Wind and movement
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Wind and movement
I've heard some guys say they see lots of deer on windy days, but honestly that's never been me. I usually don't see many when sitting on stand on a windy day--but most of my previous hunting has not been beast/bed hunting. Just curious what everyone's take is on deer movement and gusty, windier days. Do you see same, more, or less deer? And what is your strategy for hunting windy days?
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Re: Wind and movement
rochester coops wrote:I've heard some guys say they see lots of deer on windy days, but honestly that's never been me. I usually don't see many when sitting on stand on a windy day--but most of my previous hunting has not been beast/bed hunting. Just curious what everyone's take is on deer movement and gusty, windier days. Do you see same, more, or less deer? And what is your strategy for hunting windy days?
I see less deer on heavy wind days, but it also gives me an advantage on hunting close to bedding areas. I can get right on top of beds that normally deer would hear me approach. I can get away with more movement on sight based bedding cause it will be harder for a deer to see my movement with everything blowing around, and with a steady one direction wind I get less swirling, and more one directional wind which allows me to play the wind closer to the limits and have some control in my scent direction. So windy is a good time to hunt, just less movement from most deer, especially in open areas.
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Re: Wind and movement
dan wrote:rochester coops wrote:I've heard some guys say they see lots of deer on windy days, but honestly that's never been me. I usually don't see many when sitting on stand on a windy day--but most of my previous hunting has not been beast/bed hunting. Just curious what everyone's take is on deer movement and gusty, windier days. Do you see same, more, or less deer? And what is your strategy for hunting windy days?
I see less deer on heavy wind days, but it also gives me an advantage on hunting close to bedding areas. I can get right on top of beds that normally deer would hear me approach. I can get away with more movement on sight based bedding cause it will be harder for a deer to see my movement with everything blowing around, and with a steady one direction wind I get less swirling, and more one directional wind which allows me to play the wind closer to the limits and have some control in my scent direction. So windy is a good time to hunt, just less movement from most deer, especially in open areas.
I see less deer most times, but not always, I do not hunt beds 100% of the time though. Strong winds are great in some areas where light winds create swirl. And you can be a little sloppy with your noise sneaking in. I notice that many times on windy days it calms down the last hour to half hour of light, and the deer get moving then.
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Re: Wind and movement
I have read several different studies on wind and deer movement. Every one I have read indicates deer movement increases with the wind up to a certain point (ie a heavy storm). I initially didn't believe the first couple of studies because I also had seen less deer on cold windy days. One study pointed out that most people would guess there was less deer movement because that was their experience. The study also pointed out the difference in the amount of time the average hunter spends on stand as the wind increases. As the wind increased the hunter was unable or unwilling to stay on stand as long which led to less sightings. After reading these studies I made a concerted effort to stay on stand and what I found was there was better deer movement than I had expected. In addition to not normally staying on stand as long I noticed there are deer that probably get by us more often without us ever seeing them because as the wind increases we tend to loose some of the sense of hearing that helps us spot approaching deer.
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Re: Wind and movement
Half and half for me, jury is still out.
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- Stanley
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Re: Wind and movement
I definitely see less deer on windy days. That said, I often see the old boy on his feet on windy days. Also take into account I'm not seeing these bucks very far from their bedding areas. I think most people tend to hunt too far from the bed/bedding area (especially on windy days). I believe a buck gets nervous on windy days, because all of his senses are compromised. I believe he gets up to move around and re beds for this reason. On windy days I like to get into the thickest bedding area and hunt there. I also like to hunt the leeward side of the thickest bedding area. This would be right on the transition edge line or a few yards closer to the bedding area. If you are hunting a bed to food source pattern, you don't want to be on the food source you want to be in the thick cover closer to the bed. I would bet a good sum of money, if you follow this advice, on windy days you will see/kill some nice bucks.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Wind and movement
Stanley wrote:I definitely see less deer on windy days. That said, I often see the old boy on his feet on windy days. Also take into account I'm not seeing these bucks very far from their bedding areas. I think most people tend to hunt too far from the bed/bedding area (especially on windy days). I believe a buck gets nervous on windy days, because all of his senses are compromised. I believe he gets up to move around and re beds for this reason. On windy days I like to get into the thickest bedding area and hunt there. I also like to hunt the leeward side of the thickest bedding area. This would be right on the transition edge line or a few yards closer to the bedding area. If you are hunting a bed to food source pattern, you don't want to be on the food source you want to be in the thick cover closer to the bed. I would bet a good sum of money, if you follow this advice, on windy days you will see/kill some nice bucks.
You are right on with this Stanley. The two largest bucks I ever saw were on extremely windy days when I was questioning my sanity for sitting in my treestand. Overall deer sightings are lower but on average I see nicer bucks in the wind. It's happened to me enough times that I can't deny there is something to this.
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Re: Wind and movement
I see good movement during the chase phase and anxious prerut but i will hunt areas that afford me a noiseless intrusion I couldn't hunt otherwise and specifically target areas that are out the wind or metaphorically behind rocks in the stream
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Re: Wind and movement
Light steady breeze/wind are good to me.
When I start seeing mph getting closer to 12-15 it drops off the charts for me...
When I start seeing mph getting closer to 12-15 it drops off the charts for me...
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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Re: Wind and movement
I see more deer on windy days but that is only when hunting specific out-of-the-wind areas. I hunt a lot of big hills and bluffs and and in flatter terrain I think movement in really windy days is suppressed so the opposite would be true if that's all I hunted. I like a good cold hard wind, it seems to really concentrate deer, both bucks and does, on the leeward slopes. My favorite way to play it is a morning hunt, when the forecast calls for really cold windy conditions, and I get in and set up on a low bench behind a bluff or such that seems to be a buck bedding area - possibly only used during windy weather like that. Its tough to figure out what winds may or may not be swirly for a given location like that but I have had some really great hunts doing this.
When I look at a topo map of an area, if there are only some isolated locations that would be out of the wind with say, a 30 mph north wind, well those spots are going to be where the deer move to. There is one public land spot I can hunt with a hard NW wind - there are no good protected bedding areas in the 400+ acres other than the head of a single valley in this wind. I hunt the edge of this and can count on seeing 20+ deer both bucks and does with a hard cold NW wind. Its not a great bow stand because of so many deer, I can only hunt on one side and have some deer pass out of bow range, but it makes for a fun sit and I have had a number of good buck encounters there.
When I look at a topo map of an area, if there are only some isolated locations that would be out of the wind with say, a 30 mph north wind, well those spots are going to be where the deer move to. There is one public land spot I can hunt with a hard NW wind - there are no good protected bedding areas in the 400+ acres other than the head of a single valley in this wind. I hunt the edge of this and can count on seeing 20+ deer both bucks and does with a hard cold NW wind. Its not a great bow stand because of so many deer, I can only hunt on one side and have some deer pass out of bow range, but it makes for a fun sit and I have had a number of good buck encounters there.
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Re: Wind and movement
I like windy days because I can get close to the bedding. I hunt heavy topography public land and tend to come in from the bottom and walk up to my hunting spot on a ridge that is right for the heavy wind. I get as close to the thick stuff as possible and set up. I look forward to those heavy wind days along as it's not 30 plus mph. Finally, I think that the deer will often move right at last light and that is when the 20 mph wind that allowed me to get close often tapers off to a lighter wind.
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Re: Wind and movement
I think the reason for the wind and the conditions surrounding the hunt have a lot to do with it as well. I remember a good 3 year old buck I killed on a steady 21-22 mph windy day. But the wind was blowing dead out of the N and dropped the temp by more than 15* over night. Also it was the peak of the rut. I saw what seemed like every deer in the area moving, feeding, sparring, nudging etc...
I was in sort of a 'mixing area', surrounded by various bedding within a few hundred yards in almost every direction, and just in front of the food source. The terrain was conducive for deer movement on windy days, thick ground cover thigh to waist high. The deer could move around and feel secure but also could see a long ways.
Here is that buck:
I killed another buck during a tropical storm, I don't remember exactly the wind speed but I believe it was gusting 50+ mph. Peak of the rut I killed him in a funnel right up next to a suspected buck bedding area.
That buck:
But I have also sat from dark to dark on windy days and not seen a deer, then the following day the wind shuts off and I am covered up in deer.
So my takeaway from all that is that you just have to be out there.
I was in sort of a 'mixing area', surrounded by various bedding within a few hundred yards in almost every direction, and just in front of the food source. The terrain was conducive for deer movement on windy days, thick ground cover thigh to waist high. The deer could move around and feel secure but also could see a long ways.
Here is that buck:
I killed another buck during a tropical storm, I don't remember exactly the wind speed but I believe it was gusting 50+ mph. Peak of the rut I killed him in a funnel right up next to a suspected buck bedding area.
That buck:
But I have also sat from dark to dark on windy days and not seen a deer, then the following day the wind shuts off and I am covered up in deer.
So my takeaway from all that is that you just have to be out there.
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Re: Wind and movement
Came across windy days by accident some years back. Wanted to hunt so had no choice but brave the elements. Much to my surprise started seeing some big bucks, mostly during the rut. Actually shot some big bucks and had my share of big buck encounters with no available shot, pretty thick stuff. So over the years when the wind picked up I kept doing what I always did and got out there and hunted. Is the movement the same, I believe so. The problem is they move through the thicker more protected areas (lower areas) and you may not see them as much but movement is still there. What I have learned is that seeing a lot of deer is not the place I want to hunt anyway, but to see a deer that is THE DEER is where I want to be. Quality and Qauntity are exact opposites in my hunting vocabulary.
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Re: Wind and movement
rutnbuck wrote:Came across windy days by accident some years back. Wanted to hunt so had no choice but brave the elements. Much to my surprise started seeing some big bucks, mostly during the rut. Actually shot some big bucks and had my share of big buck encounters with no available shot, pretty thick stuff. So over the years when the wind picked up I kept doing what I always did and got out there and hunted. Is the movement the same, I believe so. The problem is they move through the thicker more protected areas (lower areas) and you may not see them as much but movement is still there. [glow=red]What I have learned is that seeing a lot of deer is not the place I want to hunt anyway, but to see a deer that is THE DEER is where I want to be. Quality and Qauntity are exact opposites in my hunting vocabulary[/glow].
That is exactly right on. Some guys never figure this out and keep complaining there are no big bucks around.
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Re: Wind and movement
Seen a few nice bucks on windy days as well. Shot my first mature buck during blizzard, wind was kicking my for 5-6 hours before the buck showed up. Also passed up a decent 2 year old that day.
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