possible.

[kellory]

I want nothing on me, but something to get them looking some where besides me. I use a photo realistic popup decoy with a scent leaf as a tail for starters.