Too Windy?
 

Here in Southwest Iowa, had a large storm roll through and the wind is howlin 30mph. Should I stay home, or hit the stand? Your opinions please. new to site, first hunting site i have registered for, thanks for havin me. My name is Rick, love to bowhunt with my 3 sons. Hunting for 22 years now bow only.

There are some days better spent at home with the kids. This is one of them.

if your going to go out i would spot and stalk on these windy days the usually bed down. the good thing about the wind though is it hides the noise you make as you come in . play the wind and do some walking!

A week or so from now I would say go still hunt because the bucks are cruising, but today you might as well stay in. But after this system passes it should be like flipping a switch. I am close to the NE corner of Iowa and it is really howling here.

Saw a nice buck last night cruisin and pushin some does around, with the weather changing so fast things are going to progress nicely, in my opinion, rut is right on schedule. Hope the wind stops blowing!

Well I will let you know i am sitting around bored so im going out to some public land for an evening hunt.

I must agree with M. Magnis, hang out at home. Even if the deer are moving, I don't like the negative impact a 30 MPH wind (especially cross wind) has on arrow flight. So in an effort not to risk a poor shot and wounding a deer, I stay home!

I'd also say spot and stalk, but I would try to stay completely out of your regular hunting area. Don't want too much activity in the area where you still hunt, could cause them to change their routine.

Ya here in ohio its the same 30mph winds wit gust up to 60mph. Im heading out now, but im guna be using the cross bow and the blind tonight. sitting in a tree with wind like that just dosnt seem like it would be fun.

you can't kill'em on the couch.

When weather like this blows in, the deer leave the woods entirely. They don't drink there, eat there, frequent there nor sleep there. They go to a nice Hotel 6 or something and when the weather clears, they head back out into the woods.

Or at least that's what some may have you thinking. LOL! Me? I've seen plenty of deer moving in some hellacious winds and snow. I either do a stand sit or go and still hunt looking for them. More often during this type weather, I'm still hunting. The scales have now tipped in my favor. I've killed several does and bucks still hunting in bad weather. It gives me a huge mental advantage as well, which helps me stick it through. It's not often fun being cold and wet, but every now and then, the hunt ends favorably with some backstraps fryin' that evening!

The odds are if you stay home, you won't be missing anything. Yet again, no one knows when the one time you'll see a deer during those inclement weather times when you should've been out there. Plus, how can one learn to hunt during those times if they sit at home?

Don't forget your bino's!

Good luck,

iSnipe

I didn't see many deer last season at all, and I went out a bunch of times. One of the few times I did see deer was during an extremely windy day. I sneaked up within 20 yards on a doe and two yearlings that I saw about 50 yards away but had no shot. It took me a VERY long time to move those 30 yards, but it was the coolest hunting experience I have had to date, and I didn't even get the kill. Yeah, when I finally had the shot, my gun misfired (chalked it up to a hard primer). I guess that little deer family was supposed to live. :)

Anyway, what was interesting is that I thought FOR SURE that I was gonna get busted. The high winds were to my back and I was facing the direction of the deer. Momma even spotted me a few times and checked out that strange statue that she wasn't quite sure was there before.

Well, its windy again today, actually blowing harder than yesterday which is hard to believe. I have seen deer on windy days, bucks and does, actually missed a good one last year on a windy day. Reason I asked about it being too windy is because of the rut coming on so fast right now, really dont want to spook any deer at this point in the game. At what point or time do you say forget about it, ie, the weather, hunting pressure, cold, heat, etc. and just hunt. I would have to think that time is coming soon. Wouldnt you all agree? Am I being too impatient? I enjoy your feedback and love the site, thanks all!

If it was windy and raining I would stay put. If you only have one area to hunt or only a couple of good spots then I would not risk messing them up on a rough weather day. But if you can veture out into some area's that are secondary I would go wind or not. Two of the windiest days I have ever hunted in both had good deer movement on them. I will admit the weather was very cold on both of them so that may of caused the deer to move,late December days. If the weather is windy and the temps high I would think it would not be as good. But as has been said the only way to know if it is a day of opportunity is to go and give it a try. The worst thing that can happen is you will get some time in the woods alone with no deer to keep you company.

A "Bad Day Hunting" is better than sitting around doing nothing! Hope you get out there and bag a big one!

Keep us informed!
Good Luck!