RE: I always hear this story...
 

It depends on the situation. If I am in a spot where the direction of deer travel is highly predictable, and the wind starts blowing that way, I will leave. However 95% of my hunting is done in swirling & ever changing winds and the weather channel is right only about 2% of the time for the places I hunt. I try to heavily rely on being scent free. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

RE: I always hear this story...
 

IMO, when your 15+ foot in the air, wind direction doesn't matter. I highly doubt any deer will bust you that high up.

RE: I always hear this story...
 

Use your wind indicators. The wind could be blowing downward as well especially if it's light. If it's going up then great. If it's blowing down and towards the deer you might never see the deer and not know you got busted!

RE: I always hear this story...
 

Where I hunt ther are no beaten down trails from a paticular bedding area to a feeding area.Deer can come in from any given direction,with that said I do try to leave as little scent as I can and use an earth scent cover scent also try to get 18-20 ft or better in a tree and if the wind is steady deer usually won't bust me.I hate those calm cooling days with no wind and the thermals just take your scent and disperse it all aroung you right at nose level it seems.

RE: I always hear this story...
 

I think we all just play tobig of a role in all the hype any more. I never change stands in the middle of the hunt because I'm confident in the products I use. I've killed 120 and 130 class deer down wind and they never knew what hit him. And sure, theres going to be people hear that say "Well thats why you've never killed a 140+". Maybe thats true but where I hunt killing a 100 inch deer is big. Everyone can do what they want but when I'm on stand I'm a rock

RE: I always hear this story...
 

What?? You've never had a deer wind you on the stand before? You underestimate a
deer's nose and one of its primary defenses.

I think LT has a point - people can go overboard with all the wind talk. It is big, especially for
certain set ups, but not all situations call for getting off a stand. But it is obviously more important
for bowhunting, and I will be giving it more and more attention as I try to become a better bowhunter.

RE: I always hear this story...
 

I wish I could plan my hunts around the wind... The farm Ive hunted my entire life seems to have absolutely no pattern to the movement at all. We have managed the land for a few years, and there are lots of deer, and Ive taken several good bucks, but even though I see deer almost every time I go to a stand, I almost never see two deer traveling the same trail, or direction for that matter. I see lots of deer, and I never know where they will come from or where they are going to go, I just set up where I know there is lots of activity, and hope my scent control practices work some for me, and they dont smell me if they get downwind. I would like to hunt some places where there is a predictable pattern in how the deer move, but my family farm just isnt that way..

RE: I always hear this story...
 

I think they're saying if it shifts and stays that way they'll do it. I will. BUT, I'm not going to jump out a tree with a momentary shift of the wind either. Of course every momentary shift does contaminate to some extent territory I wish it hadn't We have to accept those changes, but a little whiff can put deer on alert. The closer they are the worse it is. I will move if the wind shifts and really blows were I don't want it to. That said, I check the weather every night before a hunt and for the next few days to see what's happeningl. Hell, I watch the weather all fall just about anytime the TV is on. If you know your area you'll know what a certain wind will do for a certain area. Then all you have to do is sort out the thermals and the occasional weird wind, terrain, WRONG WAY winds that occur... and they do. Wind floaters are great.

RE: I always hear this story...
 

When the wind switches to an unfavorible direction, I get down and circle the globe and come in from behind. A lot of the time that take me so long that the wind has switched again, so I just go home and wait for a better day.;)

RE: I always hear this story...
 

There's an article in Bowhunting magazine that talks about this as being 1 of the things in hunting that people rely on way too much and he talks about that if you are in a tree stand your scent is carried above the deer most of the time. If I remember I'll scan the article and post it here tonight.