Few beginner questions (rain, does)

[HoytMan]

First year Hunter here. I’ve sat a lot this year and want to confirm a few things :

When it’s raining or windy (above 12mph) deer rarely come out (I’ve never seen a deer, from my stand, in the rain )

Also: I know you only get one chance with mature bucks. But what about does and young deer ? I’m assuming they’re more tolerant ? Meaning if I bump one entering my stand, the hunt isn’t necessarily over?

thanks

 

[jteeen]

I shot a buck friday with my bow and it was gusting 30. This is a stand in the woods next to a bedding area. You won't see them grazing in the fields in that wind but they do move.

Does get pressured just like bucks, and you can burn out a stand quickly. They are quicker to forget though.

Best way to learn is to get out there.

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[Drycreek]

Never say never or always where animals are concerned. Usually may be a better choice of words.

Deer usually bed up if it’s raining very much, but will usually get up and move after, as they will before a rain. They’re better weather forecasters than we are !

If you bump deer in the dark, but they don’t smell you, I wouldn’t be too concerned. If they smell you or identify you as human, they will generally leave and even worse, may stand out there and blow at you for ten minutes. That tells every deer within earshot that something isn’t right.

Above all, have different stands for different winds, NEVER hunt when the wind is not in your favor, NEVER enter your stand area with the wind at your back. If you can’t do this it would be better to stay home.

As for the one chance at a mature buck, if that were always true, there would be less mature bucks on hunter’s walls. I’ve personally had more than one encounter with the same mature buck and know others who have also. During the rut, all things are possible, including multiple encounters with the same buck, as well as one and done with a transient buck. I can’t tell you how many pictures I’ve had of a nice buck this time of year that we saw once on camera and never again.

My best advice is to hunt whenever you can and conditions are right, and learn everything you can along the way. Oh, and be lucky !

 

[Elkaddict]

On my place, deer are vacuuming up acorns night and day, wind or rain right now. The bucks are not coming into plots during daylight in near the numbers they did a few weeks ago. This is pretty typical and it’s why my best bowhunting here is first week or two of October. There’s no way to really pick perfect acorn spots with 200+ acres of hardwoods. As the rut kicks off, I turn my attention to traditional doe hang outs (they still seem to show a preference for clover/grain/brassica/corn). One other pattern is deer movement is always down when there has been a big shift in the direction of the wind...it seems deer take some time to become accustomed.

 

[SwampCat]

I have killed deer in pouring rain, 30 mph wind, 103 temp and and 10 degree. My best deer ever was killed where my son killed one three days before that was with the one I killed and spooked him and we were in there with vehicles for an hour on the recovery. A guest shot a buck high across the withers, failing to kill it and my wife killed it in the exact same place a week later.

as said above, if the wind isnt right, dont hunt that spot. Otherwise, you cant kill them if you are sitting on the couch.

 

[HoytMan]

Thanks , very good info and encouraging. I hunt only public land and found a great spot the other day. It’s a corn field surrounded by small strips of timber and conifer. When the wind is right , it can only be accessed via a small creek to the south.

Just yesterday, I saw tons of fresh tracks (in both directions) as well as droppings. However , I have yet to see a deer walk by. I wonder if they’re coming out after dark ...

I was mostly thinking about this when I posted. Worried about burning the stand out. To my knowledge , I have not educated the deer to my presence

 

[Deadeye]

Rotating Stands if possible really helps keep them from Patterning You.
Old Does are often harder to kill than Old Bucks, they seem to Remember more for longer.
Wind and Understanding it and how it effects you while Hunting is your Friend.
Bucks (and Does) don't read the same Books we do and will break all the rules when and if they want to.

The more time you spend in the woods the better your understanding of it will be.

Have Fun!

 

[j-bird]

So like was mentioned there is no "never" or "always" in deer hunting.

As for wind - once it gets real bad I don't see much activity either, but you can find some in sheltered areas.

As for rain...I don't like hunting in a heavy rain.....I prefer to be in stand right where the heavy rain stops. Deer will generally bed when the weather gets to be a bit much and if that happens for an extended period of time this can really work to your advantage. I like hunting before a big storm front come sin or just after it leaves.

I once trudged 500 yards across a plowed open field with the rain just pouring down to a shooting house one evening. The radar showed that the rain would pass within an hour and still give me about an hour of daylight to hunt. I shot a really nice 140 class 8 point 30 minutes after the rain stopped and he was out in my plot like he owned the place!

 

[Troubled Trees]

Regarding wind and rain, I certainly have seen deer from my stand during both those conditions but numbers always seem lower. I have researched this a bit and the science supports most deer bedding down during high winds and more particularly with heavy rain. In my experience high wind tends to make deer spooky, by that I mean they seem to be freaked out at everything when they are on the hoof but not so much in their beds. Either way the fact remains that deer need to feed every 5-6 hours no matter what the weather is. They might only get up from their bed and browse and lay back down, but they get hungry every 5-6 hours. There is also the season factor, if it is close to the rut, or in the peak of the rut (without a lot of pressure) some bucks feel inclined to freshen up scrapes right after a rain. Each deer has their own personality so that is an in general statement.
When the weather is crappy I change tactics. I don't have heated shooting houses so I am exposed to the elements and don't like to get wet anymore than the next guy, wet usually is typically followed by cold. When it is rainy or windy or both (or windy, cold and snowy) I will stick it out in my stand for the first few hours of the hunt and then VERY slowly stalk around the woods and on the outskirts down wind of known bedding areas, the slower the better.
Just my 2 cents hope it helps bud, good luck!!

 

[Mennoniteman]

I'm with Jbird, I prefer hunting right after the rain stops. I know trophies have been taken in the rain, but on average deer are sitting tight in bad weather. And rain can wash out a blood trail that's often key to retrieving a deer. When it's raining I'm often warming my toes in front of the fireplace, prepping to hit the stand at the first break in the weather.

 

[Drycreek]

Speaking of wind and rain, I’ve noticed different behavior, to a degree, in deer in different locations. When I hunted Central Texas winds of 20/30 mph didn’t bother them as much as it did the deer back home. The wind blew there a lot. Conversely, rain showers don’t seem to bother deer here as much as it did there because our annual rainfall is over twice what theirs is. A heavy rain in either location put them down until it was over for the most part, but when it stopped, they were out in force, especially the Central Texas deer.

When I worked for a living I hunted when I was off, but now that I’m retired, I hunt only optimal conditions.

 

[HoytMan]

Again, I appreciate everyone’s input. Really like the idea of stalking in inclement weather. I actually did try it that day. Your noises are masked by the wind and rain.

Made another post, but I missed a doe tonight. I think my arrow hit a branch I didn’t see (low light) and deflected. Deer hunting is one challenging endeavor

 

[Mennoniteman]

Again, I appreciate everyone’s input. Really like the idea of stalking in inclement weather. I actually did try it that day. Your noises are masked by the wind and rain.

Made another post, but I missed a doe tonight. I think my arrow hit a branch I didn’t see (low light) and deflected. Deer hunting is one challenging endeavor

It's more profound to learn from things that happen in real life than from studying things that happen to other people. Experience is still the most demanding teacher. Anyway, now you are an official deer hunter. Of the 2000 members here, that's probably around 2000 people who have missed a deer (or missed several deer).

 

[weekender21]

First year Hunter here. I’ve sat a lot this year and want to confirm a few things :

When it’s raining or windy (above 12mph) deer rarely come out (I’ve never seen a deer, from my stand, in the rain )

Also: I know you only get one chance with mature bucks. But what about does and young deer ? I’m assuming they’re more tolerant ? Meaning if I bump one entering my stand, the hunt isn’t necessarily over?

thanks

The answers to your questions will differ drastically depending on your region neighborhood or even your specific farm. Deer density, human density, rifle season dates, etc. are huge factors. There have been studies done that indicate deer movement is actually higher during A wind event.

How urban or rural your hunting area is will also influence how much pressure deer are willing to put up with. I know a lot of the TV and Internet experts pretend to have the answers to every scenario but I don’t buy that at all.


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[Buckly]

You didn’t say if you’re hunting from the ground or a tree stand. Anyway if you’re seeing lots of deer sign and not seeing deer I would move at least 50 to 100 yards and see what happens.

 

[Chainsaw]

As a new hunter I’d do a lot of still hunting with sits in between. Still hunt 100 a hundred yards in deer cover, take an hour to do it, then sit for an hour and repeat. Bad weather or good weather, go anyway. Learn and enjoy and still hunting will fast track your learning curve. And don’t fret about the size of the deer; everyone one of them is special. Good luck.
Note; if you aren’t still hunting extremely slowly and with intensity and expectation that you will see a deer any second then just do it for shorter intervals between sits. Always think they are there and they are all around you no matter how sparse the sign is. Keep us posted.