Do you play the wind or rely on scent control?

Just wonderd what you guys do. I personally don't play the wind as much as I used to in the areas I hunt it rarely blows in one direction.

I do both, but I think the wind is the more important of the two. I used to be bat-sh*t crazy about scent control. I was INSANE over it! I am still cautious about scent control but I started paying more attention to wind direction and weather. I also now go more for bedding ares and thick cover instead of food sources. The last couple seasons I have seen more deer, especially more GOOD deer since I started approaching it this way.

And I feel ya about the wind rarely blowing in one direction. Thats why I stay more on the ground now. I can change spots easily if the wind changes.

I know I sound like a broken record, but the Chlorophyllin Copper complex has proven time and again that it works.

Agreed... That is one thing I always do throughout the entire fall season. Especially when I read that experts say something like 80% of what deer smell from humans is internal.

Yea I have been using scent lock or scent blocker clothing for awhile and really believe in it I know some people call bull on it but if used properly it works I've killed several deer that were directly down wind. But the stuff does have a life span and last year I had a few deer wind me I think I read the life span is like 5 years I've had mine close to 10. Trying to decide if I wanna buy more or try something else

I play the wind. I use a sent free soap and wash my clothes in scent free soap but that is it for me.

Always the wind, but I use all the scent control products as well. Even then, I have a spot scouted from last year I have still never hunted because the wind was never right when I could go.

That said, I have been completely wrong about things (make note of me actually admitting to that and the date it happened) and gotten on stand only to have the deer come from the opposite direction of where I thought they would. Of course, this put them downwind and that's when you hope the scent control claims are true.

Most of the time, they wind you anyways, but hey, I'll take any advantage I can.

I have said this lots of times on the other forms. Every time I think I know what the deer are doing I sit in my tree stand and they come from the complete opposite direction. Hunting big Woods game lands is a tough deal sometimes

I had an idea for a YouTube video, and I may still do it, as an experiment. I'm thinking about doing some hunts on an area of public land but not near any of my good spots, and wearing clothes washed in normal detergent and basically not exercising any scent control whatsoever. I'd only be attempting to hunt the wind. Not sure if that even interests anyone else but I want to do it just as an experiment for myself but like i said I would film it just so others could see my findings. I don't really want to do it during my treasured rut time so I might try it during the lull period. But hopefully I'll find out how much of a difference scent killer, scentlok, etc makes or if I'm wasting my money LOL.

Sounds interesting to me

Interesting idea. Maybe do a comparison. One day hunt it with the wind right, and count the deer you see, then hunt it with the wind wrong, and count the deer you see. Lots of variables though, you'd want to make sure that overall the weather was about the same on both days, and you hunted at the same time of day. Of course, the day you go with the wind wrong is probably the day that six year old bruiser would decide to come in downwind!

I prefer to hunt the wind but most of my best spots are bottoms, ravines and ridges. Seems that the wind is always shifting regardless of the forecast. Scent free spray, a fresh set of clothes and a large zip-loc bag (for my walking in clothes) are usually always part of my gear. For the past two years I have been trying to use natural growing material as scent block. Dog Fennel has yielded the best results so far.

I spend the vast majority of my time hunting close to bedding areas, so I am careful about scent control and wind direction. I think access routes are just as important as scent control and wind direction. So are thermals! You just can't skimp on preparation when you are going up against an adversary who is a little bit smarter than we are...