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Quartering Wind Direction- How close is too close?

1

1simplemann

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2014
Messages
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Did you ever find a good spot where the prevailing wind direction just doesn't work? Well I found a tough spot w/ lot's of potential on a new property. I just have to crack the code on how to hunt it. It's between 2 bedding areas on a travel corridor. Lot's of scrapes, bunch of rubs including one on a 6" tree, 3' high and a highway going by it. There's a great tree w/ lot's of cover 22 yds away to the W. It also has good access. There's also very little pressure. This spot has lot's of potential for a really big buck. However the wind direction just stinks. Our prevailing wind here is SW. Anything out of the W gets you busted. Plus there's a main bedding areas to the SW. E winds are perfect except we RARELY ever get anything easterly. . Occasionally NE wind but it doesn't last long. Which leaves N and S. The scrapes are to N of the tree so S doesn't work. Plus we rarely get a S wind in the fall. The wind we do get here during hunting season is North. Here's the catch. The main trail comes out of the SSE and curves back toward NE as you head N. The spot is right on the curve. Shaped like this ( . NNW wind would blow directly at any incoming deer from the SE bedding area. Theoretically a N wind will slip just by them.
I don't think I've ever intentionally hunted a Quartering wind this tight. The other thing I'm concerned about is my scent cone. As it drifts downwind, it widens. It might spread far enough that he will bust me before I even see him. I've heard some really good hunters talking about hunting a Quartering wind. They never mention how much the the wind quarters to the deer. Only that it quarters. Some even prefer it cause the buck will feel safe cause he mostly has the wind in his face.

Tough spot to hunt. I might have to go all in on JE style. Get super clean, scent Loc up and go for it. That 3' high, 6" rub has me thinking he's a real good one. Trail camera's will go up this summer for sure.

Have any of you killers out there hunted a situation like this?
 
What type of terrain? I know you mentioned a good tree to hang but does the spot lay such that you could make a mock scrape 10-20 yards off the curve to buy just a little wind play for N days? Hang a little off that mock scrape and pull them just a bit but not enough to change general travel. Maybe a rope/scrape setup for the visible draw?
 
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I think milkweed is your best friend for short to long distance wind detection. You can tell how close you can let him approach before you need to make it happen!
 

Anyone use John Eberharts scent control methods?

IIRC the guy I referenced earlier, Tom Brownley, said that scent molecules are denser in cold air and fall to the ground more rapidly in cold air; but the warmer the air, the more moisture the air can hold, and scent molecules stick to moisture, making scent linger longer. that applies to...
saddlehunter.com
 
Both of my bucks I got this year was within 5 to 10 yards of being directly downwind from me. Thick timber on bottom of a drainage ridge. I see very few nice bucks not going nose in the wind. My scent control is washing my clothes in Tide, Irish spring bar soap and whatever shampoo my wife buys me.
 
If there is little pressure you could try to pick the best day you can and be aggressive I wouldn’t go that route too many times Sometimes you got to realize that lots of places eat up with deer sign are not feasible to hunt You may do more harm than good Hopefully you can find a better ambush spot above or below all the sign They coming from or heading to somewhere
 
If you can find a terrain feature that will bump them off a slight bit parallel to travel into a good wind for them it’s ideal. One of my best stands I’ve shot a lot of nice bucks from is at a point at where a ridge spur from the south “climbs up” and hits the top of a main east west running ridge. I can hunt “around” this on a SW or SSW on mornings Or NW or NNW wind on mid mornings to evenings as the wind is at their nose and that point that hits the main ridge moves them out and away enough so they can’t wind you. Sometimes swirling occurs so I only hunt it now on stronger steadier winds. I hope that makes some sense.
 
If you have a hunting buddy, consider a setup where they soft bump the deer with their wind and you setup for that.

I wouldn't let the location of scrapes dictate your hunting of the area too much. First, the bucks can travel to them from either bedding area, and so deer can move by you to get to them perhaps from one of the bedding areas (I'd probably need a hand drawn basic map though to see it better). Also, a lot of scrapes are tended at night and aren't always a huge draw in the day.

Unless that tree is the only one, then I wouldn't let it dictate everything. Also, if it is the only tree, you might consider setting up on the ground with a temporary blind while wearing a leafy suit and paint your face (leafy suit or ghillie really helps from the ground as will painting or covering your face).

It seems like most winds will at least get one bedding area able to be hunted. So, if the bucks are equally likely to be in either one, then maybe you always have a 50% chance of not winding them (?) and you just gotta roll the dice.

But if you can narrow to the preferred bedding area (the one you think is most likely to hold a buck that would travel to you during daylight) then that might help you to roll the dice when that area won't be winded, if you can set up for that. Do you have any clues to which of the 2 might be best? Maybe based upon going inside the bedding areas to scout during the off season or clues based upon sign, the surrounding land, or deer observations?

Some areas just can't be hunted without alerting some of the deer, best hopes is that they slink off and don't sit and blow at you for 30 minutes! That's more of a doe move though, but they'll be there.

One trick that I like is to randomly rotate the map. Look at the map with N at the bottom, etc. Sometimes I look at an area so long in one orientation that it locks my brain a bit. Flipping it is like re-reading something you wrote after a good nights sleep and seeing the typos you missed the other day because you stared at it too long.
 
What’s the terrain like? Are there elevation changes?

I’ve got a few situations I hunt that setup like you are describing, and because there are elevation changes I can hunt them fairly undetected, but only for really short windows at the beginning / end of the day when conditions are right for the thermals to pull my scent away from the bedding / traveling deer. Or with some of those spots I may have to make a shift or two during the day to stay just off wind. As was said before, milkweed is my friend.

have you verified that there is daytime deer movement in the area?
 
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BTaylor said:
What type of terrain? I know you mentioned a good tree to hang but does the spot lay such that you could make a mock scrape 10-20 yards off the curve to buy just a little wind play for N days? Hang a little off that mock scrape and pull them just a bit but not enough to change general travel. Maybe a rope/scrape setup for the visible draw?
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It's an island. Shaped like a half moon. 25-30 acres. It's Basically flat however there are slight ridges that run the whole length. These are basically ancient old high water marks. The deer are running the ridges. Bedding areas at both ends. The main ridge goes from tip to tip of the island. On the south end, it starts out just slightly higher than the surrounding terrain.(3-4') When you get to the curve in the trail, the ridge is 10-12" high. E side of the ridge is a small cattail marsh. West side (the spot) is brush and trees. This is where the rubs and scrapes are. I'm thinking of putting some additional mock scrapes to the northwest to focus his attention. Straight S is where I'm vulnerable to getting winded. He'll be coming from the N, NE or SSE. SSE is cutting it close. for sure a NNW will bust me. N wind might slide right by him. I'll be close. I'm going to prepare the tree and wait for a steady N wind.. For sure I'm going to put cell camaras out. I have a feeling he's a shooter for sure. It's right next town and there's no hunting within city limits.
 
Is there any way that you can divert him enough to get the wind to be more in your favor? I use this tactic quite often and it seems to work very well. You usually can't move them too far but a lot of times it helps.
 
1simplemann said:
It's an island. Shaped like a half moon. 25-30 acres. It's Basically flat however there are slight ridges that run the whole length. These are basically ancient old high water marks. The deer are running the ridges. Bedding areas at both ends. The main ridge goes from tip to tip of the island. On the south end, it starts out just slightly higher than the surrounding terrain.(3-4') When you get to the curve in the trail, the ridge is 10-12" high. E side of the ridge is a small cattail marsh. West side (the spot) is brush and trees. This is where the rubs and scrapes are. I'm thinking of putting some additional mock scrapes to the northwest to focus his attention. Straight S is where I'm vulnerable to getting winded. He'll be coming from the N, NE or SSE. SSE is cutting it close. for sure a NNW will bust me. N wind might slide right by him. I'll be close. I'm going to prepare the tree and wait for a steady N wind.. For sure I'm going to put cell camaras out. I have a feeling he's a shooter for sure. It's right next town and there's no hunting within city limits.
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I would focus on the point in the bend of travel that gives you the most advantage with the wind, however slight that may be. Then put a mock scrape and likely a rope scrape for the visibility aspect 10 yards or so to your plus wind side to give you just a bit more margin but not significantly trying to alter travel.
 
woodsdog2 said:
If you can find a terrain feature that will bump them off a slight bit parallel to travel into a good wind for them it’s ideal. One of my best stands I’ve shot a lot of nice bucks from is at a point at where a ridge spur from the south “climbs up” and hits the top of a main east west running ridge. I can hunt “around” this on a SW or SSW on mornings Or NW or NNW wind on mid mornings to evenings as the wind is at their nose and that point that hits the main ridge moves them out and away enough so they can’t wind you. Sometimes swirling occurs so I only hunt it now on stronger steadier winds. I hope that makes some sense.
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It makes sense. My idea is to change the terrain. I've done it before with success. I failed to mention that on the S end of this ridge is a killer setup that I have prepared. Perfect for SW wind, Along the length of the ridge is down fall trees. The deer either jump them or go around.. I chainsaw ed the entire length to make it easy for them to walk and want to stay on the ridge. Next I plan on raking the leaves out to make it visual. To show them this is "the way". Deer will stay on visual trail if they have no reason to leave. I see it all the time in our fields. Next If there are any trails coming from the S on the edge of that ridge, I plan to block them w/ brush and divert them back onto the ridge. Basically I will create a "trap" at both ends of the ridge. Multiple options for different wind directions and I won't over hunt either tree.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
Is there any way that you can divert him enough to get the wind to be more in your favor? I use this tactic quite often and it seems to work very well. You usually can't move them too far but a lot of times it helps.
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Yes . See above post.
 
I kill 90% of my deer in marginal winds. It's the one tactic I specifically practice and use. Sometimes it's the difference between two trees, as close as 5 yds apart. One gets you picked 99% of the time, the other let's you skate 50% of the time.
 
I have always said that whitetail hunting is all about putting the odds in your favor. I love it when I can find a good pinch point that I can hunt with both of our predominate wind directions. NW for highs or good weather and SW or SE for lows and bad weather. Add good access to the equation and you have got yourself a killer spot. I sometimes will scour Google earth for hours looking for these types of set ups.
 
DroptineKrazy said:
I'm thinking more like piling up dead wood to make them skirt around it. Sometimes it don't take much.
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I use this tactic as well. I'll block a trail that goes downwind of the tree and force them upwind. Sometimes I do the opposite. I remove the obstacles and make the trail very obvious. They'll take the path of the least resistance most of the time.. In this case the natural terrain feature is that ridge. It's only 15-20 wide. 300-400 yds long. They are following the whole length of it between the bedding areas. The wind is marginal but I think it'll work if they stay on the ridge and don't vear off. It'll be close 10-15 yds at most. I guess the only way I'll know is to hunt it. Normally though I don't like to cut it that close. I prefer more of cross wind.
 
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