Tactics for Hunting Deer in Bad Weather: Part Three
John E. Phillips 12.02.11
Be Prepared to Hunt Deer in Wrong Wind Conditions and Consider Moon Phases
Like most hunters, I really don’t like to hunt an area that I believe holds a big buck when the wind will blow my scent in that buck’s direction. However, I’ve learned you don’t always know from which way a buck will come. For instance, if you hunt into the wind in the afternoon when the buck should come from his bedding site to his feeding area, you still may have a buck walk up behind you that has fed early. Deer hunting information has no absolutes. Since deer can’t read outdoor magazines, they really don’t know what they should do, and when they should do it. Older-age-class bucks often will circle downwind when they hear a grunt call or rattling antlers. Even though you’ve set up with the wind in your favor, many times a buck will move in from downwind regardless of what you do.
To solve this problem, I always assume I’ll have to hunt with a bad wind. I wear knee-high rubber boots, bathe before I hunt, wash my clothes with odor-eliminating soaps, use Hunter’s Specialties’ Scent-A-Way’s spray to neutralize my body odor from the top of my head to the bottom of my toes, try to approach my stand using a water route and utilize odor neutralizers while in my stand. I also climb as high as I can safely go in a tree. I believe the higher I climb, the less likely that the deer will smell me because my odor will remain above them. Even if a deer smells me, I hope my position in the tree will allow my odor to dissipate enough so that the deer can’t tell from what direction the odor comes or the age of that odor.
During hunting season, deer smell human odors in the woods regularly. I know you can’t completely eliminate human odor as long as the body breathes. But the more you use odor neutralizers and the more precautions you take to reduce odor, the less likely that you will spook a buck, even if he does smell you. I also am not certain that we totally understand wind currents and how a deer smells odor. When I hunted in Mexico a few years ago, I took all the precautions I could to neutralize odor. But I sweated profusely in the hot weather of early deer season. A nice-sized 8 point buck came near my stand site straight downwind from me along a fencerow. The wind blew in the buck’s direction. Because I was hunting late in the afternoon, my scent should have gone straight toward the ground and the buck as he passed less than 50 yards from me right into my scent trail. Why the buck didn’t stop, look for me or smell me, I’ll never know. But he walked right in front of my stand and turned broadside. I took him. All I could figure was that the deer had a broken nose, I’d eliminated enough odor, so I didn’t have a strong-enough smell to alarm him, or somehow the wind currents had changed or moved between me and the buck and prevented my odor from reaching the deer’s nose.
Consider moon phases:
I really don’t like to hunt the day following a full moon. Although I’ve seen several studies and records from some hunting lodges indicating moon phase has absolutely no effect on whitetail deer movement, I’ve always believed deer move more on nights with a full moon and less on nights with no moon. However, I really never have kept up with moon phases and their effects on deer. The most important factor affecting when I hunt is when I can get time off to hunt.
Click here to go back to part two, tips for taking whitetails in snow and rain. Click here for part four to learn about hunting pressure and how warm weather impacts whitetails.
John, the 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the year and the 2007 Legendary Communicator chosen for induction into the National Fresh Water Hall of Fame, is a freelance writer (over 6,000 magazine articles for about 100 magazines and several thousand newspaper columns published), magazine editor, photographer for print media as well as industry catalogues (over 25,000 photos published), lecturer, outdoor consultant, marketing consultant, book author and daily internet content provider with an overview of the outdoors.
Phillips has been a contributor to many national magazines, has been affiliated with 27 radio stations across Alabama serving as their outdoor editor and wrote for a weekly syndicated column, "Alabama Outdoors," for 38-Alabama newspapers for more than 13 years. Phillips was Outdoor Editor for the "Birmingham Post-Herald" for 24 years. Phillips was also the executive editor for "Great Days Outdoors" magazine for 3 years.
The author of almost 30 books on the outdoors, Phillips is a founding member of the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) and an active member of the Southeastern Outdoors Press Association (SEOPA). Phillips also is the owner of Night Hawk Publications, a marketing and publishing firm, and president of Creative Concepts, an outdoor consulting group.
Phillips conducts seminars across the nation at colleges in freelance writing, photography and outdoor education besides teaching courses in how to sell what you write to writers' groups. Phillips received his photography training as a still-lab photo specialist for six years in the Air Force. He was the chief photographer for Mannequins, Inc., a Birmingham modeling agency, for 11 years.
While serving as 2nd Vice President of the Alabama Wildlife Federation, Phillips was in charge of all press releases for the organization as well as serving as Chairman of Alabama's Big Buck Contest, which he founded more than 30 years ago. He also was president of the Alabama Sportsman's Association for three years.
Phillips is the recipient of a Certificate of Merit from the Governor of Alabama and the Department of Conservation for his work in the outdoor field. Phillips is vitally interested in the outdoors and travels the nation collecting personalities, stories and how-to information for his articles and features.
EDUCATION: B.S. degree from the University of West Alabama with a physical education major and a history minor.
EXPERIENCE: 10 years parttime and fulltime physical director for YMCAs and 34 years as a freelance writer, photographer, editor, book author, lecturer and daily-content provider for websites. Currently, Phillips is a field editor for Game and Fish Publications; serves on the editorial board of Grandview Media; is a regular contributor to 12 internet magazines and a daily content provider for 8 websites.
WRITING AWARDS: Runnerup - Best Outdoor Magazine Feature - 1981 - SEOPA; Certificate of Merit - Awarded by Alabama's Governor for writings on conservation; Most Outstanding Sports Writer in Southeast - 1983 & 1984; Best Outdoor Feature in Alabama, 1987 - Alabama Sportswriters' Association 3rd Place; Best Book of the Year - 1989 - SEOPA; 2007 - inducted into the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame as a Legendary Communicator; 2008 - received award naming him 2008 Crossbow Communicator of the Year from the Crossbow Manufacturers' Association; 2009 - GAMMA Honorable Mention for Consumer/Paid Best Essay for July/August 2008 in "Southern Sporting Journal."
