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Old 05-06-2008 | 01:27 PM
  #31  
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shed33
Nontypical Buck
 
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,436
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From: Northern Idaho's Panhandle
Default RE: Hunt the wind...

Like Gregh said I make sure to havemany options, in the last two seasons I now make sure tohaveat least a triangle of options (Usually 1stand and 2 ground blinds) set up at any1location were I expect a buck to walk through,that way when I enter the area I can check the wind on the way in and slip into the set up that gives me the best odds of my scent not working towards the direction I believe the buck is bedding andwill be coming from. If the wind flutters on me I will hold tight... if it actually switches up on me and holds... I'll move if need be.Finally, will even leave a spot if the wind just wont cooperate or I simply will not enter/hunt a spot if its really swirling bad. I used to chancethe windmuch more than I do now, relying on scent minimization an what not, but then again I was killing 2.5s and 3.5s most of the time. Today, I won't,not even with all the scent lok or cleansing I go through...on the older bucks it just doesnt work they tolerate VERY little human odor especially in and around their core bedding grounds. I usually only get one/two chances at a 4 year old or olderand if I screw it up they alter their routes or movement timeon me and its back to the square one.

Enterance routes I treat the same, Starting from a good 1/2 mile to a mile out, I make sure to have many options and will only enter a bucks core bedding area "fringe" using the best route based on that hunts givenwind..Even if I have to loop 1/2- 1mile around a ridge line I'll do it, before I chance having my enterance routewind blowingright to whereI believe he's bedding. Looping way aroundgotme my buck last fall. If I wouldnt have, my wind would have blown to him for a good 10 minutes before I would have got to my stand/blind.

These days, I hunt a lot of ridge lines coupled with inside edges ie old clear cuts butting up against big timber... Much more than I hunt bottoms, hollows and draws. The winds and thermals are moreconsistenton the tops of ridges inthe mountains. When I find a buck that is using a ridge line during daylight hours I can almost always count on getting a crack at him. If my only choice to see him on the hoof during the hunting hoursis in a draw or hollow then I will hunt him there, butno doubt its much tougher imo. The draws and hollow windsswirl and bank due to structure, changing thermals and prevailing wind currents. Almost all thermals change during prime time hunting hours too!both in the morning and evening while the earth heats up then cools down. Especially in the evenings right before last light the thermals will often change in the final hour of daylight here on these mountains. [:@]

I try to be as clean as I can, minimizing my scent to the point that when a deer gets close to me and works downwind, theyoftenbehave like I am fruther away than what I really am.
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