- Joined
- Apr 1, 2014
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- 700
A lot of interest in Scent Control so I'm going to post several threads in a row to address it:
1. Just Play the Wind??????
Before scent reducing and eliminating products and garments hit the market “just play the wind†was the only number in town. Even today countless hunters claim there is no other option, meaning they believe scent control doesn’t work or doesn’t work well enough to negate the wind. To put it bluntly, that is not true.
You can fool a deer’s nose and I do it dozens of times each season. Please allow me to step back in time to a typical year before implementing a strict scent control routine.
During my spring tree selection and preparation process I would occasionally ignore the best tree and set-up a secondary tree better suited for the prevailing Northwest fall winds. Secondary tree choices typically put some runways or signposts out of range, or didn’t offer as good of concealment cover.
Before each hunt I’d check the wind direction then select a location from a host of already prepared locations for that particular wind. During the hunt I’d remain hopeful the wind would remain constant and not change directions or swirl.
Swirling winds were a dilemma and always an unknown entity that could ruin the best-laid plans especially when hunting undulating terrain features such as saddles, hills, ridges, or edges and corners of timber such as along perimeters of crop fields. There were saddle and ridge
locations that I quit hunting due to swirling winds.
Prior to losing their leaves, tree foliage acts in a similar manner as a brick wall. Whether along perimeters of openings in the woods or a field’s edge, a constant direct wind will not totally penetrate through tree-line foliage and the portion that doesn’t will deflect in differing directions or possibly swirl in several directions.
In tree-line corners the wind will deflect off one tree-line, hit the corner and deflect off the other tree-line creating a swirling wind in all directions similar to a whirlpool at a river bend. Many times I would hear snorting in the timber without a sighting.
Entry routes were another issue as I would try to take routes that didn’t cross any runways I expected deer to use during that hunt. Deer have a sense of smell hundreds of times more sensitive to ours and even though I’d trapped fox and knew to wear knee high rubber boots, my faint scent ribbon was enough to alert mature deer.
On occasion non-targeted deer would appear from upwind and pass downwind or cross my entry route and spook. A few times, a hot doe being pursued by a buck would spook and that hunt was abruptly over as well.
A thin blanket of human scent also went into the area downwind of my entry trail. Mature deer approaching from downwind of the scent line would, at very minimum, be on a higher alert level than normal, and am quite certain that many deer simply smelled me and never appeared.
Lastly, with Michigan’s November 15th gun season opener falling dead center of peak rut it was not uncommon that some bow locations saved strictly for the pre and early rut phases would never get hunted because the wind direction necessary for them never occurred during that short time frame, or on my days off work.
To state that wind direction dictated where I hunted more than deer activity did, would be an understatement.
Those are all realities of having to hunt the wind that unfortunately rarely get mentioned on TV and in videos because media hunters rarely hunt in heavily pressured areas where most 2 ½ year old and older bucks have been wounded or shot at before.
In heavy consequential hunting pressure areas survival instincts are immensely greater than those of their brethren in lightly hunted or micro-managed areas. When bucks are allowed to pass by hunters without consequence until they reach an age or antler criteria before being targeted, they have a much higher tolerance of human odor and activity. When there are no consequences during hunter encounters while growing to maturity, there’s little reason to fear future encounters.
Now please allow me to describe a typical year while implementing a strict scent control routine.
During post-season scouting and tree selection process I choose and prepare the best tree for that particular location with no concern of wind direction, bringing all runways and signposts into play.
Having a general seasonal plan already in place, prior to each hunt I decide which tree to hunt based solely on current sightings and signposts.
Whether hunting saddles, hills, ridges, tree line edges and corners, or any type of terrain feature, I pay no regard to wind direction and don’t care if during a hunt it changes or swirls.
Entry and exit routes are now dictated only by the likelihood of spooking deer during entries and exits due to being seen or heard.
I’m not concerned about non-targeted deer appearing from upwind and passing downwind or crossing my entry route and spooking due to human odor.
Lastly, during the all-important pre and early rut phases I can hunt my best locations without concern of wind direction or getting winded.
Current deer movements are the dictating factor for the locations I select and the wind direction has nothing to do with it. This may seem like a very bold statement, but the proof is in the pudding. After being winded many times each season for decades, I now have deer directly downwind almost every hunt without having them spook.
1. Just Play the Wind??????
Before scent reducing and eliminating products and garments hit the market “just play the wind†was the only number in town. Even today countless hunters claim there is no other option, meaning they believe scent control doesn’t work or doesn’t work well enough to negate the wind. To put it bluntly, that is not true.
You can fool a deer’s nose and I do it dozens of times each season. Please allow me to step back in time to a typical year before implementing a strict scent control routine.
During my spring tree selection and preparation process I would occasionally ignore the best tree and set-up a secondary tree better suited for the prevailing Northwest fall winds. Secondary tree choices typically put some runways or signposts out of range, or didn’t offer as good of concealment cover.
Before each hunt I’d check the wind direction then select a location from a host of already prepared locations for that particular wind. During the hunt I’d remain hopeful the wind would remain constant and not change directions or swirl.
Swirling winds were a dilemma and always an unknown entity that could ruin the best-laid plans especially when hunting undulating terrain features such as saddles, hills, ridges, or edges and corners of timber such as along perimeters of crop fields. There were saddle and ridge
locations that I quit hunting due to swirling winds.
Prior to losing their leaves, tree foliage acts in a similar manner as a brick wall. Whether along perimeters of openings in the woods or a field’s edge, a constant direct wind will not totally penetrate through tree-line foliage and the portion that doesn’t will deflect in differing directions or possibly swirl in several directions.
In tree-line corners the wind will deflect off one tree-line, hit the corner and deflect off the other tree-line creating a swirling wind in all directions similar to a whirlpool at a river bend. Many times I would hear snorting in the timber without a sighting.
Entry routes were another issue as I would try to take routes that didn’t cross any runways I expected deer to use during that hunt. Deer have a sense of smell hundreds of times more sensitive to ours and even though I’d trapped fox and knew to wear knee high rubber boots, my faint scent ribbon was enough to alert mature deer.
On occasion non-targeted deer would appear from upwind and pass downwind or cross my entry route and spook. A few times, a hot doe being pursued by a buck would spook and that hunt was abruptly over as well.
A thin blanket of human scent also went into the area downwind of my entry trail. Mature deer approaching from downwind of the scent line would, at very minimum, be on a higher alert level than normal, and am quite certain that many deer simply smelled me and never appeared.
Lastly, with Michigan’s November 15th gun season opener falling dead center of peak rut it was not uncommon that some bow locations saved strictly for the pre and early rut phases would never get hunted because the wind direction necessary for them never occurred during that short time frame, or on my days off work.
To state that wind direction dictated where I hunted more than deer activity did, would be an understatement.
Those are all realities of having to hunt the wind that unfortunately rarely get mentioned on TV and in videos because media hunters rarely hunt in heavily pressured areas where most 2 ½ year old and older bucks have been wounded or shot at before.
In heavy consequential hunting pressure areas survival instincts are immensely greater than those of their brethren in lightly hunted or micro-managed areas. When bucks are allowed to pass by hunters without consequence until they reach an age or antler criteria before being targeted, they have a much higher tolerance of human odor and activity. When there are no consequences during hunter encounters while growing to maturity, there’s little reason to fear future encounters.
Now please allow me to describe a typical year while implementing a strict scent control routine.
During post-season scouting and tree selection process I choose and prepare the best tree for that particular location with no concern of wind direction, bringing all runways and signposts into play.
Having a general seasonal plan already in place, prior to each hunt I decide which tree to hunt based solely on current sightings and signposts.
Whether hunting saddles, hills, ridges, tree line edges and corners, or any type of terrain feature, I pay no regard to wind direction and don’t care if during a hunt it changes or swirls.
Entry and exit routes are now dictated only by the likelihood of spooking deer during entries and exits due to being seen or heard.
I’m not concerned about non-targeted deer appearing from upwind and passing downwind or crossing my entry route and spooking due to human odor.
Lastly, during the all-important pre and early rut phases I can hunt my best locations without concern of wind direction or getting winded.
Current deer movements are the dictating factor for the locations I select and the wind direction has nothing to do with it. This may seem like a very bold statement, but the proof is in the pudding. After being winded many times each season for decades, I now have deer directly downwind almost every hunt without having them spook.