East-Wind Hunting Spots

 
It's just human nature. Many hunters fall in love with their opening-day ground blind or tree stand because they've thought about it for months on end.

Does this mean his so-called hot spot will be good on opening day? Perhaps it will and maybe it won't. It all depends on wind and weather conditions, and sadly many people don't play the wind properly when deer hunting.

One major problem hunters face is setting all of their stands for the prevailing wind direction. During Michigan's bow and firearm deer seasons, the prevailing direction is south and southwest in October, west to northwest in November and northwest and north in December.

Be smarter than an east wind. Find a good spot to hunt.

So here is this hotspot stand set up for early-season hunting. It has the stand downwind for a south or southwest breeze. Good thinking! Once the season has opened, Joe Hunter has been thinking about it for weeks and plans to sit in favorite stand and shoot a deer that he this he has patterned.

However, if you've followed wind patterns the past several years as I have, you'll remember that nearly half of our October days featured a northeast, east or southeast wind. An east wind, unless stands are specifically placed for such wind currents, makes other stand locations nearly impossible to hunt without being detected by approaching deer.

It's easy to advocate having two stands in key hunting locations for an east wind, but it's sometimes quite difficult to find good spots where it will work. And, there is the obvious cost of another stand for that hunting, Some hunters will hit the hip for another stand but most sportsmen will not.

Most bow hunters, like me, prefer hunting out of a tree. One way to get around this problem is to hunt from an elevated coop. Keep the windows closed until it's time to take a shot. It's certainly not like being out in the breeze, and feeling the wind on your nose or cheek, but it allows a hunter to effectively hunt at times when bad winds blow.

Coop or box blind hunting tactics.

A choice can be made. Hunt from an enclosed coop or don't hunt. To hunt out in the open when the wind is wrong simply courts trouble.
The best way is to look at how deer travel, especially on an east wind, and locate that one key spot where whitetails filter through. Try to be downwind of the whitetail traffic, and don't move.

Fishermen have long known that angling success often takes a nose dive on an east wind, and deer hunters - especially bow hunters - know the same holds true for them when hunting on an east wind.

I've long known that an open tree stand may cause your scent to drift to the deer when the wind huffs from the east. An enclosed and elevated wooden blind with shooting windows can save the day.

One thing is certain. The hunter who deliberately puts himself upwind of deer on an east wind will probably ruin that hunting spot for the rest of the season unless he can prevent deer from smelling him. A simple V-shaped wooden structure, and forced down between two limbs with just enough room to shoot, gives the hunter something to stand on. It can work if a box-type blind is not available.

Just try to stay downwind or at least crosswind whenever possible. Hunting on an east wind requires some checking around, some good luck, and the ability to pick the ideal tree. It's not easy, but good thinking and proper placement, can make the hunt work.

Hunt cross-wind or down-wind when east winds blow.

If an east wind blows, and your stand is not placed properly for that wind, it's better to sit out the day than to risk spooking all the deer from that location. Once deer are spooked from your hotspot stand, the odds are that they either won't roam past that site or will approach it with a great deal of caution.

So try to be a savvy hunter. Play the wind like a fine violin, and never discount the ability of a whitetail deer to catch your scent,

Hunt the wind with caution and good sense, and learn when and how to hunt the east wind, and don’t it on a regular basis. Good luck.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors