how windy is too windy?

[paulc]

How breezy/windy does it have to be for you to not go out hunting?  I always thought that whitetails are less likely to be moving the more windy it is.  Any thoughts?  Would you hunt with a rifle on a windy day that you would not hunt with a primitive bow?  TIA, paulc

[gstoneberg]

As my brother always reminds me, "you will never shoot anything sitting on the couch".  Windy days are best for still hunting or hunting heavy cover.  I agree that deer are less likely to be moving when its windy, but that works to your advantage when still hunting.  If you have corn fields around it's the perfect time to walk through one looking for deer.   I had a property that had a small pine timber plot on it.  Whenever it got blustery the deer would pour into that little bit of woods.  The hard part was getting to the stand I put up in it without driving the deer out of it.  I had to still hunt to it which took a long time.  On the other hand, if it is real cold, it's dangerous so you have to be real careful.  On those days I normally stay at home, but I've a killed a couple nice deer in very bad weather in the winter.

Good luck,
George

[sailordad]

i dont let weather conditions dictate when i hunt
i hunt sun,wind rain,snow,thunderstorms etc
i hunt when i want to hunt

as far as wind affecting deer movement
i find that on realy heavy,hard windy days the deer( act like turkeys) move to open fields
the woods can become very very noisey with the movement off all the trees and the wind rustling the leaves etc
not to mention that on realy heavy hard windy days they cant really scent witht their noses very well
so next best thing for deer  to do is use their eyesthey ,move to the open fields where noise/scent problems can be over come by using eyesight

i only bow hunt deer.so i always try and stay down wind but also try and set up where cross winds wont affect my shot

[JW_Halverson]

Couple of years ago I went out to check my homemade wind-meter.  It's two foot of log chain welded to 4 inch well casing buried 3 ft in the ground and filled with reinforced concrete.  While I was looking at it the last link snapped off and went thru the neighbor's window.  It was the only one to snap off, so I figured it was just a weak link and headed out for the woods. 

I headed into some really thick overgrown pine where long shots were about 70 yds.  I walked slowly thru counting on the swaying of the trees to mask my movement.  I got three good stalks in less than a half mile before I found a decent fat whitetail doe to fill my antlerless tag.  I stalked within 40 yds before putting her lights out with a modern suppository-style cartridge gun.

[sailordad]

Couple of years ago I went out to check my homemade wind-meter.  It's two foot of log chain welded to 4 inch well casing buried 3 ft in the ground and filled with reinforced concrete.  While I was looking at it the last link snapped off and went thru the neighbor's window.  It was the only one to snap off, so I figured it was just a weak link and headed out for the woods. 

 


thats what im talking about
i dont let the weather dictate when i can hunt 

[Little John]

A windy day in he woods is still better than a perfect day at work.      Kenneth

[RabidApache]

How windy is too windy.......I guess when ya shoot an arrow and it drifts 2-3' left or right its too windy ! I like the wind myself, not gusting but consistent. Excellent noise and sight cover. I'm out west AZ and find on windy days deer tend to hold up in washes, drainages and brush later in the day. But the thing is if I'm out hunting I'm usually out there early anyway so the wind hasn't really begun to pickup. Out west wind velocities usually pickup later in the day.
 In AZ I locate deer by glassing at long distances (1-2miles). But by the time I'm into stalking mode, I've located my quarry and rite on time the wind pickups to my advantage.

[Stoker]

I live in southerneastern Alberta. If we don't hunt in the wind we don't hunt.Maybe the reason they are putting up all those
wind turbines.Mom used to fill our pockets full of rocks when we had to walk to school.
Thanks Leroy

[JW_Halverson]

Nice bow, nice doe, but Aplinbogen that is one awesome looking vest.  Looks like the perfect layer for early deer season here when a coat is just too much, plus good range of motion for your shouulders. 

[crooketarrow]

   Deer still go about there daily routeen. When debree starts getting air born. It starts affecting there sences. SIGHT NOSE AND SOUND. The wind is your friend when it comes to deer hunting. As soon as you realize that the more deer you will see.Plus it cuts down on them hereing you enter and leave your stand and any noise you might make.