I personally think one of the most over looked aspects of mature whitetails is how they use the wind to their advantage.....

For some of you that have consistently killed mature deer, I'd like to get a discussion started on how mature deer use the wind to:

-Choose where they bed on any given day
-Which direction they will take to leave their beds
-How they select which feeding areas to go to
-etc.....


I remember way back when on "Bowhunting October Whitetails" Barry Wensel showed an illustration that really hit home for me.... He basically stated that when the bucks did not have the wind in their face, they would typically take a route through more open timber that would allow them to more fully use their eyes to detect danger.... As always location and habitat play a large role in movement, but that is still pretty interesting stuff if you apply it to other scenarios....

I've also read that in big woods environments where deer have natural predators, bucks will travel quartering with the wind so as to smell any predator trying to sneak up behind them and using their eyes to scan a head....

Big buck slayer and my new personal hero , Dan Infalt, has stated that mature bucks tend to leave their bedding area earlier if they have the wind in their favor......Dan's record speaks for itself....

Sure, during the rut anything can happen and bucks will and do travel every direction known to man...... We bowhunters as a group are doing a terrible job of killing mature deer outside of that magical 3 week window in November....

Perhaps having the wind in your face isn't such a great idea?....

I plan to test several theories this season and see how they pan out.....

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I'm no fanatic when it comes to hunting the wind.....at all. The only thing I'll do now that I didn't used to......is stay away from an area when I know the wind is blowing into their preferred bedding areas. Other than that.....I can just about assure you that I've killed more deer when they came from a direction I wasn't expecting. Setting up for those situations (i.e. "playing the wind") would have proven to be a negative for THOSE hunts (I suppose?). Who knows?

When I get good enough....or they get stupid enough to come from the same direction, every time....I'll change my outlook on this. Until then.....I'll just use my noggin (which is bigger than theirs) and keep doing what I've been doing.

Bigger isnt always better

I always play the wind, but on several instances like GMMAT stated, I was totally caught off guard by where he showed up from. Which is the reason I pay major attention to personal scent cover/blocker etc.

my .02

Well.......based on the views vs responses I see this is a topic not many guys have spent a lot of time pondering or considering....

Anyone?

DC,

As you well know, I am no expert but here some observations that I have made. In the rolling hills, where I sometimes hunt, the bucks will often bed, just of to the side of the ridge tops with the wind at their backs usually near the bottom of the ridge. I assume this is because they can see anything coming from in front of them and smell anything coming from behind them. How, they leave I think varies greatly from buck to buck and time of year. I have noticed that when hunting food sources that bucks often won't enter the openings during daylight on the days that the wind is not in their favor. I have also noticed that bucks when following does will not always follow directly behind her but rather follow 15-50 yards downwind of her if they have a crosswind. I think a lot of what they instinctively do goes out the window when the does get hot and that's why so many more are killed during this period. I don't believe that mature bucks will always travel with their nose in the wind because I have seen that contradicted in the woods on too many occaisions. But I do believe that they are more alert and more nervous/cautious when they aren't traveling with their nose in the wind. I believe Infalt is correct about mature bucks not leaving the bedding area as early when the wind isn't in their favor, but I think they will still travel to the same places whether the wind is in their favor or not. They just arive later and are more cautious getting their. JMO's

Ahhh Grasshopper, you shall learn. Someday some ole buck is going to throw up his head and turn tail. You'll wonder what went wrong. My brain is bigger than his. If the wind were painted you'd probably find out you missed a thermal or something You go right ahead and ignore the wind and use your, they always come from this way method. You'll learn unless you're hunting pets in cages.

I've known of this for several years. In fact the last 3 of the last 5 buck kills I have are while hunting "wrong" winds according to most hunters. Crosswinds.

I learned along time ago (I keep a journal) that older whitetail use their senses as a whole to their advantage whenever they can.. in particular the sense of smell and sight. And they want to use both.

I've learned to hunt the wind thats not quite right for me.. but not quite right for him either. And got on some decent bucks with it.

But.. to explain this in writing would be like typing an encyclopedia.

All I can truly say is.. natural deer movement has wind coming off a deers back so it can see whats in front of it nearly all the time.. But.. with.. a big but.. understand that when a whitetail is specifically headed into a particular spot (whether food or bed) it will travel with the wind at its nose. Checking the specific area. Breeding season can be another challenge all together.

Now.. here in is the problem.. all the variables.. like time of year.. pressure deer receives by humans (a really big one).. thermals.. foliage.. whether the trail is in the middle of the woods or on an edge.. etc etc etc. This is where the deeper explanations are needed.

As far as bedding. Yes.. a deer does tend to bed with the wind at its back.. so it can see. But deer do have muscles that ache too.. and need to stretch. And I've seen plenty give into the urge and about face that position giving them great disadvantage and the hunter the next move.

So in conclusion.. a deer who wants to get somewhere specifically will find a way to get there.

Which means.. that in this post.. theirs no good info.

Maybe I'll kill one, one day, David (Nice dig on the pets, too. Your true, derogatory colors are flying high).