Here's what I'm looking at for weather on saturday.
(http://i1194.photobucket.com/albums/aa374/daveoodoes/weather.png)
Just curious what conditions would put you out of a hunt.
How much wind is too much wind, what kind of rain is too heavy, How cold is too cold?
Not sure what would be too much wind, as long as it's fairly constant in direction. I won't hunt form a stand if the tree is swaying appreciably, and I avoid the woods if it seems like the wind will bring down limbs. I like to sound cover a breeze gives me, ditto light rain - but I admit, as I get older, I find excuses not to hunt in the rain. It's almost never too cold for me to hunt, though I might get too cold to take a shot.
Wind can depend on how much your deer are used to.Just know when it is very windy that if deer are moving they can be extremely nervous and high strung.
I don't hunt in rain much because of the likelihood that it will wash out blood trails.A drizzle can be good hunting but use your own judgement on that.
Over most of the whitetail's range,cold usually doesn't hurt.I believe in the deep South it can.In the North,a cold snap can increase activity.Before and after storm fronts can be very good.
Analyze your stand setups and decide which wind direction is best and stay out of there when the direction is wrong.
For me, it's rain. :( I hate getting rained on and a pouring down gully washer of a rain is the absolute worst. :mad:
I'd say any rain more than a drizzle, just in terms of blood trailing. I need all the help I can get trailing deer, I don't want any of it washing away!
Cold won't keep me out of the woods, the wind would have to be extreme, but enough rain to mess with a blood trail will keep me inside.
Its all about comfort for me, the more uncomfortable i get the less fun and when the fun is gone so im i for the day. I dont mind rain as long as its not a down pour and as long as i dont get to cold when wet. Im in California so the main weather issue i run into is the heat, its not to fun running around the foothills at 110 out side.
Down-pour, Lightening, Tornado.
Lightening and constantly changing winds. Never too cold to hunt and the deer never minded the rain.
Major storms with wind knocking down big limbs, etc. Otherwise the hunt is on. I love hunting in the rain. If we only hunted when dry we wouldnt hunt in western Washington. I keep my shots in close and aim for the top of the heart on rainy days. Miss low the animal lives, high is lungs. Dead on is the heart. Big blood trails and quick kills. The noise of the rain covers your noise while stalking.
Wind 20mph or more, Heavy rain that would wash away blood trails and its never too cold!
It would take a lot to make me go back to camp or stay there...........tornado, hurricane, blinding blizzard that kinda thing.
Look for places where the animals are likely to hide they will tend to stay put in foul weather.
Tornadoes and thunderstorms would be my limit!
It sort of depends on the situation. If I am hunting from the house it is different than when I am hunting from a camp. It is also different when its the last... whatever for the season. Here rain is always good. Less noise, more movement, closer shots. I would have to say that fires are the worst.
MAP
We can't use dogs to track here, so hunting in the rain is out of the question for me.
RAIN not a slight misty rain but RAIN NO BLOOD TRAIL. gets washed away too easy so I dont want to lose one
Ditto on the heavy rain. If it will wash away a blood trail, I may stay out and scout around, but I wouldn't hunt/shoot.
Around here our bucks are very wary in the wind and I don't think they move much at all when very windy. I know others will disagree but that is what I've found from my first bow hunt in the fall of 1983. Of course maybe I don't know because I'm not out there in high wind right??? Well maybe there is something to that also.
That said my favorite days are the misty wet ones with low wind. Around here our deer move most on days like that. I think they have learned that hunters stay home wet days.
Do remember though you can't kill one from the couch. I'd definitely go if you have a yard pass.
Not a big fan of lightening, I don't ever want to feel that all over tingly feeling again after i got knocked on my butt. I use to go out and hunt in snow storms, now that i am a crip, I avoid them. I am dreading hot and no winds. We have a drought going and are covered with those little black and white no seeums, teeth and wings. Actually, no teeth they pee acid on you, it goes straight through tee shirts even. Nothing holds them off for very long. We need rain, if it will put the noseeums down, I will be getting wet.
it takes a lot to run me out of the woods, not so worried about bloodtrails washing out, cause if you hitem rite there down and out in seconds, and i like sneaking around when its windy, they cant here you coming so when you do spot one you can make a desent stalk on them, i use the weather to my advantage.
Pouring rain, lightning, dangerous wind.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jake Diebolt:
I'd say any rain more than a drizzle, just in terms of blood trailing. I need all the help I can get trailing deer, I don't want any of it washing away!
I agree I don't get enough shoots the way it is without the blood washing away when I do get one. But cold is not an issue here, Saturday will be 77 and sunday low 80's. Looking forward to some cold.
QuoteOriginally posted by JimB:
I don't hunt in rain much because of the likelihood that it will wash out blood trails.A drizzle can be good hunting but use your own judgement on that.
I agree, if it's heavy, steady rain I call it a day.
Wind, drizzle, snow, heat, none of that slows me down.
:archer:
high winds and high winds alone! i hunt by myself a lot and do not want to risk falling limbs up on the mountain.
Rain at all will keep me at home. I don't want to lose a blood trail.
If its super windy I may sneak around a little more.
We are supposed to have gusts up to 50mph tommrow. I will have to hang up the bow for tomorrows hunt. It will be to hard to even try a ethical shot. Not worth the risk to me. Rain is another one I won't go out in
Jerry Chiapetta said something in a book I read many years ago. He was talking about hunting in bad weather and said something to the effect of "Remember, the deer are always somewhere." That has always stuck with me for some reason. If season is open and I have time avaiable, I will be in the woods regardless of the weather.
I have hunted in pretty much any weather, the only thing that sends me to the truck is lightning. I have actually sat thru a wind storm that was blowing 50 mph gusts, just was very careful to make sure there were no dead limbs above me. I saw 2 oak trees blow over that day, and heard 2 more. probably not the smartest thing to do but I did it. Didnt see any deer that day, but I knew for sure I wouldnt see any if I went to the house.
David, been busy. . has the Escanaba area had any frost yet this year ?
I hunted on a day that was so windy, a TREE next to me blew over. I saw NO deer and I left as soon as I could clean out my drawers. High wind. . stay home
ChuckC
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
David, been busy. . has the Escanaba area had any frost yet this year ?
I hunted on a day that was so windy, a TREE next to me blew over. I saw NO deer and I left as soon as I could clean out my drawers. High wind. . stay home
ChuckC
I'm not 100% sure but we did have an extremely cold day a few weeks ago and there was frozen water on my stone steps. Escanaba is a half hour drive or so away so maybe? Haven't been paying that much attention to it.
I only hunt the best times.
The best times are when I can.
I too have seen trees liiterally get blown down from my stand. A. Scared the crap out of me. B. Didn't see any deer.
I have hunted in downpours, and I think if you hunt the pines, cedars or other cover type areas, you can and will see deer. Then it becomes a matter of ethics...a lost blood trail, etc.
Use your judgement coupled with what you observe in the weather conditions that you hunt.
Windy days are my favorte times to still hunt, I have shot several deer in their beds this way! but if limbs are falling,I'm out of there! I'll hunt in the rain but It would have to be a judgement call as to stay or continue, To shoot or not! If it, s raining hard enough to wash away blood I won't shoot! n If temps are above 75 I'll just stay home and catch up on chores!
Extreme cold---OK!
Extreme wind---OK!
Extreme wind and cold----NOT OK!
Continuous rain-----NOT OK!
Rain....
I hate the rain....I hate getting wet.
I'm out there to have fun and enjoy myself. If it's raining I have to deal with wet clothes and gear. Much more fun to read a book, smoke a cigar, enjoy some fine cognac. The rain will pass, I'll still be dry and the bucks will head out to freshen up thier calling cards.
Heavy Rain that that will wash away tracking blood and wind so strong accuracy is impossible will keep me home or in camp.
Michael Pfander above mentions fires. With the past few year in AZ I know it sure seems like weather but I am not sure it qualifies.
I won't hunt in a storm, period.
Also, I once climbed into "the stand" over a hot scrape early in the morning. Within 20 minutes it started to sleet. After about ten minutes of that, I started thinking about the ice accumulating on the metal tree steps between me and the ground.
I left immediately. Won't do that again.
Stormy, rainy weather. Animals may be moving but killing one and following a trail in such conditions has proven to be useless to me on several occasions. I just don't hunt in the rain and think twice about hunting if the evening forecast is more than a few showers. A rainy day is best for hanging stands....not for hunting. I did a new stand yesterday, got wet, but totally enjoyed the time put in.
I dislike adrenching rain, extreme cold, or a heavy wind---and of those 3, the heavy rain would be the first to dissuade me, then the extreme cold. I can hide from the wind but not the rain or cold.
Joe
Anything that keeps me from enjoying the hunt.
Diabetes has made me more sensitve to cold, so that is becoming a major problem. In my younger days, I liked the cold. Also, I just don't like rain. A light drizzle is not too bad, but a hard rain is more than I want to deal with. Thunderstorms drive me out of the woods immediately.
High heat, say 80-90 degrees in Nov. here in the Northeast or real heavy rain, may but deer do move in heavy rain so that is a tough call. High heat or dangerous winds would be about it for me. Shawn
heavy rain and snow. light snow and rain im out there but when its really coming down i see no point in going out.
I won't hunt in a down poor or heavy winds.
Lightning, :scared: I was hunting several years ago when it started to rain. I stayed in the tree untill I was soaked. I climb down and went to the truck. After the storm passed I returned to the tree and found the tree and my stand had been hit by lightning. My set up was between two trees and the lightning hit the tree I was in and crossed to the other through my stand.
:scared:
Brrrrrrr I should've bought long johns. Nothing but blue jays this chilly opening day. Drove in at 5am and saw 6 doe in the corn field heading to the apple trees. I hear rustling. Get excited. Squeak squeak mr gray squirrel. :(
Well there is a very constant rainfall happening right now and I'm starring at a computer screen so rain would be my awnser.
I'm bad colorblind and bloodtrails are hard enough as they are.I don't like them vanishing before my very eyes.
High winds, ice-coated limbs dropping, heavy rain. My woods have a lot of treestuff that is still up there out of habit.
Sometimes we get a wet, heavy snow that reduces field of view to nil. It will be some hours before the deer will move in that. I will not be able to see them early enough for a decent stalk.
Today is perfect. Drizzly rain and cool temps. I am sick at home.
Killdeer :(
High winds, 20mph +. High heat and humidity, over 85 deg. A constant rain and/or lightning.
Any rain. I'm colorblind.
I have hunted in sunny, rain,wind and snow. But for me I just do not go out in very high temp days of over 90's. The deer in NY seem to just stay in the beds.
I have seen rain come with high wind and the deer are out all day, also the same for snow ande cold front coming.
But hot weather seem to reduce the movement.
I also am not a fan of thunder and lighting, I walk on in...call me chicken at 69 years young.
Being retired it just means I got out longer the next day...
I don't like hunting in the rain. A light mist or light rain that starts after I'm out and set up I can deal with. I'll stay home instead of heading out in the rain though.
Very high wind is another one. We had sustained winds of thirty and gust up to fifty the other day. Wouldn't have gone out even if I could.
Cold I just stay as long as I can. It's supposed to be fun so once I'm miserable home I go...
that looks great to me. we are looking at a wash here in pa for a while, then it will prob warm way up again.
From time to time I have to remind myself to keep hunting fun. Bow season is very long in my neck of the woods. I don't hunt in the rain. I say it's because I don't want to lose a blood-trail, and I don't. However, both kills last year dropped in sight-- I didn't need a blood trail. But, things can go bad, the deer runs out of sight and makes a couple sharp, unexpected turns. I need the blood trail. My main reason for staying out of the rain is the fun-thing.
I believe (maybe because I expect this) deer are less likely to move when the wind is abnormally heavy, masking sound and movement deer need to spot trouble. If the wind is greater than 15 MPH, rain or threat of same, I punt. Of course 15 mph is dead calm for mid-Kansas!
If you WANT to go, then go.
Today was opening day here in PA. Rain, 40 degrees, I stayed home. I have six weeks left, don't have to be miserable this early.
Lightning will get me down and out of there quick... In Southernmost IL you can normally expect warm days through Oct amd even into Nov. I am not crazy about that due to working the meat and bugs. I like to hang mine for at least a week. I did have a cooler set up but its gone now. We have a looooong season.
I generally dont even start to hunt until Nov. However, yesterday, our opening day the high was about 65 with some wind. Got out for a bit and saw some deer. Nothing I wanted to shoot. I will likely sit a stand this afternoon.
I am not a fan of moderate to heavy rain for the reasons others have posted. Plus, I just don't like getting wet any more. I will hunt in a mist as it quiets your movements. Also, I have sets of arrows for each of my bows that are done with goose feathers so thats not a big problem.
Cold has become a problem for me since my heart work. Was a time I could hang with the best. Now I look at daily tempa and select my clothes, especially gloves, more carefully.