Wind in Your Face Always?
 

This thread stems from some points made in another recent one concerning hunting the wind.

In your experience with "mature" bucks, are they more prone to keeping the thick stuff(bedding) and wind at their back, side, or quartering to there nose, when heading into openings? (ie., fields, open woods, etc.)

Thanks, LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

LT...Do what you want, here.....but if the data people give you are from rutting bucks.....I don't know what you're gonna learn from it.

Pre-rut....I'd say they enter field/open woods with the wind at their backs....if this is an area they plan to stay in and feed.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I would agree with this statement. Look for them feeling more secure feeding on the downwind side of a timbered area which in most cases would entail them traveling with the wind at their back or crosswind to access these areas. I would think that any place they feel vulnerable, they will have the wind at their benefit.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I must pose the question (to add to previous question), "How do rutting "mature" bucks cruise these areas?"

Do they always keep the wind to there nose while rutting? Do they keep wind to their nose while walking out of thick cover into an opening while cruising for does? I know rutting bucks just like early fall bucks will leave bedding on certain trails, but when the rut kicks in, do they leave these beds (no matter which way they are going, whether it be cruising for does or to feed) with the wind at their back or nose? Which is more likely in your experience?

Thanks, LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I can only give you examples of the ones (mature bucks)I've encountered......which would be 5 in 4 seasons.

Buck No. 1 - Willy-nilly ....as he was chasing every time I encountered him....paying no attention to the wind (day after t-giivng...'06 was 1st encounter.......12/9/06 was the second. He was rutting on both occasions). I had 2 encounters with him....and took him on the second encounter.

Buck No. 2 - I had SEVERAL encounters with him. On the first occasion....he acted as I described, earlier. He came into an open field with the wind at his back (thick stuff behind him....upwind). Second encounter.....same thing. Third encounter.....he was on the downwind side of a doe bedding area...scent-checking the area. Encounter No. 4.....he came from dead downwind of me....but honestly the wind had JUST taken a shift. Otherwise....he'd have entered the staging area just like I described above.....coming from the thick stuff to an open area (same staging area as above) with the wind at his back. I killed him 30 seconds, later.

Buck No. 3 - He was chasing does....and this buck (on this occasion) was coming from the thick stuff with the wond in his face. He DID run ALL OVER THE PLACE, though......wind in his face and at his back. He was in the chasing phase......and I don't think he cared one bit what the wind was doing. Date was 10/23. I saw him again on 11/5.....a mile away from the 1st encounter. This time he was chasing.....and he was all over the woodlot, willy-nilly. He was already in the open when I spotted him. I saw him again on 11/21/08 (when iamyourhuck was here) about 40yds from where I'd seen him the first time. No does present....and he was coming out of the thick stuff into a quartering-to wind. I thought I had the really thick stuff where he couldn't get downwind of me. I was wrong.;)

Buck No. 4 - He came from the thick stuff on 10/31/08 with the wind at his back......dogging a doe. I shot him 30 seconds later.

Buck No. 5 - Thanksgiving day.....only time I saw him. He came from the open stuff towards the thick bedding area....with the wind in his face (thoughI believe this would also reinforce what I was saying, earlier). He was dogging a doe.....but was also on the downwind side of their bedding area.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

So, a "mature" buck really has no care for wind direction during the rut, unless scent-checking for does? I find this hard to believe/understand. A deer (buck) no doubt gets careless (for lack of a better term) during the chase and rut, being the reason a higher percentage of good bucks are taken during the rut. Yet, people here continue to harp on using the wind. I have about come to the conclusion that I would "always" rather hunt where the buck/deer will have a wind quartering to their nose rather than straight at them or straight behind them. Is my logic screwed up in thinking this way?

LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I feel like I just tackled this one with my opinion the other day.

In my experienece.. whitetail bucks try as much as possible to use at least 2 of their senses when moving.. bedding.. feeding.

I usually observe them keeping wind blowing from heavier cover towards the back.. or crosswind towards their back while they are able to see what the dangers are ahead. Using both senses to locate danger.

But its not always true. Factors like timing of the year (rut) and of course human pressure seem to be the largest factors I notice of them moving differently.

But it is my belief they want to use at least 2 of their better senses.. like the nose with the sight.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

IMO....yes.

Buck leaves a bedding area/thicket.....with the wind at his back. He can now wind-check the danger area (where he just came from) as he feeds.......and use his eyes and ears to protect him in the open area in front of him.

Your way of thinking.....he's unprotected in the area where he just came from.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

LT I have nothing to add here, but I was always taught that deer always walk with the wind in their face....after hunting for 20 yrs I found that they will walk with the wind blowing in their face, behind them, sideways, upside, etc...

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Please expound further on this according to your experience. I hunt land that is pretty much pressured from all 4 sides from mid Oct. to late Jan. What do the deer do differently under human pressure "regarding the wind"? I believe bucks are primarily using sight during the rut to pick up danger where I hunt, and scent for does. Is this your experience as well?

Thanks, LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

No, no Jeff. Think of hunting the angling wind. Just say the buck is coming from bedding to open area from the east. Wind at his back will be blowing west. Correct? Ok, now, naturally I would not want to be ahead of him where he can see me, nor do I want to be behind him where he can wind me. I have a couple choices left (as far as wind direction goes). I do not want to be where he has the advantage, so I set up either directly to the North or South. Right? Wrong. I think you would be better off getting set up to the South-West, because (where I hunt, and maybe deer know this from experience, lol) the wind is predominantly from the North/North-East. So if the wind changes from East to North-East during a hunt (Quartering to the deer's nose), I am still ok in the SW setup. From my experience (again, where I hunt), if that East wind decides to change directions during a hunt, guess what, it becomes NE. If for some reason the wind changes to NW, guess what, I am still downwind. If it changes to N wind, I am downwind. The only directions left are W, SW, S, and SE. I would dare to say that unless a front of some kind were blowing in, the wind will not go from North to W, SW, S, or SE. (Swirls? maybe.)

See what I am getting at on letting the deer have the wind quartering to for the setup? Am I making sense?

LT

LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

sorry....correct.

But of course you want to be upwind of him.....always. Him seeing you is the least of your worries.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Um, is upwind of a deer where you want to be? For real? I thought downwind is where scent blows "to" , not "from".

Um, him seeing you may be a bigger deal than you (and some others) think. Just think back at all the times deer have not seen you, and compare that to, oh, let's say, how many times you never saw them. ( I know, I know, we can not prove the deer was there/or not) Makes me wonder every time I move a muscle on stand, whether 20 feet up or not.

LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Misspoke....of course you want to be downwind.

But what good does stand placement do if you think you're gonna get busted via sight? Is there EVER a good spot to set up, then?

I'll take my chances with his eyes before I will his nose.

That's all I'm saying.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Yes. Hidden from view and high.[8D]

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I have read a lot about how deer use the wind to move. I believe most of it to be total BS. If a buck is at point "A" and wants to check for does at point "B" he goes there. Regaurdless of the wind direction. What I have noticed is the buck will slide over to the down wind side of a doe area to check for hot does. His nose will tell him a lot quicker weather there is a hot doe there than him weaving around trying to "look" for does. Deer also use the wind when bedding. They like to circle a bed area before bedding. They will bed so they can ues both thier eyes and nose to detect danger. I think they also do this so if something is following their scent trail they can spot them before they are in danger. The "mature " bucks I have seen traveling never conformed to any wind direction theory I have ever read. Food for thought: A buck leaves his bedding area and heads west, into a west wind,because " bucks always travel into the wind". he travels a westerly direction all night. Morning is coming soon and he wants to return to his bedding area. The wind direction hasn't changed. Does he walk all the way around the earth to get back to his bedding area while still walking into the wind?

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

You keep doing it your way, LT.....if you think not being upwind is the place to be. I'll take my chances with his eyes. I won't ^$(#^ with his nose.:)

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

No, no, no Jeff. I never said I would take a chance with his nose. I did say I will be "high and hidden" as well, though.

I may not know everything about deer, but I do know their senses of smell and sight are 2 key defenses. I will not rely on beating one, without beating the other.

Again, I never want to be upwind of a deer if I can help it. just me I guess.[8D]



LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I've gotta lay off the vodka.

Downwind is correct. I want him coming in from upwind of me.

Stand/hunter concealment I always figured was a "given". I don't overthink that. Of the mature bucks I've taken.....THE DAY I TOOK THEM......none saw me.;)

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Yeah, that stuff "had" that effect on me when I used to abuse it.[8D]

As far as concealment goes, I have learned a few lessons from bucks in the past few years. What we see as concealed, may not always be concealed to the deer's "6th sense". I believe their peripheral vision saves a lot of their lives. jmho

I would really like to hear some other opinions/experiences on this subject. Thanks, Magicman, that was food for thought, no doubt.

LT

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

LOL, LT....

Lisa's in IN, tonight....and I'm on drink No. 1.:D

I've had a fifth of Absloute in the freezer since last Christmas.

I guess I should have just answered "Yes" to your thread header question.

Good luck;)

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I can go on this subject for hours.

But the lord blessed me with two left fingers. I say fingers.. since its still how I type after all these years.[&:][>:]

Human pressure causes many factors to a bucks movement.. from what I've seen.

I once saw a buck dodge a old stand site of mine by going around it and getting downwind of it by more than 100 yards. And that stand hadn't been in that tree all year. But he seemed to know its place pretty well. And its possible I'm just over-using my observation skills.. but judging by his reactions and cautious behavior.. I think not. He knew it was once there.

Same thing when I see an older buck get into a heavy yote bedding area. They almost always go downwind of them to check them as well. Wind to the face.

What I'm saying is predator pressure of any kind tends to cause a more wind in the face approach to a certain area.. or at least through it. But again.. this is almost always in heavier cover.

Mind you.. these are older whitetail.. all at or above 3 or more years.

I hope this helps answer your Q.. LT.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

I think a problem some hunters have is they are expecting the same deer they see in the evening to return the very next morning using the same path. I don't pretend to know where everyone hunts but in my area its just not so most of the time. Example: unless its the peak rut I rarely see the same mature buck entering a feeding area in the afternoon/evening and returning the same route the next morning. Deer do have more than one bedding area!

Regarding the wind.....they can't always keep the wind in their face, many times its a crosswind but they will still try to use that to the best of their ability along with other senses. Regarding using their eyes, they do but deer do not have great eyesight, especially looking straight ahead.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

Dan Infalt, who's trophy room is unsurpassed my most, and Myles Kellar, who's trophy room is unsurpassed by anyone alive, both have stated that the very best scenario to killing mature bucks is using the wind to trick the buck. In other words, you want the buck to THINK he has the wind in his favor. Basically they felt most mature bucks left the bedding areas with the wind in their face, or at the very least quartering into their face.

Dan Infalt stated that if the buck wants to go to point B but the wind is not in his face, the buck tended to wait closer to dark to move. If the wind was in his favor, he was more likely to exit the bedding during daylight hours.

RE: Wind in Your Face Always?
 

DC....How do you set up on such a buck and still play the wind?