Don't stay home just because it is windy!

[Win73]

I went deer hunting this morning. I saw an eight point buck but could not get a shot at it. About an hour later I did kill a doe.

There was some wind this morning but this afternoon it was blowing a gale. The weatherman said 30 to 40 mph. I have had experienced and supposedly knowledgeable deer hunters tell me that there is no use going hunting when the wind is blowing like that. So this afternoon I was debating with myself whether there was any use going hunting again. I made the comment to my wife wondering if that buck might be in the same place this afternoon that it was this morning. She said, "You will never know if you don't go." That decided me, I went.

Well, I didn't see that buck but I did see eleven deer. I could have shot three of them but I let them walk because they were small does or fawns.

I saw the first one before I got to my shooting house. In fact it was right beside my shooting house when I saw it. I just stood and watched it for about 15 minutes while it meandered around. Then I moved because I wanted to get into the shooting house and it spooked. It was about 3:30 when I got settled in the house. Between then and dark I saw ten more deer, two of which I could have shot but I let them walk.

So the moral of the story is, Don't stay home just because the wind is blowing!

 

[mete]

High wind make the deer spooky because the motion and sound of the leaves and trees make the deer think of a preditor .

 

[Discern]

The biggest problems with high winds are severe wind chills and bullet wind drift. Depending what you are shooting, your range may be very limited due to the wind drift - especially if the winds are very gusty and not consistent.

 

[Win73]

The biggest problems with high winds are severe wind chills and bullet wind drift. Depending what you are shooting, your range may be very limited due to the wind drift - especially if the winds are very gusty and not consistent.

The temperature was in the 30's and the wind chill was around 20. However I was comfortable in my shooting house. It blocked almost all of the wind and I have a padded seat with a padded back rest.

I am shooting a .30-06 with 150 grain Remington Core-lokt. The three deer I could have shot would have been at about 30, 50, and 100 yards. I think I could have compensated for the wind, at least for the first two. The 100 yard shot might have been a bit tricky.

 

[Win73]

High wind make the deer spooky because the motion and sound of the leaves and trees make the deer think of a preditor .

None of the eleven deer I saw appeared to be very spooky. I was able to walk up to about 30 yards from the first one. I was standing in the open watching it. It stood for a couple of minutes and watched me. I didn't move and it then ambled into the edge of the brush. I could still see it and it could still see me. I wanted to get into my shooting house so I moved and then it spooked.

 

[Daryl]

I've had some great hunts in very windy weather.

I hunt what I call "pockets", which include anywhere there's a break from the wind. In mountainous country, that includes the brushy "headers" where side draws top out on ridges on the side opposite of where the wind is coming from.

Strong winds are generally consistent, rather than swirling, and the noise from the wind helps cover small noises I may inadvertently make while stalking.

Incidentally, some of my closest shots at deer were on just such days.

Daryl

 

[treg]

I have killed many deer in windy and other inclimate types of weather. Mostly because they can't hear or see me coming as well while bedded down in their hidey holes.

My stalking skills prevent me from getting close on nice days.

 

[cnimrod]

know your hunting area

With high winds the deer will be hiding on the lee side of a hill.
esp in a nice sunny warm spot.
shot more than one that way