Cold weather and deer sightings????

[Football Hunter]

Maybe Ive just chosen the wrong areas,but during the last 2 "cold snaps",lows in the 20s or around 30,my deer sightings have really fallen off.I intentionally took off tues and wed of this week,and barely saw a deer.

This is unusual for my area that is full of deer.

Seems like over the last few years this has held true.Lows in the 40s for a week or so,then the temps fall to the mid 20s and deer seem to dissappear.Seems lke it used to be different.

Any one else notice this?

 

[ROVERBOY]

The last morning I got to hunt was Sunday. So, I can't say really. It was warm and windy then. I went and checked my trail cam and saw 2 does around 3:30 this afternoon. I've not saw a lot of deer the whole season.

 

[Quailman]

Seems like over the last few years this has held true.Lows in the 40s for a week or so,then the temps fall to the mid 20s and deer seem to dissappear.Seems lke it used to be different.

Any one else notice this?

FH, I've actually seen the opposite in my area. This cold snap definitely increased deer activity in the areas I hunt. I knew I had to try to hunt at least one day when this recent cold front moved through. My efforts were rewarded with a nice 4.5 year old buck I haven't seen since August.

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

very same here,i am dissapointed

 

[DeerKiller2012]

Haven't seen near the deer this year as I usually do . I don't know what the problem is

 

[hunter drew]

I haven't seen a deer since Saturday. While in the stand

 

[lpo1981]

I haven been in almost 2 weeks due to work, but I have seen a lot less deer this year than what I usually see every year.. Although I'm just the opposite of what you described, I see way more deer when it's cold vs when it's warm..

 

[TNCharlie]

Based upon my recent experience, these are the facts about deer movement:

Deer do not move in hot weather.
Deer do not move in cool/cold weather.
Deer do not move in rainy weather.
Deer do not move in cloudy weather.
Deer do not move in clear weather.
Deer do not move in the morning.
Deer do not move in the afternoon.

Deer do not live in the same realm as all other life. They have a magical place of abode either in the heavens or deep under the earth. They appear occasionally in our realm just to tease us. That is how they are able to go for extended periods without a human laying eyes on them. And they can appear through magical gates; how else is it possible to look at a spot in an open field that has no deer, and you blink and a deer appears standing right in the open?

But in spite of all that, sunrise tomorrow will find me sitting in a blind, hoping that the new day will be the one that gives ma a chance to at least get a glimpse of one of these strange, magical creatures.

Footnote: It would have done me no good to have a deer sighting on my hunt earlier today. When I unloaded my rifle at the end of the hunt, I discovered that I had never chambered a round. Duh!

 

[catman529]

I hunted tuesday morning and this morning, both cold snap mornings upper 20s, and saw 5 does/fawns on tuesday and 2 big does this morning. they were moving all right for me.

 

[AllOutdoors]

Im still seeing deer. I saw 2 does this evening. They were slipping through headed to my sanctuary. No action though as far as the second rut like we discussed. The main rut seemed more chaotic and spread out compared to years past.

 

[MUP]

I've seen a slight increase of activity in my area...just slightly tho.

 

[Football Hunter]

Seems like over the last few years this has held true.Lows in the 40s for a week or so,then the temps fall to the mid 20s and deer seem to dissappear.Seems lke it used to be different.

Any one else notice this?

FH, I've actually seen the opposite in my area. This cold snap definitely increased deer activity in the areas I hunt. I knew I had to try to hunt at least one day when this recent cold front moved through. My efforts were rewarded with a nice 4.5 year old buck I haven't seen since August.

You talking about here,or Illinois?

 

[Football Hunter]

Im still seeing deer. I saw 2 does this evening. They were slipping through headed to my sanctuary. No action though as far as the second rut like we discussed. The main rut seemed more chaotic and spread out compared to years past.

I did see a young buck chasing tues morning,but it wasnt very serious,litle chase,then stop and eat for a while

 

[Football Hunter]

I have always had the most sightings when the temps were in the 30s and 40s. When it gets really cold (teens and 20s) my sightings drop off big time. I always figured they were bedded up nice and cozy and didn't want to move. Who knows?

Thats been my experience lately

 

[Quailman]

Seems like over the last few years this has held true.Lows in the 40s for a week or so,then the temps fall to the mid 20s and deer seem to dissappear.Seems lke it used to be different.

Any one else notice this?

FH, I've actually seen the opposite in my area. This cold snap definitely increased deer activity in the areas I hunt. I knew I had to try to hunt at least one day when this recent cold front moved through. My efforts were rewarded with a nice 4.5 year old buck I haven't seen since August.

You talking about here,or Illinois?

The buck I shot a few days ago was killed in TN. Rutting activity (or lack thereof) has been really strange for me in both TN and Illinois. Plenty of mature deer on camera, but very little daylight activity for mature bucks. It's been really frustrating to say the least. However, most of my friends as well as other people I have talked to have reported the same situation.

I have only seen 4 mature bucks while hunting this year. This is in TN and Illinois. May sound like a lot to some people, but honestly this is very low for me in a typical hunting season.

 

[jb3]

When the weather changes like this, I change where I hunt. I have a couple areas on the lease that produce more sightings when the weather gets colder.

 

[SES]

I haven't been able to get in the woods due to work, but I've been seeing a lot more deer on my morning commute. I've seen more in the last couple of days than I've seen all year.

 

[BSK]

MUP,

I think you would need a lot more "data points" to say anything with conviction. Looking at many, many years of hunter observation data compared to morning temperatures, it's clear that nothing is absolute about what hunters see. The trends over time are clear, but the day to day data is all over the place. Although the trend is that deer are more active during daylight as the weather is colder, you will have some great mornings when the temps are extraordinarily warm, and some terrible mornings when the temps are well below normal.

What I'm talking about can clearly be seen in the below graph of hunter observation rates on morning hunts in November by the mornings low temperature. The trend (solid line) is downward as mornings are warmer, but there or very low data points on cold mornings, and high data points on very warm mornings. In essence, the trend is one thing, while an individual day can be something completely different.

 

[BSK]

Another thing to think about is "what is normal." Often I see deer observations rates spike any time the weather shifts away from "normal." When the temps are above or below normal, this usually means a weather system is approaching or just moving through, and it is likely that the weather system moving through is the stimulus for the increased deer activity instead of the actual temperature.

 

[WMAn]

BSK,

Have you ran your data to compare deer sightings to a temperature trend? For example deer sightings on Monday compared to the highs on Sunday (70), Monday (63), and Tuesday (42) equal 48 hour trend of - 35 degrees. Does this make sense? What I'm trying to get at is deer sightings relative to temperature change over a 48 hour period (24 hours before and after hunt day) so that you can tell if a peak in sightings might be related a large weather event that results in big temperature swings.

 

[BSK]

No I haven't WMAn, but that's an excellent idea. I could test morning low temps against the previous day's temps or previous 2-3 days' temps.

 

[TheLBLman]

BSK,

Do you have data such as above for post-rut?

My observations show less deer movement on particularly cold mornings post-rut (just the opposite to what I see pre-rut and during the rut). However, post-rut, afternoon observations seem to be higher when the weather is colder vs. warmer.

 

[bowriter]

Post rut, southern deer don't like frost and hate snow. Therefore, on really cold, frosty mornings, it pays to wait until the sun starts to burn the frost off. At least, that has been my experience.

The farther north you go, the less it is important.

 

[Live action]

Wow! Never thought warmer is better

 

[WMAn]

No I haven't WMAn, but that's an excellent idea. I could test morning low temps against the previous day's temps or previous 2-3 days' temps.

Yeah, I think you would need to do a few days before and after to catch weather events that just happened or were about to happen.

I'm also interested to hear your thoughts on Wes and Bowriter's comments on post-rut weather effects.

 

[BSK]

BSK,

Do you have data such as above for post-rut?

I do, but not enough data. Our post-rut hunting sucks so bad that we don't hunt as hard or as long once the rut is over (post-November).

 

[Football Hunter]

BSK,

Have you ran your data to compare deer sightings to a temperature trend? For example deer sightings on Monday compared to the highs on Sunday (70), Monday (63), and Tuesday (42) equal 48 hour trend of - 35 degrees. Does this make sense? What I'm trying to get at is deer sightings relative to temperature change over a 48 hour period (24 hours before and after hunt day) so that you can tell if a peak in sightings might be related a large weather event that results in big temperature swings.

Think that was what I was trying to ask to begin with,sudden change

 

[String Music]

Post rut, southern deer don't like frost and hate snow. Therefore, on really cold, frosty mornings, it pays to wait until the sun starts to burn the frost off. At least, that has been my experience.

The farther north you go, the less it is important.

I completely agree. I usually sleep in and then head to the stand around 8:30. Once the sun gets up the deer tend to move more. Also, try to hunt on southern facing hillsides are other areas that the sun hits first.

 

[Crosshairy]

MUP,

I think you would need a lot more "data points" to say anything with conviction. Looking at many, many years of hunter observation data compared to morning temperatures, it's clear that nothing is absolute about what hunters see. The trends over time are clear, but the day to day data is all over the place. Although the trend is that deer are more active during daylight as the weather is colder, you will have some great mornings when the temps are extraordinarily warm, and some terrible mornings when the temps are well below normal.

What I'm talking about can clearly be seen in the below graph of hunter observation rates on morning hunts in November by the mornings low temperature. The trend (solid line) is downward as mornings are warmer, but there or very low data points on cold mornings, and high data points on very warm mornings. In essence, the trend is one thing, while an individual day can be something completely different.

I think you've got quite a few lurking variables in there (but that's okay - at least you have something to explain the variability). Using November is natural, because you probably have a lot of hunter-hours to boost your data set. The downside is that the rut is thrown into the mix there (especially for your area), which can be an X-factor to skew sightings when all other things are held equal.

It would be really interesting to see this same trend compiled for October or December, when you can better rule out the huge rut effect on the deer sightings. Then the problem comes getting enough data to compile a meaningful trend.

Do you have enough data to either exclude rut (or non-rut) days very reliably to remove that variable, or is that too "fuzzy" of a date range?

Just thinking out loud, from a non-biologist nerd to a biologist one

 

[JAY B]

I seen 12 yesterday morning but all sightings were from 945-1100am!