LouisianaTomkat

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

GMMAT

sorry....correct.

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

LouisianaTomkat

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

GMMAT

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.

LouisianaTomkat

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

magicman54494

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?

GMMAT

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.

LouisianaTomkat

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

GMMAT

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.

LouisianaTomkat

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