Success is on the wind

A few years ago I experienced first-hand how deer utilize the wind. I had placed my tree stand above a dense tangle of briars halfway up a steep hillside, close to a trail winding through a horseshoe-shaped bed­ding niche. The worn path provided deer easy access from a streambed below and connected to an alfalfa field on the ridge top. There was water at the base, bedding cover in the middle, food on the ridge top: I couldn’t have asked for better habitat. My hopes were high. The rut was escalating and deer activity was increasing. The late-afternoon sun was unusually warm, so I took my time stalk-hunting to my stand. I reached the edge of the briar tangle just as another bullying wind gust blew my hat off. Suddenly, I lost confidence I would see deer, because unruly winds make them skittish. Then I recalled good advice a hunting friend once shared. “Deer don’t leave an area because of inclement weather. They’re still there, somewhere. You have to determine where they’re hiding to avoid weather changes.” Reading the wind Pulsating wind had me constantly search­ing the landscape. I soon spotted a six-pointer making his way nonchalantly up the hill. He stopped frequently to nose the air. I felt safe because I’d placed my stand so a west wind was blowing across the trail toward me. The buck stood for several minutes scanning the landscape, smelling invisible air currents. He finally crossed the fence with one quick leap. After his feet hit the ground, he nosed the wind, then investigated a natural scrape 10 metres from my stand. He wasn’t a mature buck I wanted to shoot, so I decided to study his actions. His nose twitched constantly. He investi­gated the ground, surrounding foliage, and methodically tested wind currents. It was as if he were wired to an internal timing mech­anism that programmed him to sample the wind every 30 seconds. When wind changes everything Eventually, he bedded down beside a tangle of briars less than 25 metres from my stand. I was hoping his appearance would attract other deer. The hillside shelf appeared to be a security point where he could wait until darkness before travelling uphill to the alfalfa field. He laid down, his back facing the wind, enabling him to scent potential danger behind him, upwind. He could watch and listen for intrusions in front of him,