Movement before a storm front

[Divergent]

Let's say a storm is scheduled to arrive on a Friday morning. When do you notice peak movement in the woods before it arrives?
I always have more activity approximately two days ahead of a storm. Daytime movement seems to come to an abrupt halt the day before. I can see lower wind speeds and barometric pressure being major factors. I'm not sure if they feed more at night during this time or just not as much. I see activity pick up once again after the rain starts. Is this similar to what you see? If not, I'm interested to know what your observations are...such as what the terrain is like, the type of cover, time of day, bucks/does, and whether you're finding them on a low or high elevation.

[mauser06]

I honestly do that see much right before a normal storm. If the storm is coming right after dark for instance, I may see a spike right before dark and more movement than usual but nothing crazy.


Once I seen first hand, absolutely crazy movement prior to a hurricane coming up the coast...And I'm over in western Pennsylvania near Ohio. I can't remember which day it was and where the storm was exactly and I wish I did. It was pretty intense movement. Deer were on their feet all day long and it wasn't "the rut" yet.

This past season, a similar storm came up the coast. My dad was hunting and he had a mind blowing day and didn't sit it out. He seen something like 20+ deer and 6-8 different bucks with a few being pretty big. He was in pretty big woods and doesn't see deer movement like that outside the first day of rifle season.

I knew it was related to that storm...But again, I didnt get a head on the storm and where it was and such. I would venture to guess that there is a pressure drop that spikes those movements.


I don't know for sure...But that pressure change is always said to be a trigger.


Interested to hear more knowledgeable guys input on this. I do firmly believe the 2 hurricane/tropical storm events were definitely related to the movement witnessed. Ive never seen anything like that with regular storms though.

[JoeRE]

Depends on the storm from what I have seen. A fast moving, short duration storm, say a couple hours, you won't see much ahead of time. Deer seem to know it will be short and just sit it out.

A long period of turbulent weather comes in, say more than 6 hours - that is when I see more, and earlier, feeding activity ahead of it. Its usually the morning or evening period right before the storm. If the storm is really big and will last for a full day or more, then I might see more activity for 24 hrs before it hits but those are pretty rare around here.

Say the storm front is supposed to hit during the night - then I try to hunt the evening before. If the front is coming through during the day I want to hunt that morning. A couple hours ahead of it seems to be the best. Right as the storm moves in you can catch deer moving into more sheltered areas if its really nasty, like a blizzard (one of my favorite conditions to hunt in )

I do not see any rut activity increase before storms, just feeding patterns.

These are just my observations...I'm a data nut and am constantly comparing trail cam photos and past observations to this sort of thing.

[Johnboy]

Seems like I see the best movement 1-2 days after a strong cold front passes thru. I also see a little more movement right before a large, cool, thunderstorm front we usually get around here in eastern Tennessee in the early season ,but not near the movement as with the strong cold fronts where there's about a 15-20 degree temp drop. Deer movement slows about day 4-5 after cold front then levels out and process starts over. I try and time my hunting those 1-2 days after front rolls thru.

[Tennhunter3]

I killed my 8 point this year right before a cold front shot him just as it started raining.

I think hunting right before a cold fronts one of the best times to be the woods.

[Divergent]

Sometimes I see a short little burst of activity a couple hours before a storm. I've almost completely stopped hunting the day before a storm. It seems to be a washout most of the time. I like the 48hr down to the 24hr pre-front.

[Divergent]

Depends on the storm from what I have seen. A fast moving, short duration storm, say a couple hours, you won't see much ahead of time. Deer seem to know it will be short and just sit it out.

A long period of turbulent weather comes in, say more than 6 hours - that is when I see more, and earlier, feeding activity ahead of it. Its usually the morning or evening period right before the storm. If the storm is really big and will last for a full day or more, then I might see more activity for 24 hrs before it hits but those are pretty rare around here.

Say the storm front is supposed to hit during the night - then I try to hunt the evening before. If the front is coming through during the day I want to hunt that morning. A couple hours ahead of it seems to be the best. Right as the storm moves in you can catch deer moving into more sheltered areas if its really nasty, like a blizzard (one of my favorite conditions to hunt in )

I do not see any rut activity increase before storms, just feeding patterns.

These are just my observations...I'm a data nut and am constantly comparing trail cam photos and past observations to this sort of thing.

I'm interested in what your cameras say in the 24hr time frame before a front. Do you see them break from their normal routines or move mostly after dark? Where do they go on your properties?

[checkerfred]

I have movement right before a storm


I've seen them move the evening of a storm depending on what time it sets in. I've also seen them move the morning on the day of a storm again depending on what time it comes in. My favorite time to hunt if you can time it right is when the storm breaks. Typically when it slows down from a heavy to very light rain get ready.

Don't know what those blizzard things are though. Oh wait! That's those milkshakes mixed with candy bars and stuff

[Stanley]

I like hunting after a long rainy period. 3 or 4 days rain in a row and I get out as soon as possible. I used to hunt in all the rainy weather but just don't enjoy that, so I don't do it anymore.

[JoeRE]

I'm interested in what your cameras say in the 24hr time frame before a front. Do you see them break from their normal routines or move mostly after dark? Where do they go on your properties?

So if its a big enough storm I see the best activity in the normal morning or evening movement period right before that continuing up to often within an hour of the storm. Say a big storm is supposed to hit around 10PM and last the rest of the night and into the next morning. I see more activity in daylight that evening, deer getting a head start on filling their stomachs before the bad weather. Its a great time to hunt a buck's bed to food pattern if for some reason you cannot set up quite as close to the bed as you would have liked to. This might be a cold front, or a warm front, doesn't really matter if we are talking about movement BEFORE THE FRONT. Usually the biggest rain events are associated with warm fronts (more moisture) though, also depends how slow moving the front is.

So I just see more movement at peak times and lasting longer but its not like deer will move more at noon instead of daybreak just because there is a storm hitting early afternoon. In that situation, there will probably be deer still on their feet most of the morning. That is how I see it. I guess I might try sitting mid-day before a storm hits but its probably better if I just sat the morning and as long as possible.

Even if it is hot and muggy before that big hits hits....if its a long duration storm moving in, you still will see better than average activity before it despite "bad" conditions. This is one of the few situations I will even hunt poor conditions.

I know the question was about movement before a front. Just to be clear all my comments were about that, if we were talking about activity DURING or AFTER a front, then yes there are big differences between cold fronts and warm fronts and other variables to look at like temperature drop and high pressure systems behind the front.

But for movement before a front, its all about how bad the storm will be and how long it will last. Of course I will be eyeballing what the weather is supposed to be afterward too...

[tim]

My best deer movement has always been when the real cold breaks and it warms up. I have never had good luck in super cold temps as others claim. All of my good deer are killed on a warm up. As far as rain , Ive noticed deer move but my best hunts have been in light rain as far as rain goes. I'm not so sure I see any better movement before a hard rain but have seen good movement after. But my favorite conditions like I said are any kind of warm up after a cold spell. Most people seemed to be complaining about this years rut temps. I personally thought they were the best I've ever had. It was colder at night and a lot of 40s even 50s which I thought were great and deer moved consiststantly

[JoeRE]

Yea Tim I have seen good movement in the warm up after a cold spell too. I think the deer are trying to put back on what they burned surviving the cold weather. I have seen a lot of good bucks on their feet in that time period too. Its something that gets overlooked.

In December there was a great example of that in the upper Midwest - December 12-20th we had a cold snap with subzero temps most nights but when it broke, temps in the 30s, deer were still pounding the cold weather food for several days up till around the holidays. I killed my late season buck last year doing that.

[Johnboy]

Seems like I see the best movement 1-2 days after a strong cold front passes thru. I also see a little more movement right before a large, cool, thunderstorm front we usually get around here in eastern Tennessee in the early season ,but not near the movement as with the strong cold fronts where there's about a 15-20 degree temp drop. Deer movement slows about day 4-5 after cold front then levels out and process starts over. I try and time my hunting those 1-2 days after front rolls thru.

Sorry guys....haha I totally misread one key word in the original post, which was "before".My mistake. I will try again. I have seen good to better movement in the evenings and mornings before a cold heavy rain, sleet or even light snow with a sharp temp drop.

[Divergent]

I've got to be hunting in the wrong spot before a front hits. That day before seems to always be a bust for me. Are y'all finding them low in thickets or in usual bedding locations? I see more on the way home than I do during the day. That's why I figured wind speed had something to do with it. Ive never had luck if the wind dies down during the last few hours of the day. I figured this is why my movement changed on the day before. Good to know everyone else is seeing deer though lol.

[JoeRE]

The vast majority of storms are too small to see any impact IMO. You need something lasting half a day or more. Preferably a full day or more of nasty weather moving in. Lots of wind and rain/snow. Some years a storm that big never even happens once in bow season in my experience.


Deer know how long a storm will last...if the weatherman predicts a big storm, and I DON'T see deer out feeding more than usual before it, usually the weatherman ends up being wrong and the storm is less than predicted. Pretty cool how a deer knows better