Bad weather hunting, how bad is to bad?

[xacex]

The General buck season opens here in Oregon Tomorrow. Unfortunately, we are going to be hit with a storm that was the super typhoon in Asia as well. We are expecting 10 inches of rain over a day or two, and 60mph winds. I don't know about what you would do, but I am staying home on the opener.

How bad is to bad to hunt where you live?

[fouronesix]

I've hunted in bad weather because of other considerations. But, 60 winds plus big rain- no, I'd wait 'til it settled down if given a choice. Plus the game may not be doing much either, but will likely become very active just after it settles down.

Wind really buggers game because they loose one of their primary defenses- hearing. The last big wind I hunted in it was easily topping 60 mph with higher gusts. Enough to blow 1/4" granite pebbles horizontally off the top of ridges. For at least 5 hours I watched three bucks bedded back in a protected bowl with vertical walls. They stayed there until just before sunset. The wind died down to about 40-50 without gusts. They finally got up but stayed well down in the small protected canyon and started feeding. Hunting that day, as bad as it was, staying put and glassing from one spot, proved wise. On the other hand and more often, have been out in it and should've just stayed in camp or at home. So just a toss up.

[nagantguy]

Tough call my friend, wind is a game changer and dangerous to boot, rain never bothered me and game don't seem to mind either. Trees and strong wind don't miss. We hunted once here in northern mi when they called for 0 degrees when we met to come in we were both acting a little silly and walked the wrong way from camp for a bit. Turned our selves around got back to a warm cabin, the others in our group were smart enough to stay in. Turns out it was 21 below and it took days for me to feel warm again. I believe we were at begining stages of hypothermia. Play it safe what ever you do.

[waksupi]

I love rain and snow for hunting. If out on the prairie, I don't really care how hard it blows. If in the mountains in the timber, when the wind blows hard, I stay home. Those old pines come right down and swat the ground hard and fast.

[xacex]

Waksupi,That's the problem out here. Is in not so much the Douglas fir, but the Red alder you have to worry about. Anytime we get these types of wind, rain events the next day you need a chainsaw in the truck to get up there. Not to mention all of the trees in the woods. Widow makers for sure. Oh well, the storm has already started so it looks like I will just take a once over on my gear till Monday. I wouldn't mind hunting in the snow, but this stuff is garbage.

[Reg]

Depends on what you are hunting but around here we have pheasants and they have been hunted long and hard. The area hasn't been planted with new stock since the 1950's . Talk about spooky, birds generally flush 100 to 200 yards out if you are walking. If you have a good dog you can pick up lots of "sitters" but alas, our little terrier just isn't a good bird dog.
I generally wait until we have a good hard windy snow going on. The worse the better. The hard blowing cold wind and snow tend to keep the birds sitting until you close the last few yards then they flush. A 20 to 40 yard shot is much better than a 100 yard shot anyday. In a good hard snow storm almost a blizzard I can go out into the pasture and generally limit out in a hour or less.

[quilbilly]

You can actually use those monsoonal storms with big winds to your advantage sometimes. When it really gets ugly up here, the deer and even the Roosevelt elk will move out of the timber onto open ground (the local deer do it on our backyard lawn) for safety. Falling limbs can kill deer and elk too. You just have to lead your target even if it is standing still in a 35+ mph wind.

[offshore44]

Wife and I were out hunting the coast range in that stuff. Lots of sign, few deer. Saw a couple of does and fawns but no bucks.

It's a lot of work to hunt in that kind of weather. You really have to "jump" the bucks to get a shot. Lots of fresh beds in the ferns along the edges of re-prod areas though. The game trails just inside the edges of the tree line were heavily used...lots of fresh sign. There was a lot of movement just before and just after sun-up on Sunday.

No joy on Sunday either. Saw deer, but no bucks.

I did find out that my nice scoped rifle is about useless in that ugly weather on Saturday. I took the old full dress Yugo 24/47 out on Sunday and gained about two and a half hours of shooting with the open sights.

Oh, my boots finally dried out today!

I hunt in that weather for no other reason than it gets me out on the ground and scouting about. Learned a whole bunch about what the deer are doing this year. It was worth it. Those coastal blacktails are quick learners.

[wch]

You can actually use those monsoonal storms with big winds to your advantage sometimes. When it really gets ugly up here, the deer and even the Roosevelt elk will move out of the timber onto open ground (the local deer do it on our backyard lawn) for safety. Falling limbs can kill deer and elk too. You just have to lead your target even if it is standing still in a 35+ mph wind.

Falling limbs and trees have killed hunters here in PA; I stay out of the woods on those days.

[xacex]

Those coastal blacktails are quick learners.

Tell me about it! Went out yesterday and had the same experience. I know where the apple trees are, and try to stay between the dense stuff, and the apples. No apples on the ground, but no buck either. I did come home with some mushrooms so all is not lost.

[offshore44]

True that...a widow maker is a bad thing. On the other hand, there are lots of places, at least where I hunt, that are more sheltered from the wind, and safer. The deer know this as well, and hang out in those places. I think that stormy weather concentrates the deer along the edges of clear cuts, and in the protected areas. Lots of those protected places in the coast range, anyways. My feeling is that the deer get concentrated out of the wind, and in the creek bottoms and leeward sides of hills. They sure stay off the windy side and off the ridge lines! Deer are smart, but lazy. It takes energy to stay warm when it's windy, and energy to move about...they seek the safety of thick cover when they can't hear or smell so well in close by protected areas. They won't move a long distance, but they will move and concentrate in protected areas. That's my thoughts, anyway.

[offshore44]

Tell me about it! Went out yesterday and had the same experience. I know where the apple trees are, and try to stay between the dense stuff, and the apples. No apples on the ground, but no buck either. I did come home with some mushrooms so all is not lost.

That's a good strategy, right there! Deer love apples.

It seems the deer in our area moved down into the agricultural lands from the hills. We saw more deer by the road driving in in the morning that we saw in the woods. Talked to half a dozen other hunters when we were scouting Sunday afternoon, and the consensus was lots of does and fawns, no bucks. By Sunday evening, the deer had moved back up the hills to their normal habitat. Call it, oh, three ground miles or so? You know how the coast range is, three miles is about 1,000' in elevation more or less.

We did see three bucks tagged in the back of trucks on Saturday morning before the crud hit. Well, eyes on two and heard tell of a third one. The two we saw were nice. Healthy looking critters. Then the rain and wind came in and not much happened after that. Evening was a total blow out. I couldn't have gotten a good shot even if I had a chance. With the water and pine needles sticking on the scope lenses and visibility through the rain under 20 yards, you would have had to step on a buck to get a clean shot. I've got to rethink my deer rifle, it seems. Scope AND iron sights are making a lot more sense now for those rare conditions like Saturday.

[Hamish]

"How bad is to bad to hunt where you live?"

Depends on if you are 20, or my age,,,,,,

With the wind, around here, as intensity rises, at a certain point they will bed down, but if it lasts and then gets really whippy, I've seen them move into the open, like they felt like they couldn't trust their vision in the tight stuff.

[Dorado]

If its' just a light rain, I find that I can get closer to them. I guess it's because the noise of the rain plus it's washing my scent away or covering it up at least. However I do take two rifles with me. I have a long(er) ranged rifle for when it's clear and I'll have to take longer shots 100yrds+, but I also take my Marlin 1894 in .357 for short range quick shots or for when the brush is very dense. I'll take on and leave the other locked in my truck. If the weather is bad enough that I'm having trouble seeing and doesn't look like it'll clear up soon, I'll call it a day and either head back to camp or head home.
I've made the mistake of trying to wait it out. I had good rain gear but I had a hell of a time with widow-makers and the storm didn't let up for 3 days. I couldn't even find my trail markers. I just sat it out until it cleared enough for me to find my trail. Not fun.

[44man]

Light rain is good. Heavy and they lay up. Seen more deer in heavy wind then in heavy rain but both is not good. I got stuck archery hunting in heavy rain, seen nothing but once it quit, deer poured out early to feed.

[Mk42gunner]

The older and more stove up I get, the more I like hunting on sunny days.

Robert

[waksupi]

I like it when the deer are bedded tight. I hunt very slow, and glass a lot. I've killed six white tail bucks in their beds at close range. I figure if I can get that close to a bedded buck, I won the game.

[Rick Hodges]

I want to be out just before the storm rolls in. High winds and widow makers in the forests keep me away, but I want to be out again as the storm wanes. Most game hunkers down for the blow, and so will I.

[quilbilly]

One thing about black tails here on the Olympic Peninsula is that as soon as the storm passes, they will be on the move. This is similar to Sitka black tails. I read an article in a scientific journal once about tracking Sitka's. From the data once winter and the storms roll in, they will almost go dormant and not move for as much as two weeks at a time (the article showed a picture of a Sitka under a couple feet of snow and all you could see was its eyes. All of a sudden as if on cue, all the deer in the area would begin moving and feeding for a few hour then go dormant again. I have observed this many times on the O.P.

[offshore44]

Interesting anecdote... I work in a fairly large manufacturing plant in a small town up by the coast range, It's about 10 mile give or take as the crow flys to the coast range and agricultural / wildlands border the campus. We have two larger (2-3 acre) green spaces on campus surrounded by large buildings.

Here's the interesting part. A cougar showed up on campus about two weeks ago. Several sightings over a two week period. Last night the cougar was spotted by someone who's outdoor experience I trust, one of the guys in the machine shop with lots of outdoor experience. He's seen a cougar before in other words.

Last night, I almost hit a blacktail doe with the forklift! There were a group of three does and three fawns in the green space under the white oak trees. Rounded another building and there were two more does and two fawns in the other green space. Still puzzling out what that means in the grand scheme of things. The weather has been pretty rainy since just after the cougar showed up.

Those blacktails are smart and cagey critters. I'm wondering if hunting pressure and the weather conditions have "migrated" them down off the hills. I'll find out this weekend. It'll be raining (again). The wind will be doing it's thing (again). Just not a fierce as last weekend.

Yup, I hunt in the wind and rain...wouldn't get much hunting in otherwise. You just have to change your technique and areas to fit the conditions I guess. 45 degree temps, 15 - 20 mph winds and an inch or so of rain in a day is pretty typical around here. They don't classify it as a temperate rain forest for nothing. Places in the Olympics are worse.