Forget the weather: get out & hunt

Some bucks are still trailing does as the rut winds down.

It's impossible for hockey players to play a game unless they are on the ice, and it's impossible for hunters to shoot a buck or doe if they are sitting indoors watching television.

So, that's settled, so what do we do when faced with inclement weather? You know: like some of what we've had so far this fall?

East winds, northeast and southeast winds, and rain. Some snow flurries today. Copious amount of rain two or three times. Strong blustery winds. Weather that even deer dislike.

Dress for it and get out in the weather. Hunt as often as possible.

If we were to set out every evening when inclement weather rears its ugly head, we may have been able to hunt only a few nights 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 very much ir very far.

It only makes sense that if deer move for only 15 or 20 minutes, the closer one hunts to the bedding area should provide them with greater opportunity to be nearby when the animals 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 often move well. They move less in a hard down-pouring rain.

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.

There are good and bad hunting winds. All can be hunted.

Heavy winds put everything into motion. Trees, weeds, cattails and tall grasses move. Leaves (those that still remain on trees) 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. A friend can drive you in by truck, park with the motor running while the hunter crawls into the stand, and then drive off.

Deer can’t count, and hunters working together can gain an edge.

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 off the road to 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 sounds 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 each 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 speaking.

One thing about weather: Any time there is a storm moving in, deer will usually move just ahead of the storm. If the weather forecasts a storm arriving about 4 o’clock, try to be in a good spot by 3 p.m. It can be a super time to be hunting.

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 will work.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors