Is there ever a point when it is real windy you just say to yourself, no, I am not sitting in a tree today? As a bow hunter that admits being afraid of heights (I climb trees because my passion for bowhunting is stronger than my fear of heights), any wind 20+ mph changes my mind...lol. Kind of curious about those hunters that do not have a fear of heights. Does a good strong wind bother you when you are up in a tree? Is there any wind speed that changes your mind about getting up in a tree? Maybe go out and do a hunt on the ground...
It would depend on the size of the tree and location, field edge, middle of woods etc. I’ve been in a tree with 30-40 wind gust. In the middle of the woods so there is some wind break. Tree was not all that large in diameter. It was a little sketchy lol. You also have to take into consideration trying to steady your shot while the wind is blowing. That is my main concern when it’s windy. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My rule of thumb is if I hear 2 or 3 trees fall over I get down and head for the house. Had to throw in the towel once this year. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
Not a bit scares of heights but a cold wind above 20 mph is like Chinese water torture here since it is usually persistent. Lol. I'll pass on being in a tree at that point. Sent from my SM-G935V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
I have a few go to wind trees that are solid as a rock in high winds. Only thing I worry about is a widow maker or another tree falling. I'm cool up to 20-25mph. Gets around 30-40 mph things get weird. I will sit on the ground instead of a skimpy tree just because of the shot. No way I'm shooting at a deer with the platform blowing around. I have one tree that I don't think moves in a Cat 2 hurricane. Usually where I end up in high winds.
I would welcome any type of breeze in Florida. The wind generated from the wings of a passing mosquito is about as breezy as it usually gets for me lol
I used to sit it some pretty windy conditions and actually got rocked to sleep in my climber once in some big winds. I don't sit in really windy conditions any longer because the deer don't move where I hunt when the wind blows over 20 mph. This time of year (rut) I will hunt in a bottom where the wind is diminished somewhat and deer feel more comfortable moving around.
I only have called it quits once because of the wind. I set up in a tree that was almost too small to hunt in the first place. The wind picked up in the afternoon and lets just say when you are looking straight ahead and the next thing you know you are looking straight at the ground its time to get out. I would have never been able to take a shot with it swaying so much anyway.
I sat in this strongest wind I've ever sat in this year on October 30 with my rifle - 35mph consistent with 60mph gusts. It wasn't too cold and was sporadically raining as small storms blew through. I was sitting 30' up in an old, tough spruce in the middle of a bedding area next to my foodplot. I had a good size branch next to me to hang onto when it got really bad, and there was one point that I clung onto it for about 3 minutes straight when the gusts stayed consistent in the 50s (guessing). That was the only time I thought about getting down, but I kept telling myself that it'll calm down a lot in the hour before dark and that's when they'd come out. Sounded good in my head, but didn't see a thing that hunt. If I was bowhunting, I wouldn't have gone just because it's hard enough to make a good shot on a deer with a bow on a dead calm day.
The tree swaying doesn't bother me so much as all the crap flying around in the woods. I personally don't like being in the woods when it's windy and risk getting hit with a dead limb. And deer don't tend to move much.
Over 20 mph the deer seem to not move much and what deer I see are on a run. seems to me that so much of the woods are moving they cannot determine that they are safe so they run for the thickest lowest bedding cover imho
I prefer a strong wind over dead calm anyday! Stay off field edges and hunt in the cover. I've had no trouble seeing deer in high winds doing it.
