I sat in last nights hurrican wind like an idiot! gust up to 40mph.... saw a few deer, all small. Def had the pucker factor a few times when the tree got to swaying 1-2' in either direction!
I sat this weekend in +20mph but did not see a thing.... I was probably because I spent the whole time screaming WOOOOHOOOO!!! because I felt like I was on a roller coaster! I don't know if I could have made a very good shot with all the tree movement!
I was actually about to make the same exact post until I saw this. I've done some reading about wind and deer hunting. I read that winds up to 20mph will keep them relatively stationary in comparison to a calm day. Its recommended that if you decide to hunt on a windy day to try to hunt close to bedding areas because they seem to stay close to those areas or places with plenty of cover. I guess the wind tends to overload their visual and olfactory senses. They cant pinpoint exactly where a scent is coming from and the continuous movement of the trees and leaves doesnt allow them to differentiate between plant and predator. Its also recommended that you hunt behind a ridge that may block the strong winds, the deer tend to gather in areas where the wind is the calmest. I've yet to actually test what I've read about high wind hunting, but I'll find out tomorrow. I'm hittin' the woods in the morning with the forecast calling for 15-20mph winds. It'll be right after heavy rain so maybe they'll be out early looking for food despite the wind
I hunted this past weekend with winds gusting to 25-30mph. Didn't see many deer at all. Only saw 3 does on Saturday evening and that was the calmest of the fri-sun sits.of course they were going through the woods 75 yards from me. Haha
I sat Saturday evening with winds around 14-15 and gusts up to 20. Watched 7 deer come out at different times and wander down the field away from me. I was downwind at end of CRP hoping they would start there. They all came out about halfway down and went into the wind. They didn't seem bothered one bit. Every one of them crossed my path I came in on and didn't seem to mind at all.
well how much wind can u stand to sit in? i have sat in some tornado winds before you just gotta make sure u sit in the biggest tree you have due to trying to get a shot off whith a tree moving 3 feet in every direction might be kind of hard. but from my past experiences wind can tend to hold them up, but i have sat windy days and not seen a thing then i have sat other windy days and seen a ton of deer. i think there are a lot of other factors that come into play. but when it comes down to it if you have time to be in the woods use it then because your not going to kill one if your not out there.
I'm with Rutin on this one, did the same thing and had the same feelings. My only problem was I about filled my buck tag. I had a spike in front of me for literally an hour. At the same time I had a real nice 8 pointer pinned down with my binoculars about 150 yards in front of me. He was bedded down in the CRP and I watched him for about an hour. Finally he gets up at about 6 o'clock and he could really only go two ways. He went the other way He was a dead deer if he came my way, no questions about it. Wind was perfect and that trail leads right in front of my stand at 20 yards. I love hunting the rain and wind. The deer don't have the luxury of laying on the couch like us. They are slaves to their stomachs. They will move. Prime example was last night; rain, which was sometimes heavy, and strong winds. My buddy I was hunting with also had 2 does in front of him throughout all this. This is just my experience, but I've witnessed it enough over the last couple years that the wind and rain doesn't detour me from hunting in it.
I just don't hunt skinny trees in a hard wind. I actually prefer a good steady wind because it kind of wipes out the lingering under your stand scent issue. It usually settles down at clobbering time anyway around here.
If the winds are above 40 mph i usually dont go out but it just depends. But sometimes i go hunt in a thick swamp if its really windy. It seems to not be as windy in them.
Alright well its going to be about 15mph today with a 25% chance of rain. I am gunna take your word on it and lets see what we can do tonight!
LOL I thought this was another thread about the election. lol anyways I've never seen deer in 20+ winds, so I'd say that's my breaking point.
I'll hunt in whatever wind there is or however strong it is. I have a couple spots I like to go to on REALLY windy days in low lying areas with thick cover. It's ok to hunt from the ground too.
So lets say a big buck comes in when the wind is howling like you say it was. At what distance would you take a shot? I would guess it would have to be pretty short or the wind would be blowing your arrow far enough off course to cause a miss or worse yet a poorly placed shot. Not to mention your stand moving 1 to 2 feet. I like lookin at deer, but not enough to sit out in that kinda stuff, cuz I sure wouldn't entertain takin a shot in winds like that.
I would say 20 mph but I hunt in all winds. I have many areas in my hunting ground that are well protected from the wind. The deer move to these ares in high wind and so does this hunter.
hunted this weekend in 25mph wind gusts and it basically sucked. I was in a low lying area, I saw nothing all weekend. the weather was sub-par.
I usually get down around the 20 MPH mark. THe swaying doesn't bother me it's the dead fall falling. We have a ton of dead limbs from last October's freak snow storm (leaves still on the tree) and they are dropping like crazy now.
