Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

Whew, wind was blowing 50+ mph gusts yersterday. Decided to take the bow out yesterday in the winds but had a game plan. I was down in a creek bottom in a big pine/brush thicket, still was pretty nasty, but bearable. Iwould have guessed the deer would have been down in areas where there wind was blocked somewhat like usual. WRONG!! I saw more deer out in the field than I have since August, couldnt beleive it. I was going to take a doe but after almost getting tossed out of my pine stand a few times and not seeing anything, I headed for the truck about 10 minutes before dark just in case, branches were coming down, etc. My guess is the wind and noise was so bad that it took away their hearing, vission and sight defense in the woods so they moved out to areas where they could see danger from a distance.

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

Thats where the deer like to hide in big wind. Near the fields on the edge. To much movement in the woods with all the trees moving and things blowing around.

Hatchet Jack

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

Most people will say that deer don't move in the high winds, which often I have found to be true. However, I have also been out during very windy days and saw plenty.............and my buddy saw a really nice buck on a farm we hunt on maybe the windiest day I have ever hunted.

There must be another factor involved as just high aren't enough to stop them IMO..........I believe the motion of the brush is not their main source of irritation during high wind but if it is windy and really noisy with limbs falling and cracking then I would say they won't be to happy. Not being able to hear makes them less comfortable then not being able to see IMO.

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RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

I was thinking about the wind thing for awhile and I have some of my own theories. No scientific basis, just some observations based on the deer I have seen.

When the wind, or rain for that matter, initially kicks up, the deer seem to stay bedded down. If conditions persist for more than a couple of hours the deer need to get up to feed. This is what I think yields some pretty unbeleviable numbers of deer in the fields during crappy conditions. It seems to run hot and cold. They are either everywhere or nowhere to be found.

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

Went out yesterday, windy as hell, saw 2 small onesand my hunting buddy saw 3 and shot a nice sized doe. I have gone out in perfect conditions and seen nothing and went in horrible conditions and seen alot.....I now believe I have no clue what is going on!

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

I think that most of us just don't like hunting in high winds because it impeeds OUR abilities. It definitely makes it harder for us to see them or hear them coming/going. I know the Midwest boys don't have a choice of hunting with or without wind, it's always windy. "My" Southern deer just don't seem to like moving as much in the high winds. Luckily most days that it is very windy, it tends to calm down about 30-45 minutes before dark. Does it seem the deer move less in high winds? Sure. I think part of it is that they are still moving but we just don't see them as often because we can't pick up thecrunching leaves or that little movement in the corner of our eyes. Maybe they prefer to move at very last light or at night during extreme winds because, unlike us, they don't have much of a choice of whether they feed or not.

I agree with 98...after a couple hours of laying around they have to keep their energy up and they get up and feed.

Ok, there's my .02.

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

hahahaha well said!!! Do we ever??

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

Do you pack a parachute for days like that!!??[:-]

RE: Decided to try hunting yesterday, 50+ mph gusts
 

I always try to hunt in high winds. Like said before, I see a lot on the edges of fields during those times.