Confidence or wind.

[Scbasshunter]

Would you rather hunt a stand that you are confident in but has a bad wind direction or a stand that has the right wind but you don't really have much confidence in?

[redkneck]

The latter. Bad wind boys my confidence away with it lol

[dbHunterNY]

i could have confidence in an area but not a stand if the wind's always bad. chances are you can move further up a bank or ridge catching the same movement/deer yet the wind carries your scent up out instead of down in. i see very little deer when the wind switches and is bad. i've just learned to move.

[wtnhunt]

Depends some, have some stands where deer can and do come from any direction that I prefer to hunt when there is minimal wind. If the wind is really bad for a particular stand I am typically not going to hunt it and blow that stand for better days, will usually go elsewhere and save it for a time when the wind is right. That said I have a stand I hunt at the top of a hill that covers a field I will hunt when wind is marginal, especially later in the season. Deer can enter the field from anywhere and they rarely enter the field at close ranges. Gun hunting I have killed deer downwind of me from that stand on several occasions.

Kind of raises the question about shifting winds, and whether or not to stay when the wind does a 180 and no longer is a favorable wind, whether or not to move or stay.

[hoosierhunter]

Confidence or wind.

It doesn't matter how hot a stand is if the wind is wrong. Sure you can get lucky and kill one but 99% of the time your only hurting yourself by not playing the wind.

Just remember deer have a stronger sense of smell than a bloodhound!

[whitetailfreak55]

Yep I'llwait till the wind is the best for the stand. But if a wind shifts while im in the stand I'll stay put. That's just me personally

[dbHunterNY]

....Just remember deer have a stronger sense of smell than a bloodhound!

like 3 times stronger. lol

[Ravin R10 man]

Id play the wind any day....especially with a bow..a gun is a little more forgiving

[pointing_dogs_rule]

I will NOT go into a stand unless winnd is from the correct direction... I don't care how good it is.

good luck to all

the dog

[Scbasshunter]

Confidence or wind.

I use a climber so moving when the wind changes is not an option. I also hunt a lot of places where deer could come from anywhere so it's hard not to hunt a stand even if the wind isn't perfect.

[dbHunterNY]

i hunt from a climb most of my season... it is a big pain in the butt to move i agree. if the wind swirls a little or it's marginal i'll stay. if it changes and doesn't seem to be getting better i'll move. winds can swirl but if you're in a stand and the wind is always all over the place then that's a bad stand location. deer can come from anywhere no matter where your hunt, but chances are there's spots very close by where you can move your stand that make the movement more predictable. This spot you'd possibly be able to hunt with a particular wind and not get busted at all. there's a lot to stand placement. i didn't even mention access to and from. over time if you pay attention and learn you'll fine tune stand locations and pick out better spots right from the beginning.

you'll get lucky and you'll kill deer even if you disregard all this completely. however, if you want to be successful, kill more deer and/or older deer, you should pay attention to these details.

[Rhino]

Like most here, I'd choose to hunt a stand where the wind is in my favor. Stands you have confidence in can sure get ruined by hunting it when the wind is wrong. The wind does not always need to be perfect. It rarely is. Some of my stands can be hunted with a winder range of wind directions than others. Some sets just work out that way. I can't think of any that will work for any wind though.

[Ethan Givan]

You can turn a good stand into a poor one by hunting it with the wrong wind. Sometimes you cant hunt your best stands for several days at a time because you dont have the right wind.

[fly]

I stay out of a stand if the wind is wrong unless...

1. I'm taking my 10 year old to a blind that is set up for a 1-2 hour hunt (too much trouble to move).

2. It's a new area and I'm not certain how the deer movement will be.

3. I'm hunting a small private ground area and the wind isn't right for any stand.