Hunting a "just off wind"

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mheichelbech
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Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed May 28, 2014 1:27 am

Are there any threads that discuss this subject in more detail and could anyone post a map of some sort to show how they position themselves in relation to the wknd and expected direction of buck travel?

Thanks

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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby PK_ » Wed May 28, 2014 6:27 am

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=17139&hilit=Wind+direction

Read through that thread. Touches on it in reference to hill country. But it pretty well translates to most terrain.

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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby Stanley » Wed May 28, 2014 6:56 am

Dan had a thread topic on this I believe. It may have been in the DVDs I can't remember for sure. Hey I'm getting older every day. :lol:
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed May 28, 2014 8:42 am

LOL! Our memories are a lot alike apparently....I seem to remember it being talked about on the DVD but not in great detail.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby Trailcamaddict » Wed May 28, 2014 9:19 am

The buck is going to travel where it wants to go regardless of wind. Where it is going is what you have to figure out. Hunting a "just off" wind means that you are positioned so the wind is blowing from you almost to the buck but with it being "just off" to one side of the bed or the other so that it doesn't smell you while he is in the bed AND during his travel down the path you have selected to hunt. There are countless ways this could happen. Basically don't let him smell you or it is over!
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed May 28, 2014 9:46 am

That is a great thread...I bumped it...but wondering about flat ground??? I have my own thoughts on it but curious as to what "just off wind" tactics other guys use. For example, I had a buck last year, he was bedded approx. 150 yards east/north east of me and travelling south, then west to the food source, I had a south wind...I always felt safe as long as he travelled south, then west.....which is what he consistently did. He just wasn't a shooter for me. However, if he had travelled west then south, my plan/stand never would have worked. Or maybe it didn't work and he was just a dumb buck but I think it did. I never saw evidence that he caught my scent.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby Stanley » Wed May 28, 2014 11:17 am

To me, I think a lot of guys have it their heads a buck moves only in relationship to wind direction. I always set up so the wind is blowing from the buck to me. This would include off winds if that is what it takes. I cannot kill a buck if the wind is blowing from me to him.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby PK_ » Wed May 28, 2014 11:30 am

Dan talks about it in HCB when they are talking about hunting over the man made pond.

Same principle on flat ground. You can hunt 'just off' a buck's line of travel if he is traveling into the wind. You can hunt 'just off' a destination such as food, bed or funnel. Or you can hunt 'just off' a bend in the buck's trail, where he is walking crosswind and then turns into the wind(j-hook).

Best way I have heard it described is the wind is "almost right for the deer and almost wrong for you".

Some guys here do not attempt to hunt an 'off wind' because the wind can be a fickle foe. They only hunt with the wind fully in their favor so as not to risk tipping off the deer in their hunting area.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed May 28, 2014 1:23 pm

PalmettoKid wrote:Dan talks about it in HCB when they are talking about hunting over the man made pond.

Same principle on flat ground. You can hunt 'just off' a buck's line of travel if he is traveling into the wind. You can hunt 'just off' a destination such as food, bed or funnel. Or you can hunt 'just off' a bend in the buck's trail, where he is walking crosswind and then turns into the wind(j-hook).

Best way I have heard it described is the wind is "almost right for the deer and almost wrong for you".

Some guys here do not attempt to hunt an 'off wind' because the wind can be a fickle foe. They only hunt with the wind fully in their favor so as not to risk tipping off the deer in their hunting area.


I realize there are many variables to the above statement but how far off the line of travel would you need to be? In the case I mentioned above for me....he never got to within 50-75 yards before turning west at which point it was a perfect wind as he was then travelling south of me in a south wind. I also try to set up in cross wind situations if possible...for example, trying to catch trails moving east/west, in south or north winds or vice versa. I find this gives me a more consistent wind setup and I just have to worry about setting up on either the north or south side of the expected direction of travel. I can adjust somewhat depending on time of year and what I know to be the prevailing winds. But one thing I am not confident of is how far from a trail I need to be if trying to essentially paralllel a trail.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby gjs4 » Wed May 28, 2014 1:37 pm

I think a key here is knowing or anticipating the bucks desired travel path with as much detail as possible....that kink in his armor is where you need to monopolize
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby PK_ » Wed May 28, 2014 2:58 pm

Close enough to shoot and far enough to not get winded, lol. It would depend on the angle of the wind, wind speed and weapon of choice. Thermals also come into play big time. I killed a buck last year and I purposely setup on the wrong wind expecting late morning rut movement and I knew it would be a clear sunny day. I was literally watching dandelions float with the breeze skyward. But that is a different topic…

Best thing you can do is get familiar with how the wind flows through your hunting area.
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Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby dan » Wed May 28, 2014 9:22 pm

You gotta do what you gotta do... Bucks are not in my opinion specifically walking into the wind, but when there beds are set up to only be used on a certain wind, and there staging is up wind of there bed, you can't hunt them wind to face cause if you wait for that wind the buck is not bedded there that day... So the trick is to hunt it on a day when the wind is blowing in a direction that will bed the buck there, but won't get you winded... "A just off wind"
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby headgear » Thu May 29, 2014 1:26 am

Good explanation Dan, its not that you want to setup that way but you do it because you have to. Can't tell you how many times I have been blown at when a gust of wind catches you by surprise and sends your scent into the bed but it is what it is. Ideally you get a steady wind and can setup off to the side of the bed or use the angle of the wind to help push you scent away from bedding but you are still close enough to get a shot. Some of my favorite setups have a nice barrier downwind of the staging area, it seems like the bucks feel pretty secure there and I can setup in the staging area with my scent blowing safely over the barrier. Seems like most of the time things go wrong but when they go right you look and feel like genius.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby dan » Thu May 29, 2014 1:54 am

I l;ike to look for terrain features like draws that funnel the wind away from the incoming buck.
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Re: Hunting a "just off wind"

Unread postby mheichelbech » Thu May 29, 2014 4:15 am

dan wrote:I l;ike to look for terrain features like draws that funnel the wind away from the incoming buck.

Can you discuss in a bit more detail? If I understand correctly, the draw will suck air upward?
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893


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