Setting up tree stands based on wind direction.

Jacobpoirier

Jacobpoirier

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Hey fellow hunters. Is there such a thing as a predominant wind direction for a specific location? And if so, how would one find out that information? I’m trying to plan out some deer stand/food plot/man made bedding locations on a new property. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks
 
That's a hard question to answer, best suggestion have multiple stands for various wind directions or have one stand and hang it each time out based on your current wind and terrain set up! Pros and Cons to both choices

PS. Map your winds at each stand site choice at early, mid and late seasons. Winds have a tendency to swirl differently based on foliage and thermals. How the wind blows at one spot in early October when things are in full leaf will be different than how it blows in November when the leaves have fallen. You can " map your wind" use milk weed pods and make note of how and where they travel. I would definately do this if I were planning a food plot or kill plot.

PSS even more important than the stand location, is how are you getting to it????? plan for that more so than your stand sites. Keep wind in you favour and a route to your stand that alerts the fewest amount of deer as possible to the fact that they are being hunted for as long as possible.
There in lies the true challenge
 
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Winds tend to curl around and over obstacles. This means that although the predominate wind direction for most of us is westerly, ground level winds frequently are different.
You need to know the wind direction that predominates at each stand. Or, and it rarely happens, you can find a stand where there are decent opportunities for more than one direction.
I was haunted by swirling winds this year. I'll be setting out to change some stands for next season.
One thing I decided to do was to setup some more mobile ground blinds consisting of three of four walls made of poles just held together with a few wires so I can move them until I get the best location. (Trailer on my ATV is excellent for moving blinds and stands) I also use a portable ladder stand to see where to put more permanent stands.
One stand I have is an extreme example. When winds are from any southerly direction according to the flag at the house, they are from the east at that stand.
Winds from the north, seem to carry your scent to the south west. this I am assuming because deer frequently approach from the south or east when there is a north wind. It's on the side of a hill.
 
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Yes, there usually is. Here it's NW during deer season.

Ask a neighbor who's lived in the area for years or check this site out.

Code: 
http://windhistory.com/map.html#3.00/47.97/-109.72

Pick a month on the wheel and click your location or the one closest to you to see a wind rose and speed.
 
To complicate matters some, if you start paying attention to it you will notice certain locations where the wind will blow in one direction in the morning as the sun rises and the opposite direction as the sun sets. One spot I deer hunted successfully late in the season would blow to the north towards the river in the morning and to the south away from the river in the mid day to evening. My ambush spot was facing north and I shot my buck around 2-2:30pm and had the wind in my face.
 
Nothing you will find online or anywhere else, is as good as being there and working out the details for yourself. It'll give you a broad view at best.

Somewhere in my stuff I have a set of air photos of a spot that I was 'given' (the spot that is) by a fellow who had hunted it for several years, taken some really nice deer off, and around which he had an assortment of ground and tree stand locations which he had mapped out access routes, parking locations, and which were best when each of the differing winds in the area was blowing. A real score of someone else's homework!

Best part was he had slip covers made up for his photos, which had various up to date info added as it was gained, which he could remove when he was around folks that were pretty keen to try to hijack his area (yeah, #### move, but lots around!) so when he had his photos out sorting out something, anyone looking over his shoulder at them. only got essentially useless info, as there was no real way to pick out exactly where the photos were, no real visible landmarks to home in on, etc.

He left me the whole lot when he moved and figured he was never coming back.

Not saying you need to go as detailed as that, but it does demonstrate that you can get to know your sot well enough that you can really up the odds in your own favor if you understand how the winds and movement of animals through an area are, and how they evolve as the seasons change. Nothing quite like being there and seeing it.
 
On my deer hunting property the prevailing wind is from (depending on the day) the west or north west, so I have the majority of my deer stands set up for those two wind directions. I do however have one deer stand set up for an eastern/southern wind for those oddball days that happen once and awhile when a warm front moves in.

Its important for me to be as prepared as possible to try and overcome any detrimental circumstances that could put a damper on my deer hunt.
 
As above, prevailing winds can be finicky. Another aspect to consider is will you be looking into the sun and therefore illuminated yourself? Or sun to your back and you in shadow?

Scent may or may not appear to spook them very much but movement is a bell ringer. Last year I was set up on a river bank, had a deer come right down level with me before he stopped to seriously check me out at less than 10 yards distance. We eyeballed each other for a couple minutes until I deliberately spooked him so others that might come by wouldn't see him checking me out and maybe do likewise. He bounced down to the river bottom and even though I was as still as ever, he kept eyeing me.
 
You're on the right track.

Of course, even if you do build a stand where you can take advantage of prevailing winds, there's no guarantee the wind will cooperate on your day off, etc. So, build a stand for different likely wind directions. Even better, use natural obstacles (cliffs, lakes, rivers) to prevent them from sneaking behind you and busting you. My days of sitting a random treestand in November are over after my observations this year. I changed my game, only hunted on days when the wind was 100% favourable and the deer couldn't scent me (thanks to natural obstacles) and was instantly rewarded by seeing a lot more deer, and a lot more big ones.
 
I always set up my tree stands or blinds following a south-west prevailing wind, I'm normally right 3/4 of the time. For those days where I will have a bad wind, I normally have alternate locations to hunt.

Keep in mind that certain terrain will have the wind shifting/blowing or "spinning around" in certain areas...
 
windfinder.com is an excellent interactive map with all of the information you'll need. I use it for fishing the great lakes and have been very happy with it's accuracy thus far.

As for making bedding areas, I think you'll be much better off locating existing bedding areas and placing your stands and food plots around these areas. Deer typically use the same bedding areas annually so you'll save a ton of time working with what's already there rather than trying to create your own bedding area. They won't bed where you want them to "just because" and there are many variables that make deer call a spot their bedding area such as proximity to food and water, elevation, cover, human activity, and wind. Not many locations are ideal, hence the reason for deer using the same spots annually.


Try to locate a natural funnel in the area you intend to hunt and setup a stand towards either end if possible so you have two options depending on wind direction. Scent control isn't really a huge factor when stand hunting (assuming your stand is high enough) so two options should be adequate.


The easiest way to determine stand location is using Google Earth to locate good spots followed by a scouting trip to see the location in person.
 
In the early fall in a general sort of way we have a predominately SE wind; then by November we're looking at NW. In between it can be either, or both. That's born out by what some might consider a lot of staring at range flags.

That's the short answer; but the reality is the wind swirls and does anything it wants in the bush. A valley sometimes will give a little direction to the wind but it can just as easily give some lift. Heck on a good day I get the wind blowing flags in three different directions at the same time, so it puts stand placement by wind direction in a bit of perspective. Do the best you can, hope for the best and if you can shoot fast, shoot fast before it shifts and you get busted.
 
No way to know without standing there, at my home for example it seems the wind blows in different directions on different sides of the house.
 
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