I am a gum chewer and am interested to know what gum others use when hunting that the smell does not spook game and holds its flavor. Cinnamon gum holds its flavor but does it spook game?
I'm not a gum chewer in the stand, but I'll go out on a limb and guess that it doesn't matter. If they can smell the gum, they can smell you and it won't matter what's in your mouth. Even if they did somehow smell the gum without even a faint whiff of human odor attached I doubt they would equate the strange new odor to danger.
Ditto what Joe said but if you really want something different look for Gum-O-Flage. Yep, there really is camo gum, at least it's supposed to mask your breath. Don't use it myself but had the owner of the company come into our Elk camp a few years ago and drop off a case of it. I gave most of it away to a friend who is a scent freak.
I eat cereal bars and cliff bars and have the occasional cup of coffee if I don't forget my thermos.
if the wind is right what are they going to smell?
I have a friend that has killed a ton off deer, and every time he had a Smith's Brothers Licorice cough drop in his mouth. He says deer like it....who am I to argue.......lol! Maybe the old Blackjack gum? :dunno:
I get the wind part and yes is makes sense! However, there are times when you can have human odor under control (as best as possible) and the gum is the predominate odor carried in the wind. When I tree stand hunt I use a hospital grade odor eliminator I buy in bulk (concentrate) that is safe to spray on skin and clothes that works really good.
Blowing big bubbles might give you away though !
CHuckC :biglaugh:
I would guess that the act of chewing would be more prone to spook a nearby deer than the scent would
Play the wind and you will be fine!
If a deer smells your gum he smells you!
Heck I can't even walk and chew gum! Hunting and chewing gum is out of the question!
This is along the same lines as smoking or dipping while hunting. I dip copenhagen and it's never been a problem for me. Oh I have problems! But not related to that. For all those who smoke and hunt I can't imagine how possible it is to eliminate the smell of cigarette smoke completely, but to the degree that a deer could smell it I would imagine impossible. Also depends on where you hunt, I wonder if residential area hunters experience less issue with scent as those deer are more used to human scent and noise? No idea. As for the gum, any would be as bad or as tolerable as another. If I had a gun to my head I would say mint is the safest since mint is an actual common plant that has a strong odor. If you're chewing pine gum I don't imagine you'd like it much, haha. Play the wind as always and you'll be fine in my opinion.
I'm a Copenhagen dipper as well, never noticed any negative affects. If they smell that they've smelled every other scent you have as well.
Jake
If I have to start worrying about gum now I might as well hang it up.
if you are upwind it doesn't matter what you are using for scent cover...imho ....marketing is what sells scent covering products...not actual field results......if you are successful using scent cover likely you would have been successful otherwise....
attractant smells are a different thing...sometimes critters will ignore other smells if the attractant
is what they are lookin for ....again imho
good luck and chew away
I would rather chew on some deer jerky while deer hunting.
Breath might be the largest conduit of scent, especially if you are taking steps to mask you B.O. This has long been believed to be true- Ishi would not eat for a day in preparation for a hunt to help reduce bad breath.
In the past I have eaten apples while hunting. They are "nature's toothbrush"...keep your breath fresh and tast good too lol. I happened to be chewing Trident Spearmint gum the last time I shot a whitetail. He approached from downwind without detecting me. I also used a top-secret odor masking formula that I will not divulge...well since you asked so nicely haha...I bathe without soap, store my hunting clothes in a trash bag stuffed full of pine needles, and wear alpaqua socks.
All joking aside, it surely cannot hurt to chew gum while hunting, and may in fact help you. Helps me pass time sitting still anyway.
I have always used breath mints when hunting.Deer are curious animals,so I believe a little minty odor will not bother them,compared to predator breath.
Leland
Had a buddy that was sucking on a piece of orange hard candy. There was a little button buck under the stand, so he wallowed it around in his mouth and worked up a bunch of juice(you see where this is going). Leaned out over the stand and spit a blob of the juice on it's hind end. The little buck jumped about 3' high and bolted out about 20 yards. He stopped looked around, sniffed the new fruity liquid on his hind end and proceeded to lap it up! So Ive never hesitated to chew gum or eat hard candy while hunting.
Ive had a piece of gum in my mouth for every deer I ever killed... Smell me or not, I am not stopping.... I dont think deer can smell it. I even spit it out every once in a while and deer walk under me without spooking. Like I said, Im nt stopping even if the new research says deer can smell gum a mile away..
I rarely chew gum, but during while in the treestand, I chew all the time.
Keeps me from getting thirsty, curbs hunger, and keeps me from falling asleeep.
I have always wondered if deer could smell the gum??? Don't know if they can, however after dozens of dead deer, I don't think I am going to quit chewing.
chris <><
I'd have to stay awake if I was chewing gum.
I think this is going a bit far. I have smoked and chewed (and spit) in a stand and it never seemed to have any effect, other then attracting deer to where I spit.
Buy stock in some gum co. and enjoy......
There is a product called Gum-o-flage. It is a gum that is supposed to kill bad breath with no gum odor. I've used this for a few years now, and shot plenty of deer while chewing it. Can't say for sure that it works, but it doesn't seem to bother them.
I think this scent thing is way overboard....you can wear any clothes you want, chew any gum....if your upwind ..a deer will smell you....think about this..you store your clothes but you get into a truck to go hunting..if you drink coffee on the way the aroma will go into your clothes any other residual smells are everywhere , the exhaust lingers when you get out...you sweat as soon as you exert .. your hair (if we still have it LOL is a huge carrier of any scent )......their sense of smell is very acute...if they come in it is because they either don't smell you or are curious.. or the scent they smell does not mean danger to that particular deer....even individual deer react different to different smells....
minimize your smells...but I guarantee you if the wind is wrong.....they can smell you ....and then its up to the buck/doer how they react.....younger deer are less discriminating ....old doe or buck who has been around....bye bye
I spent many years researching scent control and trying different things. Only two things worked for me. I found I could hide my walking-in scent trail by working my boots in mud or a cow flop (in cow country), and NOTHING worked on a deer that was truly down wind. I think often when people think they weren't smelled by a downwind deer, the scent current just didn't get to the deer.
I like the doe in heat urine or skunk flavored gum while I'm on stand.
I have a girl in my archery class and I remind her to park her gum prior to anchor If she did it near her anchor spot,it might give her a tighter anchor