change of wind question

[beddedbuck]

Lets say you are hunting a known bedding area. You arive on stand with 4 hours to hunt. The wind changes 2 hours into the hunt and starts to blow over your Target bedding area. Do you immediately get down and high tail out of there? I was reading the milkweeds post and it got me thinkin. If you are on stand and constantly checking the wind... and it changes, do you stop your hunt? What do you do?

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[dan]

If its a swirl I stay put... If the wind is blowing to the bedding area or the direction I expect deer I leave or move positions.

[kenn1320]

If I'm in a stand(I have yet to hunt beast style) and my wind changes for the worse, I climb down asap and either leave for the hunt, or if there is time I will relocate to a stand with favorable winds. However hypothetically speaking, if your on a bed and the wind changes for the worse, I don't see any benefit to leaving. That animal will either smell you are there and leave, or stay bedded till dark, or maybe he doesn't smell you(highly unlikely, but it could happen). Even if you get down and leave he will have had a chance to smell you if it is blowing directly to him. I say stay put and play the odds. Whats your thoughts on that logic Dan?

[beddedbuck]

That's what I was thinking Ken. If the wind goes that way, he already smelt you and the damage is done. In rare cases I have had deer come a direction I never would have guessed.

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[BassBoysLLP]

If the wind is shifty, I'd probably move a few trees over (if possible). The lone wolf sticks are good for this.

In the end it all depends on my close options. If I have a close option, I might abandon the whole set up and take a close option with a better wind. However, if the wind is that shifty, I'm more likely to ride it out in the original spot or a "new" location in the original spot than potentially "contaminate" two spots (original + new spot).

[Stanley]

I always move to another stand with a favorable wind. It sucks but that is what needs to be done. You can't hope the buck won't smell you, he will. You also can't assume the spot is ruined anyway. There may be a buck on the move that hasn't arrived yet. Move, keep that stand site fresh for another day.

[Stanley]

Great topic.

[dan]

If I'm in a stand(I have yet to hunt beast style) and my wind changes for the worse, I climb down asap and either leave for the hunt, or if there is time I will relocate to a stand with favorable winds. However hypothetically speaking, if your on a bed and the wind changes for the worse, I don't see any benefit to leaving. That animal will either smell you are there and leave, or stay bedded till dark, or maybe he doesn't smell you(highly unlikely, but it could happen). Even if you get down and leave he will have had a chance to smell you if it is blowing directly to him. I say stay put and play the odds. Whats your thoughts on that logic Dan?

The wind is not as direct as most people think... It flows around obstacles. If I notice a change in direction, it might mean the buck winded me, and it might not... If I stay in the tree with the attitude that "oh well, he smelled me, might as well stay" he likely will smell me eventually if he has not already. Most of the time these shifts happen just before dark and its to risky to set another stand, so I end up moving and setting up on the ground... But I certainly would not sit with the wind blowing directly into the bedding with my fingers crossed.

[kenn1320]

Do you make the move as soon as you realize the wind change, or do you give it a few minutes to ensure it wasn't some oddity and it changes back? How often are you checking the wind Dan? The hard thing is the terrain "just over there" can be enough of a change that when you move, the wind is not doing what you thought it would. Also Im trying to visualize this. If were hunting a bed that is directly north of us and were hunting it on a se wind and the wind changes to a south wind, we would have to get down and move further to the west, making for an even longer shot in thick cover from off the ground now. You just lowered your odds of success by a lot, but at least you might get a visual on the target animal. The gig is over either way, as he will smell you have been there on his way back in the next morning right Dan? In the farm land I hunt, the terrain is flat for the most part and I have my tree picked out about 80yds from the bed, and might need to be further when the leaves are down. I have no idea what my scent is doing that far from where I'm dropping my milk weed, as I usually can only see it for about 35yds if that. Having a hard time putting a lot of thought into this, while Im seeing the numbers flip on the clock, knowing Im gonna be late for work.

[dan]

Most of the time the shift is somewhat gradual but I have been caught with a change that was either sudden or not noticed in time. I move as soon as I see it going bad. Your right, in a lot of cases a move won't work... But its not often the wind changes on me unpredictably. Usually its thermal activity and that can be predicted and set up for.
Although my playing the "just off the bed" wind has bit me in the but a time or two... But its taking those chances that lead to some success...

[Stanley]

Light and variable winds are the worst to hunt. Even a strong west wind will swing WNW-WSW . Another thing to remember, You toss out a milk weed and can see where that goes. Your scent doesn't stream out straight like the milkweed it funnels/spreads out, as it goes farther out. So your scent can cover a large area beyond where you think it will go. kind of like smoke from a fire.

[muddy]

Most times when the wind gets squirrely I adjust my position as I'm usually hunting out of my lone wolf. If its really effed I go elsewhere.

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