Landon I think what duke is getting at is the same thing that you and I know is true from hunting with hounds and doing man drives and even just from watching that buck last week..... deer like and prefer to travel into the wind.

So its really not at all as easy as just hunting the downwind side of the bedding area near where you think they are feeding.... because there is food everywhere where we hunt.... deer can go in any direction and find plenty of food.... and pressured as they are..... they are definately going to go into the wind.

I think that is pretty much what duke is getting at.

Na.. Swamp.. that's not what I'm getting at.

I must've really not explained this one correctly enough.

Food is everywhere where any deer hunter lives.. since deer are browsers.

What I'm trying to get at.. is you can use the wind to your advantage more than just walking into the woods and getting into a stand with the wind in your face.

Here's an example.

Picture a fencerow strung out across an CRP field. No other woods around. An older buck will move on the DOWNwind side of that fencerow 99% of the time. Why?

For my theory.. he wants to use at least 2 of his senses in order to survive.

Thus.. gaining the advantage of winding the fencerow (which he can't see readily into) as he walks parallel to it.. and gaining his sense of sight as he scans the CRP.

What I'm talking about is using the wind to your advantage when predicting which trail a buck would take out of his bed.

The same holds true in woods.. swamp.. etc.

I hope this better explains it.

I don't believe whitetail try to travel into the wind. Especially bucks of older age. At least.. not most of the time.

Here's another good example of what I think you're getting at, Duke.

I had the same 3 bucks entering a bean field in the same place.....every time we had a west wind. If I read you right.....they could use their noses to protect them from anything in the thicket (they were downwind of it)....and their eyes to scan the beans.

Word.

If I remember your situation correctly.. those bucks would continue feeding down the beans headed north. Out a certain distance from the woods.

The whole way down they would be downwind of the heavier cover.. predators hide in that cover and deer can't see into that well.. so they'll use their noses to defend themselves on that side.. while using their sight to scan the open terrain.. which no predator could sneak up on.

It's my theory. It can't be proven.. no. But I believe they want to be able to use at least 2 of their senses at all times.

But it does help me choose the trail I want to hunt on that particular hunt. Because of the wind. Savy?

Ok Duke I am with you 100% now. Same reason that deer will bed up high on a ridge during the day and look downhill.... thermals carrying the wind from the top of the hill down and the deer himself looking where is nose cannot detect danger.

I guess this is the same reason we see so many trails parralelling the prevailing downwind side of ag fields? Deer scent checking the field for anything amiss before going out to feed?

Hmmm, surprised to hear Duke say that. Now as impossible as it is to always travel into the wind EXCEPT in the rut, I find quite the opposite in my area. The majority of the time I see the mature deer(bucks and does) travel into the wind. Not always but the majority of the time. I also believe that many times if not most of the time, mature deer will wait until darkness to enter their feeding areas(open areas) if they do move against the wind.

No.. no.. looking into the field with their eyes. They would be scent checking the areas they can't see well into.. like the woods.

I'm really not cutting this clearly am I.

Sorta.. wind would be at a bucks back.. so he can see what he can't smell due to the prevailing wind.

Again.. trying to use at least 2 of his senses to survive.

Here's another thought Duke.....

What do you think about a buck bedding where he's able to SEE his primary scrape(s)? Any experience with this. I got to thinking about this later in the year. He's already certainly in a spot he's comfortable with as it pertains to prevailing winds.....but I'm wondering how often it happens he's able to see those primary scrapes????

I have alot of experience with bucks bedding downwind of their scrapes. I see it all the time. Just saw it again.. about 10 days ago. Great buck bedded downwind of his scrape.. like 70 yards downwind. And then.. the ole boy went straight crosswind.. walked downwind of heavier cover.. with an ability to see over a CRP and cut cornfield.

As far as sight.. I'm not doubting it would happen. But then the buck would have to feel comfortable bedding where he did. REAL comfortable. And seeing a doe is not the same thing as smelling a doe's "potential"... so to speak. Which a veteran of the love game would know. (older buck)

It would be my guess that a younger buck would do this (as they are antsy as haitis with the breeding thing still).. but an older one.. I think would be more apt to getting scent of his scrape rather than visual.

But I never put it past a buck to get what he wants to get.. anyway he can.. when its time to get it. So obviously there would be times a buck would not be able to get scent of a particular scrape without putting himself possibly at risk. Then.. I could see a buck only getting visual of a scrape.