Here is an excerpt from my bookTHe Complete Whitetail Addict's Manual.
Barometric PressureBecause fish and birds have air sacs in their bodies they may have the ability to feel barometric pressure changes. Geese are known to feed and begin to flock two days prior to the arrival of a storm, then migrate with the advancing cold fronts. Many hunters claim deer also feed heavily prior to a storm. During my seven-year study I found that (approximately) 40 percent of the deer sightings occurred when the barometer was rising, 40 percent occurred when the barometer was falling, and 20 percent occurred when the barometer was steady.
I did find that more deer were seen when there were abrupt barometric changes than when the barometric pressure was steady. I found no evidence that deer began to feed prior to the arrival of a storm, suggesting that they knew or "felt" that a storm was approaching. However, deer were frequently seen feeding after storms let up, especially if the storm lasted a day or more.
In his study in Georgia, Kent Kammermeyer found that deer activity was correlated with barometric pressure changes in the morning and evening. But, he noted that this is when these barometric pressure changes normally occur in that area. Illinois biologist Keith Thomas found that the highest amount of white-tailed deer movement and feeding activity occurred when the barometric pressure was between 29.80 and 30.39. After several years of study, Dave Morris, the manager of a Georgia hunting preserve, concludedd that the deer in the study area were much more active when the barometric pressure was below 29.00 inches, and the temperature and the humidity were low.I suspect that deer may react to the weather changes associated with barometric pressure changes, such as wind speed, wind direction, temperature factor changes, cloud cover and precipitation; but not necessarily to minute changes in barometric pressure.
Temperature has a far greater affect on daily deer activity than the barometer does.
God bless,
T.R.