Even still, ROb (and I'm not totally disagreeing with you)....your scent creates a "cone". Sorta like this See below):

I feel like we can even get away with our scent going where we don't want it to.....IF we have the right thermal. You can bet I'll be studying this in the off-season....and going into my woods on occasion to test some winds. I think we can all get away with some "iffy" winds if we play the thermals right. Sometimes it might be as simple as setting up 20-30 yds on the downhill side of a slope to take advantage of the thermal efect. I'm also learning that a "perfect" wind is not always "perfect" if the thermal is pushing it back down.

I found out yesterday that a gulch will do AMAZING things with thermals. That was an eye opener. I'm finding that RARELY (with any elevation in your setup) does your scent travel horizontally with the wind. Knowing what your scent is doing 30-40 yds from you (and making an educated determination beyond that) is imminently as important as picking the right place from the get-go (based on simpy the directional forecast).

Like I said.....it's something I want to learn more about.....but I've rarely had a deer TRULY within my scent cone that hasn't pegged me. In fact....I can't recall a single incident of it occurring.....and I'm as conscious of my scent control as most (probably an understatement).

People smoking on stand and killing deer? I believe it 100%. I can see where this would be DEATH as far as entrance/exit....but for actual hunting....no biggie. I've come full circle on this. If a man KNOWS which way the deer will travel to and from.....I don't know why that man cares too much about scent control (IF he's playing the wind correctly).