hey guys....just experienced a very windy hunt. didn't see anything.....and I have found that I usually don't. my dad has always told me that deer usually hunker down tight when its really windy. is this true or do some of you guys notice anything different? any tips for what I could do to increase my chances on very windy days?
I have generally had the same experience...heavy winds equals no deer movements, with that said I shot a pretty nice 9 pt last year on a very windy day...he came out at last shooting light to the edge of my food plot. My bro-in-law and I were just texting back and forth complaining about the wind and telling each other we were climbing down...then bam there he was. I actually generally avoid hunting when it's supposed to be blowing 20-30...last year was a fluke. Weatherman was calling for 15 mph he was wrong, it was gusting to 35 up in the tree. No idea why that buck showed, but I'll still probably stay at the house this year if it's blowing that hard.
Shot my biggest buck on a day that was so windy that my dad and uncle wouldn't get in a tree two years ago. Was doubting my decision while sitting in stand till he came along chasing a doe.
The biggest deer I shot was on a windy day. Not gusty just constant wind and a COLD one at that. Deer live in the weather everyday. There are days that it is windy for a week straight. They do move, maybe just not as much or as often when it is extremely windy. I'm in the same boat as not seeing very many deer when it is extremely windy. I try to get out of the wind, down in the bottoms is where I like to be.
If you can, go to lower elevation on the windy days. Stay off the tops of ridges and you should have better luck.
No one is saying you can't kill a deer on a windy day, anything is possible. But I dont think I've ever seen a deer on a very windy day, I'll usually skip it nowadays
I have had some of the best days in the woods on very windy days.. You never know what will happen unless your in a tree!!
I will always go.....its just not in me not to go altogether if im able...lol but ive just never had much luck...
This is a short read but very interesting... http://www.mossyoak.com/our-obsessi...20/20-years-of-deer-research-on-deer-movement
Windy or not you can't kill them on the couch. I just love hunting and go any chance I can. Plus in Kansas it seems to windy quite often. "Live Life at Full Draw"
I've had good sits and bad during windy days. If it's a windy day that brings in a big front and a temperature drop I think it makes the deer pretty frisky and I see good movement. Especially the closer it gets to November. If it's just a general windy day in a string of windy days that doesn't precede any kind of front the hunting is usually pretty slow. At least on my property anyways.
In places I hunted in Mississippi and Louisiana they really didn't move much in open areas. They would travel bottom areas between ridges and creek bottoms though. If they moved at all that is, never really seen anything mature in bad wind. I'd normally get on top ridges and try and stalk on those days looking for them in the bottoms it worked for me.
I'll hunt if it's windy during the rut, but otherwise I'll wait for a better day. Wind will compromise a deer's senses, everything is moving, it's noisy, and they get smells from all over the place, which makes them skittish and non trusting. I don't enjoy a windy hunt like I do when it's calm.
I tell you the one thing that is nice about windy days is from a movement standpoint in the stand I think you can get away with some mistakes that you couldn't get away with otherwise. I am someone who has trouble sitting still in the stand - I feel much more comfortable standing up to stretch my legs and what not on a windy day. The thing I don't like about really windy days, especially if you try and get down off a ridge and into a draw or something the wind will start swirling on you and that is trouble. Had an afternoon in late October last year where a buck came out of a known bedding area on my property and started down an open trail strait toward me into my food plot. Wind check, wind check - I am ready, release was locked as bow was already sitting in my lap - just waiting! He stops dead in his tracks looks in my general direction (he is still probably 80 yards away at this point) and turns to trot away. I hit the antlers and he turned left and darted back into the bedding area. I have no doubts the wind was swirling that day. Yes, I think deer and bucks specifically will move on windy days. Yes, I think you should still hunt on a windy day.
Windy days are ideal for spot and stalk mule deer hunts. It blows scent away and covers the majority of the sound. I hope for windy days when I hunt mule deer.
