RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Here ya's go. The two read dots are set's of stands. The green is my food plot within the CRP. The fields are all corn or peas depending. The two woodlots joined by the hedgerow with the smaller being the thick, thick, thick bedding area. Last years buck came from the woods at the food plot stand, called him out and layed him down.

The hedge row is 20 yards wide with a thicket/crp overgrown with shrubs on the opposite side.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I'm not much for reading maps but that whole area reeks of good looking places to kill deer.

There are very few perfect spots to hunt. Sometimes you just have to roll the dice when playing the wind game. good luck this season!

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I don't know if it's possible, but for starters I'd look at the white spot on the left with a SE wind and the white spot on the right with a NE wind. I know that the easterly wind directions are rather rare, but that spot on the right with a NE wind would have you covering two funnels at once. Why not double your fun! [:-]

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

NE wind would have the wind blowing straight into the funnel to the south.:D

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Greg, this is greaat stuff ......

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Greg, that white dot on the right used to be one spot, years sitting in that white spot and watching deer walk that field moved me to the edge of the field. Perfect thinking and yes, that spot will still produce, several of the bucks I've taken in that field came from that white spot. It's damn good.

The white spot on the left is not a choice. Exactly where that is there are zero trees for a treestand. It's all scrub brush and believe me, if there was a spot for a treestand, I'd have it there already. I've been watching some Pin Oaks that are almost tall enough/large enough for a stand. ;) The area surrounding that left spot is thicker than thick. I had a stand just on the other side of the hedge row, opposite end from that white dot and the brush grew up to the point I cannot even shoot into it anymore. I've talked about taking a dozer in there and creating a "pond" style food plot. It would be covered by all sides for perfect security and still allow me shooting. I think ALL the deer would feel comfortable there during daylight. They may ever bed in it.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

From the white spot it would be blowing into the CRP/Food plot.

Of course you'd want to modify your stand location to your advantage.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Your right Greg, but it's close enough that I would not hunt it with out some scent control,if you know what I mean.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Rob is a very good hunter, if there is a"t" to crossed or "i" to be dotedI'm sure it has been done.

I would say the windcomes fromthisdirection 80% of the time, just by guessing and never setting foot on Robs land, I would hunt here, depending on wind direction.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Can you hunt the red x ? I think it could be a good travel route for bucks during the rut

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Predominant wind.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Lots of good info. I don't use any store bought sent killing products either. I do however smash hedge apples with my rubber boots and with a gloved hand rub the juices all over my boots. This really seems to cover my trail to and from the stands. I won't hunt a stand if the wind isn't totally in my favor period. If the wind switchesI either move or leave. Lastly, get off them field edges guys and get back in the timber where the deer live. You will notice movement every few hours not just that magic hour in the morning and evening.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Just curious Rob, is there any thing wrong with a stand here or food plot here?

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I don't want to high jack Greg's thread but I did have a stand there in a white pine. It over looks a bean/corn field and to the N/E there is a recreation area where people tend to walk and play frisbee golf. I've taken my best buck to date out of that stand as well as the coyote I have mounted. It's too thick to shoot there now and that's where I was talking about dozing a food plot.

Here is a couple pics from that exact spot.



This photo below shows the overgrown field. Today, deer walk under all that vegitation and you cannot shoot into it.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Great advice about the degrees and such....and you are right that even if you do use scent killer, deer can and will detect you if the wind is just perfect for them, but I have had plenty of deer directly down wind of me, and they never detected me. So tosay it doesn't work at allwould be false.

I guess I may do it different if I had theproblem of picking stand #1-10 based on the wind, but 95% of us hereare'nt that fortunate.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I agree with most of what you have to say but for a few dollars a bottle I know it doesn't hurt to spray down before and once you get to the stand.

I ALWAYS play the wind but during the rut bucks can do strange things and come from strange places. I think it is at these times the little extra (spraying with scent killer) may give you that extra edge you may need.

My protocol is very specific. I shower before every hunt. My clothes are washed in scent away laundry detergent dried and put directly in scent bags and then into rubber made containers. From there it goes directly into my 8x10 shed that holdsonly my hunting clothes and supplies. I wear scent-loc clothing, usually 2 layers. I never wear my hunting clothes until I get where I hunt and I take it off and put all my hunting clothes back into the scent bag at my vehicle before I climb back in it. If its cold I wear only what I need to the stand or somewhere close to my stand and put on my cold weather gear to avoid sweating. I always spray down the outside of my clothes with scent killer before and once I get to my stand. I only wear my first layer or base layer once before I wash it because this is the layer that gathers the sweat. I have various different first layers that I wear so I'm not doing laundry every day. Am I anal about scent control? YES! But I'll always go the extra mile when it comes to scent control.

One of the biggest things I've noticed is the smell of my rubber boots inside. I put scent away powder insideand then spray the inside down with some type of scent killer. I really soak them and then put them on my boot drier. I do this after every other hunt. It's made a world of difference.

Am Ivery specificabout scent control? YES! But I'll always go the extra mile when it comes to scent control.

But no matter what I do, I ALWAYS, ALWAYSplay the wind.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Interesting.

I have always been an "impact" hunter. I hate making impact. I hunt the edges of almost every place I hunt. It is my opinion that if I hunt there, and have the wind flowing into the field, I will spook less deer, see more,, and eat better. I have found that the low impact helps with the buck sightings.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Sure, buttypically abuck that's been called will use the wind to find and see the source. If you know the routes and the times they use them then I'd say your good to go. If you call them, they'll be down wind coming in.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

OK. but typically the number of bucks I call make up less than 5% of the bucks I shoot.

A lot of the bucks I call are close enough that they come straight in rather than circle down wind.

Did you know that a lot of bucks travel with the wind at their backs and use their sight to see where their going?

Surely you don't think that I make this stuff up in order to sound cool, do you!!??

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Rob i HAD a very similar place as yours but mine was in the woods. it has since been mined out [:@]I called it the wagon wheel. I/my standwas the hub and the deer/bucks came in on the spokes so to speak. It was one of those places that you just never knew where they would come from. Believe it or not that sight was where my user name came from (bloodcreek/crick) is what i called the place.

No you couldn't block it. To my east, upwind is my food plot in amoungst a crp field that is roughly 80 yards wide. Beyond that, corn or beans depending on the year. Behind me is the main woodlot(downwind) but I'm in the corner. Years (25) of watching and patterning these deer have me in the tree I'm in and placed my plot where it's placed. The hedge row that joins the two woodlots (the other being small and the beddding area which I also have a stand up against which would be the far end of the funnel and I hunt it when the winds right BUT, the deer come from 360 degrees around you). The entire funnel (small woodlots, corn/beans, hedgerow emcompasses 100's of yards in reality. The deer focus/funnel down the CRP that my stand overlooks BUT, again the deer can and do come/go from any directions at any given time. The predominant wind direction comes from west/ southwest and blows my scent through the corner of the woodlot and out over a back corn/bean field from which the deer could come from. Mostly they come from/to the bedding area to my right/ N/W.

I think this stand comes down to what Greg said.

The 3.5 year old I put in the 04 contest came from that back cornfield. I heard him walking in the woodlot behind me, directly down wind. I called him into the crp field and shot him. I've had them come from the, from my left, from my right, from downwind and upwind. They wonder through that exact area thusly why the stand hangs where it does. Scent control is a must for this stand IMO.

I'll try to get an aerial up to show the example.
[/quote]

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Well, you looked pretty cool in your old avatar wearing those shades:D

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I think you got the point I was trying to make Gri22ly! Obviously a person is going to have multiple stands out in there woods if there woods can permit it.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

And I have had plenty of deer directly downwind of me and they never detected me when I haven't used anything for scent control. Why? Wind thermals, topography, height your in the tree, young deer.

Either that or I just don't stink as much as the rest of you.;)

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Good info, I didn't even know we had access to that kind of info (degrees of wind).... I will definitely start using that tip!

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

:DThis says it all pal.
Side not I personally decide which stand once I am at the property I hunt based on the wind when I arrive.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I wish I had large parcels that I could move around in when the wind wasn't exactly right for a particular stand. I've hunted Rob's spots and had deer come from two totally separate directions when i was sitting in the stand by his food plot.

But a man hunting a small parcel.......IMO doesn't have the luxury of being able to move around as much as some. This thread is a little surprising in that sense.

Someone had a wonderful point way back on page 1. What about getting to and from your stands? If you're hunting small acreages......you're GONNA have to take some liberties.....sometimes.....or you're gonna have to be disciplined enough to stay out. One or the other......there isn't a choice. I've got numerous stand locations....because I have plenty of climb-able trees (to hunt the fringes). Of the +/- 100 acres I hunt, though....I have 6-7 REALLY good stand sites, though.....that can be accessed/hunted with a favorable wind. I would imagine that number decreases as the number of hunt-able acres does, though.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Some times the winds just demand that we go fishing.;)

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I spray religiously before and whilst Im in the stand. Wind is important, but if it starts swirling and changing, what am I gonna do?? So I spray, what's it gonna hurt. I have to ask Greg with all due respect, why not spray down?? What could possibly be the harm in it??

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

What makes you think this spray works any better than say Scent- Loc?[:-]

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Because it will take gasoline smell off your hands or cigarette smoke out of a jacket or onion off your skin etc.. you honestly think it does nothing?

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Comparing what my nose can detect to what a deer can smell is like comparing road kill to a T bone. It just doesn't wash to me.
In my mind as long as you are breathing air you are stinking the place up.
If you care to test the effectiveness of this spray,here's how I did it.
I hunt birds with a golden retriver he has a pretty good nose. If you walk into the woods and pick up a random stick and throw it he will find it in very short order by the scent thatI left on it in the second or twoI held it before throwing it.
Take another stick pick it up spray it all you want and I'll bet dollars to donuts he finds it with very little trouble. Been there done that.[:-]
It might fool you but just like fishing lures,they don't have tocatch fish just fishermen.;)

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I never said that scent killers or scent blocking clothing hurt. One absolute positive about them is that they will boost your confidence. Confidence is an important part of success.

What I said was....... No matter what you do, if the wind is perfect for the deer, they'll still smell you.

I have nothing against these products, I just don't use them. Instead, I hunt a stand location with a wind that makes it impossible for them to detect me. I guess I'm a throw back from the olden days, before the advent of these products, and just learned how to hunt deer without them.

If I remember correctly, I believe that Shed33 sent me a scent killing product as part of my prize for winning the big buck contest. I will try it and see what I think. Who knows?? Maybe I'll become an outspoken advocate for these products once I see the dramatic increase in my success!!

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

But you don't get the picture.

If it works some, that's good enough for me. Sure I still have to breath but I'm certainly reducing some scent and at times, that's just enough. The deer I hunt, most deer accept SOME human odor or they'd die running as it's in the air is it not, especially around any urban setting. The deer may still wind me but not think I'm close enough to be danger.

It's the same for us, if you have a faint wiff of skunk, you think oh okay, skunk but if it hits you and makes your eyes water you start looking around for the skunk knowing danger is near. No different to a whitetail.

I don't care what any of you say, I've seen what I've seen and a couple dollars a year won't break me.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I agree with this ..... Greg stated that he doesn't touch anything going into his stand .... I have practiced that for many years .... I would see guys all juiced up with their scentloc on and they walk in with bare hands, pushing branches away!!! That is a no no .... so here's my point ... if it helps a little .... then it's worth it! If it can removde the smell of gas from your hands, and it can, it will WITHOUT A DOUBT remove at the very least, SOME of the odor left by you when you walk and sit in your stand.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Bawanajim, I didn't say that they were better than scent lok, never even mentioned scent lok. I agree with you Greg that they will smell you no matter what if the wind is in their favor. I just use it b/c it does cut down on my scent. and it makes me feel better:D

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I'm with Greg on this if you feel it helps and adds to your confidence then use it. I just don't feel its worth me carrying the bottle around.
If a deer is within twenty yards of you and gets the mildest whiff of man scent he will be gone before you can see his shadow disappear.[:-]

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

That's where I disagree, the deer may or may not be gone. That's where I've had deer wind me, become alert but not blow and go and that's the difference

Zero scent control = blow and go

Some scent control just may be enough to loose an arrow and that's good enough for me.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Jim:

If that deer smells you and KNOWS you're 20yds away......I agree.

If he thinks you're 1/4 mi. away......but you're really only 20yds away.....then the $9 I spent for the season's worth of e3 just paid off huge.

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

I agree with Rob 100% . Bawanajim, do you seriously not think it works at all. You don't think it cuts down on scent/? I mean it is impossible to be totally scent free, but if you guys hunt the wind and use no cover scent what do you do if the wind changes and/or starts to swirl?? is your hunt done?

RE: How I hunt the wind
 

Worst case scenario. What is the downside to using these products?

Well for me, it isn't the money, but the annoyance and time involved in spraying everything down.

Granted, if I thought it was truly effective, it would be time well spent, but since my observations when using the product as compared to my observations without the use of the product is negligible, I don't want to waste that extra 5 minutes spraying down.

Call me lazy, but I am already trying to squeeze every minute I can get into the woods between work and family obligations, and I would rather spend that time getting in to my stand that much earlier, albeit only minutes.

To me, especially in the afternoon on weekdayswhen I am barely getting in on time to begin with, a few extra minutes earlier to the stand have a much bigger positive impact on successthan spraying down with a product that is marginable at best.

I like to keep things simple. I clear trails pre-season for easy entry/exit and to minimize the scent left behind. Other than that, I just liketo grab my bow, headlight, and bow rope and go hunt.