Hill country & swirling winds?

[cdeam]

Call it whatever you want. The result is the same. One more thing to carry around and a waste of money

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[Rairdog]

I feel your pain. I hunt a 350 ac valley. South end is camper and it pretty much runs straight North. It's really bad with a South wind and you get blown off putting your boots on.

[BigHunt]

Agreed dan....also wind map your spots...go out with a lot of milk weed and let it go...makr sure its on a wind thats huntable for that spot..see what happends and write the info down. Do on different day with different wether , wind speeds ect..I do this a lot in spring when I get thoses spots that seem to be unhuntable, figured them out and hunt them differently baised on the spring info. Basicly when it comes down to it you have to hunt high in most situations to getout of the swirling/thermal areas... my bow kill this past fall I could of used a 6th stick ..but only had 5, I barly got away with it.

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[BigHunt]

Deer dander, Evercalm, Nose jammer...as the saying goes "sounds like pixie dust"

I was wondering how long it would take someone to say it...

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[Bigb]

I feel for each and everyone of you who hunt deep valleys and ridges. That is all I have ever hunt and with great success. I hunt several properties including my own all of which I enter from the valley. The swirling winds have helped deer beat me more then once but that has not stopped me from hunting them the same way. I have always used a lot of baking soda in my clothes to keep them unscented but there is something new on the market that has made a big difference in my eyes. The newest way I have found to beat their smart noses is to use Evercalm by Conquest Scents. I have done a lot of homework on scents and up until finding Evercalm I hated using it. This past season was amazing with more deer then ever coming to my stand and bedding very close by, sometimes within feet of my stand. I still have not tried any of Conquest Scents rut scent but plan too in 2014.

Hmmm…I've heard a few credible sources say that they really like this stuff. Any way you can elaborate on it? Just rub it on your boots? I'd just like to know about how its helped you in the valley and ridges situations…...

[kurt]

if the wind is strong I have the worst luck. I get like back drafts when it lets up. You said it was your own property. I would think you could do some travel route manipulation . I usually work on a few sets a year in time it will add up and I will have to also freshen them up. I have the dreaded bottom access and I try and make a visual block for them if I have too because I know where im coming from and what they can see. I try to make it nasty enough they wont go thru which is tougher than it sounds they'll snake thru some thick stuff. So it blocks my view when im getting to the stand and helps control where they go to pick up my scent.

[dbl lung]

I was once told if I smelled a (recently) killed deer and then smelled a stick of regular Evercalm I would not be able to tell the difference. I am here to tell you I have never had the success like I had this past season with deer hanging around my stand. I actually have pictures of deer bedding in a scrape that I placed Evercalm on the licking branches above. Throughout my 20 + years bowhunting I have only hunted valleys and have made the benches on the end of ridges my main search when I go to a new property. These benches can be very hard to hunt much the same as deep ravine crossing. I have experimented with scents over the years with little success until this years amazement. You can go to conquestscents.com or simple google search Evercalm deer scent reviews. You won't find anything negative but you will find the "nay sayer" like a couple on this website.

I did a lot of research before buying this stuff. Nothing said not to buy it. I don't know the people who make Evercalm but I will say they have made a super product. Those that continue to make excuses not to buy are really missing out.

Evercalm comes from a deer farm. It is made of deer hair, saliva, urine, poop and whatever else you can find in a deer bed. It is then ground up and put into a wax stick similar to a deodorant stick. Because of the wax form Evercalm is water proof and will not break down as the wax acts to preserve the scent. I always used it sparingly as I was always hesitant to over do it so as to not over power the deers nose. About ever 2nd time out I would swipe the stick on each boot and then walk to my stand. (Of course most of the time I shower and use ALOT of baking soda on my hunting clothes too.) I will give all the credit on my BBD this year to Evercalm simply because on the day I killed my buck I worked all day and never got a chance to shower. The buck came in down wind tending an adult doe (I feel an adult doe is the smartest deer in the woods.) While I do hunt the valley in this particular area the wind at my stand was blow straight at the deer as they cameto me. The deer never hesitated as they entered my shooting lanes. Sure hunting in a valley moving 10 yards the wind can change directions but hunting this area over the past 7 years I know the wind and these deer made it to me because Evercalm overpowered my human scent.

Next season I might try Conquest Scents rut lure VS-1 which is directly from rutting does. Check out their website.

[JohnnieU]

Its been said several times, but hunting high; both in your tree and high on the hill is always your best bet. I have found when hunting high enough the wind will be the direction predicted by the weather. When hunting lower on the hill you will need to wind map to learn how the air moves through in area and adjust accordingly. The more wind mapping and trail and error you do, the better you'll be able to guess how the wind moves through a new area. I know this is redundant, but there are no shortcuts and this is how you'll have to go about hunting your hill country properties.

[checkerfred]

Its been said several times, but hunting high; both in your tree and high on the hill is always your best bet. I have found when hunting high enough the wind will be the direction predicted by the weather. When hunting lower on the hill you will need to wind map to learn how the air moves through in area and adjust accordingly. The more wind mapping and trail and error you do, the better you'll be able to guess how the wind moves through a new area. I know this is redundant, but there are no shortcuts and this is how you'll have to go about hunting your hill country properties.

I have some Hill country where I don't have top access... So when you wind map, do you just go out on different days of the off season and drop Milkweed to see what happens? Do you need to be in a tree?

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[JohnnieU]

I will often have a consistent wind direction in my stand all morning, then climb down and the wind will be swirling at ground level; so if possible, it should be done out of your hunting set up.

[OH nontypical]

I have found hunting a bench on a lee side of a ridge works great. Dan describes this in his Hill Country dvd. I first noticed this years ago after watching deer pass below me on a funneled bench even thought the wind was headed their way. I get up high with a climber if possible on the top side. It really helps if the deer are funneled on the the bench by some obstacle or drop off on the lower side.

Two of my best bucks have been killed this way at the same spot on my friends farm in SE Ohio. I almost got a shot at true giant there last year. I use this technique in the rut. I never thought about how the thermals may be affecting this set up until I watched the Hill Country Dvd but now think I can fine tune this spot even better using the thermals. I have seen more big bucks on that bench during the rut than any other spot I have ever hunted. I think these spots exist on most hill country properties. May at least help you during the rut?

[JoeRE]

Anyone who hunts the hills will be driven mad by the wind sometimes. I minimize the frustration by hunting really high up when near the tops of ridges and being extremely choosy about hunting down low, trying to use thermals and vertical swirls caused by the wind passing over ridges above me...note I said minimize lol.

Part of the frustration is because I really enjoy hunting from the ground, but that is more limited when hunting the hills, at ground level the wind is the most swirly.

[dbl lung]

I found hunting the valleys and sides of ridges are really about scent control rather than the wind. Wind will swirl one way and then swirl another way with the next gust. That is where Evercalm came in handy.