First of all I'll say this: Sometimes we can way, way overthink deer hunting.
I could write a book on decisions involving stand placement. Unfortunately, most of that would fall under fiction rather than non fiction based on the results. :o
To begin with, no matter what time of the season it is or if it's a morning or evening hunt, I consider wind direction in relation to where I expect to see deer appearing. Sometimes there are places I'd really like to hunt but avoid doing so because of wind direction. That being said, I don't know how many times I've seen deer come from downwind of me and me not get detected. Why I'm not 100% sure but I think it's because of stand height. Wind floaters often tell me that from ground zero up to a certain height the wind blows from one direction but often changes direction above a certain height; probably because of being deflected by certain surrounding terrain features. That's often why you may wonder why a deer's blowing at you from upwind when they're really downwind of your stand height. I also try to factor in projected weather predictions that may completely change wind directions prior to "prime" time for deer showing up. OK, the wind looks right. Now where do I go?
I'm primarily a morning hunter. Less than 5% of my hunting is done in the afternoons and yet percentage-wise, I've seen some of my better bucks on those afternoon hunts. I wish I lived closer to my hunting area because it's the commute back home after dark combined with the early rise going back the next day that stops me. Being retired I can hunt every day and doing that non-stop days at a time wears you out. I keep telling myself to back off the morning hunts and concentrate more on the evenings but I dearly love those sunrises from a treestand. During archery season I try to concentrate on food sources. I look for whiteoak acorns. When they are falling heavy some trees produce them that evidently have more appeal to the deer than others. Droppings (old and fresh), empty caps, and lots of tracks around certain trees are the dead giveaway. Goldmine! Deer walk over and by bunches of acorns falling elsewhere to get to them and many times these particular trees will net the same results yearly provided they bear fruit. Too many acorns and no trees like these and the deer could and will feed anywhere. It becomes hit and miss. Then I look for those dropping on the edges of heavy cover or agricultural fields figuring I may be doubling my odds. When I hunt these places I try for a set up where the wind may take my scent away from the cover or into the fields. I know bucks will work the downwind edges of them scent checking for does later as the rut progresses but early on I believe they rely more on their eyesight for detecting other deer or danger in these "open" areas and they're more willing to step into these areas even without the wind in their favor. Be prepared for a dim sight picture because they usually won't appear until the last few minutes before dark. If I'm not hunting a direct food source at this time (and you can still bet it's somewhere between them and bedding even if I'm not aware of exactly where) then I rely on fresh sign or traditional travel routes for hunting any deer. Shooter bucks probably won't accompany deer leaving this sign but may work the area downwind of it... or not. Quite often I find areas devoid of bucks just as I may find areas that appear to only hold bucks. Generally there isn't much if any sign in these areas.
To be continued....
