The Wind
 

How many of you guys honestly hunt the wind? I remember Gregh made a very detailed post a while back and he hunts the wind religiously.This year I am going to really try to hunt the wind correctly, especially if I am hunting a mature buck. Now, if I'm going to try to harvest a doe one day then I may not pay as much attention to it, still I'm going to give it a lot of thought in my stand locations and think I will see moer mature bucks as well.

My first self-control test will be this weekend. It's opening day here in Virginia and I have a stand hung in a transition zone and staging area (oak flat) that is a pinch point between two and possibly three major bedding areas. I'm hunting a 125" buck named Lefty cause he has a split left G2 and think I have a GREAT chance of not only seeing him but hopefully harvesting him as well. But, to hunt this area I need a SSW wind and this Saturday its calling for a NW wind at 4 mph. Now I know that 4 mph is virtually nothing, but still I don't want to ruin the area on opening day. If things get rough (and I lose my patience) then I may hunt this area with a NW cause the way the land lays a NW or WNW won't hurt me as bad as anything from the east. But anway, its going to be hard not hunting this area that as SO much promise.

Enough of my rambling though! Just excited for Saturday.:D

RE: The Wind
 

I try to hunt the wind as much possible. Sometimes I can't just because I have limited access to lands, so I have to risk it.

RE: The Wind
 

do not hunt a location with bad wind. get a few other sites for different wind directions to hunt even if they are not as good.

RE: The Wind
 

I am very cautious about hunting the wind. My mindset is this - I hunt the wind like I don't do a thing about scent control, but I still take every step possible to keep my scent as close to nothing as I can. I believe the more disciplined I am the better my chances. With this mindset the past 4 or so years I have been more successful than ever before.

RE: The Wind
 

I'm hunting it more this year than ever before. When Rob and Matt were here....we rolled the dice a little....because I was familiar with the property. Since they've left.....I'm not taking any chances. Frank and I hunted a "less than prime" area, this morning....because of a bad wind (from the N). I actually got into a great spot.....but like a dumbass picked the wrong side of the woodlot. I'd never been in there before, though. Live and learn.

We've got a good wind, this afternoon, though. I'm putting Frank where I was Saturday (when I saw 8), and I'm heading into unknown territory.

We'll see.

I'm learning this.....

I'm wondering how many deer that winded me when I used to take chances???? Not only do I have to learn to play the wind......I have to realize there's a strategy to a particular SPOT in that woodlot that raises your odds.

I'm being swayed more and more towards hard-line playing the wind. Before....it didn't matter. If I wanted to hunt....I had to take a chance. Now....I don't have to do that.

RE: The Wind
 

In my honey hole, it's pointless. There are no good winds, there are no bad wins really. Deer can and do come from anywhere. There is no doubt there are deer downwind of me no matter what direction the wind is blowing.

Other spots, yes, I'm very observant of the wind. We have to be.

RE: The Wind
 

You really think a mature doe downwind is any different than a mature buck downwind? LOLGood luck with that theory. :D

RE: The Wind
 

You talk'n to me? (in my best Al Pacino voice) ;)

Can't be, I said nothing of the sort.

RE: The Wind
 

You wanna see an area go "cold" quickly? Try NOT playing the wind.

We've got a saying in corporate America.... "Let me know how that works out for ya!" ;)

RE: The Wind
 

did you read the original post? ;)

RE: The Wind
 

Kanga and I did our best to "hunt the wind" this past weekend. Its tough to do when winds are dead calm when you get out in the morning and then start kicking up and swirling 1/2 hour after daybreak. I got out of my best stand opening morning because of the swirling winds and moved. I didn't want to mess that spot up. Saturday evening was more of the same. Winds from any direction at any time. I was busted twice in a ground blind. Once by a couple of does and once by a pack of feral hogs. And that was with doing my best at scent control.

RE: The Wind
 

From what I read, I'd say he means that in hunting a particular buck in a particular stand where tendencies and behavioral characteristics are known from scouting as opposed to hunting with the intention of balancing the herd or putting meat on the table in taking a doe. In knowing RockinChair and reading his other posts, I'd say he definitely knows the difference. I believe he also once quoted a book saying that "any hunter worth his salt knows its harder to harvest a mature doe than a young ignorant buck."

RE: The Wind
 

Hell no, Matt. Does have ONE thing that makes them easier to kill than bucks.

Fawns.

RE: The Wind
 

That's kind of my deal. I have some locations where deer can and will come from any direction. It bothers the heck out of me really, but there's not a lot I can do about it. The stand locations are awesome but I know there is a good chance of deer being downwind of me (good chance of being upwind at the same time). The winds are both good and bad. Most other stands I simply won't hunt unless the wind is perfect. I vary all my other stands so I will always have a "good stand" to sit in no matter what the wind direction is. You have to pay attention to the wind.

RE: The Wind
 

I think a lot of people talk a big game about "playing the wind" just like they do in many other aspects of hunting. Playing the wind is a lot harder to do than most people think. That being said, I have a ways to go to become good at playing the wind.

RE: The Wind
 

Me to Brett, I play it the best that I can, I have stands for all winds butthe deer travle were they want. Nothing I can do about it.

RE: The Wind
 

I play the wind pretty religously.

RE: The Wind
 

I've got multiple stands set up for all the eight different wind directions. Trial and error over the years has taught me that it is better to hunt a marginable stand that is wind appropriate rather than ruining a better area for days by trying to "chance it."

However, through this same trial and error, I have learned that two of my stands, due to their height, topography, and wind currents defy some preconceived notions as to how the wind effects deer from these locations.

Ground hunting is always tougher from a scent detection perspective, but I also have some areas in which ground hunting is the only viable option.

Hunting off the ground, as most people do,does more for scent control than all the products combined that are marketed for such.

RE: The Wind
 

We're already having to change up our afternoon spots. I, for one, am determined not to bugger up a spot....no matter how goodit's produced in the past.

We'll take our chances in a lesser known area. Having 100 acres where anything N kills you.....and having 250 acres where you can play the wind to your advantage......is the difference between night and day.

I'm betting my journal proves that paying the wind IS the right call.

RE: The Wind
 

I play the wind 100% of the time.... I've got dozens and dozens of spots to hunt and I will only hunt them under perfect wind conditions... Its just one of the variables I like to take out of the equation.

RE: The Wind
 

Rob, this sounds like my hunting spot to a T, I never know where a deer is going to come from. I have always wondered how a guy is suppose to hunt a spot like this. I was in a spot just last night like this. I was on the edge of a bean field in a strip of woods about 15 yards wide. I was facing away from the beans, looking out over a CRP field, because they usually walk the edge of this woods, I was facing North, and I had a South wind at about 4 MPH, and wouldnt you know it, I had a doe come right down the edge of the beans not 5 yards out. When she got to the spot where my scent was blowing out over the beans, she turned and bolted baack the direction she came from.[:@]

RE: The Wind
 

Not sure howI could misinterpret this statement.......
Sounds more to me like he's going to give the wind consideration for bucks....but if it's a doe he's after he'll loosen up his convictions a bit. ;)
That's a mistake.

RE: The Wind
 

I play the wind 100% of the time. I am constantly checking the hourly forecasts for the predicted winds the day i'm going to hunt.....and if I get in a stand and the wind switches, swirls, or wavers-I'm Gone! Does no good to sit there...if you don't have a stand, scout some more on the bad wind days to try to find some extra spots. Good luck!

RE: The Wind
 

Trying to set up for a particular wind direction is fairly useless in many of the areas I hunt because as Rob mentioned deer can and do come from multiple directions so no one wind direction is perfect. However, I always try to set up so that I can play the odds and not have a WRONG wind.

For example, I was hunting a pinch point in MD 2 weekends ago. In the spot we were in the deer could come from behind us or out in front of us and to our right from the strip we were hunting. They could come to the left too, but there was not a lot of cover and it was not a likely route of travel. While on stand the wind direction changed 3 times, but not one of those times was it dead wrong and blowing right to the deer. Careful stand selection can make a big difference (I did not set up that stand BTW, so kudos to PABuckbuster12).

RE: The Wind
 

I'm one of those bow hunters also that will not hunt an area If the wind Is questionable or bad. There's always another day. If your hunting a particular nice buck and you want him bad enough, you better play by his rules!!

RE: The Wind
 

I try to hunt the wind as best I can. I have VERY few places that give me only one direction for the deer to come from. I care more to play the wind for not blowing to bedding areas more than I do to just blowing towards where a deer can come into range. UNLESS I AM ON THE GROUND. I’ve killed too many deer close & directly down wind while out of a tree to worry about it in those cases.
When you factor in time afield & swirling winds in many of my spots, I can’t climb down out of a tree every time the wind goes wrong. I’d rarely get any time to hunt. This is why I put so much effort into scent control and hoping deer will think I am much farther away than I actually am.

RE: The Wind
 

I really don't/can't play the wind. I have limited places to hunt, with only a few stands to choose from and a predominant wind from the west. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of options so I make do with what I have even if the wind is unfavorable.

RE: The Wind
 

Theoretically (sp?) yes, but it's like other have mentioned before, that in many areas its useless to hunt with wind cause deer come and go from every direction. Which is the case when I hunt for does. There are several blinds and stands on our property where there is no telling where the deer will come from, and these stands and blinds are where we do the majority of our doe hunting.

RE: The Wind
 

Same here. I just try to control scent the best I can. I think I'm going into my third year without being 'busted' by a deer. I'm starting to get more confident.

RE: The Wind
 

Ahhhh but you have been busted, you just didn't know it!;) You were busted by those deer you didnt see.

By I get what you are saying and am in the same boat. Last year I didnt have deer wind me or bust me out while I could see them. atleast not to my knowledge.

RE: The Wind
 

I absolutely hunt the wind or wont hunt a spot these days. If the wind isn't right then I dont go in, especially for whitetails. With elk and bears I am almost always on the ground and have the freedom to move aroundtakingwhat the wind at an exact locationgives me. Even with the wind right I take extreme scent minimization precautions,but still never substitute it for the wind. Winds swirl even in distinct prevailing winds when hunting mountains and canyons.Flat out, nothing beats having the wind in your favor. Being strict about the wind direction hasenabled meto hunt areas repeatedlywhich I need too in big woods country to get an opportunity on animals that truely do "filter" or use areas instead of holding to exact trails patterns.

RE: The Wind
 

Ahhhh but you have been busted, you just didn't know it!;) You were busted by those deer you didnt see.

By I get what you are saying and am in the same boat. Last year I didnt have deer wind me or bust me out while I could see them. atleast not to my knowledge.
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Agreed.:eek: Point made...so like those days I didn't see a deer but didn't hear one blow or take off, doesn't mean I wasn't busted.