Timberjack, it doesn't come as a surprise to me that deer didn't/don't react to your dad's cigarette or your chew. Deer fear human skin scent, not unfamiliar scents like cigarette smoke or chewing tobacco, unless they learn to connect those smells with a dangerous encounter with a person. Are deer smart enough to make those connections? Maybe so if they're exposed to it enough.
I don't think that human urine spooks deer either. It's our body smell that they don't particularly care for! LOL They get one whiff of that and they'll head outta dodge for sure...
Now back to the question about abstaining from eating red meat for a period before hunting. That is an interesting concept. Could this be the reason that those veggie-eating PETA heads detest hunting? If PETA members are all vegetarians, the deer probably eat right out of their hands when they enter the woods, so those knuckleheads don't think there IS such a thing as a wild deer! [
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Just a thought... LOL