Hunting in hot weather
 

Up here in Maine we are having a warm spell (70-78F). It is supposed to cool down Thursday. My question is: If temps are higher then normal during the day is it worth hunting if temps drop that night (45F)? Will deer move before dark?

Thanks

We had a warm spell last season, hit 95degrees during the day. Thank God the wife and I have camo long sleeve under armour heat gear shirts! OMG it was hot up in the stand!

It had been down in the high 50's to mid 60's during the day for a few weeks by then, but suddenly a heatwave came through and warmed us up 30-40degrees.

Movement in the evenings was later in the evening than usual for the deer we had been patterning, but they still moved, the wife even got a shot on her 9pter when it was still 87degrees out that evening (about 6:30pm).

The deer will still move, but often there will be less movement than normal and it will come first thing in the morning and right before dark. I have had some success hunting in warm weather, so I would still go out....

I think they move more when its colder/cooler.

In northwestern Illinois it was 82 for the opening day yesterday. I opted to stay out of the woods. But the large mouth where biting. We even found a couple of the toothy critters for the freezer.

Here in Va. we are used to warm weather, especially during archery. It has actually been cool the past couple of weeks, but just started warming up the past couple of days. Supposed to be in the high eighties for Sat. opening of Archery. Will expect to see Deer moving in the early to mid morning and starting three to four in the afternoon. Thats the way its been in the past anyhow.

Just dont forget your thermacell! Thats the one thing about bow season that can be tough to contend with is the mosquitoes.

I choose to go out even when warm knowing many who have filled freezers and decked out walls with good Bucks during hot weather. It is harder but still can be productive every once in a while. I limit the distance and time I spend getting to a spot and how long I'm out in it. So I go out and hour and a half before sunset and get out of the woods before the morning gets to hot. It is a pain washing my gear more but thats hunting and like my Buddy says you can't shoot one sitting on the couch in the AC.

If it's 75-80 degrees I don't even waste my time going out. That's just me, I like it cold, 20's to 40 degrees, snowy.....just seems like hunting then.

I like the cooler weather...it frosted here last night...

I took a doe yesterday evening and it was 91 degrees and very humid. We're a little more used to the heat down here than you yanks, so hot temps don't bother me that much. Hot weather will definately slow down daylight movement though.

Of course deer are harvested in hot weather
 

It was hot; harvested a deer in the afternoon; I was hunting alone; had to pull a gutted deer out with a climbing tree stand.

You never forget the heat.

The difference between a sportsman & a hunter is that the hunter is in the woods whether its 95 degrees with 100% humidity or -15 with 20 mph winds. Doesn't matter if he's hunting through a potential tornado or a blizzard either, he'll be a huntin. Sportsman only pique their interests, a hunter lives & dies by the woods. Now choose who you are. :)

So what do you all do once you make a kill and the temps are high? You can't hang it over night.. too warm.. Do you folks have a stand-by cooler or do you gut,skin and quarter it into a freezer right away?

I took a doe on opening day evening.. 73 degrees with the nightly low at 68. It sucked having to process the thing right away.

Just came back from opening archery in Ohio. Temps were in the low 80's. The majority of the deer we saw were actually Bedded in the swamps during the day and coming out at last light. Took a decent 10 on the last day of our hunt. I actually busted out more than a few that we're into the 150-160 range I have hunted Maine alot find the food and find the swamps and you should be able to figure out the deer movement

No pics of your buck?

trying to figure this all out not even sure if I'm doing it right
 

trying to figure this out I don't know if this is right or not but I try

depends If you have a processor or butcher close...or know someone who has a walkin cooler. if its hot you can ice the cavity and take it to a processor. if you don't have access its best to get a fridge and quarter it up and to get it cool. but some of the reason to let it hang is to get most of the blood out.

I don't think its nearly as black and white as hot or cold.

If you have frost for a week then it warms back up the woods (food,cover etc.) will be totally different than if it just hasn't cooled off yet. Same goes the other way. If it has been hot all season and turns cold that is much different than if it had been cold all along.

Deer move just fine in the summer. Its more about food and cover than them not liking the heat IMO. The further into fall we go the less food and cover and that means traveling further from one to the other and spending more time looking for food.