Let's Talk Weather

By Jamie Dailey
Huntress View Team Member 


Ever heard a hunter tell you “I don’t think I am going to go hunting today because of the weather”? I have said it and I am sure you have said it yourself at some time or another. Fact is weather does affect the habits of game, but knowing how may land you with a harvested animal. 

Wind

 
Wind is always a big factor on if I hunt or not. Experience has taught me that deer won’t alter their habits for a subtle wind. However, when the wind picks up and heavy gusts begin to happen they tend to me more aware and stick close to their comfort areas. The best advice I can give is don’t let a little wind keep you from heading into the woods. Just make sure you have stands set so that the wind is in your favor and sit a while. A good thing to always have in your pack is a wind checker. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy a simple bottle of baby powder will work. 

 Rain

Rain is similar to wind in the sense of the amount and its effects. A steady rain does not seem to keep deer from going about their daily activities. They will keep to their usual schedules of feeding and moving about. Take advantage of a steady rain though. Leaves get soggy and quiet which makes moving around for you a lot easier. However, a downpour can keep them bedded down for extended amounts of time. Staying dry and warm become the main focus of deer during times of heavy rain. An important thing remember is that the amount of rain is something that you also need take into account. If you are hunting in low lying areas and it rains a substantial amount deer may avoid that area for a while. So have a backup plan if this happens.

Huntress View team member Sarah Honadel tagged her muley on the last day of her trip. According to her they had not seen a deer in the area until this day when the temps dropped and snow began to fall

Storms

 

Animals tend to have a built in barometer. Studies have shown that animals have a sixth sense when it comes to weather and natural occurrences. Deer have been noted to pick up movement and feed more in anticipation of major storms coming. As the storm moves through their movement ceases to exist. Afterwards activity picks back up for a day or so, so take advantage of this. If you know that storms are fixing to move through, hit the woods. Don't set a time limit because their movements can be unpredictable time-wise.  

Temperature

 

Huntress View team member Heidi Swonger got her buck the day before temperatures in her area were predicted to start rising due to a warm front

Temperature can be a tricky thing when it comes to hunting. Depending on what area you live will determine how the deer are affected. For instance I live in Georgia where it tends to stay extremely warm and humid up till Halloween sometimes as late as Thanksgiving. So the deer will be affected here differently when temperatures begin to drop. Other areas begin to get snow and freezing temperatures as early as September. So a good thing to practice is keeping a record  of deer movement on certain days where the temperatures

are either below or above average for your area. 

Founder of Huntress View Andrea Haas harvested her largest buck to date on the last day of the season when temperatures were abnormally high for January.

If you have your phone handy download the app used by Huntress View Owner Andrea Haas, Hunt Stand. Its free to download for Droid and iPhone users and allows users to get the most accurate reading on current weather conditions at your hunting property. Another cool feature of the app is that you can pin point sightings on it which allows you to keep a more detailed record of deer movement in your area for specific days. Visit their website: Hunt Stand