The wind.

[Okatoba]

I have a nephew that is getting started deer hunting and I have been trying to drive it in his head from the very start to think about the wind first in most every instance. When I started I was sometimes kinda sloppy about worrying about wind and it showed.When I got serious about wind, the deer started to get shot. Kinda think once you find places for a stand, if you can get to and in the stand without your deer smelling you and if the wind and swirl is right for that stand,you are about 70% there. The other 20% is scouting,knowing what to look for and when and where. The last 10% is patience,perseverence, knowing when to move to shoot and being able to shoot well. I don't count guns, gear etc. Most stuff out there is good enough if you have common sense. Does all this square up with what y'all have learned???

 

[bcartervol98]

Yea it lines up with what I have learned completely but only issue I have is when in the mountains the wind seems to shift so often I am not sure how to adjust. In West TN in the bottoms a southern wind was just that. My season here this year has been very windy and it seems the wind shifts and swirls around the ridges making it difficult to make a decision about where to set up. For a noob mountain hunter this has been one of the biggest challenges for me.

 

[MUP]

I still pay utmost attention to wind direction, second to that is time in the stand...that is, after I've scouted my stand locations previously.

 

[Mike Belt]

I think hunting is one of those equations where everything adds up to more than 100%. I'd say 90% scouting, 50% paying attention to wind, and 25% luck.

 

[Okatoba]

Yep that hill and mtn hunting is a tough nut to crack when the wind is swirling which is most of the time. I usta hunt in Dekalb County in those hills and seemed to see more hunting as high as I could but it was still tough. One thing I liked to do then was when the winds was really blowing ,like 15 mph or more was to get the wind in my face or quartering and slip along real slow along the tops of ridges. Everything was moving,limbs and stuff and leaves blowing around and they couldn't hear good. I saw a bunch of deer that way and killed a couple. I had a holler that was a huge 140 thicket with some mixed poplar tree parts and a few acorn trees. That place stayed tore all to pieces with sign but any time I tried to get in there,they smelled me cause of the swirling. Bout the only time I killed deer there was catching them slipping in and out through the low gaps in the back corners of the holler. Tough hunting.

 

[bcartervol98]

Yep that hill and mtn hunting is a tough nut to crack when the wind is swirling which is most of the time. I usta hunt in Dekalb County in those hills and seemed to see more hunting as high as I could but it was still tough. One thing I liked to do then was when the winds was really blowing ,like 15 mph or more was to get the wind in my face or quartering and slip along real slow along the tops of ridges. Everything was moving,limbs and stuff and leaves blowing around and they couldn't hear good. I saw a bunch of deer that way and killed a couple. I had a holler that was a huge 140 thicket with some mixed poplar tree parts and a few acorn trees. That place stayed tore all to pieces with sign but any time I tried to get in there,they smelled me cause of the swirling. Bout the only time I killed deer there was catching them slipping in and out through the low gaps in the back corners of the holler. Tough hunting.

Yes I have tried the above but about the time the wind gets in my face it hits the back of my head lol.

Moving to a place the rest of the season that is flatter and recommended by someone I trust. Some of the issues I had a BSF should be better there given the terrain.

Like I say every day before a hunt....tomorrow could be the day!

 

[Okatoba]

The thing you gotta keep in mind about swirling wind is,yes it may be in you face like you need then swirl from behind but when it swirls back right,all that scent cloud is blowing back your way. It takes luck for sure for it to work out right at the right moment,it happens,sometimes not. I was in a tree the other day and the wind was in my face pretty regular and I had a doe walk 15 yards in front of me and never smelled me.....25 min later right at the end of shooting light I had another deer come from the same way and blow up 20 yards in front of me, I looked immedatelly and the pcs thread I tie to every stand and it was blowing back my way.....swirl.... down and back up and over the top I guess.

 

[bowriter]

I think hunting is one of those equations where everything adds up to more than 100%. I'd say 90% scouting, 50% paying attention to wind, and 25% luck.

For me, it is 99.5% scouting, the rest is other things. yes, a deer can smell you. Yes, the wind is important. But what is really important is understanding the wind.

I suggest you buy some smoke bombs and do some experimenting as we did for NBEF about 30-years ago. Start at ground level and increase your distance off the ground by 10-feet at each test. Test what the smoke does at every level. I promise, it will stop a whole lot of you from being so freakin paranoid about the wind.

 

[docg]

Wind is important and no amount of scent control will prevent a mature deer from smelling you under the right circumstances. However, during the rut the wind is your friend. Most of the better bucks I've seen during the rut are hunting does into the wind. Meaning, they are actually coming from downwind. I killed two pretty good bucks this year that came in directly downwind of me, but in both instances I had a doe upwind or close. So I pay close attention to the wind, but during the rut I don't let it 100% predict where I hunt. I do everything I can to control and cover my scent then hope a doe's scent is more attractive than mine is offensive. BTW- both times those bucks came in downwind, I was 35 feet off the ground.

 

[bowriter]

I don't blame you. If I had two rutting bucks downwiond of me, I'd get as high as I could. In fact, they are selling a product in Colorado that really works well.

 

[Mike Belt]

I did a lot of experimenting with wind for a few years. What really brought this about was deer blowing upwind of me and wondering what was disturbing them. I discovered how wind reacts to different terrain features as well as just because the wind was blowing one direction at ground level didn't mean it was blowing that same direction from 20 feet up. This dictates much of my stand placements now. The great thing about this discovery is that most of the time under similar circumstances the wind reacts the same.