Well I have been hunting on a small tract of land after a "toad" of a whitetail and have been studying/observing deer patterns more than ever this year and heres my conclusion!

For those who dont think that scent and wind direction is important read closely for I used to think it had a part to play but didnt realize just how key it is.

Sure small bucks and young does slip up from time to time and can be seen in contradicion from this but thats why they are taken by more hunters than any!

I have a stand that has had lots of activity and the deer are presured by oil filed workers and such. I have seen first hand that 3-5 yr old deer know how to CHECK a stand that is baited by wind direction!

My senerio: The deer are coming from the bedding area directly north of my stand (from behind me) and to my corn that is on ground 20yrds south east of me.

I have witnessed this first hand every time by these deer! They have two trails to approach. For instance if the wind is blowing north to south the deer have ALWAYS approached like the following.

North wind: Deer approach and walk with the wind to about 200 yrds directly toward corn and then they began to circle headed west and make a 100yrd circle completley around the corn and approach downwind from the south.

South wind: Deer come straight in under my stand and approach corn.

Conclusion: If your stand is in line with the corn North and South you will get busted either way!

The deer will bust you by approaching directly toward you in a south wind directly to the stand! The deer will bust you on a north wind when they circle and approach from the south!

The only way to hunt to adjust the stand to increase your odds is the following:

If the Bedding area is North of the stand you should place stand approximelty 60 yrds south of the (corn, scrape, etc.)when the wind is from the north. If the wind is from the south you will not be able to hunt this stand! If the wind is from the south then your only answer is to move stand east or west of the trail in which deer are coming in and this is the hardest due to scent cone dispersion. (studying scent cone as I was Canine officer for years).

Point is the Bucks I have been observing know EXACTLY how to check this stand and always follow the same pattern. In turn if you know how to positon your stand correctly you can truley take away the scent/wind factor by correct stand postion or corn placement.

If a buck has a PICKED place to go (rattling, scrape, corn, etc.) he will check that destination downwind everytime to clear it from human scent.

My stand is 20ft in a tree and I use scent lok and spray on scent killer and I get busted by these big bucks most of the time!

Side note: Also by using a game cam and seeing the deers posture shows which way he approahced and can usually tell you wind direction by just lookin at first few pics in most cases!

I always hunt the wind. If its not right for one setup, even if its my favorite, I will hunt somewhere else. It is very difficult to bet a mature deers nose "doe or buck". JMO

I have been hunting the wind as well = you are right...

hunting the wind is a very very important part of being a succesfull hunter!!

I agree that wind and smell play a definite role in hunting period. However with that being said, I still smoke in my stand and it is placed just north of the feeder. It is the most active stand out of seven other locations on the lease where no one else smokes. When I first put up a pop up blind I was concerned about smoking and one day I got out of the stand and walked down the road to check a feeder and smoked on the way back to the blind only to look up and notice a buck crossing the road right where I had just walked about a minute before and twenty yards from the blind.

we tend to keep our blinds on the Northeast side of our feeders for the prevailing Texas winds too. Only on a rare wind occasion do they catch a sniff. You can really tell the difference (when the wind is out of the NE).