[wrangerrambler]

You know the wind is pretty crazy sometimes. Just got back in from this evenings hunt and had a time with the wind. The wind had been in my favor (and almost non existant) but within the last hour of daylight... oops the wind changes. :crybaby: The deer didnt spook thanks to scent control but the wond changes seem to put the deer on edge a little.

The deer had been around for about 25 minutes when the wind changed this evening. They just seemed to become anxious; didnt bolt or leave bothered, just uneasy.

I love these different experiences that come about each time I'm in the woods. Helps you learn

 

[kinhibitor]

I wish I had enough hunting experience to even notice a change in deer patterns like that. I can never tell wether the deer that I see skirt me know I am there because they can smell me; heard me set up; or by chance are more interested in the deer trail that I didnt post up on. Either way it is frustrating. I never know where they are going to be coming from.


My question is: If the wind changes direction and a stand is upwind of the deer; would you post up anyways and just climb higher to stay above their noses, or would you hunt on the ground downwind of the anticipated deer if it wasnt feasible to move your climber?

 

[Hunting Man]

If you aren't perfect with your scent control the wind will be your worst nightmare. I like to have two stands set just in case the wind causes problems with my primary stand location. We've stated here various methods of scent control and its worth reading past posts on it.l use hunter's shower body wash, clothing & boot sprays, don't forget your bow. Carry a small bottle with you and spray yourself after a couple of hours on stand. I also believe in steam saunas every night at deer camp, I know not everyone has a steam sauna but it does work. Vary your approach to your stand. Keep your hunting clothes in a plastic non scented garbage bag after washing with one of the hunter special clothes wash detergents. My camo doesn't go into the cabin at night, I spray it and let it hang outside. Scent control is an art and takes some effort to do but it pays off when the deer are feeding right under your stand and have no clue you are there.

 

[Buckshot]

Kinhibitor
The wind can be you best friend or your worst enemy. While we can't control the wind we can make some general assumptions about the prevailing direction and try to set up with the wind in our favor. There always seems to be cross currents and wind shifts that are caused by the terain or even the trees we can not control.

There are a few things I believe to be true about the wind and deer. One is if you always hunt with your face in the wind you have a lot of deer come in behind you. I try to set up where I can see the deer that are following their nose. The perfect wind to me is on my back slightly quartering away from the dirrection the deer are moving. In other woeds if the deer are comming straight to my face I would like the wind to
blow from my back left to front right or vice verse.

If there is an acorn tree dropping or some other food source and I can see the deer have been using I will look for the most likely trails in and out of the area. Knowing that the deer will like to use the thick cover, edges, corners and the like I will look for stand sites that I can cover the trail with a wind direction that is favorable to me. Then I will wait until the wind is good for that spot. A good place to hunt with the wrong wind is not a good place to hunt. The point is about the wind I think is to have several stands picked out and pick which one you hunt depending on the wind that day.

 

[tator]

the younger the deer the more daring and less cautious they are. As they grow older, they know when something doesn't smell right. When the wind starts to swirl like the original post said, deer are getting sensory overload! They begin to smell things from all over, and if this happens, they tend to look nervous but rarely bolt from where they are at because they don't know where the "predator" is.
I make sure to wash in very warm water and scent soap before I go out hunting- EVERYTIME. Even if i hunt morning and then evening, i'll shower before each hunt. Plus, I wash my hunting clothes each time I hunt. Now, I realize this might be over kill, but I don't want any scent on me. During rifle season, I'll usually just wash my clothes before each hunting day, not before each hunt. During bow season though, sweat starts to STINK if you don't wash it.
Odds are the deer know something is not right... but the younger they are, the more curious they are. They are like little kids in many ways.

 

[kinhibitor]

Well I certainly have failed in terms of scent control; my hunting clothes sit in a bin year round and I take them out and spray scent eliminator on them; though I can still smell them. I really oughta get some of the scent eliminating detergent. Thanks for all the tips gentlemen.

 

[rdrader2002]

I don't have the luxury of moving around, due to the limited acreage I own and the way the county around me has grown over the past dozen or so years since I bought the place where I live. I'm limited to one kill zone, so to speak, because that's the only area where I know where the bullet will end up should it pass right through the deer.

With only one place to shoot from, I'm totally at the mercy of the wind. Most of the time, I'm lucky enough to have the wind out of the north (in my face). Other times, it comes out of the south and blows my scent downrange. The only saving grace is that my property seems to be the crossroads of a number of well traveled deer trails. As we all know, there are good days (you're out there and don't see a thing), bad days (you're out there and the big one gets away), and memorable days (when you bring one home to put in the freezer).

May we all have many memorable days this season!