Whitetail - I keep getting winded

[PB123]

My neighbor recently bought an 80 acre plot of land. A good part of the property is being used for a business, but he lets me hunt the back of the property. I have four trail cameras up and two of the spots are getting tons of deer traffic. The issue i'm running into is that I keep getting winded. It seems our prevailing winds are N & NE and given the layout of the property this puts both my stand and my ground blind at a disadvantage. I am spraying down with Dead Down Wind before I go out, I have washed my clothes in their detergent, let the clothes dry outside, and keep the clothes in garage where no vehicles are parked. I'm getting them close to me, I keep hear them sniffing and a few times it ended up with me getting huffed at. The always seem to be behind me. These suckers are smart.

Any thoughts or ideas from the more advanced hunters on what I could be doing wrong?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[weekender7]

Only hunt when the wind is in your favor. Doing otherwise is only hurting your spot.

 

[go_deep]

If there's any live water on the property fill a 5 gallon bucket up about 3/4 the way full throw in partially decayed leaves and dirt from where you hunt along with a box of baking soda, mix it up really good and leave it sit for a few days. After a few days strain it, and you got yourself a scent killer that smells like your woods. Apply it on everything.

 

[Drenalin]

You cannot beat their noses, no matter how much time, money, or devil magic you devote to it. Play the wind, mind your access, don’t walk where you expect deer to walk. If the wind is wrong for that spot, hunt somewhere else. Your odds also decrease the more you hunt that one spot.

 

[rugerhoyt]

Only hunt when the wind is in your favor. Doing otherwise is only hurting your spot.

He is right. Damn near impossible to beat their nose. If you figure it out patent it and you’ll be able to afford whatever chunk of ground you want.

It’s hard when you only have a couple spots but all you will do is educate them to your presence.

Maybe set a spot up that is good for your prevailing wind, even if just for observation. The time is coming when their second brain will do the thinking and they can be anywhere then.


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[FLATHEAD]

You can spray down and roll in leaves and dirt but your
just gonna smell like a dude that sprayed down and rolled
in dirt.
If they are down wind, they gonna smell you.

 

[cnelk]

I only get winded when I hunt elk.

Never. And I mean never have I gotten winded when WT hunting.

You need to get in better shape.

 

[Stevendearden]

Do you also shower in non scent spray? Along with a non scent towel, and change into your hunting clothes at the back of the truck? I do that along with was clothes in scent free, keep them in sealable totes, change into them T the back of the truck, and spray down in between every layer as it goes on. Also wear rubber boots and only use them for hunting. You’ll never ever best a whitetails nose but you can sure do things to help eliminate human odor.

 

[Pickettpuncher]

I quit using dead down wind and quit getting busted.

 

[Rich M]

I got a chuckle out of the winds not being right for your stand placement. Maybe you can place the stands to benefit you based off the prevailing winds - while taking the thermals into account. Just a thought.

You also have to consider your access routes - the deer already have you patterned and know how you enter the land and where you go. They can smell your trail a week after you been there. No hiding it. You can not beat their noses, I don't care what the outdoor personalities say in the ads they get paid to produce.

Do you breath? They smell your breath - can tell you if you brushed that day or not. Do you keep your eyes open? They can smell your eyes. Forget about the scent stuff, you have to hunt the wind. You have to be stealthy when you access your stand. You have to surprise them.

Want to kill a deer? Leave your stuff where it is for now, enter the property from a diff access, sneak in, set up for the wind and shoot the deer where they scent check your stands.

Have fun. Deer hunting is a journey and every year we learn more. The deer are smart and have a lot to lose so they don't really make mistakes. It's a hobby to us, so we do.

If I had 20 acres to hunt, I'd have probably 2 stands set up overlooking the travel routes - for different winds and access routes, and hunt it a total of 2-3-4 times a year, 5 tops if it was a rut travel route. This is based on a September - January season. Say once a month, maybe 2 days consecutive during pre-rut when the deer are active. Anything more is gonna burn the place.

 

[MallardSX2]

Spray Nosejammer and keep hammering.

 

[Boarmaster]

Wind direction , wind direction , wind direction. Play the wind. You can out wash or spray away a whitetails nose. At least not consistently.

 

[WoodBow]

As others have said, setup so the prevailing winds are to your advantage. If changing the setup is not possible, you will have to wait to hunt until the wind is ideal for your setup.

There is only one thing that I have ever used that I feel actually helps me from getting winded as much, and that is fox pee. I buy it in a 16 oz bottle from a trapping supplier on amazon or ebay. It is about $20. I then put it into a 2 oz spay bottle. I spray my boots for walking in. I spray the base of my tree and the foliage surrounding my stand. It is not bulletproof but it helps a lot. I started seeing significantly more deer after I started doing this. I have many times had deer in bow range down wind that are obviously smelling something but they just can't quite sort it out. They certainly still sometimes fully wind me. Oddly the smell of the fox pee now has a nostalgic effect for me since I associate it with hunting whitetails.

 

[WCB]

You can try every trick in the book...if the wind isn't right they are going to smell you. If the deer are behind you and that is where the wind is blowing move the stand farther back in that direction. Get on the opposite side of the trails they are on when they smell you.

Or move your stand East/West far enough where the deer are paralleling your scent. Wind directly in your face isn't always possible or optimal.

IMO scent control buys you time if the wind swirls or a deer slips through your scent stream. If a deer is soaking in your scent stream your screwed.

 

[FLATHEAD]

If a Whitetail has never winded you, then you havent hunted Whitetail much.
You cant beat their nose.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I don't even mess with sprays and cover scents. You cannot cover everything up, and even the cover ups may smell different enought to spook them. Fox or skunk scent on the boots can help mask your ground scent and so will fresh mud or cow crap. However, you are constantly sloughing skin cells and breathing, so unless you're waking into the woods with a hazmat suit on you're leaving scent.

Bottom line is you cannot eliminate your scent, but lots of companies will gladly take your money and tell you they can. As my late father used to say, "...fishing lures catch more fishermen than they do fish..."

 

[Bullzeyez61]

Take something that floats in the air and is visible I can not think of the name of it right now maybe someone else can but those pods you see on the edge of swamps or low areas that when they break open thousands of little cotton ball almost looking like things drift through the air. Cattail tops work too but not as good. Keep one of those pods in your bow case and you will have wind checker for the whole year. You can see all the twists and turns your scent is taking through the woods. You would be surprise what it does sometimes.

 

[wind gypsy]

Take something that floats in the air and is visible I can not think of the name of it right now maybe someone else can but those pods you see on the edge of swamps or low areas that when they break open thousands of little cotton ball almost looking like things drift through the air. Cattail tops work too but not as good. Keep one of those pods in your bow case and you will have wind checker for the whole year. You can see all the twists and turns your scent is taking through the woods. You would be surprise what it does sometimes.

milkweed.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Use the wind to your advantage.

Bring a Jet Boil and slowly make some fruit-flavored jello. Great for eating later. The key is to be up wind.

Also bring a Costco-size fruit pie. Eat it nice and slow. Don’t drop any as that’d be baiting. The key is to be up wind.

Don’t forget your fruit-flavor packets for your water. You want to pour the packet very slowly so as to not spill it as that would be baiting. Leave uncovered to expedite dissolving. Drink very slowly as you do not want to spill as that would be baiting. The key is to be up wind.

Using your Jet Boil make a very strong hot chocolate. Don’t spill the mix as that would be baiting. Needs to be super hot. Since it is very hot, it needs to cool down over a long period of time. You can spill it if too hot and you don’t want to do that as that is baiting. The key is to be up wind.

You’ll need to eat so bring some PB and J. If the wind is coming from any variant of the North or West, you have to use grape. If it’s from any variant of the South or East, you must use raspberry. If there is no wind or swirling wind, you have to use strawberry. Make it thick to provide ample energy. Eat very slowly. Do not drip jelly on the ground as that would be baiting. The key is to be up wind.

Courtesy of the Palistine Meth Lab chapter of the Commission on Skirting Ethical Hunting.

————-
The previous was sarcasm and if it gets someone’s delicates bunched up, hopefully that individual wiped earlier.

 

[long hunter]

Take something that floats in the air and is visible I can not think of the name of it right now maybe someone else can but those pods you see on the edge of swamps or low areas that when they break open thousands of little cotton ball almost looking like things drift through the air. Cattail tops work too but not as good. Keep one of those pods in your bow case and you will have wind checker for the whole year. You can see all the twists and turns your scent is taking through the woods. You would be surprise what it does sometimes.

milk weed- wind gypsy beat me to it.