Do you always hunt the wind?

[nybuckboy]

With rifle/shotgun I don't always care as much and don't always hunt the wind. With bow I feel the wind is really important. Question: Do you try and sit in a stand that is on the downwind side of the section of woods or do you sit where you feel the best deer movement is regardless on the downwind side of a trail?

I have heard some long time hunters say - hunt high in the morning and low in the afternoon because of thermals - YES?

Edited September 11, 2013 by nybuckboy

[phade]

Wind and thermals dictate my entry, exit, route, and even the stand I choose.

 

I am not a fan of burning ground for a bad decision or a lazy one (ie a poor route in that is faster).

 

I think of entry routes most often before a stand site. If I can't get to it safely, no reason to set one there.

[Culvercreek hunt club]

as a rule remember how we sleep to get the general flow of thermals. up in the morning and down in the evening.  So his logic was sound. if you are hunting the hillside he is staying upwind fromthe deer movements . wind and actuall topographic features can make subtle changes but the general rule is correct.

Edited September 11, 2013 by Culvercreek hunt club

[t_barb]

You are never going to win against the nose of a mature buck (or doe for that matter)...  I don't care what kind of clothes you wear or how many times you shower..  you need to play the wind to win the game!!

[Merlot]

With rifle/shotgun I don't always care as much and don't always hunt the wind. With bow I feel the wind is really important. Question: Do you try and sit in a stand that is on the downwind side of the section of woods or do you sit where you feel the best deer movement is regardless on the downwind side of a trail?

I have heard some long time hunters say - hunt high in the morning and low in the afternoon because of thermals - YES?

I try to hunt with as little push into the cover as possible, plus keep the prevailing wind in mind. Sometimes I can get into a stand, sometimes I just post up wherever I feel my chances increase to score.

As far as thermals, I really like to hunt the downhill side of our property near the food source in the late afternoon and play the thermal game.

[NYbuck50]

always hunt the wind, and know what the thermals are doing.

[Fantail]

No doubt paying attention to the wind can better your chances, it seems wise to play it. Then there's state land wma's where I doubt others do. So I usually get in with my climber 17'+ and park it.

[Cabin Fever]

Yes. I have 10 stands to choose from, so I can. If I happen to be in a stand and the wind starts swirling or changing direction to where I expect the deer to be coming from, I'll pack up and leave.

[growalot]

Ohh boy here we go...the buck in my avatar was an early morning buck out of my favorite stand sitting right at the bottom of a hill....this is also where I have the majority of pre dawn buck fights and the doe are chased here every year   early mornings....that said...the hill faces into the west and we get not only west winds but stiff north winds off the lakes the deer travel down the hill in the mornings and up in the afternoons...now all this...yes I do try to hunt the wind ....which is why I groups my stands in 4's afew hundred feet apart...but in hill country the winds swirl and I'm not about to move every fifteen mins....so what you put in your body...evaporates out...watch the diet....wash the clothes and body...but KNOW the DEER in YOUR AREA and how they move

[Early]

No, I don't always hunt the wind, but when I don't...I am never successful!

[growalot]

Also may I add...know the movement of the sun....the sun doesn't get over the hill and to that area until well after sun rise...I shot this buck at around 8:30 in the morning by the time Mr B got to me and I had dragged him out of the woods we were closing in on 10:00am...notice the frost still on the grass?

[Fantail]

Thats a nice buck - cool tine one the one side.

[Arrow Flinger]

Where I hunt the wind changes direction all the time. During a sit, you can almost guarantee the wind will blow from every direction at least once!. I do set my stands according to which way the wind blows most often, but that is no guarantee. I'm also a scent control freak, which I know helps. You cant fool a deers nose but I think what happens is that if you reduce your scent enough, they think you're a few hundred yards away instead of right on top of them! And where I hunt, they are used to smelling people a few hundred yards away.

[nybuckboy]

One thing I would like to add is the property is a triangular piece. The narrow end is on the west side and down hill and goes uphill to the wide end on the eastern side. The prevailing winds are from the west/southwest. I can only enter really from the south side or the east side so I'm limited. In the image where you see the open CRP fields with 4 wheeler trails, is now all corn and the hedgerow connecting the 2 pieces of woods is no longer there. The new land owner has bulldozed the hedgerow and the pond is drained.

Edited September 11, 2013 by nybuckboy

[Doc]

The wind is one of the most important feature of my stand choices. When I get to a stand and the wind is not in a favorable direction, I will not stay. It doesn't do me any good to be broadcasting my location to the herd. I hunt a lot of ravine areas, and the thermals will drive me insane. There are some areas that simply don't seem to have any wind direction for an entire stand. That can be very frustrating to watch the wind see-sawing back and forth and then around in circles.

 

Ever notice how you never seem to be able to escape the smoke from a campfire? I have seen stands where that same kind of "cover-everything" wind is blowing.

[Geno C]

being on the island its hard to expect and see conditions where the wind will predominantly come from one direction, making wind play very hard. It swirls, it changes and it blows in opposite directions almost immediately throughout the day. So getting up and changing sets isn't really an option as MOST places i hunt on LI seems to be that way.

 

i take scent control as far as i can and tend to be less of a wind freak...

[growalot]

Thanks ..but the point is every thing effects the wind and thermals....lets see...I can't be the only one so ...Have you ever noticed...that you can go out way before light on a cold morning and be feeling comfortable...even with a very light wind out of the west...Then as you face East to the rising sun there is a period were you get really cold?...I call that the sun chasing the cold air out infront of it...so even though your wind direction is calling for west your cold air is coming at you from the east...I have always believed that is what causes the deer here to move down hill in the mornings....

[A Sportsman]

The wind is always the first thing I consider for stand hunting. But selecting the exact tree to hunt is often a struggle for me. Its easy when I can dump my scent onto a road, or into a fenced sump or water body. But a lot of times the deer sign says to put stand deeper into the woods. You don't want scent going into thicket, you don't want scent going in the direction where deer are coming from. You don't want it running along a thicket. But the scent has to be deposited somewhere... In a sense, this scent game is what bow hunting boils down to. And it is not easy.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I always hunt based on the wind, doesnt matter if its bow season or gun season, its just as important at all times.

[PREDATE]

Yes I feel that wind is one of the most crucial elements in bagging a smart deer, but still only 1 piece of the puzzle. Knowing where, when & why the deer are moving gives you more options for ambush sites

[Nomad]

Ever notice how you never seem to be able to escape the smoke from a campfire? I have seen stands where that same kind of "cover-everything" wind is blowing.

I believe that if one says" I hate white rabbits" the smoke stops blowing on you.

[A Sportsman]

When rifle hunting in the mountains my "worry" about wind nearly as much. It changes, plus I'm usually walking, and often my walking is being done in concert with 1 or more of the guys I'm hunting with.