SPORTS

Be cognizant of the wind while on the hunt

Dick Martin

Wind. Every outdoorsman is familiar with it, from little gusts that cool a sweaty brow to steady winds that blow all day long. And they know that game animals and fish react to winds in various ways. Ask even a 14 year old boy or girl deer hunter about wind  and they'll say "Sure, deer have a great sense of smell, so you have to be careful about wind." But most do little about it when hunting time rolls around, nor do their elders.

I remember going on a series of deer drives one time with a bunch of friends, and listening while the hunt captain set up a drive through a big brush area, deciding where to put drivers and standers. As the standers hurried off, I mentioned that the wind was going to be blowing from the standers to the drivers, instead of vice versa, and the captain said "You're right, but it probably won't make any difference." We put out a small buck and three does on that drive, animals that knew perfectly well where the standers were waiting, and heard the drivers coming. They went out one side, and nobody got a shot.

Lots of tree stand hunters build just one stand, this over a likely scrape, and don't worry about wind direction. I did that once, and spent a week watching for a dandy buck before I discovered that he wasn't coming up the valley below, but walking along the ridge behind. The wind was out of the west every day, and he scented me along with any does that had visited the scrape. A good reason to have several stands that take advantage of different wind directions.

The same holds true for archers and gun hunters who like to walk up a buck or doe. I've killed several animals walking for a shot, but always while I was being very careful of wind direction, making sure it was in my face or at least quartering. I've never seen a whitetail while the breeze was blowing along the back of my neck, something to remember on your next hunt.

The same idea holds true for foxes and coyotes. There was a time when I was really into calling foxes, and I did OK on the not-so-smart greys, but I never called in a red. Not once. I remember setting up one time about a hundred yards from a nice brushy area that I suspected held a fox or two, and working on a rabbit squeal. A nice red trotted out of the brush and started my way, but held up about 80 yards out.

Her moved back and forth sniffing the airs, very interested in the occasional desperate squeals he was hearing from my direction. Then moved around more and more to my left until he finally picked up my scent. And disappeared like magic with his red tail waving. Coyotes aren't as smart and will often come right in, especially if they're hungry, but even here you'd best have the wind coming from likely areas, rather than from you.

Wind can even make a difference for fishermen. Have you heard the old ditty "Wind from the west, fishing is best. Wind from the north, few fishermen fare forth. Wind from the south blows food into fishes mouths. Wind from the east, fish bite the least.?"  I talked this over with the Grand Master of Ohio fish, Milton B. Trautman, who wrote the classic "Fishes of Ohio," once, and he mentioned making a study of the old saw.

"I think winds from the north are colder and chill the water just a bit, retarding insect hatches and putting the fish a little off their feed," he said. Winds from the south are warm and cause hatches to happen fast with just a short period of feeding, while winds from the west are steady and moderately warm, causing hatches that last for long hours. Winds from the east are alien winds, I think, that don't happen often, and set up unusual currents that make fish nervous and unresponsive."

It doesn't always work, but I've noticed a number of times that Lake Erie perch or walleye fishing slacks or shuts off when winds shift to the east. Yet another reason to be aware of wind direction.

Dick Martin is a retired biology teacher who has been writing outdoor columns for 30 years.  You can reach him at richmart@neo.rr.com

Tree swaying in a storm