...as soon as you think you know better than the deer where a deer will travel, at least in my experience is when they prove you wrong, especially a mature buck.
I've learned that lesson more times than I can count. In fact, now, if I get the feeling I've got the deer figured out, it scares me. I know I'm about to be taught a lesson in humility.
Hmm, interesting, sometimes the fastest way to kill a mature buck is to hunt where "everyone" says it is a waste of time because of the wind...
I would modify that statement a little.
The fastest way to kill a mature buck is to hunt where no one else has been hunting, for whatever reason. And that reason is usually no one else understands why that particular spot is a good travel route. Or because there's no sign there. Or any number of other reasons. But mature bucks have an uncanny ability to figure out travel routes that avoid
hunter contact (not necessarily human contact). Mature bucks can differentiate the difference between dangerous and harmless human activities. Human scent in areas where it occurs regularly and never causes harm will be ignored by older deer. However, sudden human scent "back in the woods" where it never occurs outside of deer season will ABSOLUTELY cause hunter-wary deer to alter their patterns.
I try to never be where deer will approach from me downwind, amazing how much of the time the deer don't get that memo, they can and will show up where they want to. That is why I have, many, many times, hunted where I was told it was a waste of time, I even thought myself it was a waste of time because I was sure the deer would be approaching from downwind, only to have a nice buck, even mature bucks approach from where they are not supposed to or even see them approach from downwind and then either pass or get an excellent kill shot opportunity, more times than I can even remember.
It would be utter foolishness to say a deer (even a mature buck) can't be killed from a particular stand depending on the direction of the wind. I guarantee every experienced deer hunter has killed a deer that came in from a completely unexpected direction. However, successful deer hunting, over the long run, is about playing the odds. When there is a choice between locations to hunt, what locations have the
highest probability of producing deer sightings based on current travel patterns, terrain, time of day, thermals, and wind direction. Ignoring these factors and simply flipping a coin, greatly reduces the odds. That doesn't mean the coin-flip choice won't produce deer sightings. The odds are just lower. But considering all the factors, and making a good stand choice based on those factors, greatly ups the odds. That doesn't guarantee success by any means, but over the long run, I want to put the odds in my favor as often as possible.
