They are calling for heavy wind tomorow,I was planning on going out.
I have heard people say the heavy wind will disperse your scent and thererfore it is a good thing. I have also heard people say the heavy wind blows your scent all over the place so it is a bad thing. I don't know.
What about tactics for hunting in the wind. Do I need to change tactics or does the wind not make a difference?
Most of my hunting area is pretty brushy.
Thanks.

Frankg,
Read the thread I just posted. If I were you, and you know that deer normally frequent the area I would give it a try. Here are a few things I would do prior to the hunt: 1) wash your gear before you go out in your sport wash or whatever you use. 2) douse yourself in scent killer (spray your boots heavily) 3) It would not hurt to take a little tinks 69 or other scent with you to aid in masking your scent. 4) If your in a tree get as high up as you can but pick a sturdy tree b/c of the high winds. 5) be patient and good luck huntin'. I hope this can help you out.

-John

I would rather hunt in the rain than on a very windy day, at least where I live.

The wind makes the animals nervous and unnrestly, hesitant to come out into the open.

As far as what it will do with your scent, I suppose it will do the same thing a light wind does only faster. So it will dissipate faster, but it may also reach an animal downwind faster.

If you do find animals on a really windy day and it is blowing in your favour, the noise it creates makes for very easy stalking.

On my place I don't even go out if she a blowin, not much wants to move around and the bush is too thick to walk through or to set up and glass in most areas.

The good news is that the wind disperse your scent in effect it talks the deer's nose out of the equation.

The bad news is deer tend to hole-up during heavy wind because they can use thier noses.

If you know the pattern of your local deer they may move and any day hunt is a good a day. Heavy wind is a great time to try some still hunting. Good luck, let6 us know how you do.

I say hunt anytime you have the opportunity to do so. However, the wind causes some good and bad effects, some of which have already been mentioned.

In my experience, animals tend to hunker down and stay put in hiding during windy periods.

The wind can disperse and blow your scent away.

Conversely,The wind can blow your scent right to the animal, spooking it early.

The wind can cover the sound of your approach.

The wind can conceal the sound of your prey.

I say hunt anyway. Use clean hunting clothes and a cover scent. Be mindful of the wind direction but if it is really switching around, you may not be able to do much about it. Good luck.

frankg,
Wind is a mixed blessing.On one hand,it negates the deer's nose advantage.On the other hand,it makes him nervous and timid about moving about.
It is a good day for still hunting,he can't hear as well either.
Really bad wind will panic the deer.Once,as I left a tree line and entered a"sort of" field,three does,in a panic,ran down from a hardwood ridge,where large branches were falling.They ran right at me.I had to wave my arms and holler to prevent the middle one from knocking me for a loop.
Frank

It's a good time to hunt brushy area's. Hunt into or sideways to the wind and it will take your scent away and the crunch of your boots too.

If there ever was a time skip the fastidious stuff over scents and washing your woolies it's tommorrow. I have walked right up on deer when it's blowing. They have to eat too. They will be out by the afternoon for sure. Also the bucks can't keep still.

Hunted in 85+ mile an hour winds today. It was terrible. Tough to even stand up. The bush did crazy things to it (swirling) as well.

Chuck

Chuck, a few weeks back I hunted in sustained 60+ mph wind... it was hell. A friend was guiding for elk on a ridge about fifteen hundred feet above where I was. Gusts there were in the 100 mph range. He and his hunter found the elk but getting a shot was tough. His dude wanted to take a four hundred yard shot cross-wind... my friend had to yell above the noise of the wind to put his friggin rifle away!

The West... ain't it grand!

Well,the wind worked for me today. There were basically deer running all over the place compared to normal.One even stopped long enough for me to shoot it.
This is also a doe day here.So it may be that there are so many hunters on the neighboring properties that they are pushing deer toward me. But I believe the wind has them moving around more than normal.
In the future, when the wind picks up, I will be heading out the door with my gun.
Thanks!

As many others have found, I agree that, in general, high wind will force the deer to seek heavy cover. Looks like things worked out for you anyhow.

I would definitely recommend that you do not miss the period following a lengthy heavy wind (for example, after a full day of wind, don't miss the next morning hunt if it's supposed to calm down).

Congratulations anyways!

for western sage country, during high winds, look into the coulies that run cross wise to the prevailing wind. muleys will hunker down out of hte wind, and you just peek over the top and pick one to shoot. course, there are a lot of miles of ravines and canyons that have only so many deer, but they are off the flats anyway.

Game is very spooky on windy days and move very little. They can't hear danger and avoid moving around. High winds can help the hunter stalk closer to game if is able to spot them when making a stalk. I see less game moving in very windy conditions than any other time, they tend to stay in their beds. Two man drives can be very productive, if done properly, in very windy conditions. No matter what the weather always hunt slow, even slower, to take your game. The average deer hunter can walk through a wood lot and never see a deer when several will be in that wood lot. Deer will stand for long periods of time, look and listen, to detect any intrusion into their domain.

I prefer cool calm damp overcast conditions to hunt, and have harvested my best animals during those conditions. In my home state Ohio, high density human populations have conditioned deer to adapt to human activity on a regular basis. They get used to sneaking around humans movments in their habitat all day long. The hunter must use tactics to outsmart the deer and enable, him or her, to get close for a shot. Learn deer movements and be in the right spot at the right time to harvest those giant Ohio bucks. It is ceratin just as many deer are taken by accident as there are on purpose.

In a high wind, the game will sit tighter and the hunter can approach closer if he uses the wind to his advantage. Here in WV, the deer will hole up in sheltered pockets out of the wind. In Wy, it seems to take quite a bit more wind to put the mulies off as the wind blows more or less all the time. The mulies that I hunted, over in the badlands, seemed to rely more on their eyes than nose. They still like to get out of a high wind tho.