Can Wind Prevent Your Hunting?
How Much Wind is too much for Deer Hunting? Different people engage in deer hunting for different reasons, some because they love the sport and others love the meat. Whatever your reason is, if you are interested in hunting deer, you need to learn a few things about the process to become more practical for you to hunt it. Learning about deer hunting and making the right preparations are the right steps towards succeeding in your mission. One of the things you need to learn about dear is the best time to hunt it. Here are some of the best times for anyone, both the beginner and the pro, to hunt deer.
The best season to hunt deer is during winter, especially for a beginner, and here are the reasons why this is the case:
Winter Season is the Best for Spotting an Animal
It is not easy to spot a deer in its natural camouflage among the woods, especially when you have the ground covered with dry and dull brown leaves during summer. Also, the animals are active during the winter season, making it possible to cross your path. Once there has been fresh snow, animal movement picks up very well because the animals maintain their temperatures by becoming more active. Because of the energy they use, they will need food more and therefore, they will move more hunting for food. While no one can guarantee you the outcome of your hunting, snow can help you make your hunting experience better.
Winter Makes Animal Tracking Easier
A snow-covered ground makes it easy for you to track the animal movement and even determine the size of the animals if you are conversant with the trails. Sometimes it is possible to tell how long ago the animal passed the specific spot. That is because a fresh trail has sharp edges with snow-packed at the bottom, and the older ones enlarge with time, and the packed snow at the bottom may begin to freeze. If you find a fresh-looking trail, it means you can follow it as the animal may not be very far away from where you are. You can estimate how long the animal has passed by and how far it could be by just seeing the trails.
Winter makes it Harder for the Animal to Detect You
The deer will not be able to spot you easily with the snow falling and the high winds as well as the precipitation. One of the best ways of hunting during this season is to wear white clothing as it helps you blend with the environment and make it hard for the animal to spot you. Also, high winds carry your scent away, making it hard for the animal to detect you, and it is also not easy for the prey to hear you. That way, you can approach the animal without causing any suspicions at all.
Winter makes it Easy to Haul Away Your Kill
Hauling a deer after you kill it is not a very easy task depending on the size. But it is a lot easier with a snowbank than when you have to haul it on a grassy field or some rocky terrain. You also enjoy the freezing effect of the snow to ensure that your animal arrives while still fresh, minimizing the time constraints on bringing the animal home.
The Effect of Wind on Deer Hunting
Whitetails use their nose to identify other deer and detect any presence of a human being, and it has an extremely high sense of smell. That is why hunters have to do everything possible to reduce odours as much as possible as they engage in deer hunting. Human scent is offensive to the animal, and it is important to reduce any trace of it in the territory of these bucks. It will help you to learn how to understand the effect of wind on your hunting. It will work best for you if you can step into their territory before they notice your scent. Also, it is important to estimate the wind direction to know the routes that whitetails are likely to use and the time they may use them.
Wind movement can be categorized according to t the speed of the wind as follows:
Clam wind is when the wind movement is less than one mph, and lighter air will be between 1 and 3 mph. The light breeze is when the wind moves at four to six mph, and the gentle breeze will be between six and ten mph. Moderate breeze refers to when the speed is anything above ten mph.
Studies have shown that male and female deer are actively moving during a windy day but less during a windy night. It also revealed that the movement of deer could be affected by even a very slight movement of air. Therefore, wind affects the movement of deer, but you have to understand which way to hunt it more effectively. That makes it necessary to know the different hunting positions you need to adopt for successful hunting.
The most essential factor is to know what affects the deer movement, and the basic things that make deer move are:
- Sufficient food
- Water
- Avoid predators
- Reproduction and stress-free environments
For successful hunting, it is important to know that deer will change the movement pattern during the high wind as the heavy wind increases their stress and caloric output in their search for food. So the buck will tend to remain in the shelter more on strong wind days to avoid the weather elements. That is what hunters capitalize on and visit them at their shelters during the strong wind. Therefore during strong wind, you should not remain at your stand thinking that a deer will pass by your stand. Look, therefore, for areas where the animal can move from beddings to feeding without being exposed to heavy gusts. The most likely place to find whitetails is on the southern slopes.
Also, on windy days, bowls, valleys, and drainages are the best places to find your deer during windy days, especially if trees well protect these areas. Also, during the evenings and early in the morning, air directions are steadier because they are not heated. However, when the sun rises, the thermal heat may make the air movements change and begin moving up and down. Those changes in the direction of the wind are not favourable to deer hunting.
Once you understand all the conditions that affect the deer movement and how it will be easy to embark on the venture. Chances of you finding a large deer are high when you understand all the factors that affect your hunting and work towards minimizing them. However, it is important to know that there is no limit to how much wind is for deer hunting. Your success will depend on all the other factors.
