Hunting the Wind

[hammer4reel]

1 hour ago, bucky said:

I guess thats proof even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once and a while

Or that being blind is better than having good vision and not being able to see 

[MGHunter66]

We all know the wind swirls, changes, etc. These are things out of our control. I don’t think that was the intent of 154’s post. I can’t speak for him but i believe the intent was...If you know the wind is dead wrong for your stand position on a given day will you just say screw it i am going anyway.



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[MGHunter66]

IMO . More guys get busted on not understanding thermals more than the wind.

This is a very good point. It complicates things a bit but understanding how thermals work especially on hillsides, valleys, ravines and ridges definitely will change your location a bit. Sometimes even allow you to hunt a certain spot when the wind is less than perfect for that location


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[hammer4reel]

9 minutes ago, maximus66 said:

This is a very good point. It complicates things a bit but understanding how thermals work especially on hillsides, valleys, ravines and ridges definitely will change your location a bit. Sometimes even allow you to hunt a certain spot when the wind is less than perfect for that location


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Or how much land structure can shift a wind.

Spots I hunt by Round Valley will NEVER have the wind blowing the way it says it is.

wind swirls off those benches , many times 180 from where its forcasted.

Biggest thing IMO is to understand there are no 100 % rules.

Rules change by the minute 

.

[bucky]

IMO when hunting small bedding area and the wind back drafts toward the bedding area its time bail out

[bucky]

25 minutes ago, hammer4reel said:

Biggest thing IMO is to understand there are no 100 % rules.

He asked and I replied what works for me and I said that's how I hunt 100% of the time, in no way did I suggest that it will work for anyone else 

Edited September 21, 2018 by bucky

[Buck154]

41 minutes ago, maximus66 said:

We all know the wind swirls, changes, etc. These are things out of our control. I don’t think that was the intent of 154’s post. I can’t speak for him but i believe the intent was...If you know the wind is dead wrong for your stand position on a given day will you just say screw it i am going anyway.



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Thats all I was asking...

[DV1]

This has been a really informative discussion on this topic. In summary:

-If a buck smells you, most likely he will be gone, even if he is still out of view. 

-Just because the news or weather/wind app says the wind is blowing a certain way in your area, doesn't mean it is blowing that way at your stand, but if you wait in the stand long enough, it probably will.  

-Just because the wind is blowing towards where you think the buck will approach from, doesn't mean that he cannot come in from somewhere else.

-Just because the wind is blowing from you, towards the buck, doesn't mean he will smell you (height in stand, thermals, eddies, back drafts, obstructions, etc).

-If you wait for the perfect wind to hunt, you are probably decreasing your odds of killing the buck, just because of all of the above. 

-And most importantly...all those scent control things are gimmicks. 

The only one I haven't seen is the "to pee or not to pee" discussion. This one came in from directly downwind, about 60 seconds after I zipped up from getting rid of about 24 oz of coffee, and a bottle of water, while hunting from the ground. End of discussion. 

 

Edited September 21, 2018 by DV1

[MGHunter66]

@DVI - we all would rather be lucky than good, no argument there


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[DV1]

32 minutes ago, maximus66 said:

@DVI - we all would rather be lucky than good, no argument there


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No doubt. But there is an unusually high percentage of big bucks in the books that seem to have been just "lucky" kills: novice hunters, never knew the buck was there, just a quick hunt after work, didn't shower, didn't play the wind, first time hunting a new property, etc. 

Maybe the best takeaway from this thread is that sometimes what seems implausible, or impossible due to a predicted or apparent wind direction, isn't because what the wind is doing at your stand/blind, is not what it's doing 25 yards away.

I've had the reverse happen as well. I was in a field edge stand with a perfect wind yet I kept getting winded from deer "upwind". Fact is, the way that field was laid out, and the cedars behind me acting as a wind block, the wind was hitting that "wall", curling up and swirling down the edge 90 degrees contrary to the way it was blowing when it hit me. Had the same thing happen in the middle of the woods when hunting thick hollies, and even on flat land when hunting near creeks or ditches. In the evening, your scent will fall to the ground, and even though there is only a few feet of elevation change, your scent will build in, and flow down a shallow ditch, carrying it nearly completely opposite of where it seems to be going. Deer hit that ditch, or creek (thermals travel along waterways too) and you can get winded by a deer that seems impossibly upwind of you.

Sometimes, those things work in your favor too, but you have to be out there to know and capitalize on them. I was as anal and strict about scent and hunting the wind as anyone. I gave big bucks mensa status when developing plans to hunt them, and I rarely killed them. When I started playing less by hard and fast rules and saying "screw it, I'll hunt it and see what happens", my taxidermy bills became my new problem. 

That deer above did come from directly down wind, but out of a low, swampy area, filled with evergreens (forming a thick screen), and on a cold morning where the sun had recently come up and thermals were rising. The wind, and my scent, were blowing directly at him, but never hit his nose.

I was lucky that the buck and I occupied that same space that morning, but I knew that anything coming out of that swamp, directly down wind, would not be able to smell me until it was too late. 

Edited September 21, 2018 by DV1

[megavites]

DV1's post is a perfect example of why you should check how the wind is carring your scent from your position. Milkweed is excellent for this. Much better than the bottles of powder. You can toss a few tufts and watch them travel pretty far.

[Buck154]

35 minutes ago, megavites said:

DV1's post is a perfect example of why you should check how the wind is carring your scent from your position. Milkweed is excellent for this. Much better than the bottles of powder. You can toss a few tufts and watch them travel pretty 

Hardest part is finding them at the right time of year. They are awesome