Barometric pressure drop...

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Tradstalk777
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Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby Tradstalk777 » Tue Dec 05, 2017 8:38 am

I love when the barometric pressure is high or on a fast climb up. Obviously there are lots of factors that play into deer movement in daylight, but I never seem to see the deer move as well when the barometer has been low for a few days. Has anyone noticed if a QUICK drop in pressure will also get the deer up and moving somewhat like a spike in pressure does?


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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby weatherdude » Tue Dec 05, 2017 9:27 am

Tradstalk777 wrote:I love when the barometric pressure is high or on a fast climb up. Obviously there are lots of factors that play into deer movement in daylight, but I never seem to see the deer move as well when the barometer has been low for a few days. Has anyone noticed if a QUICK drop in pressure will also get the deer up and moving somewhat like a spike in pressure does?


I am of the opinion that deer don't pay any attention to pressure. Mainly because they have no anatomic way of doing so. People associate high pressure and pressure rises with good deer hunting coincidentally. High or rising pressure is associated with cold fronts in the fall and winter. This is always the case because the cold air causes the high pressure by sinking to the ground and creating a build-up of air. We know that colder air makes deer move and I think since high pressure is always present on those days people have come to also associate it with deer movement.

Sharp drops in pressure are pre-cursors to cold fronts; they signal that a low pressure system is moving in, which will drag cold air behind it. The low will draw warm air in prior to the cold air behind it (warm being a relative term). So with this in mind there are two possibilities where I think a drop in pressure could "affect" deer movement, though indirectly. One, the deer recognize the sudden warm up as a pre-cursor to cold, which drives them to feed. Two, after extended periods of extreme cold deer tend to move well if you get a warm up, which would coincide with a drop in pressure this time of year. However, I don't think pressure has any direct effect on deer patterns. It is the temperature conditions associated with the pressure conditions that affect how deer behave.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Tue Dec 05, 2017 12:42 pm

I read about it being a potential factor...
Studied it and documented it for 3 years...
Gave up on it, didn't seem to work for me and my abilities.
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby johndeere506 » Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:35 am

It was said that deer can't sense the pressure changes in one if the above posts. Do humans have that ability? My guess is no, but yet many broken bones from growing up racing motocross tells me otherwise. Could be a myth, but I've had doctors tell me the pain in bones can be from pressure changes.

It seems to correlate enough for me to take notice when hunting. I'm not planning hunts around it though.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Dec 06, 2017 2:58 am

Yea I have to say I do think deer can feel changing pressure, just like a lot of people can, particularly if they have old broken bones, major surgery etc. I don't have any of these things but have learned to recognize an "unsettled" feeling in myself when the pressure is dropping through the floor before a storm.

But it is a valid question - what makes deer move - the high pressure, the cold, the clear stable weather of a cold front, some or all of these things? I have wondered this myself and would lean toward all the above. Sometimes we get pretty high pressure with still fairly warm weather for the time of year - I see a spike in deer activity, not as much as a big "cold" front but still a spike.

Deer know when a major storm is rolling in long before it comes over the horizon. Roughly a day to half a day before a major storm aproaches I see deer put on the feed bag. This is usually when barometric pressure starts to drop. I think the fast pressure drop does trigger deer movement.

There is also more to it than that. Deer don't always move more with a pressure drop. They seem to know if it will be a long storm or short one. Short storms they hole up and ride it out. Long ones, say more than a few hours of stormy weather, is what triggers the feeding frenzy before the storm hits.

In fact, I trust deer to know this more than weathermen (sorry weatherguy nothing personal I do appreciate all the content you have posted on here! :D ). I have seen it where the forecast is for a smaller storm that will move out of the area fairly quick, say in 2-3 hours, yet I see deer out in fields all over the preceding evening or morning. Guess what - the stormy weather lingers longer than the forecast predicted every time I see that deer behavior! I have seen this to be true for thunder storms in the summer as well as snow storms in the winter. So its more than simple pressure drop although that has to be part of it. I think its the whole package of weather conditions a deer feels - relative humidity, wind, temp, pressure level AND rate of change.

Its not just the wind leading up to a storm either - sure wind leading up to a major storm is often easterly around here, but wind is sometimes from the east w/o major storm fronts. I see bedding switches with east winds but NOT spikes in activity overall just with east winds.

I have a ton of trail cam data complete with pretty close to real time weather conditions, have shared a little bit of it in the past, need to spend more time sifting through it in the future to see more trends. Its fascinating stuff...wish I could get paid to do that :lol:
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby tim » Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:11 am

Not so sure about pressure drop but I see best movement when pressure is still up and it’s warmer not colder. I know everyone says Deer move best with super cold temps I have to disagree. I see best movement after that cold front and it warms and there is a high pressure day in there. Just one guys observations though here .
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby Lu Rome » Wed Dec 06, 2017 3:36 am

weatherdude wrote:
Tradstalk777 wrote:I love when the barometric pressure is high or on a fast climb up. Obviously there are lots of factors that play into deer movement in daylight, but I never seem to see the deer move as well when the barometer has been low for a few days. Has anyone noticed if a QUICK drop in pressure will also get the deer up and moving somewhat like a spike in pressure does?


I am of the opinion that deer don't pay any attention to pressure. Mainly because they have no anatomic way of doing so. People associate high pressure and pressure rises with good deer hunting coincidentally. High or rising pressure is associated with cold fronts in the fall and winter. This is always the case because the cold air causes the high pressure by sinking to the ground and creating a build-up of air. We know that colder air makes deer move and I think since high pressure is always present on those days people have come to also associate it with deer movement.

Sharp drops in pressure are pre-cursors to cold fronts; they signal that a low pressure system is moving in, which will drag cold air behind it. The low will draw warm air in prior to the cold air behind it (warm being a relative term). So with this in mind there are two possibilities where I think a drop in pressure could "affect" deer movement, though indirectly. One, the deer recognize the sudden warm up as a pre-cursor to cold, which drives them to feed. Two, after extended periods of extreme cold deer tend to move well if you get a warm up, which would coincide with a drop in pressure this time of year. However, I don't think pressure has any direct effect on deer patterns. It is the temperature conditions associated with the pressure conditions that affect how deer behave.



All animals (humans included) can sense barometric pressure changes. We all have ear drums.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby treeroot » Wed Dec 06, 2017 7:05 am

I am unfortunately very affected by sharp pressure changes. Whether up or down if it does so fast enough I get migraine type pressure headaches. I've gotten to the point where I will sit in a bathroom with an exhaust fan running and towel blocking the door to get some relief. (creates a mini pressure chamber) I've thrown up out of tree stands from it in the past. If deer can feel pressure I can see why they would move.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:50 pm

JoeRE wrote:Yea I have to say I do think deer can feel changing pressure, just like a lot of people can, particularly if they have old broken bones, major surgery etc. I don't have any of these things but have learned to recognize an "unsettled" feeling in myself when the pressure is dropping through the floor before a storm.

But it is a valid question - what makes deer move - the high pressure, the cold, the clear stable weather of a cold front, some or all of these things? I have wondered this myself and would lean toward all the above. Sometimes we get pretty high pressure with still fairly warm weather for the time of year - I see a spike in deer activity, not as much as a big "cold" front but still a spike.

Deer know when a major storm is rolling in long before it comes over the horizon. Roughly a day to half a day before a major storm aproaches I see deer put on the feed bag. This is usually when barometric pressure starts to drop. I think the fast pressure drop does trigger deer movement.

There is also more to it than that. Deer don't always move more with a pressure drop. They seem to know if it will be a long storm or short one. Short storms they hole up and ride it out. Long ones, say more than a few hours of stormy weather, is what triggers the feeding frenzy before the storm hits.

In fact, I trust deer to know this more than weathermen (sorry weatherguy nothing personal I do appreciate all the content you have posted on here! :D ). I have seen it where the forecast is for a smaller storm that will move out of the area fairly quick, say in 2-3 hours, yet I see deer out in fields all over the preceding evening or morning. Guess what - the stormy weather lingers longer than the forecast predicted every time I see that deer behavior! I have seen this to be true for thunder storms in the summer as well as snow storms in the winter. So its more than simple pressure drop although that has to be part of it. I think its the whole package of weather conditions a deer feels - relative humidity, wind, temp, pressure level AND rate of change.

Its not just the wind leading up to a storm either - sure wind leading up to a major storm is often easterly around here, but wind is sometimes from the east w/o major storm fronts. I see bedding switches with east winds but NOT spikes in activity overall just with east winds.

I have a ton of trail cam data complete with pretty close to real time weather conditions, have shared a little bit of it in the past, need to spend more time sifting through it in the future to see more trends. Its fascinating stuff...wish I could get paid to do that :lol:


No offense taken Joe! I agree with you that animals in general are better weather forecasters than people are. And deer are so situationally finicky that you can't take anything as an absolute truth. If this weren't true I don't think we'd have nearly as much fun hunting them!
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:52 pm

Lu Rome wrote:
weatherdude wrote:
Tradstalk777 wrote:I love when the barometric pressure is high or on a fast climb up. Obviously there are lots of factors that play into deer movement in daylight, but I never seem to see the deer move as well when the barometer has been low for a few days. Has anyone noticed if a QUICK drop in pressure will also get the deer up and moving somewhat like a spike in pressure does?


I am of the opinion that deer don't pay any attention to pressure. Mainly because they have no anatomic way of doing so. People associate high pressure and pressure rises with good deer hunting coincidentally. High or rising pressure is associated with cold fronts in the fall and winter. This is always the case because the cold air causes the high pressure by sinking to the ground and creating a build-up of air. We know that colder air makes deer move and I think since high pressure is always present on those days people have come to also associate it with deer movement.

Sharp drops in pressure are pre-cursors to cold fronts; they signal that a low pressure system is moving in, which will drag cold air behind it. The low will draw warm air in prior to the cold air behind it (warm being a relative term). So with this in mind there are two possibilities where I think a drop in pressure could "affect" deer movement, though indirectly. One, the deer recognize the sudden warm up as a pre-cursor to cold, which drives them to feed. Two, after extended periods of extreme cold deer tend to move well if you get a warm up, which would coincide with a drop in pressure this time of year. However, I don't think pressure has any direct effect on deer patterns. It is the temperature conditions associated with the pressure conditions that affect how deer behave.



All animals (humans included) can sense barometric pressure changes. We all have ear drums.


That is a great point sir. However on the scale of atmospheric pressure changes at the surface I think in general I wouldn't think most humans notice it enough to tell.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Dec 06, 2017 4:53 pm

treeroot wrote:I am unfortunately very affected by sharp pressure changes. Whether up or down if it does so fast enough I get migraine type pressure headaches. I've gotten to the point where I will sit in a bathroom with an exhaust fan running and towel blocking the door to get some relief. (creates a mini pressure chamber) I've thrown up out of tree stands from it in the past. If deer can feel pressure I can see why they would move.


That is terrible treeroot. I'm sorry you have to deal with that. I've had a couple migraines before and I pretty much just have to go to sleep to get rid of them.
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Dec 06, 2017 5:01 pm

My main point in this discussion is always that I don't think pressure is enough of a factor to be considered all on its own. The ear drum point is a new thing that I have not thought about. Maybe it's possible that deer have more sensitive ear drums and can therefore better sense pressure changes? However if that were true I would think they would have much more sensitive hearing than we do and we know that that's not really the case. Who knows though I'm not a deer biologist.

Bottom line for me is that I'm taking 100 other things into account before I start looking at pressure.

The comments about deer noticing that there is a storm system moving through in the near future is something I definitely think is true. How they would know how long the bad weather is gonna stick around is beyond me but I suppose it's possible. I wish I had that ability built into my body because it would sure save a lot of brain power haha ! But, if you think about all these different weather factors we're discussing and how they affect deer it gives all the more reason to be well versed in basic understanding of weather :D .
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:58 pm

weatherdude wrote:My main point in this discussion is always that I don't think pressure is enough of a factor to be considered all on its own. The ear drum point is a new thing that I have not thought about. Maybe it's possible that deer have more sensitive ear drums and can therefore better sense pressure changes? However if that were true I would think they would have much more sensitive hearing than we do and we know that that's not really the case. Who knows though I'm not a deer biologist.

Bottom line for me is that I'm taking 100 other things into account before I start looking at pressure.

The comments about deer noticing that there is a storm system moving through in the near future is something I definitely think is true. How they would know how long the bad weather is gonna stick around is beyond me but I suppose it's possible. I wish I had that ability built into my body because it would sure save a lot of brain power haha ! But, if you think about all these different weather factors we're discussing and how they affect deer it gives all the more reason to be well versed in basic understanding of weather :D .


Yea that is the thing, pressure, wind, temperature, humility, all these things are interrelated I know. For instance when pressure is rapidly changing, its usually windy. High pressure usually is associated with cooler weather and drier air, etc. So I agree its best not to pay attention just to one factor, gotta look at the big picture when it comes to weather. Looking at only one variable is like trying to judge distance with one eye closed. :D

I have no clue how deer tell storm duration either. Absolutely no clue but it is something I am certain I see. I'm an engineer, with a mind for numbers so I don't say that lightly, and I have learned there are some things deer do I can't logically explain...

I suspect if I lived out there 365 with things trying to kill me, I would be hyper sensitive to the environment too though!
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby Chuck B » Thu Dec 07, 2017 12:25 am

weatherdude wrote:My main point in this discussion is always that I don't think pressure is enough of a factor to be considered all on its own. The ear drum point is a new thing that I have not thought about. Maybe it's possible that deer have more sensitive ear drums and can therefore better sense pressure changes? However if that were true I would think they would have much more sensitive hearing than we do and we know that that's not really the case. Who knows though I'm not a deer biologist.

Bottom line for me is that I'm taking 100 other things into account before I start looking at pressure.

The comments about deer noticing that there is a storm system moving through in the near future is something I definitely think is true. How they would know how long the bad weather is gonna stick around is beyond me but I suppose it's possible. I wish I had that ability built into my body because it would sure save a lot of brain power haha ! But, if you think about all these different weather factors we're discussing and how they affect deer it gives all the more reason to be well versed in basic understanding of weather :D .



Is that true that deer don’t have better hearing than us humans? I always thought they had MUCH better hearing than us? I know that they are always on alert (unlike us) but still thought they had better hearing (bigger ears for catching sound, etc).
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Re: Barometric pressure drop...

Unread postby Lu Rome » Thu Dec 07, 2017 2:48 am

weatherdude wrote:
That is a great point sir. However on the scale of atmospheric pressure changes at the surface I think in general I wouldn't think most humans notice it enough to tell.


It's not a matter of better hearing but how the ear drum functions, all sound really is is minuscule changes in pressure on your ears. If you've had your ears pop climbing in elevation, that's due to change in pressure. The reason that humans may not notice changes in pressure is because we don't have to. We are so detached from the natural environment and changes in weather that there are a lot of external stimuli that we don't notice. We have houses, coats, furnaces, fast food, smartphone notifications and weathermen. Deer have hair and their wits. They have to take note of all weather related stimuli or they run the risk of death. We run the risk of being cold on the walk to our remote started car.

Ear drums are just one thing. The effects on other parts of the body like how it might affect gas exchange in our blood and lungs is another issue that might cause stimuli that deer notice. Our bodies are very sensitive to pressure. Change it too much and things happen or don't happen like they should.

And yes there are tons of things to look at that might get deer on their feet or explain why they move, but pressure is just another one of them that might explain movements on certain days. None of them really stand alone as indicators of a good day to hunt, just like there isn't a single weather measurement that will predict rain. It's a combination of factors to get things to happen.

It's also my understanding that our ear drums are about the same size as a deer, they have better hearing due to the shape of their ears and the size of the ear canal.
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