How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

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checkerfred
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Re: How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

Unread postby checkerfred » Wed Dec 20, 2017 7:58 am

tim wrote:Checkerfred, that’s exactly how it works. You wait for the right wind as in any setup. All my spots are this way some years you have a more consistent westerly wind some years more east or southerly. I hunt accordingly.


Then you'd never hunt it here...maybe once in a while in a thunderstorm.....I have seen deer travel the windward side...matter of fact during rut, I've seen bucks not traveling leeward but skirting a thicket on the windward side. To add, if you can hunt it on the windward side, then why not hunt it? Why wait until you have a one time a year wind and then the area has already been hammered and pressured by everyone else? Don't get me wrong, I hunt 95% of the time on the leeward side but I think the windward side can be done...it's no different than saying don't hunt low because wind swirls and you'll get busted...you should hunt 1/3rd down from elevation. I have areas where if I did that I'd have missed out on some bucks.

The OP didn't say anything about hunting a specific bed. If you're doing that then sure leeward side


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checkerfred
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Re: How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

Unread postby checkerfred » Wed Dec 20, 2017 8:06 am

tim wrote:I guess I’d rather hunt the correct wind for a spot once and have a better chance at a Deer than trying to hunt the incorrect winds and not have good odds multiple times


one of my buddies is a member here...we were having a similar discussion. I was being way over analytical which in turn caused indecisiveness and kept me from even hunting an area. He told me to hunt an area and quit overthinking the wind....sure it's important but the reality of it is, many times the wind won't do what you think it will. Matter of fact my buck kill last friday is a prime example of that. While I was hunting the leeward side, the wind wasn't perfectly ideal yet because of the terrain, it was perfect. Also my biggest deer, a 13pt came from a wind that wasn't ideal but it worked out. 75% of the time I hunt the perfect wind on the leeward side, it doesn't do what I think it will...it might swirl or move a diff direction. I'm not saying just throw out everything you learned or know and just randomly hunt, but there's a few spots I have that if I tried to wait for a perfect wind, I'd never hunt it.

johndeere506 wrote:
tim wrote:I guess I’d rather hunt the correct wind for a spot once and have a better chance at a Deer than trying to hunt the incorrect winds and not have good odds multiple times


How about one easy example...If you are gun hunting from a ridgetop, and there are deer on the windward side, how would that be incorrect to hunt them there? Im sure piles of bucks have been killed from ridgetops, or the windward side of a ridge.

I'm far from experienced in the hills, but I was able to get several deer in shooting range while scouting and still hunting my first couple outings, which included the windward side. I'm not willing to not hunt that area if the prevailing wind says I "cant" for the few days I'm there.

I understand the leeward is ideal, but there are still deer over there, if you can figure out how to hunt them.


I agree....I'm always willing to try new things and learn from it. If you're hunting one specific buck in his bed, then yes leeward is the way to go. But if you're rut hunting or doe hunting or catching bucks coming or going to food then I say throw a sit at it and see....I know of one piece of public that on one side is so steep the deer will not travel it and it's the dominant wind leeward side...so what do the deer do? not move? they're gonna travel the windward side for sure
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Re: How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

Unread postby brancher147 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:40 am

tim wrote:I guess I’d rather hunt the correct wind for a spot once and have a better chance at a Deer than trying to hunt the incorrect winds and not have good odds multiple times


Sometimes the windward side IS the correct wind. That's what we are trying to say. I have many funnels, areas with cliffs, or areas that to get the right thermals you have to hunt the windward side. And they are just as productive as the leeward side if you know how to hunt them and how deer use them.
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tim
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Re: How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

Unread postby tim » Wed Dec 20, 2017 11:49 am

I never said Deer won’t travel a windward side as Deer travel in valleys all the time also. What I’m saying is if you want your best chances to kill a mature Deer I would stick with leeward. I’m not saying it’s impossible either especially if the Deer isn’t mature.
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Re: How to Hunt the WINDWARD side

Unread postby brancher147 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:24 am

I think you hunt very different terrain/topography than me. In the mountains, sometimes windward is the best/only option. I saw more mature bucks (4 years+) on windward this year than I did on leeward, and my county is not at all known for mature bucks.

Different tactics work better in different areas. But always hunting leeward would make a huge portion of hunt-able big buck habitat disappear for me.
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