i smoke while hunting all the time. alot of times i have one lit and have set it down to shoot,i really don't believe a deer is smart enough to realize what smoke is and heck if they can smell the smoke they can smell you anyways.hunt the wind it make no difference how many deer have i killed? you ask i have 27 mounts on the wall 22 bow kills and 5 smokepoles bucks ranging from 122 to 176 boone and crockett.