Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Hunting Unstable Weather Conditions
It’s impossible for hockey players to have a game unless they are on the ice, and it’s impossible for bow hunters to shoot a buck or bow if they are sitting indoors watching television.
That’s settled, so what do we do when faced with inclement weather? You know: the crappy weather we’ve had so far this season?
East winds, northeast and southeast winds, and rain. Copious amount of rain. Strong blustery winds. Weather that even deer dislike.
If we were to set out every evening when inclement weather rears its ugly head, we may have been able to hunt just one night so far this season. The abundance of combined weather conditions has been noticeable to most hunters.
So, what can we do about it? The answer is to go hunting anyway. Some deer move even in bad weather although they may not move much.
It only makes sense that if deer move for only 15 or 20 minutes, the closer one hunts to the bedding area provides greater opportunity to be nearby when they do move.
Mild rain doesn’t bother whitetails at all. They are out in it on a daily basis, and can’t come inside out of the weather. If it is a soft rain, the deer may move well. They move less in a hard rain, and often move little, if any, during a downpour.
Deer will move on an east wind, but most hunters have few locations set up where an east wind offers an advantage. A strong wind is much worse than a soft breeze.
Heavy winds put everything into motion. Trees, weeds, cattails and tall grasses move. Leaves (those that still remain) shake violently on the trees, go blowing off the branches, and leaves are constantly in the wind at ground level and above. Deer detest such windy conditions because it removes their ability to see motion because everything within sight is moving.
Stands located closest to heavy cover offer hunters the best opportunity to see deer on these miserable days. The important thing is to get into a stand without being seen, smelled or heard.
Crow hunters say that these black birds can’t count. I contend that deer can’t count either, and that opens up one possibility to get into a stand even if the bedding area is downwind of the stand. Your friend can drive you in by truck, park with the motor running while the hunter crawls into the stand, and then drive off.
A friend of mine and his wife leased land for many years, and each of them hunted a different parcel. My buddy would drive his wife 3/4 miles back into her stand, walk with her to her ground blind while the four-wheeler idled nearby, and once she was in her blind, he would jump back on the machine and drive away.
She often saw deer while the sound of the four-wheeler were still audible in the distance. The noise of the four-wheeler didn’t bother the deer, and if anything, it gave them advance warning that people were coming. Two people get off, two walk to the blind, one walks back and drives away. Deer can’t count, and this method works well.
The one thing to bear in mind is that deer are accustomed to seeing cars and trucks, tractors and other farm equipment in most areas. Deer will run from all motorized equipment heading in their direction, but they don’t run far unless the hunters talk to one another. Human voices add another dimension to this equation..
Talking while dropping someone off at a blind or when picking them up should not be done. Deer also are accustomed to hearing people talk, but whether talking near a hunting stand is a good idea, I think it’s best to drive up, drop off the hunter, and drive away without talking.
Weather plays an important role in deer movements and travel. Rather than sitting indoors and not hunting, try to incorporate some other tactics into your hunting bag of tricks, and hunters may be pleasantly surprised at how well some of these tricks work.—The Whitetail Wizard