Guides and Stickies
09-09-2015, 07:16 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
Guides and Stickies
Is it me or does this site seem to have a shortage of guides to hunting or stickies that inform others about basic hunting information. Was wondering if others felt this way and if combined we could generate enough information in regards to basic information that instead of having to constantly repeat ourselves to new members asking the same questions over and over we refer them to a guide we all generated.
Example would be:
How weather conditions affect deer movement.
We can talk or describe generalities that can be applied to each section like barometric pressure, temp changes, wind direction or wind speeds, drizzling rain to down pours, etc.
Using all the information we gather that appear to be universal we can make a single post to always refer to.
I understand that their are alot of articles on the internet out there including books, but lets face it. Some people are coming from families that never hunted so this information has never been giving to them and they will more than often not know where to began. Also I noticed over the past few months quite a few members here have mentioned their age range and some information you fellas have learned through experience will be gone once you are. It may be passed on to your children or friends but if they are not members here then what good does it to the rest of us.
Any topics or guides you guys think should be made, give a notice, lets see if we can make them.
This post is intended to start with Whitetail deer we will see if we can then branch out for other areas like duck hunting, turkey, elk, moose, archery, and black powder, etc.
Example would be:
How weather conditions affect deer movement.
We can talk or describe generalities that can be applied to each section like barometric pressure, temp changes, wind direction or wind speeds, drizzling rain to down pours, etc.
Using all the information we gather that appear to be universal we can make a single post to always refer to.
I understand that their are alot of articles on the internet out there including books, but lets face it. Some people are coming from families that never hunted so this information has never been giving to them and they will more than often not know where to began. Also I noticed over the past few months quite a few members here have mentioned their age range and some information you fellas have learned through experience will be gone once you are. It may be passed on to your children or friends but if they are not members here then what good does it to the rest of us.
Any topics or guides you guys think should be made, give a notice, lets see if we can make them.
This post is intended to start with Whitetail deer we will see if we can then branch out for other areas like duck hunting, turkey, elk, moose, archery, and black powder, etc.
09-09-2015, 08:11 AM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
On the topic of weather, if you folks will please.
Order what you feel is the most important aspect to your hunting weather. You can give a why if you feel like it.
1. Barometer
2. Temperature
3. Cloud Coverage/Fog
4. Rain
5. Winds
6. Moon Phases
This is the order I place weather in how I feel it affects deer and their movement. Items 3-5 kind of where hard to argue their position even for myself as rain is usually accompanied by clouds and winds. But overcast days are common without the latter two and this itself changes the hunting possibilities with cooler temps later into the morning and also the appearance of an earlier sunset or cooler temps earlier in the evening.
Moon was last as I feel it does not play a single part of deer movement though others will disagree. Only moon I have ever noticed a change to was clear skies, full moon allowed deer to move throughout the night, so they bedded earlier but this was only noticed during early season when temps also played a role.
Since our weather here is relatively mild, how do some of you feel about temps. High temps to deer and an area is subjective, but is there a common adage to low temps and deer movement as well. I have seen the temps in the 0-20'ish degree range in W. Va. causing the deer to bed or stay bedded later in the morning before moving. So we all know there is a high temp that will limit deer movement but do you feel their is a low limit as well?
Order what you feel is the most important aspect to your hunting weather. You can give a why if you feel like it.
1. Barometer
2. Temperature
3. Cloud Coverage/Fog
4. Rain
5. Winds
6. Moon Phases
This is the order I place weather in how I feel it affects deer and their movement. Items 3-5 kind of where hard to argue their position even for myself as rain is usually accompanied by clouds and winds. But overcast days are common without the latter two and this itself changes the hunting possibilities with cooler temps later into the morning and also the appearance of an earlier sunset or cooler temps earlier in the evening.
Moon was last as I feel it does not play a single part of deer movement though others will disagree. Only moon I have ever noticed a change to was clear skies, full moon allowed deer to move throughout the night, so they bedded earlier but this was only noticed during early season when temps also played a role.
Since our weather here is relatively mild, how do some of you feel about temps. High temps to deer and an area is subjective, but is there a common adage to low temps and deer movement as well. I have seen the temps in the 0-20'ish degree range in W. Va. causing the deer to bed or stay bedded later in the morning before moving. So we all know there is a high temp that will limit deer movement but do you feel their is a low limit as well?
09-09-2015, 10:15 AM
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
On the topic of weather, if you folks will please.
Order what you feel is the most important aspect to your hunting weather. You can give a why if you feel like it.
1. Barometer
2. Temperature
3. Cloud Coverage/Fog
4. Rain
5. Winds
6. Moon Phases
This is the order I place weather in how I feel it affects deer and their movement. Items 3-5 kind of where hard to argue their position even for myself as rain is usually accompanied by clouds and winds. But overcast days are common without the latter two and this itself changes the hunting possibilities with cooler temps later into the morning and also the appearance of an earlier sunset or cooler temps earlier in the evening.
Moon was last as I feel it does not play a single part of deer movement though others will disagree. Only moon I have ever noticed a change to was clear skies, full moon allowed deer to move throughout the night, so they bedded earlier but this was only noticed during early season when temps also played a role.
Since our weather here is relatively mild, how do some of you feel about temps. High temps to deer and an area is subjective, but is there a common adage to low temps and deer movement as well. I have seen the temps in the 0-20'ish degree range in W. Va. causing the deer to bed or stay bedded later in the morning before moving. So we all know there is a high temp that will limit deer movement but do you feel their is a low limit as well?
Order what you feel is the most important aspect to your hunting weather. You can give a why if you feel like it.
1. Barometer
2. Temperature
3. Cloud Coverage/Fog
4. Rain
5. Winds
6. Moon Phases
This is the order I place weather in how I feel it affects deer and their movement. Items 3-5 kind of where hard to argue their position even for myself as rain is usually accompanied by clouds and winds. But overcast days are common without the latter two and this itself changes the hunting possibilities with cooler temps later into the morning and also the appearance of an earlier sunset or cooler temps earlier in the evening.
Moon was last as I feel it does not play a single part of deer movement though others will disagree. Only moon I have ever noticed a change to was clear skies, full moon allowed deer to move throughout the night, so they bedded earlier but this was only noticed during early season when temps also played a role.
Since our weather here is relatively mild, how do some of you feel about temps. High temps to deer and an area is subjective, but is there a common adage to low temps and deer movement as well. I have seen the temps in the 0-20'ish degree range in W. Va. causing the deer to bed or stay bedded later in the morning before moving. So we all know there is a high temp that will limit deer movement but do you feel their is a low limit as well?
Obviously wind direction is number 1 on the list but I assume that is not what you meant by wind.
I will say for me the moon has a huge effect for the reason you already mentioned.....but again I'm gonna hunt anyway so I don't worry about it. The one upside to a bright night is I can glass the fields in the dark.
09-09-2015, 11:26 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
My experience hunting in SE Al. and south central Ark. from most effect to least.
1. Temperature - This is the big player down this way. I have hunted in 80F+ in late January. And in early bow season, 90F days are not all that uncommon. It is almost foolish to even hunt where I do when conditions such as this exist. There is usually minimal daylight movement. The general rule .... the cooler the better.
2. Rain - Driving rain in stormy conditions more or less shuts down movement. However, a light or intemrittent rain very often is a great time to be out. I make a point to be in the stand when the rain is about to quit.
3. Wind - Again, as the case with rain .... strong, gusting winds (especially from the east) results in not much activity. A soft , light wind, especially when a front is coming in from the north-northwest ... activity picks up.
4. Barometric Pressure - Not sure. In general low pressures down here are associated with warm conditions and rainfall (not good), while rising pressures are usually associated cooler weather moving in (good hujnting).
5. Cloud cover/fog - No effect that I can tell, except foggy conditions down our way are usually associated with warm, still conditions. Which in turn is not usually a good time to hunt where I do. However one of the bvest bucks I have ever killed was slipping though a creek bottom during very foggy, unseasonably warm morning.
5. Moon Phases - In my opinion this is the most over hyped condition that is associated with deer movement. Years ago, after reading a "moon phase" articles in SA (complete with a when to hunt chart), one of my best buds and I decided to keep a very detailed log over two consecutive seasons in an attempt to determine any patterns in deer movement, estrus cycle, etc. How we went aboutthis study I suspect would not pass "scientific methods" criteria, however we ended up with over 200 days and 1200 hours of data. And we were in the field a lot of hours. I am an engineer by education and career. Like most of my ilk, I analyze data almost to a fault. I built a data base and took a look at all that info from about any angle one could. I found only one clear effect associated with a moon's phase .... and that had to be in conjunction with a clear, cold night. When the moon was full and the temps very cold for our area (say 25F or less) , the deer did not move until mid-morning , if at all in daylight and generally showed up on food plots very early in the afternoon. If it was not a clear night, the deer tended to move in the mornings at the usual times .... a good bit and in the time frame of 7:30 +/- 30 minutes or so and again 30-45 minutes before dark.
And for me the bottom line, I hunt whaen I can.
1. Temperature - This is the big player down this way. I have hunted in 80F+ in late January. And in early bow season, 90F days are not all that uncommon. It is almost foolish to even hunt where I do when conditions such as this exist. There is usually minimal daylight movement. The general rule .... the cooler the better.
2. Rain - Driving rain in stormy conditions more or less shuts down movement. However, a light or intemrittent rain very often is a great time to be out. I make a point to be in the stand when the rain is about to quit.
3. Wind - Again, as the case with rain .... strong, gusting winds (especially from the east) results in not much activity. A soft , light wind, especially when a front is coming in from the north-northwest ... activity picks up.
4. Barometric Pressure - Not sure. In general low pressures down here are associated with warm conditions and rainfall (not good), while rising pressures are usually associated cooler weather moving in (good hujnting).
5. Cloud cover/fog - No effect that I can tell, except foggy conditions down our way are usually associated with warm, still conditions. Which in turn is not usually a good time to hunt where I do. However one of the bvest bucks I have ever killed was slipping though a creek bottom during very foggy, unseasonably warm morning.
5. Moon Phases - In my opinion this is the most over hyped condition that is associated with deer movement. Years ago, after reading a "moon phase" articles in SA (complete with a when to hunt chart), one of my best buds and I decided to keep a very detailed log over two consecutive seasons in an attempt to determine any patterns in deer movement, estrus cycle, etc. How we went aboutthis study I suspect would not pass "scientific methods" criteria, however we ended up with over 200 days and 1200 hours of data. And we were in the field a lot of hours. I am an engineer by education and career. Like most of my ilk, I analyze data almost to a fault. I built a data base and took a look at all that info from about any angle one could. I found only one clear effect associated with a moon's phase .... and that had to be in conjunction with a clear, cold night. When the moon was full and the temps very cold for our area (say 25F or less) , the deer did not move until mid-morning , if at all in daylight and generally showed up on food plots very early in the afternoon. If it was not a clear night, the deer tended to move in the mornings at the usual times .... a good bit and in the time frame of 7:30 +/- 30 minutes or so and again 30-45 minutes before dark.
And for me the bottom line, I hunt whaen I can.
Last edited by Mojotex; 09-09-2015 at 11:34 AM.
09-09-2015, 11:33 AM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Onslow County, NC
Posts: 1,856
Yeah I left the wind portion out as that should be a common rule that in a guide would be made first. Hunt the wind, hunt the wind, hunt the wind. When I mentioned wind I was referring to light winds ups to a certain knot. I dont see much deer movement with winds steadily above 25 knots. Winds below that I will still see some. Now you may still see some deer in areas moving with the higher winds but most I see are too skittish at that point because they are having issues smelling and hearing.
Now with lighter winds that are variable are another issue with windage. I have seen sitting in a stand leaves falling a hundred yards out falling to the east. But when I look behind me the leaves are falling to the west but where I was in the stand my indications showed to the east as well. Variable winds can be a pain and give notice to a deer without hunters realizing it. Thermals can fall into this category as well.
My hope was to collaborate these things and figure out some general advice for new members. We all know prime times are in the morning or before sunset. Weather for me does play a role but if you can hunt all the time then more power to ya. I think others though have limited time and finding an optimal time period could be beneficial.
Now with lighter winds that are variable are another issue with windage. I have seen sitting in a stand leaves falling a hundred yards out falling to the east. But when I look behind me the leaves are falling to the west but where I was in the stand my indications showed to the east as well. Variable winds can be a pain and give notice to a deer without hunters realizing it. Thermals can fall into this category as well.
My hope was to collaborate these things and figure out some general advice for new members. We all know prime times are in the morning or before sunset. Weather for me does play a role but if you can hunt all the time then more power to ya. I think others though have limited time and finding an optimal time period could be beneficial.
09-09-2015, 12:22 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
Yeah I left the wind portion out as that should be a common rule that in a guide would be made first. Hunt the wind, hunt the wind, hunt the wind. When I mentioned wind I was referring to light winds ups to a certain knot. I dont see much deer movement with winds steadily above 25 knots. Winds below that I will still see some. Now you may still see some deer in areas moving with the higher winds but most I see are too skittish at that point because they are having issues smelling and hearing.
Now with lighter winds that are variable are another issue with windage. I have seen sitting in a stand leaves falling a hundred yards out falling to the east. But when I look behind me the leaves are falling to the west but where I was in the stand my indications showed to the east as well. Variable winds can be a pain and give notice to a deer without hunters realizing it. Thermals can fall into this category as well.
My hope was to collaborate these things and figure out some general advice for new members. We all know prime times are in the morning or before sunset. Weather for me does play a role but if you can hunt all the time then more power to ya. I think others though have limited time and finding an optimal time period could be beneficial.
Now with lighter winds that are variable are another issue with windage. I have seen sitting in a stand leaves falling a hundred yards out falling to the east. But when I look behind me the leaves are falling to the west but where I was in the stand my indications showed to the east as well. Variable winds can be a pain and give notice to a deer without hunters realizing it. Thermals can fall into this category as well.
My hope was to collaborate these things and figure out some general advice for new members. We all know prime times are in the morning or before sunset. Weather for me does play a role but if you can hunt all the time then more power to ya. I think others though have limited time and finding an optimal time period could be beneficial.
If given a choice.
1. Barometer------ I don't even bother to check it as it would never effect my plan
2. Temperature------ I prefer around 40 degrees but again unless its extreme one way or the other it doesn't effect my plan
3. Cloud Coverage/Fog-- don't care
4. Rain---- I like to hunt a light rain but don't hunt in down pours
5. Winds--- I have a few spots where its windy all the time and some other spots where a heavier wind helps with swirls so it might effect where I hunt but not if I hunt unless extreme.
6. Moon Phases----- don't like full moons/bright nights but that won't stop me from hunting on days I have time to hunt.
lots of variables though.
