Wind Speed and Deer Activity

[Headhunter]

A deer, especially older bucks, utilize the wind. They smell 800x better than we can. Their sense of smell is no exaggeration probably sharper than our vision. It's that acute. When a deer puts his nose in the air, it's akin to us squinting our eyes to focus. When he puts himself in position to check the wind, it's like us turning on the lights when we walk into a room. Their nose matters to them like our eyes matter to us.

With that in mind, wind direction helps me decide where to hunt, not whether to hunt or not. A buck has his nose. That's what God gave him. I have my brain. That's what God gave me. My brain has to compete with his nose, and the wind is how I do it.

how do you do that? Most any hunting situation, heck tell me one, that you know which direction, which trail, etc. just exactly where a mature buck will approach from and then you can set up to be downwind from him as he approaches. I will bet the "proverbial farm" you will be wrong the majority of the time and when you set up to "hunt the wind" the buck approaches from "where he is not supposed to" and you are busted or he busts you and you never know it. I know there are times that, especially stalking, that you can really use the wind, hunting from a stand or on the ground (unless you are inside a shooting house of some type, I may one day, but I have almost never hunted from a shooting house or pop up blind and don't care to, to me it takes some much of the "hunting" away, not against it, I just like being in the elements) but hunting from a spot and staying put for hours, the majority of the time trying to "hunt the wind" is useless. Good for those who try, but I cannot even remember the number of times I have been told that if you there with a particular wind, not only will you not kill a deer, but most likely you will not see one, only to go hunt the spot in the WRONG wind and see tons of deer, kill deer, and sometimes kill a great buck.

I don't care who you are, how many deer or huge bucks you have killed, no one is smarter than the deer or knows exactly what they will do.

 

[catman529]

I've never noticed wind to affect deer movement. Except maybe the really windy days 20+ mph I don't see em on their feet as much, but still have seen em a couple times on windy days like that too, they gotta eat at some point. On calm days I hunt thermals and breezy days I hunt the wind, or at least try my best to.

 

[BSK]

True as that may be, there are undeniably a few guys who seem to get it done over & over & over again. They get a lion's share of the trophies. Anybody can luck into a big buck like winning a lottery ticket. But who does it all the time, how do they do it, and where?

I couldn't agree more. I was just pointing out killing a B&C buck means nothing. What does matter is those hunters who hunt in a competitive environment (club or public land) that consistently kill the oldest bucks the area has to offer - far more than those they are competing with.

 

[BSK]

Why do you theorize that happens? I have my guess but I'm interested to see if you have any thoughts on it.

They don't know enough not to hunt what common hunting logic would say are bad areas to hunt. And guess where hunter-savy bucks are? In areas hunters think are "bad areas to hunt."

 

[tree_ghost]

They don't know enough not to hunt what common hunting logic would say are bad areas to hunt. And guess where hunter-savy bucks are? In areas hunters think are "bad areas to hunt."

Deer in general, but especially bucks with some age on them, are incredibly adept at sensing human pressure and avoiding an encounter with them in just a couple days time. Even though they can't reason as to why a hunter pursued him in the manner that he does, in your opinion, is his ability to avoid death a function of learned behavior over time in regards to human predators and how we hunt him or his ability to utilize his environment with his senses to identify the hunter and then avoid him?

 

[TheLBLman]

They don't know enough not to hunt what common hunting logic would say are bad areas to hunt. And guess where hunter-savy bucks are? In areas hunters think are "bad areas to hunt."

AND, those areas are dynamically changing.
They are basically the areas most just choose not to hunt, for whatever reasons.

But as soon as someone does, and kills a good buck,
the crowd soon follows, ruining that area.

Generally speaking, older deer in particular, will quickly gravitate to the areas least disturbed by humans.

On many public land quota hunts, the best places to hunt totally change in a 24-hr period, often going to what were the best places, to the places no one walked thru scouting the day before.

 

[BSK]

Deer in general, but especially bucks with some age on them, are incredibly adept at sensing human pressure and avoiding an encounter with them in just a couple days time. Even though they can't reason as to why a hunter pursued him in the manner that he does, in your opinion, is his ability to avoid death a function of learned behavior over time in regards to human predators and how we hunt him or his ability to utilize his environment with his senses to identify the hunter and then avoid him?

In my opinion, part of it is instinct, part is individual buck personality, and part of it is learned behavior. Deer that can learn to avoid human contact (avoid areas that sudden experience human scent as soon as the season opens, but not at other times of the year) survive at a higher rate than deer that do not learn. Some deer are naturally exceptionally wary. Others are not. The naturally wary deer survive at a higher rate. Some deer are naturally nocturnal, others not. The naturally nocturnal survive at a higher rate. basically, it is a combination of factors that lead some deer to be survivors, and very difficult to kill.

 

[Ski]

Most any hunting situation, heck tell me one, that you know which direction, which trail, etc. just exactly where a mature buck will approach from and then you can set up to be downwind from him as he approaches. I will bet the "proverbial farm" you will be wrong the majority of the time and when you set up to "hunt the wind" the buck approaches from "where he is not supposed to" and you are busted or he busts you and you never know it.

You'd lose your "proverbial farm". Nobody can, with a straight face, tell you they know exactly which trail a buck is going to use and which direction he'll come from. But the wind will be in his face more often than it's not, by a lot.

There are also spots where there is only one trail, or a "T" in a trail where it doesn't matter where the buck comes from. If he uses that trail he's dead. I can show you two such stands that are exactly set so that a certain wind direction make them bulletproof. Do I know that the buck will be on that trail the day I'm sitting there? Of course not. But I know very near 100% that if he is, he won't scent me before I get an arrow in him. No other deer using that trail will scent me, either. It's not complicated.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

You'd lose your "proverbial farm". Nobody can, with a straight face, tell you they know exactly which trail a buck is going to use and which direction he'll come from. But the wind will be in his face more often than it's not, by a lot.

There are also spots where there is only one trail, or a "T" in a trail where it doesn't matter where the buck comes from. If he uses that trail he's dead. I can show you two such stands that are exactly set so that a certain wind direction make them bulletproof. Do I know that the buck will be on that trail the day I'm sitting there? Of course not. But I know very near 100% that if he is, he won't scent me before I get an arrow in him. No other deer using that trail will scent me, either. It's not complicated.

Agreed.

I've stayed out of this one because I've stated my thoughts on this many times before. Your set up puts the odds in your favor, that if a buck is in the vicinity (not roaming around 2 miles away) and happens to come through the area, you are in the optimal spot to have a chance at him - your site selection based on a particular wind. Mature deer have a certain way they typically travel the terrain....Just have to figure that part out.

 

[Cheshire]

Someone mentioned the wind this weekend and it got me thinking about my experiences deer hunting with wind or no wind. I prefer to have some wind moving in a steady direction on a hunt vs calm conditions or gusty winds. Ive sat in stand in the morning where there is no wind and deer sightings are generally low until the sun comes up and the air starts to move. On the flip side strong gusty winds slow down sightings as well.

What wind conditions do you all prefer? I have more confidence in seeing deer moving with intermittent or steady wind.

Of course the best is a steady breeze in a constant direction. Seems to me deer stay hid on really windy days. Like a lot of people I hunt when I can. Once hunted a a hot very windy day, I was thinking I am wasting my time. Then cow spooked a doe out of a thicket. She trotted right up to my stand. You never know what can happen.

 

[UTGrad]

They don't know enough not to hunt what common hunting logic would say are bad areas to hunt. And guess where hunter-savy bucks are? In areas hunters think are "bad areas to hunt."

I agree with this 100%. As the tree saddle craze keeps growing and young guns are going deeper and deeper into the woods, I might take my climber and walk 100 yards from the parking area and kill a good one.

 

[Knothead]

Someone mentioned the wind this weekend and it got me thinking about my experiences deer hunting with wind or no wind. I prefer to have some wind moving in a steady direction on a hunt vs calm conditions or gusty winds. Ive sat in stand in the morning where there is no wind and deer sightings are generally low until the sun comes up and the air starts to move. On the flip side strong gusty winds slow down sightings as well.

What wind conditions do you all prefer? I have more confidence in seeing deer moving with intermittent or steady wind.

As often as you pass wind, you could hunt every day and should be happy.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I agree with this 100%. As the tree saddle craze keeps growing and young guns are going deeper and deeper into the woods, I might take my climber and walk 100 yards from the parking area and kill a good one.

Yes, this is key when hunting public land. F LBL, but yes, I can attest that hiking miles back in is redundant, as opposed to hunting more towards the road-areas that are overlooked by most

 

[catman529]

I agree with this 100%. As the tree saddle craze keeps growing and young guns are going deeper and deeper into the woods, I might take my climber and walk 100 yards from the parking area and kill a good one.

Hey now don't get into my spots Just kidding, you can't get a climber into some of the trees I hunt near the road

 

[huvrman]

To each his own. I'm a wind guy.

 

[woodsman04]

Ive had more success seeing deer on no wind, sunny, pretty, cold, high pressure days. Ive had probably zero success seeing deer on those strong 20-30mph south winds when it's in the 70s.
I have good luck seeing deer on really cold, high north or northwest winds.

I used to deer hunt everytime I could, no matter the weather and no matter what other chores or stuff I had to do. And if I couldn't go I'd get shaking mad like a drug head. Now I go when I can, and only when it's good hunting weather. I know you can't kill em if you don't try, but I've tried plenty of times in my younger days on bad weather days to realize it ain't worth it.

But that's just me.

 

[Headhunter]

I am of the camp to try and play the wind. It doesn't take me out of hunting though as I will simply change my approach, access, or location then go hunt. What is you or your friends approach on scent control? Are the B&C deer from Tn? Are your big bucks on public also from here? I'm always interested to hear what a successful mature buck killers tactics are. I know a few other stone cold killers who do the same as y'all and follow zero scent control protocol. I personally am not a scent control guy.

You'd lose your "proverbial farm". Nobody can, with a straight face, tell you they know exactly which trail a buck is going to use and which direction he'll come from. But the wind will be in his face more often than it's not, by a lot.

There are also spots where there is only one trail, or a "T" in a trail where it doesn't matter where the buck comes from. If he uses that trail he's dead. I can show you two such stands that are exactly set so that a certain wind direction make them bulletproof. Do I know that the buck will be on that trail the day I'm sitting there? Of course not. But I know very near 100% that if he is, he won't scent me before I get an arrow in him. No other deer using that trail will scent me, either. It's not complicated.

I disagree, well I know of some places like you described, but I would bet you been busted in that spot more times than you can count in that "perfect" spot because of the wind. That

Ive had more success seeing deer on no wind, sunny, pretty, cold, high pressure days. Ive had probably zero success seeing deer on those strong 20-30mph south winds when it's in the 70s.
I have good luck seeing deer on really cold, high north or northwest winds.

I used to deer hunt everytime I could, no matter the weather and no matter what other chores or stuff I had to do. And if I couldn't go I'd get shaking mad like a drug head. Now I go when I can, and only when it's good hunting weather. I know you can't kill em if you don't try, but I've tried plenty of times in my younger days on bad weather days to realize it ain't worth it.

But that's just me.

For the most part on bad weather days, I don't see as many deer, but bad weather days are when I see the most mature bucks.

 

[Headhunter]

You'd lose your "proverbial farm". Nobody can, with a straight face, tell you they know exactly which trail a buck is going to use and which direction he'll come from. But the wind will be in his face more often than it's not, by a lot.

There are also spots where there is only one trail, or a "T" in a trail where it doesn't matter where the buck comes from. If he uses that trail he's dead. I can show you two such stands that are exactly set so that a certain wind direction make them bulletproof. Do I know that the buck will be on that trail the day I'm sitting there? Of course not. But I know very near 100% that if he is, he won't scent me before I get an arrow in him. No other deer using that trail will scent me, either. It's not complicated.

Nope, I wouldn't, not even close. If true, explain, how not only multiple deer, but multiple bucks approach the same spot within minutes of each other or even almost at the same time but they all come from different directions. How is that? Are the bucks, especially the mature bucks, are they retarded, are they lost, do they know they are only supposed to approach with the wind in their face, did you not "send them the memo", etc.?

I fully agree and know deer use wind, watch them for just a bit and it is obvious. Can they keep the wind in their face 24/7, heck even for just an hour or so, 100 percent of the time? Of course not. Do I do my best to use the wind as well as I can GUESS when I get to where I want to hunt, for sure. Do I worry about it if I can't, not one bit and I have killed several really nice bucks and several mature bucks and blown to many chances to count at the same type bucks (nothing to do with the wind but blew my chance for many other reasons) at a bunch of bucks.

Even though I don't agree with him much of the time, BSK nailed it, deer learn hunters and the hunters patterns very well. Probably way better than hunters learn deer patterns.

One of the best places to hunt is the area everyone says DON'T hunt there, we never hunt there because deer don't use that area. When I am told the wind is wrong for a spot, that is usually my first pick for a spot to hunt.

 

[Ski]

.........

 

[Jaahspike]

If you really want to hate the wind, read up on the venturi effect of wind. It not only causes wind direction to be dictated by terrain, but also alters atmospheric pressure and even temperature according to the terrain. Suddenly a south wind doesn't necessarily have mean south wind anymore. It all depends on where your stand is located. True story. Throw in some thermals & it really gets confusing.

A bow hunter can drive himself crazy trying to figure it all out. How many times have you heard a hunter griping because their hunting/weather app shows a west wind but it's actually blowing from the east? They blame the weather man for being wrong but the reality is that they themselves don't understand the nature of how wind interacts with the earth.

If you think of air in terms of water then it gets easier to understand. Just like a river's current is flowing steadily along, it swirls and changes direction as it encounters obstacles such as rocks, logs, depth changes, etc. The overall general flow is constant. But there are eddies & swirl pools, updrafts & downdrafts, cold or warm pockets all along the way. It's exactly the same thing with wind as it blows across the landscape. And just like the downstream side of a big rock or log often holds a big fish, the downwind side of a knob or finger ridge point often holds a big buck. The same way fish cruise an eddy for bait, bucks cruise backdrafts to scent check for does.

Wind is nothing to hate. The deer use it every day of their lives. The nature of their behavior is largely dictated by it. It's predictable & repeatable, makes them easier to hunt. If that buck was a trout and the wind was a flowing stream, where would you fish?

Lot of good and interesting info in this post! Thanks for sharing