Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting The Jon-ee Handwarmer 12 Step Program

Yes folks, all you need to do is admit to yourself, to your higher power, and to your friends here at the campfire, that you did indeed hunt with a Jon-ee handwarmer and used the special scent that came with it. Beyond that, we need to begin a dialogue that deals with the misconceptions of deer hunters and the crazy things we did and do. It is only in this way that we can start to heal ourselves.

(Yeah, right.)

Years ago, folks knew so little about deer, and so much of what was known was wrong. Also, a lot of the tools we have now didn't exist. Most of deer hunting lore came down from oral tradition, dads to sons. Outdoor writers were strapped for material when it came to hard facts, and so a lot of the manure your grandpa fed you also found its way to print, and of course you'd believe it if it was in a magazine at the barber shop.

This was also a time when deer herds were still growing in this country, and a lot of the misinformation stayed around for years, because there just wasn't that many deer around to try it on. If Uncle Jake heard about this trick back in the thirties, you might be trying it in the seventies. If neither one of you had ever seen a deer, you were still an average hunter because the annual success rate in your area was 1 in 12 or 1 in 20. If somebody got a deer every year, he kept his secret to himself.

Here is a sample the sort of bad baggage I carried into the woods my first few seasons.

1) During the weeks leading up to the rut, bucks round up does and push them out ahead to spy out hunters.

2) Smoking cherry cavendish in a pipe will attract deer. Ditto for apple flavors

3) Use a small transistor radio, turned down low to attract curious deer to your stand.

4) At midday, build a fire a little away from your stand and cook your lunch, but be ready; the deer will come to investigate.

5) When dressing a deer, be sure to slit it's throat and lay it out with the head pointing down hill for a while to bleed it out before continuing to field dress it. Oh, and make sure to cut out those nasty scent glands next.

6) The timing of the rut is based on the overnight temperature. Cold nights stimulate the gonads of the deer.

7) The oldest, wiliest bucks learn to follow hunters in the woods and keep an eye on them. That's why you never see them, unless you backtrack often.

8) When bow hunting, it is wise to keep an arrow knocked while traveling to and from your stand. You might jump a big buck and get a shot.

9) Squirrels actively warn deer of hunters. Some folks said deer would answer the squirrel's chatter with a snorting sound, but that one was patently stupid -- deer don't make sounds.

So why the Jon-ee handwarmer? Who here remembers the Jon-ee handwarmer? They gave you a bottle of deer attractant and a little scent wick. The idea was that you used this handwarmer to warm the scent wick and the secret forumla in the wick would bring deer running. Actually, it was just anise oil, and the instructions failed to mention the fact that you, the wick, the handwarmer, and everything you touched or wore stunk of lighter fluid.

I figure that if we all sit down and start admitting these terrible misconceptions to each other we can:

1) Dispell these myths and begin the process of recovery
2) Act as a beacon of hope for our brothers still living in the shadows
3) Have immense pleasure laughing at how stupid and gullible we were.

So, I'll start out: Yes friends, I am guilty of at least believing all the above at one time. In fact, I actually saw #1 happen with my own eyes on my first-ever weekend of bow hunting. I was smoking cherry cavendish, and I had my trusty Jon-ee handwarmer wedged into a nearby forked limb belching anise-flavored benzene like crazy. If the deer didn't mind that, my wool clothes still carried the smell of smoke from lunch, and probably a little bit of mothballl to round out the aromatic conucopia. I had climbed into a low limb (sans safety belt) and was overlooking a nearby trail when three doe came through, obviously pushed by an unseen force. Despite having a good shot opportunity I waited, knowing that a big brute was pushing them from behind. I stood motionless, and presently the big guy came through, but somewhat downhill from the others and through bushes that blocked a good shot. It was a monstrous 8 pointer that still haunts my dreams. After that action quieted down, I saw nothing more. However, I was completely satisfied that I had been so close. It was only a matter of time before I scored.

Okay guys, it's your turn. Fess up.

Hi, my name is Art and I'm an addict <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

On rut timing; In college I was taught the rut was triggered by declining photo-period... ONLY. That of course means the rut HAS to start on the same day every year... Since I have seen a swing of over two weeks in timing I have to admit they were not telling me the truth.

And that is what started me down the slippery slope of addiction. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I remember best the simplistic diagrams the magazines had for exactly how to set up a deer drive. Forty years later, just the other day, I picked up a fairly recent issue of one of the "Redumbdancy Rags" (to paraphrase David Duncan) with a fancy little diagram of a farm and the best way to drive it.

I doubt one in a thousand of the readers would ever drive any land similar to that. But without even reading the article it did give me a brief shot of nostalgia...
art
PS I remember when I got my first Jon-ee handwarmer and remember well the smell! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Ok, I'm an addict too, but Shaman, don't you see - the pipe and Jon-ee worked that first time! The big buck sent the does out to scout, when they didn't buy the farm, here he came! LOL.

When I first started my uncle told me the "build a fire and cook your lunch one" and I bought it. Him and my older cousin also told me it was good luck for the youngest member of the hunting party to walk a big circle around the hunting area to get the "first shot" at the big ones - I think I was their "deer driver". They also told me it was "family custom" for the youngest, newest hunter to show respect to his elders by field dressing their deer. Damn, after growing up with those two it's wonder I still hunt!!

PRP

I'd like to welcome Woodseye to our group.

So Scent-Loc is a real stinker, huh? I just never had the bucks to buy a whole new wardrobe, and have stuck with my old fashioned ways.

The president of the company found out I was an avid hunter and used to call me into his office to ask for advice. I gave him Shaman's Sodium Bicarb Rant #7 (now available on CD and cassette) , and he called me in after season and said he'd decided it was too much work and had gone and bought a Scent-loc suit. He'd managed to bag a nice buck at 10 yards on the ground, and wanted to thank me for introducing him to scent management.

Of course, he DID also manage to get downwind of the trail, which he'd never thought to do before.

I used to have a dark friend who would place an ad in the local paper: "Nursing Assistants wanted. No experience necessary. Will train." A lot of women would answer the ad, and find out Crazy John had no job to offer them, and usually wanted some money before he'd help. The cute ones, he'd try to date-- that was the reason for the scam in the first place. The crazy part of the plan was a good number of the applicants were so despairing for a job, they'd keep coming back to John for help, even though they could see from first meet it was a con job. John would point them in the right direction and coach them on interviews, and get the ones that could type to do resumes for the others, etc. etc. etc.

I suppose if you buy a scent-loc suit, it's a lot like answering John's ad. First, it takes a hefty investment-- that means you've already decided to make a change. Then you read the little tag that says: " Always wear downwind of your intended prey" and if that gem sinks in, that was worth the con.

I still remember walking in on John, talking on the phone: "Listen, that's what I've been saying all along, Kid! If you want to be a nurse, go get some classes and do it, and stop hanging with a jerks like me. Otherwise get over here and do my laundry."

Hmmmmmmm............well I suggested a scent-loc post as a way to start a busy topic,kinda like your 30-06vs270 thread example.Usually the non scent-loc users are pretty quick to come down on the scent control guys.Only problem is ever since I started using scent-loc I've had quite a few deer come up downwind of me and I got more and more into little ways to control scent and confuse their nose with less scent than normal.I guess I started out a non believer and ended up getting deeper into scent control than I ever thought I would have.Lot of guys think its a waste of money and don't work,to that I say you just never know. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />Thanks for the welcome and heres to a good forum <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />


woods

Por nada, amigo.

Go for it. I'll get ya started.

Hello everyone--Nice forum you have here.-----While I can't speak on the merits of scent-loc suits--seeing how I've never used one. I did own and even used a Jon-ee handwarmer once or twice in the mid seventies. I know it may be hard to believe, but I killed my first buck while using it. That deer was upwind, so the fact that I had a hot-pocket didn't seem to bother him in the least. I don't know if I still have it, probably a collectors item by now.-----hemlock

I had forgotten all about those things! I had to do a search, and lo and behold they are still being sold! Gonna order one! They have two sizes even. Now I'll be all set to kill a big one.

Make sure you get the large size. That way one fill-up works all weekend-- carry it into your bag with you at night.

Are they still selling the scent wick?

My father taught me "build a tree stand, and get in it. Deer neve look up for danger." Someone should have told the the deer that one so we were all on the same page,

Hmmmm...The Jon-e handwarmer. Well...yes. I admit becoming addicted to the little boogers and even bought one or two of the BIG ones at an auction or garage sale as well. I don't think I've fired any of them since the tent event back in '92 or '93. I made the mistake of putting two of them in my sleeping bag. Yep, I was warm alright. After having fitfully napped for a few hours I tossed them out the tent flap and decided oxygen was more important than BTU's YUK! That was worse than having eaten a bowl of soured beans and ham in the tent! I have hunted in some pretty cold weather with a pair of them in my vest pockets and they do indeed keep you warm with minimal clothing, but in retrospect I wonder if the mulies thought it was a D&RG train stinking it's way through the canyon quietly. Maybe they WERE best for GI's, Messengers, Postal Carriers, and all those other flashy jobs and activities that they wrote of in their brochure. Oh, and remember the neat little hole that made it double as a cigarette lighter? You just KNOW that sold a ton of them in the good old days! BTW, can you still order spare parts for them? Ya just never know when you might need to enjoy one. (in a purely nostalgic way of course)AW