...and I hope you continue to do so...
as I would say the same about you my friend. I used to think like you too. In the stand an hour+ before first light... Just to clarify too - I'm in the stand at first light now - but not before. But my views have evolved. Now many of the exit routes I set up and have success on are exit routes I know will see traffic resulting from other hunters in stands too early. I also set up on bedding areas that I know won't see activity until folks start pressuring deer into them. So a large part of my strategy is relying on people who hunt like you do. I think I'm doing alright. So far I've passed on 21 shot opportunities this season because it wasn't the specific animal I was after on the given piece of land or I wasn't 100% confident in the shot. (I do keep a journal.)
You're right about the mornings being calm and having the least amount of wind. But that's the problem (not the solution that you make it out to be) and that's exactly why your scent
will permeate the woods. Because there isn't a consistent wind to blow it in a specific direction. Rather light winds are also variable winds in both speed and direction. Mix in some thermals and you have light winds that will basically blow in every direction. Consequently you will be detectable from every direction. The longer you're in the stand - the greater the distance this becomes the case. Try this sometime.... Drop a continuous stream of milk weed or cotton strands/threads pealed from a cotton ball and observe. Watch what happens to your scent stream 20, 30, 40, 50+ yards from your stand. I think you would be surprised. A deer can pick you off from 100+ easily... So keep that in mind. You're bumping animals you're not even seeing.
...now add in the fact that
mature animals will always scent check their bedding areas before proceeding and you have a recipe for being busted. They may not always scent check form the downwind side either. In those light and variable winds the thermal activity is usually as strong as then the wind. So they can actually be upwind and scent check the area based on thermal drafts as opposed to wind direction. This is what
mature animals do. Once they detect a hunter they avoid the entire area. Winds also swirl in hill country or over terrain, changes in the canopy, etc. and the deer use that to their advantage. That behavior is what I base my hunts around.
During the rut - deer do stupid things. It's the only time they start to show a kink in their armor. And during the rut - people who are in the stand well before light probably see a lot of activity. Bucks do stupid things - like follow a doe's scent trail even if it's in the direction of a hunter they've detected. I've had success on hunts like that too. But the season is long and the rut is short in comparison... And those rut tactics won't cut it most of the season. Especially early archery.
I also have to disagree about noise not being a factor... Again
mature animals will hear a noise and then make their way around the source to the downwind side, scent check the area, bust you and evacuate. They do this at distance and from cover and I would be wiling to wager most hunters bust far more deer that they never see then the ones they do. In the evenings they won't get out of bed until after dark. They hunker down. Once deer feel even the slightest amount of pressure they presume EVERY noise they hear is danger - not another deer as you claim. I've observed deer get bumped out of beds by squirrels and even other deer. I sneak into my stand - every time. Stealth is key... sometimes it may take me an hour+ to sneak into my stand form that last 100 or so yards out. But you bet - I'm getting in there without making a sound. No breaking sticks, crunching leaves, etc. Minimizing movement, etc. and I'm coming in from the downwind side with a predictable wind/thermal direction.
Just this season I was archery hunting in RI on a Sunday. Public land - opening weekend. Evening hunt. Relatively calm day... I saw a mature buck that was bedding about 100ish yards upwind from me get up out of his bed and walk off because another hunter made his way into a fixed position stand he had that was about another 100ish yards farther from the bed then I was. That hunter bumped that buck from 200ish yards away because he walked to his stand on crunchy leaves. He never set eyes on that animal and had no idea it was there or he kicked it up... Neither of us say anything after that. When nothing is moving in the woods they can hear you from faaaar away.... Stealth is key... I look at my hunts as tactical strikes as opposed to carpet bombing.. Hunt smarter not harder kind of thing..
But whatever works man... If you're happy with the quality of animals you're seeing and your rate of success then keep doing whatever you're doing. But I would encourage you to keep an open mind. Don't be so sure and set in your ways as to think there's no better way...