Well, one good thing about it. If you don't move when the wind changes, odds are that at least you'll have a nice, relaxing day in the woods and not be bothered at all by those pesky deer.

Tree stands are nice, but there is no way to get out of one quietly. This is one excellent point in favor of ground blinds. You can pick up and move when conditions change, without spooking every deer in the county.

Problem is, you do have to have reasonable amount of skill in the art of stealth because they have yet to put 'quiet' in a spray bottle.

Speaking of deer smelling you: How does a deer know the difference between your smell when your in there shed hunting or deer hunting? Or the difference in your smell when your in there planting a food plot or in there hunting over the food plot? or the difference in your smell on a trail when your in there in the off-season scouting and when your in there during the season hunting? Or the difference in your smell when your hanging stands 1-2 months before the season and when your sitting in the stands during the season?

It seems to me that if your in there during the off-season doing all of the things I mentioned then a deer would not necessarily associate your smell with danger. And if you have private land and only bowhunt on it then how does a deer even know it is being hunted? Public land and firearms would certainly clue deer in but on private land that is only bowhunted what tips the deer off that your scent NOW means it is being hunted?

How many deer do you think you might spook while doing this? How much extra scent are you leaving in the woods by now making TWO trips into them?

Who came up with this notion that deer know whether we're hunting, walking or crocheting? They just know we're there.

I also agree with this. But I'd also bet everybody has had deer come in from downwind and NEVER acknowledge our presence.

. To a point. They pattern the humans go into a thicket that deer don't normally scent you and see if their reaction is different.

Totally disagree.

I have done this. They run about 25-30 yards and stop and look. If you don't chase them they eventually just walk off having learned once again that a human is not necessarily a threat.

Not nuch if you hang your stands right. In many cases you don't have to move that far to get the wind in your advantage.

and in what situations would this be a good idea.

Because I have hunted my woods for fifteen years

Pay attention Grass Hopper it is called a sanctuary for a reason. I'm checking on what bucks made it thru the year. If I spook a buck in the spring he has all summer to come back . Never hunt a sanctuary never.

All I'm saying is you can do anything you want but if you think you will kill a mature buck without knowing how the wind affects his life you are mistaken.

After growing up on a farm, and seeing the animals react to me working in the field or whileon heavy machinery as compared to say me trying to be stealthy while in a tree on the edge of a bedding area and getting winded.........the deer do react differently. I do believe deer can be conditioned to react in different ways to different types of disturbances and pressure.

Perfect example............last year on opening day in NY I hunted the Albany County bow hunting only zone in a little 5 acre patch of property between a housing development and apartment complex. This is a very urban area that is well known for massive bucks because of a lack of gun hunters and pressure. That morning I watched a neighbor walking a dog that passed within 40 yards of bedded deer in some thick cover. I observed the deer watch this guy very intently and not move an inch. Later that same morning they got up and walked by me in a single file, I was hunting off the ground with no blind and got picked off attempting to draw on the lead doe and they hightailed it out of there faster than you can imagine.

Well when I'm out there I am a threat.

I have noticed they will change their bedding area's but eventually will come back to them

I never said there was one.

And that qualifies you to know the thought processes going through a deer's mind? KUDOS!! Do you know if the 8=pointer bangin the split-eared doe is wishing he was with someone else?

I never said this. The only mature buck I've killed in 2 seasons didn't know I was there for a reason.