Deer don't move in the...

My experience with weather. I have killed most of my deer on moderatly cold days, usually before 11 AM when it is sunny, bright and absolutely dead calm when I am hunting from a stand. I find that you can find deer in a snowstorm but you have to move, sitting in the usual places doesn't seem to be productive and I believe once the snow is coming down in big fat slow lazy flakes the deer will look for some shelter and lie down (generally) and some are just slow getting there and you can cut a trail if you're moving. Evenings can be productive but mostly I see does and fawns as the light fades, I think (generally) the bucks hang back a little more in the evenings as they move to feed.
Really really cold weather I have found not to be very productive as deer seem to hunker down and then move after dark (in my experience) -10 to -20 seems to be optimal, but there are always exceptions. The biggest deer I ever saw was at -30 in early Jan walking down the middle of a frozen river in the bright sunshine, he was gorgeous and one of the most beautiful things I ever witnessed
Rain (in my experience) is a crap shoot but deer will move in the rain, they really have no alternative because they live outside and it rains all the time so they deal with it, but you as a hunter are going to be miserable and probably less attentive in a bitter cold November rain, so by extension you are probably not going to see as many deer. I have found though that one of the absolute best times for deer movement is immediatly after the rain stops and the sun comes out. They seem to want to just get up and walk around in the sun, but it is only for a short time after the rain stops and you have to be out there in the rain to be there when it stops, if you wait in the camp for the rain to stop and then go out, you missed it (in my experience)
Just a few musings from my 45 years chasing whitetails in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Sask and Alberta. I keep a diary of everyday in the woods, weather, temp, where I was,who I was with and what we saw. its fun to look back over the years and it doesn't take long for some patternss to start to emerge.
 
one thing i have noticed that sometimes makes deer hard to find in daylight, it's going on the last few nights, and that's a super moon, and a clear night sky. With the aid of the snow, it's as bright as a really dull day out there, and deer can easily eat all night, and sleep all day if they are so inclined.
Also noted that the acorns are being dug up in a big way. Food is becoming scarce, and they are moving more in daylight now, even with the moon. I broke off a hunk of Sumac they can't reach and put it in front of the camera I left by the bones from this years buck, to see what would happen. I'll check in the morning.
 
If you know a huge storm front is coming in it is a great idea to be out hunting before as the deer will be feeding to stock up before the storm .
 
John Y Cannuck said:
They tend to chase more does than bucks, because the does are easier to find I figure. If I went through our old camp record, it would show many more does than bucks were shot, and when a buck was shot, frequently the dogs were not on it, it was trying to sneak out the side, or out behind the chase.
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Have to disagree with this..... statistically speaking, there will always be more does and fawns out there than there will be bucks..... plus the does and fawns mostly travel together....

As you said, dogs are dogs..... they will chase the biggest source of scent.... which is rarely a lone buck, and yes, mature and smart deer like to sneak through the run...... whether does or bucks..... we leave “kickers” behind for this reason.....
 
Superbrad said:
Have to disagree with this..... statistically speaking, there will always be more does and fawns out there than there will be bucks..... plus the does and fawns mostly travel together....

As you said, dogs are dogs..... they will chase the biggest source of scent.... which is rarely a lone buck, and yes, mature and smart deer like to sneak through the run...... whether does or bucks..... we leave “kickers” behind for this reason.....
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Good points, but in the end, same result, using dogs, you see more does. Not always though. I remember being in camp for lunch one miserable November day, when the wind was howling, and the rain teaming down. We heard a chase coming straight down wind, making for the lake. Moving far too fast for us to get in front of it from the cabin, we sat, ate lunch, and watched the lake. A buck appeared out in the lake, swimming strongly right across the middle. Too far away to make out how big with the binos, but seemed to have a huge rack. The dogs stopped at the shore, and in a few minutes we could hear them back tracking for home.
I have known dogs that would swim after a deer, but this one had a pretty good lead.
We sometimes scored on some of the deer that swam the lake, just wait, and they would either come around the end of the lake, or swim home. You just had to head them off on shore, get your ass down the side of the lake fast, to where you thought they would come ashore, without them seeing, or hearing you. Deer swim like they have outboards attached, so you didn't have a lot of time.
That buck we never saw again.
 
Deer move when they want too....period! A hunter needs to be prepared at every opportunity regardless of weather. There were times when the rain was so bad that I felt it was a waste of time, but on one occasion and to my suprise I stumbled onto a buck at a cut line. It stared at me while I attempted to unshoulder my rifle, only to have it dart away.

A large number of Hunters over think far too often.
 
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Royzo said:
An old buddy that I deer hunt with always was always excited to get out hunting on those mornings that are quite calm but snowing fairly heavily. We were usually very successful on mornings like that.
He always said heavy snow fall made the deer "Dumber Than Day Old Pigs".
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Same here; best hunt we had was a few years ago. Day 1, gorgeous day sunny, warm no snow on the ground and not a deer in sight. Woke up the next morning to a howling blizzard; took our time getting out, because.. well we couldn't see sh!t! Every one of us tagged out that afternoon.
 
I guess it all really comes down to how bad you have the hunting bug. It's true, that if you go find a deer runway, and sit near by for the whole season, you'll likely at least see a deer. One such memory is of a crippled guy, on two crutches. He parked his Volkswaggon hippie van about fifty yards from where the deer crossed an old logging road. Every day, we saw him in his lawn chair, crutches by his side, and rifle in his lap.
Then one day we heard a shot, and found him parked on his butt beside the deer gutting it out. He didn't want any help, but coincided that maybe getting it in the van would be easier with a hand. He didn't hang the deer, said he only lived ten miles up the road. Nice guy but reaked of Marijuana.
 
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