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Weather is Arguably the Most Important Factor in Hunting
Many hunters see a little rain or the wind gets above 12mph and they pack up their gear and head for the truck.. and not necessarily because they are softies… It’s because the majority of us have been instilled with the idea that game doesn’t move in bad weather…Especially deer hunters.
Well this couldn’t be more far from the truth…I have personally killed some of my favorite bucks during bad weather… I have been called crazy many times for sitting in a stand during foul weather only to return to camp dragging a deer with a big “I told you so grin on my face”.
Admittedly sitting during a storm is not always productive… but sitting on the couch never is.. Really the truth of it all is you only have X amount of days to hunt. Especially someone like me who travels to hunt. So I hunt every chance I can get, shitty weather or not. The only difference is You have to be smart about the weather, use some common sense and adjust your style or area to the situtaion..
Just some rules of thumb: 1)If there is a front rolling in…. hunt your butt off before it gets here,
2)if the weather is gonna last a few days eventually they have to move to feed etc. so hunt as much as you can stand being out in it,
3)if there are seires of breaks in the weather ride those out near food,
4)if the rut is going on rain or shine they are gonna move but they will be checking wind breaks or thermal cover, places that does will seek shelter..
5)If you live in arid environment and its windy deer still have to water and more so with dry winds sucking moister from the body ( example of deer coming to water in monsoon)
6)Very Hot weather may only have movement at very first light and very last light
7) Conversely very cold weather deer may move during midday to utilize the warmest part of day instead of early morn and last light, cold weather requires more energy so high energy food sources usually produce well…
8) Tactics are another thing to look at if your stand hunting and the wind starts howling and its starts to rain use that as cover to still hunt…. I wont even try to spot and stalk unless I have at least 8-10mph wind to cover my movement and sound a bit..
What it all comes down to it is being adaptable and figuring out what, where and how deer react to the weather and using that to your advantage… So next time you find yourself staring at a falling barometer or the wind starts howling get aggressive and make a change…Maybe you too will have a story of when you killed that buck chasing a doe during a Nor-eastern or monsoon…..