How does one play the wind beast style?

[Wylee]

Just looking for some strategies on wind play/setup.

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[dan]

There are a couple of things that come into play with wind and set ups... The most important thing is that your scent stream does not hit the target animal.

But, at the same time, in a lot of situation's bucks only bed in certain spots with certain winds...

Sometime because of the wind they are bedding on, and the direction you have to set up to hunt that direction, you have to hunt "up wind" in this case we try and hunt a "just off wind" that actually misses the deer from our set up position, but still gives the deer a wind he will be there on.

[Wylee]

Thanks Dan. I should be most concerned with where my scent river is going in relation to bedding or area target is moving from.

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[Wylee]

How do you know what winds favor for each bed? Cameras,spotting in summer?

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[yungbuck]

I too struggle to know what wind is needed for a bed, help , :-)

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[dan]

bEDS THAT ARE ON 1/3 ELEVATION HAVE THE WIND BLOWING OVER THE HILL / valley . A BUCK BEDDING ON A POINT of a ridge, or a spur, will be looking down hill, wind to back from above... Lone beds that have an obstacle like a tree, stunp, rock, bush, to one side, and open to the other are bedding with wind coming from the obstacle blowing towards the opening. One common wind based bed in farm country is bucks bed on the down wind side of blocks of timber watching an open field.

[cdeam]

Let's say you set up on that off wind. You got in early, were silent as a wolf setting up, and you're confident the deer is in there. You toss some milkweed and just like a campfire that almost wrong wind shifts for a moment or two and becomes the totally wrong wind. Then it shifts back. Is the Hunt over? If not, how many times do you tolerate that type of shift?

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[wiscbowhntr]

Lone beds that have an obstacle like a tree, stunp, rock, bush, to one side, and open to the other are bedding with wind coming from the obstacle blowing towards the opening.

I have hunted a remote island in cattails that has a small tree about 60 yards to the NW of it that has historically held bucks. I discovered it while going to hunt the S end of the island and walked by the tree and bumped a nice buck out of it. I then hunted that bed the next year and wounded a buck coming out of that bed. The day I bumped the buck and the day I wounded were both strong SW wind days. The obstacle for this particular bed is N of the bed (the tree and bush) so it seems to me that he is bedding facing the wind and obstacle to the back. Have you found this to be a common occurrence is Marsh beds or is this case just an exception to the rule? Could it be better to hunt this bed with a N wind? The reason I assumed the bucks are using this bed with a SW wind is because if anyone comes to this island from the mainland they will be passing up wind of the bed allowing the buck to smell the hunter. I canoe in and come from the N so it is not a issue.

[dan]

Lone beds that have an obstacle like a tree, stunp, rock, bush, to one side, and open to the other are bedding with wind coming from the obstacle blowing towards the opening.

I have hunted a remote island in cattails that has a small tree about 60 yards to the NW of it that has historically held bucks. I discovered it while going to hunt the S end of the island and walked by the tree and bumped a nice buck out of it. I then hunted that bed the next year and wounded a buck coming out of that bed. The day I bumped the buck and the day I wounded were both strong SW wind days. The obstacle for this particular bed is N of the bed (the tree and bush) so it seems to me that he is bedding facing the wind and obstacle to the back. Have you found this to be a common occurrence is Marsh beds or is this case just an exception to the rule? Could it be better to hunt this bed with a N wind? The reason I assumed the bucks are using this bed with a SW wind is because if anyone comes to this island from the mainland they will be passing up wind of the bed allowing the buck to smell the hunter. I canoe in and come from the N so it is not a issue.

The obstacle being on the wrong side is more likely than the buck facing into wind. Facing into the wind they can't see or smell behind them and would feel totally vulnerable. Marsh bedding areas generally take any wind direction but some beds are wind specific, but usually in an island situation there are multiple bads near each other that can be shifted to in any wind... In your case, the buck might just be changing the direction he looks when the wind is from a different direction... As humans we figure they face and look in the direction danger generally comes from, but in reality they trust there nose more, and don't want a vulnerable direction.

[dan]

Let's say you set up on that off wind. You got in early, were silent as a wolf setting up, and you're confident the deer is in there. You toss some milkweed and just like a campfire that almost wrong wind shifts for a moment or two and becomes the totally wrong wind. Then it shifts back. Is the Hunt over? If not, how many times do you tolerate that type of shift?

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I would be in a tree, and hopefully a spot that is funneling my wind far enough away, / and over the buck to divert.

[mheichelbech]

There are a couple of things that come into play with wind and set ups... The most important thing is that your scent stream does not hit the target animal.

But, at the same time, in a lot of situation's bucks only bed in certain spots with certain winds...

Sometime because of the wind they are bedding on, and the direction you have to set up to hunt that direction, you have to hunt "up wind" in this case we try and hunt a "just off wind" that actually misses the deer from our set up position, but still gives the deer a wind he will be there on.

How do you judge what distance from the "invisible line" to set up so you are "just off"?

[dan]

How do you judge what distance from the "invisible line" to set up so you are "just off"?

I will post some map examples tonight.

[Stanley]

Let's say you set up on that off wind. You got in early, were silent as a wolf setting up, and you're confident the deer is in there. You toss some milkweed and just like a campfire that almost wrong wind shifts for a moment or two and becomes the totally wrong wind. Then it shifts back. Is the Hunt over? If not, how many times do you tolerate that type of shift?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

In my experience this happens on mild windy days(0-3 mph). I like a strong wind (8 mph +) to keep my scent out of the target area. A lot of guys don't like windy days I personally don't like calm wind days. On a calm wind day the wind can swing 180 degrees, this does not bode well on a minimal wind (just off wind ) set up to start.

In answer to the question if your scent reaches the bedded buck in almost all circumstances the hunt is over. We are talking mature bucks, they won't tolerate anything that poses a danger.

[dan]

[redsquirrel]

There have been some great tips in this thread. Thanks everyone!