NEVER hunt a south wind???

[dalton916]

Because his tractor and his bulldozer and his truck and his bumper and his wife’s car and his mini-bike and his 4 wheeler are all so important

 

[kyler1945]

All outdoor writers hunt prime private property

the fact that Alabama has there tag limit speaks of the deer number down there so private land hunting must be a cake walk

all deer move during daylight in bedding area hence all the nay sayers in this thread

Do you have the luxury to only hunt south wind days or any day you can??

it’s just not relatable to most people in most areas...

Like I've said a dozen times now. If you want a blue print, you're reading the wrong book (Unless you're very much like the author in habits, hobbies, demeanor, time available for hunting, income, and geographical location). If you want some data driven information that is useful if you learn how to think critically, I think it's useful.

I read the book once a year before the season. I don't live in Alabama. I'm not a doctor. I don't hunt private land with very rare exception. I find the book tremendously useful, and in my dumb uneducated useless opinion, consider it the best foundation to a deer hunting career that a new hunter from any locale can read. Not for tactics. Not for his writing style. Not for anything other than to dispel the disney notions of animals, and get some ground truths in their head. But that's just me.

Here's how I can relate to the book. If you look at how I hunt, it more closely mirrors our very own @WHW style. I walk until I find sign that forces me to hunt it. But I ground my expectations in the reality that on highly pressured public land, in the hot and humid southeast, deer just don't move long distances in daylight very often. So when I'm considering whether to scout properties I know, or look for new areas to hunt, or hunt my best spots, or picking an easy access spot, etc. - I'm doing so with that knowledge in mind. I prioritize fronts - I will work late nights and weekends to leave a Wednesday open to hunt the day after a front. Why? Well because deer move more in daylight hours when the weather is cooler. It's nice bonus less people are in the woods, but I don't hunt next to people. So that doesn't matter. Warm weekend - so don't hunt? Nah, I'll be in the woods. But I might chase squirrels while scouting. I might leave everything but the bow and just take off in a straight line. Am I getting in a tree in a travel corridor between bedding and food? Probably not. The odds a deer will be on its feet in daylight hours under my tree when it's 80* in that spot? Slim. Do I have a bedding area pegged, and feel like the deer are in it, and I can capitalize on the "right now" with conditions less than perfect - do I do it with warm temperatures and the wrong wind? Sure, sometimes. But I do it fully informed. And sometimes, I choose to do something else with better odds of being successful.

Why does everything have to be black and white? No one has denied the entire premise he promotes - temperature shows the strongest relation to deer movement across time. Why is no one denying this? You can't - because you can't or won't set up the proper experiment to do so, and even if you could, you most likely wouldn't find a variable we can "control" (in the sense of hunting or not) that is a useful as temperature.

I logged somewhere between 12-15 sits in a tree last year, maybe 40-50 hours "on stand". I killed two deer, missed one, and had deer in range on all but maybe 2-3 of those sits. Does that mean I only hunted a handful of days? Nope - I grounded my strategy in reality, and spent most of my time afield burning rubber. It led to really high odds of having deer under me when I decided to park it.

Good information is hard to come by these days. People who devote themselves to a hobby, craft, or career are rare these days. The fact that someone is willing to share their life's passion with strangers, and the good information is largely ignored because of preconceived notions is nothing new. He addresses the very issue in the book. I for one am grateful he shared. It has been integral to my success.

 

[mattsteg]

All outdoor writers hunt prime private property

So you literally refuse to read any material on hunting?

the fact that Alabama has there tag limit speaks of the deer number down there so private land hunting must be a cake walk

His experience is across a range of public and private property. Some of it is absolutely on "prime private property" of the sort that I would not want to hunt for free.

all deer move during daylight in bedding area hence all the nay sayers in this thread

So the "naysayers" say the same thing as the book's author? Tell me again why they are naysayers?

Do you have the luxury to only hunt south wind days or any day you can??

I (and all of us) have a choice of when I hunt my best prescouted spots, how to hunt on any given day, whether to e.g. be more aggressive pushing into bedding areas vs. playing it safe on travel corridors, etc. I also (sometimes) have a relatively good flexibility to take days off at short notice when not traveling for work...and I ain't traveling currently.

I found the book useful, and also something that condenses down to a "pamphlet" or less (but at pamphlet scale...who would actually get the message).

The impact of cold fronts, and lack of impact of things like barometer, wind direction, moon phase, etc. on deer activity observed when hunting travel corridor pinch points is an important reminder of an obvious, but over-mystified point. I have no reason to disbelieve that this would apply, in a greater or lesser degree, across the bulk of the whitetail's range - especially the stuff flagged as meaningless.

That's useful information, regardless of your style of hunting. Those are gonna be the best days to hunt like he hunts. If you have some honey hole travel corridor sites and you hunt enough to pick your time...pick a windy cold front. If there's a windy cold front coming, try to take vacation if your job allows. If you're hunting on other days, or a mixture, maybe those other days are the best/first opportunity to be more aggressive and push into or closer to bedding, as there's "less to lose" in giving up the more conservative style.

If you hunt enough that you're likely to have a favorable day on your best spot or handful of spots...save them for when their odds are best. Hunt differently and elsewhere, if you can, on other days.

it’s just not relatable to most people in most areas...

Only if you read it wrong.

 

[rhagenw]

Someone send this redneck a copy and I’ll read it and pay for shipping and return it but I’m am done trolling...for now

 

[CooterBrown]

Just bought the book off Amazon for like $10 and started reading it last night. I live and hunt about 2 hours south west of his home area so it should apply to me really well. Excited to learn more about my favorite hobby.

 

[Kyrodan]

people will purchase apps to tell them when to hunt and not tI hunt. Where do you think they get there info? Someone with lots of experience or some? Most people will say the weather is the biggest deal for days to hunt, changes in weather, that is. He is just saying south winds usually mean warmer weather, which usually means less moving during day Light. Its his subjective with objective measures he is sharing with people. Hunt south wind if you want to, he just won’t. No bit deal. No reason to fight, piss and moan. We are here to gain and share info. What you do with it is up to you.

 

[catman529]

As a fellow Middle TN hunter, I can't imagine not hunting south winds since our prevailing wind is SW. I certainly prefer a cold north wind over a warm south wind, but still believe hunting is worthwhile in any wind direction. Sounds silly to say, but the deer eat, drink, sleep, and breed in every wind direction there is--we just need to figure out how to predict their behavior based on those conditions. Different weather conditions, including wind direction, merit different tactics, but there's no wind direction that forces me to use the sleep in/stay on the couch "tactic."

Absolutely. Middle TN here as well. We get a lot of south winds, and the deer move just the same.

I was on a draw hunt this past weekend, 4 days. I hunted the afternoon on day 1 with a southwest wind, saw 9 does. Cold front blew in late on day 2, I was at work that day, wind switched to north. Hunted days 3 and 4, only jumping deer off bed while scouting, not seeing any movement until after sunset on day 4. I know typically deer move good after a cold front, but there are no absolutes, and I’ve had some great hunts on warm south winds.


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[CooterBrown]

My biggest issue is my only day to hunt is Saturday so whatever the wind is or the temperature is I have to hunt then if I'm going to hunt that week. My goal is to learn how to kill a deer whatever the wind or temperature is. Like hunting in the bed when its hot and south wind or hunt on trails when its cold and north. Input on this topic is appreciated.

 

[catman529]

My biggest issue is my only day to hunt is Saturday so whatever the wind is or the temperature is I have to hunt then if I'm going to hunt that week. My goal is to learn how to kill a deer whatever the wind or temperature is. Like hunting in the bed when its hot and south wind or hunt on trails when its cold and north. Input on this topic is appreciated.

I’d say you’re thinking the right way. Any day you can hunt is a good day to hunt. Adjust your tactics depending on weather, current food sources, bedding, and recent intel if you have any.


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[DroptineKrazy]

How much of your hunting territory would be eliminated entirely if you didn't hunt on a south wind? I have several properties that are only huntable on a south wind so the way I look at it I would actually be reducing my odds if I took this advice.