A lot of us talk about wind direction - let's talk for a minute about wind speed. How much wind do you consider to much wind to hunt in? Do deer still move when it is windy? What types of areas can you expect to see more movement during heavy winds? Reason I ask is the first 3 days of this coming week here in west central Indiana it looks like we are going to be having winds in excess of 18 mph and I am thinking that might be a little much.
I'm no expert but in my experience, when hunting areas that don't have a lot of strong wind, the deer tend to lay up until it passes. I think it makes them nervous when everything is moving around so much. In high wind areas I've hunted, like Kansas, the deer seem to move as usual. I've put in a lot of time in a stand in high winds until I convinced myself it's not worth it. My hunting buddies have experienced the same thing. I've seen deer move in low areas like creek bottoms or deep canyons during high winds but not many other places. There are always exceptions to this especially during the rut. Sex is a strong motivator for deer too! :D
When I see 20+ forecast, I'm not going in. At that point I'm concerned about safety. Not deer movement.
Yeh I wont be going out the next three days due to 20+ winds. In my area, when its windy, the deer usually bed down.
Tomorrow they are calling for sustained winds in the 40's with gusts to 80 in my hunting area. Heading out to do some still hunting. A few falling trees don't scare me!
I killed a buck one year in 25-30. Ironically, they were moving very well that day...it was mid Nov. I was frozen by the time he came by chasing some does at 8:30, and suprisingly I made the shot. I was just about to get down and got lucky I guess. I typically won't hunt from a stand on days like that both for safety reasons and I typically have not seen much movement. Sometimes I'll still hunt - usually I'll just wait for a better day.
