Have you ever felt.......?

[Mudd]

Today I went out with a strong south wind blowing and I hadn't been in the woods very long at all when I starting feeling like I was the worst hunter ever.

I walked a good ways down an access road so as the enter the woods with a wind quartering toward me.

The woods are so dry, it's like tip toeing through a bowl of corn flakes.Impossible to sneak anywhere!!

I made it over to a ridge top that I wanted to move along until some sign would let me know it was the right spot to put down my Pac-seat, making my stand.

That spot never showed it's self to me plus the wind which should have always been either in my face or at least off to one side spend a great deal of time hitting me directly in the back. Dang the luck!

I ended up spending an hour or so walking in a huge circle and leaving the woods feeling that I had been beaten.

Just another dummy stumbling around in the woods as it were.

I am truly grateful that these days don't happen often but I am disgusted that they happen at all.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

God bless,Mudd

[caleb7mm]

been there. it all goes away the next time you go and everything comes together. :0)

[b44mag]

i seem to feel that way alot but a walk with my bow in the woods is a good thing
a stump or two on the way out and i always feel better about the whole ordeal
keep at it

[Jake Fr]

happened to me yesterday. in the morning no wind sun up hit 5mph breeze 9:00am straight west wind. 10:30am nw wind noon north and then 3:30pm ne wind it was not fun at all

[robtattoo]

I constantly doubt myself. After 2 seasons of seeing a grand total of 9 deer, I can't help but think that I'm doing everything wrong.

[J. Holden]

All I can say is I feel your pain brother.

-Jeremy  

[Stumpkiller]

There are days I find myself not on my "A" game.  Something wearing on my mind or just plodding along so that I'm not doing much but spooking game and getting exercise.

Those days it's probably best to just sit down and wait for something to pass by or not on its own.

Or go home and stack firewood.

[KentuckyTJ]

Happens a lot Mudd. What folks don't understand is just because the wind in the open at the truck is coming from the South when you step into a woods or ravine it swirls. Thick cover and terrain change wind direction often. Trick is to try and keep your scent from going in the direction you believe the deer are coming from.

I have done the woods dance many times and have got down out of stands after sitting there for 30 minutes and realizing the wind is bad.

You did the right thing in trying to get it right. Better off moving than educating your deer.

[ronp]

To answer your question... yes.  It happens to me and sometimes my deer hunt turns into a quiet, private little stump shoot.  But, it sounds like you had a better time than me, sitting here in this cubicle looking through the window, wishing I was in the mountains.

[USN_Sam1385]

Yes. Note my post on the MO deer season thread from this morning:

"Headed into my stand this morning and hunted down in the valley. The 13 acres I hunt is a ridge down into a valley, and then up into another ridge with creeks crossing all throughout.

I got busted in the dark heading into my stand. Hunted for about 3 hours and then made my way back up the ridge towards the house and my truck.

Sure enough, I run head on into a real nice 10 point buck that is standing about 10 yards from where my stand on the top of the ridge is...

That's bowhunting for you. It is like a game of roulette. Ur instincts tell u to put ur money on black and u do 3 times in a row and it hits red, then you switch to red and of course it hits black.

I bet if I hunt the ridge top this afternoon, they will be down in the valley. LOl"

That's bowhunting for you.

[centaur]

This morning, as I tromped around in our crunchy snow, I felt a lot like a bull in a china shop. As I watched numerous deer moving out ahead of me, I knew this wasn't going to be a morning to remember. I had been sitting for the first two hours in the 18 degree weather and had seen nothing for my trouble, so when I got moving at least I saw some deer, even if they were bounding away showing their white flags.
Yep, I felt like a real klutz in the woods this morning.

[Tajue17]

well this is why I incorprated the use of scents in my bowhunting,, I don't use them all the time but when its windy and most bowhunters go home I break out the drag rag and i find the thickest and nastiest section of swamp or woods/brush/scrub oaks because thats where the deer hide when its windy & noisy and I walk by drag down the whole side where the wind is blowing in and then I hang that drag and sit about 15yds more to the right so when the deer does come up to it my scent is blowing by 15yds away and by then its too late.

I've shot my biggest deer in 30 mph gusts! I use the wind to my advantage or go home like everyone else,,,,,, before using scents I did know that when its windy the deer held tight and right at sun down the wind would die and the deer would all just start moving at once because they gained back their "hearing" and they where hungry..

crunchy leaves,,,, bring two broom sticks and use them like walking sticks to sound like 4-legs and just walk straight to your stand with no hesitation,,, an old indian trick used by my cherokee ancestors I was told.

[Rick Butler]

You're not alone Mudd. The farm we hunt is loaded with deer, but despite what the weather channel says the wind will blow from every which way.  It gets pretty frustrating.

[Swamp Yankee]

Oh yeah, don't feel like the Lone Ranger on that one!  Sometimes I'll just concede it ain't going to work that day and take it out on a few stumps.  When the stumps start jumping the string though, the fishing pole comes out.  Never had a bad day fishing.  

[Duker]

I'm sitting here with a bum foot   :(   havent been out since last Thusday but hope to be well enough to get out by the end of the week , so cheer up Mudd     even bad days out in the woods are better then being in  

[b44mag]

going to attack the wind and leaves this afternoon    
first year in the woods with a bow and till late flintlock season its the longbow or nothing. the only way im going to get one with the bow is to just only use the bow  

[PaddyMac]

Y'know, I saw a PBS documentary on lions about 20 years ago that was more like watching a real game instead of just the highlight film. They fail way more often than they succeed and a lot of the time, it's just plain ugly. Like whadda-you-lookin'-at ugly.

I try to remember that.

This isn't a highlight film. It's the game.

[ron w]

I hear you.....It is impossible to play the wind where I hunt. I check it every few minutes and it just changes direction all the time. I wind up still hunting a cross wind when I can but it's tough. I don't know if it's the elevation or what but I just can't seem to find a wind that's constant!

[Sixby]

Nope never felt that way Bro. You took a walk, You smelled the woods, You carried a bow and arrows, Those are wonderful things. When God wants you to have the deer then you will get that too. All things work together for good to them that love God and keep his commandments.
We that can do what you did this morning are blessed so much . So many people cannot do those things. Think on the good things and rejoice always.

God bless you, steve

[JimL]

I'm with Sixby.  I have had those days(about five so far this season when something jacked-it-up) but I am usually starting to drift away from why I am there if I'm not enjoying it.(I don't have any illusions-I ain't a good hunter but I am one.)  I think that is why I burned out with my wheel bow.  Carrying an ungly piece of machinery into the woods with blood in my eyes and never scoring got to be a bummer.  I'm going into the woods and look at the wonders of the woods.  I sit and just look at the masterpiece in my hand sometimes.  I pray and worship.  I think about anything but work.  I think about some of the goofy crap we write on this site.  I sit and freeze my butt off and thank God I can still do it.  That is some of the most peaceful filling times in my life.  I come back home and everything is better than it was when I left. Pure blessing.