Hunting In Hot Weather Thoughts And Questions
 

Well its October and the season has begun in Indiana, also like last year its 85 degrees outside, nearly 70 for a morning low. I want to go out but I just can't imagine sitting in my stand sweating it out waiting on a deer to pass through. I waited until the 3rd. week of bow season last year to go out in the morning a few times, it was still in the low 60's then and 75 as soon as the sun got up. Looks like I'll be waiting again this year till the 3rd. week to go out due to hot temps.
I know some of you are hunting in this kind of heat, do you loose your meat in this kind of heat? Do some guys want that trophy buck so much that they leave the meat to rot to get their mount? How long does it take to spoil when its like this? Do many of you hold out until its gets colder before hunting? If I am miserable in the stand it discourages me to hunt personally, what about you? Thanks

I have hunted in HOT weather and I have NEVER let any meat go bad if I can help it(meaning I make a good shot and can recover fast things sometimes can happen to change this)

I personally went and bought some great bug suits for warm weather, Bug Tamer Plus II, I can wear shorts and a t shirt under it and it vents very nicely adds some camo, and keep biting bugs of me
I tend to walk in wearing as little as possible(like any added layers I just carry in)

to try and NOT break a sweat on walk in and will stop often to cool down if needed
deer eat and live 24/7 outside, so if your home it makes it a LOT harder to kill one, than hunting even in warm temps??
all about paying attention to details more in warm weather IMO!

Early morning or evening hunts.

Are you trying to sit in your stand all day long?

Early season I sit about 3 hours after legal light once the sun is up and the heat gets the bugs stirred up I get home. In the evenings I generally go out a couple hours before sunset.

Thanks for your comments, mrbb. As regards people who trophy hunt in hot weather who I have seen on hunting sites this is my question. If they make a shot which causes them to wait for hours before looking for their buck will not that meat go bad after laying for say 3 or 4 hours? I know they work hard to get their target bucks during the bow season, I commend them for that. But is the meat wasted in such situations? I have always heard that you should get that deer field dressed as soon as possible to let the cooling process begin. I would think a dead deer not field dressed would be poor quality meat especially laying for hours in hot weather. What do you think?

We built a deer cooler to prevent the worry of hunting in warmer weather. Its on here if you search for it. If you are getting it processed by a butcher bet it out of the wood ASAP and get two bags of ice. One in the chest cavity near the front shoulders and one in the rear cavity and between the hams. If processing yourself you need to break it down to cooler size as quick as you can.

If a deer sits over night in 50 degree weather it will be good. 60's iffy and 70's I highly doubt it. Meat will not rot in a couple of hours even at 80 degrees but over night can be pushing it. You have to weigh the possibilities on your own and what you think could happen. I quit an hour before dark in the early season as I am not leaving a deer out overnight and consider it being wasteful.

It's easy. I don't.

About every 2-3 years I'll fall for that foolishness and have to spend a sweaty, bug swatting, miserable 2-3 hours to realize what a dumb move it is. Then I'm cured for the next few years.

I stay at home (unless there's a big monster buck running about) an blame it on global warming, Rush Limbaugh and you know who.:s3:

It's like torture...dragging a deer up a mountain with thousands of kamikaze biting gnats flying about; though wearing safety glasses really helps keep the gnats at bay

Got a little rain and a young buck. Hopefully the OP gets some rain also.