#1702705 - 01/02/10 07:44 AM
Hunting in very cold weather?
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Savage Shooter
8 Point
Registered: 11/24/08
Posts: 2078
Loc: Shelby Co, Tn
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Ok, I am curious on opinions. I hunt in west Tn. We are not as fortunate or unfortunate as you folks in east and northern Tn. when it comes to the colder weather. Usually temps are in the high 40s or low 50s. With the arrival of what I call very cold weather, does the lower temps effect the deer. Now I think it does, but not quite sure how. Do the deer typically move later, earlier, based on temps outside. Say the temps are in the teens at night like last night and the high is supposed to be in the 30s. I as a human would wait till later to do outside work due to temps increasing, but I am not covered in fur. I think that the deer have become used to the seasonal temps, but the colder snap should effect them. Will they move more often to keep the blood flowing, less to let their bodies get used to the colder temps? I know this may seem like a stupid question, but this is my third season and this is the coldest it's been since I began hunting.
I don't know alot about hunting, but most of what I have learned has come from this site. I have been a member for a little over a year and alot of you guys know quite a bit and am thankful for you sharing your knowledge with us newer hunters. Thanks for helping out.
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People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell
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#1702711 - 01/02/10 07:47 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Savage Shooter]
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trealtree
16 Point
Registered: 09/29/04
Posts: 10142
Loc: Middle Tennessee
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Why arent you in the woods.
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There is only 1 Absolute.
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#1702717 - 01/02/10 07:50 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Savage Shooter]
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jakeway
TnDeer Old Timer
10 Point
Registered: 11/22/99
Posts: 3448
Loc: Hendersonville, TN, USA
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If it's just cold and not windy, deer tend to move around as much or more than "normal". If it's really windy they may stay in bed longer, bedding wher they';ve got some protection from the wind.
On cold days I like to still hunt. My woods has several logging trails that meander along the ridges; some at the top, some at thebottom,and some parallelling in between. I can walk silently along and keep warm.
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It's not rocket surgery, for crying outside!
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#1702718 - 01/02/10 07:50 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: trealtree]
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Savage Shooter
8 Point
Registered: 11/24/08
Posts: 2078
Loc: Shelby Co, Tn
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Just got off work. Very sleepy, but took off all next week. Will be out there almost everyday starting Monday. It's supposed to be colder too.
_________________________
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell
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#1702732 - 01/02/10 07:57 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Savage Shooter]
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Double-D-Team
10 Point
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 3483
Loc: God's Country
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Late season hunting gets hard but if you find the food you will find the deer. Like all living things they require food and water so find your food source and wait. This time of year in NE TN I watch the field edges, late afternoon till dark. Good Luck...
_________________________
Don and Dee (DOUBLE-D-TEAM)
THE RICHEST VALUES OF WILDERNESS LIE NOT IN THE DAYS OF DANIEL BOONE NOR EVEN IN THE PRESENT. BUT IN THE FUTURE--LEOPOLD
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#1702763 - 01/02/10 08:14 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Double-D-Team]
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whistlinwingman
8 Point
Registered: 07/11/05
Posts: 1824
Loc: Morristown
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I tend to see deer all day in weather like this. If I had to choose a time to hunt though it would be in the evening. Deer will be on the move right before dark. I killed a decent buck the other day chasing a doe a half hour before dark. Im at work today or I'd be in the woods now. Hunt when you can even if its a few hours during the middle of the day. I think we are seeing a second rut here in East TN right now (at least where I am hunting. If the rut is over where you are those bucks are going to be feeding cause its been a long rut for them. Hunt the food sources. You never know what may come through or at what time. Good luck.
_________________________
"I'm a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have it" -Thomas Jefferson
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#1702843 - 01/02/10 09:20 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: whistlinwingman]
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Rackseeker
10 Point
Registered: 09/26/02
Posts: 4772
Loc: Franklin County
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With the moon and temps. the way it is right now, I would hunt from noon to dark. I'm going to head out in a couple hours and hunt till dark.
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#1703470 - 01/02/10 04:32 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Rackseeker]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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When the temps are severely cold, I get more mid-day pictures of deer in feeding areas. They seem to move/feed most when the temps are the warmest they are going to get for the day.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1703476 - 01/02/10 04:40 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: BSK]
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jakeway
TnDeer Old Timer
10 Point
Registered: 11/22/99
Posts: 3448
Loc: Hendersonville, TN, USA
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Speaking of hitting the feed, the buck I shot last Wednesday (6:40 am, 31 degrees and spitting snow) was absolutely full of acorns.
_________________________
It's not rocket surgery, for crying outside!
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#1703882 - 01/02/10 08:47 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: jakeway]
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Football Hunter
18 Point
Registered: 10/22/07
Posts: 24550
Loc: Wilson Co/Perry Co
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Speaking of hitting the feed, the buck I shot last Wednesday (6:40 am, 31 degrees and spitting snow) was absolutely full of acorns.
_________________________
The best day to plant a tree,IS TODAY!
You wont know,if you dont go!
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#1703925 - 01/02/10 09:03 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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dirtturner
4 Point
Registered: 03/26/08
Posts: 167
Loc: Tn, Lauderdale
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Saw a very good 130 class 8pt about 0900. He was about 200yds from the road and was trailing around 2 does. I have a 330 acre farm that still has beans on it. Why aren't the deer eating it up? Not near a road and is not much hunting pressure on that farm or around it.
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Freedom is NEVER free. NRA life member
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#1704053 - 01/02/10 09:54 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: dirtturner]
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blanton
Spike
Registered: 09/25/09
Posts: 55
Loc: Athens, TN
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I keep hearing about hunting the food, but the food I've hunted all year has been acorns. I haven't seen them browsing acorns a lot in the last week, and the hay fields have been dead for food browsing too (still see some bucks in transit across fields and hardwoods). I harvested an 8pt walking briskly through the hardwoods a week ago, and have seen many does bedded in the very thick stuff recently, but what are they eating besides the remaining non rotten acorns this time of year?
I just bought this land, so I haven't started food plots. I have 60 acres 50/50 hardwoods and hay fields with a few acres of wetland and creeks. I'm bordered by 200ac of un-hunted land that was mostly cut within the last 6yrs, and I see lots of does there but have harvested my bucks in the hardwoods and fields this year. I'm having a hard time figuring out how to hunt the food in the late season so I just keep looking for recent scrapes and rubs and setting up nearby these routes. As for hunting near bedding areas, they seem to bed everywhere from tall grass to thick regrowth. Should I keep to the hardwoods where the rutting signs are prevalent or hope for more luck in the hay fields?
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#1704152 - 01/02/10 11:25 PM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: blanton]
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Savage Shooter
8 Point
Registered: 11/24/08
Posts: 2078
Loc: Shelby Co, Tn
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We are on over 500 acres and not one member (6) hunt the fields. 11 deer have been taken and only 2 has been on or in a fields. everything else has been in hardwoods. Hopefully this colder weather this week will get some movement for us. That's why I wondered about times of movement in abnormally cooler weather for our region.
_________________________
People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
George Orwell
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#1704289 - 01/03/10 07:49 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: blanton]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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...but what are they eating besides the remaining non rotten acorns this time of year?
Just remember that red oak acorns don't go to root until spring. Deer fatten up in fall on white oak family acorns, but subsist through the winter on red oak family acorns.
_________________________
"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1704301 - 01/03/10 07:55 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: BSK]
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Double-D-Team
10 Point
Registered: 12/18/02
Posts: 3483
Loc: God's Country
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...but what are they eating besides the remaining non rotten acorns this time of year? Just remember that red oak acorns don't go to root until spring. Deer fatten up in fall on white oak family acorns, but subsist through the winter on red oak family acorns.
Ditto,
Last deer I killed was full of them...BSK your right on the money like always.. 
_________________________
Don and Dee (DOUBLE-D-TEAM)
THE RICHEST VALUES OF WILDERNESS LIE NOT IN THE DAYS OF DANIEL BOONE NOR EVEN IN THE PRESENT. BUT IN THE FUTURE--LEOPOLD
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#1704416 - 01/03/10 09:24 AM
Re: Hunting in very cold weather?
[Re: Football Hunter]
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gober88
8 Point
Registered: 04/22/01
Posts: 1721
Loc: Hendersonville Tn us
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When its really cold like this I sleep late and get to fields or other feeding areas at the warmest time thats when the deer will move.
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