Great question. What I try to do is NOT hunt if my scent would be blowing towards the bedding area. I'll take a chance if it might be blowing towrds "a" direction the could come from
I agree 100 percent. Alot of my stand are setup according to where their bedding areas are and the trails that come from there. I have had deer come from about every direction, including many from down wind, and not smell me. Thermals may be to credit for that some of the time, but I have had situations where I KNOW the wind was blowing toward them and they could definitely smell me. I think the key here depends on the property you hunt. Alot of the places I hunt are in city limits (i.e. 30-100 acres) where deer are used to human scent. In big woods, scent control and wind is more important of a factor.