During the rut, do you abandon wind direction strategy to hunt your best stands regardless of wind direction?
The Rut and Hunting the Wind?
- Thread starter UTGrad
- Start date
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
No, but I will push the wind a lot more. But never hunt the completely wrong wind.
tree_ghost
Well-Known Member
My thoughts exactly
Lincoln Co Archer
Well-Known Member
I definitely take more risks. It's completely spot and situation dependent though. You only have so many chances in a season.
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- Jul 28, 2020
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Depends on the property. On the fields, no.
In the woods near thickets, yes.
In the woods near thickets, yes.
I don't hunt much different any time of season. Where I sit changes throughout season but my approach is pretty much same.
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
I will push it a little more, but not totally disregard it. Interesting enough I have seen bucks running or moving with the wind during the rut. Buck I killed a week and a half ago was moving with the wind, and he was a mature deer.
If a buck is actually chasing I don't think it matters what wind is blowing. If he is out cruising, scent checking for doe , you better have the wind in your favor. So not knowing which is going to happen your odds go way up if you always account for the wind. Just my opinion
chris1976
Well-Known Member
Always take the wind into account. The only time I will disregard wind direction is when I hunt my sportsman condos.
Madbowh
Well-Known Member
Seen the exact same thing, had a big boy with 4 does 2 weeks ago just out of bow range going with the wind and in front of the does leaving them behind while he was feeding
BSK
Well-Known Member
This exactly. I have a list of stands that can be hunted in each wind direction. I don't vary from that. I have the condos listed under every wind direction.
BSK
Well-Known Member
The idea older/mature bucks never walk with the wind at their backs is ludicrous. What happens to them when the wind blows from the south for 6 straight days? He can never walk north. They would end up in the Gulf of Mexico. Bucks will play the wind in their favor as much as possible, but there will always be situations where they have to move with the wind at their backs.
The only absolute I've seen with how bucks interact with the wind is that there are no absolutes. Just when you think you've got them pegged they'll do something that completely upends what you think you knew. In my experience does are much more sensitive to the wind, and even they sometimes surprise me with how careless they can be.
Come on guys, I need someone to tell me it's ok to hunt my favorite stand Saturday even though the wind will be wrong lol.
Hunt the other side of it then
Ive had deer come in on both sides of the stand so maybe I will lol.
Lincoln Co Archer
Well-Known Member
Go for it! YOLO!
backyardtndeer
Well-Known Member
Of course forecasts are sometimes not right either. I have had accuweather and weather.com tell me the wind is out of the north for my location when it was actually not. My back field, the ideal wind is south, that puts the wind at my face and blowing back towards my house, BUT I have killed a lot of deer with the wind blowing across me ne or nw, really just depends on where the deer come from on that given day.
