Trad Gang

Spent purdy much all day in the woods, suppose to be south east wind, which it was, but these hills and hollers are killing me. I can't ever seem to get the wind to stay in one direction! walk in wind in my face,get to where I'm going set down ugh... wind shifts, hits me in the back!  :banghead:   seems like its been more windy than usual the last 2 years, got me jerking my hair out!! What do you guy's do?? Jason

Hunting in terrain can be frustrating on windy days as the wind will swirl and eddy without any consistency.  Some will hunt it anyway and hope for the best; others will back out and hunt where there is a more consistent wind, usually high or flat ground.  Often the wind will calm down going into the evening and then you can hunt the thermals, which will be falling.  On sunny days, the rising thermals of morning and midday can really help out.

Stay clean,and Hunt. I live better in the woods than on a couch. Most of my buddies stay home when the wind is blowing. Windy as heck today and had Deer come in an bed down in ravine by me this morning to get out of the wind. Tonight they were all bedded down in ravine and my brushy Jungle. Just stayed out of range. No Deer got killed by staying home, my dad used to say. But I have noticed they don't move around much unless down out of the wind.

I thought you meant something else!

Forget the wind..... Just HUNT!!!!!    :thumbsup:  

Honestly, just look the other way!!!!! All of my stands are set up so that if the wind changes, I can turn and look in a differant direction. (I mostly hunt from the ground) I spray my hunting clothes with cover scent,or I put them in a bag with some buck lure,which may also help,but I've shot more than a few deer with the wind blowing right at them. If you have wind coming from a predominant direction you can move,but if your problem is "swirly winds" your just beating your head against the wall  :banghead:   if you try to move every time they change IMHO.   I also believe the shifting winds are just as confusing to deer. They smell something but they can't pin-point it,because they smell it one minute and it's gone the next,causing them to rely more on thier eyes and ears. If your in a good spot and the wind keeps shifting,sit tight. You never know when something will come by and the wind will be in your favor.

Just HUNT, Good Luck!!!!!   :archer:

I have the exact same problem. The winds are NEVER steady.
I try to be as scent free as I can...the rest is just hunt and hope for the best.
Ive hunted these areas for a LONG time...and if I waited for a steady wind...Id never be able to hunt.

Like others have said...I try to set up so that I can just "hope" they come from a different direction when the wind changes...the problem is its ALWAYS changing....will blow at my face..then at my back...then from the left...then from the right. All within a 2 minute window.
It used to really frustrate me...but now I just do the best I can, since I really dont have any other options.

And like Woodchucker says..its got to be just as confusing to the deer.
The only saving grace is..this is my brothers property. Hes always out there (40 acres) all summer, cutting wood,running chainsaws, etc. I think this makes the deer here slightly less nervous about human smells.

Good luck.

Check out ridges for windy days.  The wind will be more consistant.  I have a big oak flat that is my favorite wind and rain place.  If the weather turns bad.  I make a big circle and get the wind right and then still hunt that area.  I also have a stand on the ridge leading in from the bedding area that I hunt when the wind is bad.

The deer I hunt are on a fairly small piece of land (350 acres) and have cattle and cowboys coming and going all the time.  They kinda hunker down when the trucks are around but soon as they leave they are back going strong.

Mike

It's difinetly a swirling wind, seems like I've fought this my whole hunting life. I have a 90 acre piece of ground I've been given permission to hunt on and it's nothing but a hill and a holler lots of deer sign there and have seen alot of deer! I've done purdy much what you guy's have said, take showers in sent free soap wash my cloths in sent free detergent, take all the precautionary messures to ensure a scent free area. I guess I'll quit fretten and just hunt! it might help if I used a tree stand but I like it on the ground!! Jason

If we didn't hunt in Wyoming unless it was calm, we wouldn't be hunting much! I hope and pray for wind that won't blow your hair off, and when I hunted a lot west of Casper, it seemed that it would do exactly that. Swirling wind is a fact of life, and I just deal with it as well as I can, but it does become frustrating, to say the least.

On a real windy day I love to still hunt.  Every thing is moving so you can make a mistake and get away with it. I have found that deer, especially bucks, stay in the open near edges because they can't rely on their sense of hearing. You see a deer, get downwind and get aggressive

You must have been reading my mind as I was sitting in a stand just this morning thinking the same thing!  :D   Walked in with the wind in my face. Sat down to have it swirl 180 degress before daylight the commence to switching directions every few minutes for the next 3 hours.. I'm doing like most have said. Stay as clean as possible and hope for the best.

Wonder if theres been any studies done as to just how long human scent stays strong enough for deer to smell and how far downwind as well?

I really really hate the wind but twice I shot 2 bucks in gusting winds and a couple weeks ago here a buddy got a 12 pointer during 30 mile an hr gusts...  I do think the deer get a little skittish because they basically lost a couple senses sight & sound but I think eventually they have to go on with the daily routine and just deal with it and carefully do what they do.

What has been successful for me is to bath and wash my clothes with no scent soap. Most of the ones on the market now are pretty good. The last few years I have used Dead Down Wind soaps and shampoos. Not trying to push their products I just like them. I hang my cloths outside to dry and seal them in plastic bags until ready to put on. The only cover scent and/or attractant I have used the last few years has been the smoke sticks that burn like the old firecracker punks. I have had deer so close I could literaly reach out and touch them if I had chose to, and if they knew I was there they certainly did not act like it. I have also used red fox or racoon urine in conjuction with the smoke sticks, but not always. I never spray it on my cloths, but on the bark and leaves of the trees I am sitting in. I have had bucks nibble on branches and make scrapes at cedar trees I was hiding in only four feet away. Will it work every time on every deer? Probably not, because deer are different. Some are jumpy and skittish all the time and others seam always relaxed. I have hunted whitetail deer with bow and arrow since the 60's and have tried everything imaginable and it seams I am more successful with this method than any other I have used. It has been the best when I find myself up wind of deer.

Scrub up and hope for the best!! sounds good to me! Thanks, Jason

Swirling winds confuse the deer as much as it does the deer hunter.  Just get into the woods and hunt it the best you can.

What George just said!

Also, start paying attention to what exactly the wind is doing in different places you are hunting.  Some things I've noticed are these:

1.  In hilly terrain, the thermals are usually going down in the morning when it's cool and switch to going up later in the day.

2.  Regardless of the wind direction, if it's not too strong, there is usually a "lull" to almost dead calm just around sunset.

3.  Wind is like water and swirls and eddies are formed by terrain features.  If you are in a block of tall timber and the wind is from the west, when you are on the east side, the wind will swirl from the east back towards the edge.  I think there is a bit of a vacuum/venturi created as the faster moving air goes over the tops of the trees and it pulls air into the woods on the downwind side.

4.  See #2.  It also applies to hills and ridges.  If a ridge runs north to south and wind is from the west, it will swirl on the downwind side and depending on wind speed and steadiness, will "puff" from east to west on the down wind side.  Think of an ocean wave as being the air going over the top of the hill and the undertow is the reverse swirl.  Some days it almost seems like the woods are breathing in and out....

5.  If the wind is "puffy" back and forth, try to set up or still hunt at 90 degrees to it.  Crosswinds are just as good to hunt as wind in your face, probably better.  If the wind reverses, it's still a cross wind and you are "safe".

6.  If the terrain isn't super hilly or the hills are not very tall, sometimes you can go up higher in a tree and get above features that cause the swirling and the wind will "straighten out".

7.  Try the scent eliminator stuff if you want but don't get your hopes up too much.  I think it helps but I really don't believe it works as well as some people would have you believe.  Kinda like camo clothing.  However, personal confidence is awfully important.  Think of it as sort of a "lucky rabbits foot".  Maybe it works???....

The last few days here the deer have not moved in daylight because of the winds 5-25 MPH

I live in Appalachia where we have no wind usally, only thermals that swirl and drift with the thermals . I used to laugh at the so called professional hunters who say to only hunt if the wind is right, they would never huubnt here.

Thermals will be falling before daylight but as the sun rises they will drift up hill. Thermals also rise out of a drainage, which the head of that drainage may be a mile from you when it starts rising and pulling your scent with it.

I do not hunt many evenings becuase the thermals are rising to the bedding areas when you get in your stand then falling during the witching hour and the deer never show before DARK .


Jack

If the winds are swirling there is really not much you can do except put the prevailing wind in your face and hope for the best or go home. I use the scent away spray and feel like it helps out a little.

If you think your frustrated now, then just follow some of the advice about forgetting the wind and just hunting. You'll really pull your hair out when the game your hunting snorts and runs away.
 :scared:
We have some issues with highwalls and the swirling winds. We don't hunt them. We find travel routes to and from the areas and place our stands in the funnels.
Confused deer mean scared deer. Scared deer means a whole lot of problems. Do yourself a favor and try alternate set-ups.

QuoteOriginally posted by leatherneck:
[QB] If you think your frustrated now, then just follow some of the advice about forgetting the wind and just hunting. You'll really pull your hair out when the game your hunting snorts and runs away.


 That is very true. No matter how many big rubs,scrapes, trails and piles of fresh crap you have in one area if the wind is not right you cannot hunt it and see anything. You will probably ruin that entire area if your in there enough.  The deer will change their routes. Movement in the stand and wind are the two biggest reasons you will not see anything.

Hmmmm, Then I guess all of the deer that I have killed over the years,with the wind blowing my scent RIGHT AT THEM, were just plain STUPID!!!!!

Sorry boys, there is no constant..... EVERYTHING is variable when it comes to deer hunting!!!!!

If there are 2 of the MOST important things that I have learned over MANY,MANY years of deer hunting they are.....

1) ALWAYS..... Doesn't "always happen"

AND.....

2) NEVER..... Say "never"!!!!!!!!!!

Amen Woodchucker! I've never had a good hunting area until this year. The wind is by far my biggest problem but I'm still seeing deer nearly every time out. I've had deer down wind that blew and deer down wind that did not blow. (I think the difference was how close they were and if the wind blew my scent over thier heads.) But I have had deer blow at me only twice.

3)Expect the unexcepted!

Bona

THANK YOU Bona!!!!!  ;)

Make that 3 things!!!!!   :thumbsup:

Woodchucker,    :bigsmyl:   Brother You made my day! Hardly a hunting magazine or book gets printed that doesn't have something printed about hunting the wind. Bounce here, hunt there, if this, if that. Wind from the west hunt the best from the east whatever. As a people if were told enough times something we believe it. If someone is lucky enough to kill a few big ones his way,, than it doesn't become gospel! I agree with ya brother my room has plenty of horns from stupid little deer. There is those that are successful bouncing around the woods trying to outwit brother wind. And us that accept him for what he is. We all have our ways of hunting. No one or way is better than the other. Whatever works. As far as scents. I know for a fact that a man once went to the bar, he stayed until closing. Stinking like smoke and stinking like boose. He went hunting that morning without cleaning up. He put vanilla on himself and that morning killed a monster buck walking in to him from downwind.Than brought it out to my shop to show me. I couldn't stand to smell him myself, so maybe the smell of booze got the buck drunk?? who knows?   Just boils down to one thing and that is time spent in the woods and Luck.  (Sorry boys, there is no constant..... EVERYTHING is variable when it comes to deer hunting!!!!! ) aka woodchucker, windhunter  :thumbsup:

Another discussion reliant upon where you hunt and the situation.

Out west; the wind can be my best friend. Wind blows your scent away; and it can be used to get you right into touching range of deer.

Now--- with a closed up a bit environment; like here when I am bear hunting over bait - the most interesting thing I have done to educate myself about wind and how it works - is to set off a smoke bomb. One of those 4th of July type smoke bombs. Set one off in your stand ( its illegal in some places to set off fireworks on forest service land- so put it in a coffee can if you have to) - and then watch that thick smoke as it goes this way and that.

Man you can learn a whole lot about wind that way! What you think the wind is doing is one thing; but watching it - that is very telling!

Another thing from the opposite train of thought on it; is if you have a treestand or ground stand set up; and are not seeing deer on trails; is to put a bottle of skunk scent in a coffee can and leave it in your stand and then go walk the deer trail. You might be surprised where you can smell the skunk scent; and where you cannot.

Whitetails will have trails that go back and forth; zig zagging in a pattern to detect danger going to and from places.
They practice! They will follow each other; and stomp scent in spots; and really do their homework in areas that are constricted.

If you can figure out the weak spot in their system- you can have a shot.

Try the smoke bomb(s) and you might just laugh at how your stand set up is in such a wrong place; and how another stand spot maybe ten feet away is perfect.

Figure out a stand for each wind direction; and you are all done but the tagging.    :thumbsup:    :archer:

Well, Maybe Brian.....

But true swirling,shifting winds have a mind of thier own,and all of the smoke bombs and skunk scent in the world will not completely decifer them. Many times I have had the wind change 180 degrees 10-15 times in one hour. What do YOU do??? Do you move,stay put,or stay home??? (honestly) Also,remember,we are talking winds here,not gentle breezes or currents. With a predominant wind out of the west,of course you will have some shifting,but the wind is still basicly coming out of the west. BUT,on a truely swirly,windy day where you honestly haven't a clue which way the wind will blow next,either you hunt or stay home. I prefer to pick the best stand I have and roll the dice.

Over the years, I've "won" enough to know I won't be staying home!!!!!   :archer:

i play the wind WHEN I CAN. i only hunt weekends and if the wind ain't right, it ain't right and i'm hunting anyways. was busted today by a doe 100 yards away with the wind in my face. had a spike horn in front of me between 3-20 yards for 45 minutes last week with the wind in HIS face. play it if you can but go out and hunt REGARDLESS of which way it blows rather then wait it out. also need to figure in the rut which blows all theroies to helll as the big boys would run through a brick wall to get to the does.

Exactly. I dont think anybody said "forget the wind and hunt.
Anybody here will play the wind when they can...it just makes good sense. But sometimes situation arise beyond our control. If it comes down to a questionable wind or staying home...guess which one Im gonna choose?

It also depends on the area you have to play with. I typically hunt small lands. 40 to 80 acres. Its not like out west were you can drive to the next 1000 acre ranch. You have to work with what you can.
Had a doe come in from the wrong direction tonight. I was crouched under a pine on the ground. Heard her coming at a fast walk. She was on top of me before I knew what was going on. She was directly downwind of me at 15 yards.....never smelled me. I tipped her off cause I moved. I didnt have a shot in that direction anyway.

I also dont believe that once a deer busts you from scent or sight that they pack their bags and head to the next zipcode. I dont buy it.
They may be a little more weary for a few days...but theyll be back, IME.

quote:

---

Originally posted by woodchucker:
Forget the wind..... Just HUNT!!!!!        :bigsmyl:    

Yes, there are many variables in deer hunting. I too have killed deer down wind from me. I call me lucky when that happens. I guess it all depends on what your hunting. What I mean is, if your targeting a specific deer and he busts you, then the gig is up for that stand(not all the time, but alot of the time). If you just hang a stand and hunt whatever wanders by on a trail, then by all means just hunt. I have stands of this nature that I go to on bad/swirling winds. If I bump a deer then so be it. But I will not hunt my "GOOD" stands on a swirling wind when I'm on a particular buck. I am fortunate to have enough land to hunt to do this. I understand others may not. Regardless of your situation, use common sense when placing and hunting a stand.

Mike