Blacktail weather this weekend.....

[pope]

I apologize for not already knowing the answer, but I've hunted plenty of stormy days and I can't say the number of deer sightings was better than, let's say, a cloudy/misty day with a steady, light wind. Yet every year when a storm approaches, hunters get excited about hunting blacktails. I've seen increased deer movement before a storm and after a storm, but not in heavy rain and wind.

Am I doing it all wrong? Is there a terrain type and habitat I should be targeting? I totally understand that wet weather allows a hunter to quietly sneak around in the woods. Last Halloween I took a day off and hunted in steady rain with a strong south wind. I spent my time on the leeward side of hills in 2nd growth timber and it was not the most productive day.

So, what specific advice will some of you seasoned blacktail guys offer up for hunting in the kind of weather predicted for the opener?

BTW, this evening I was running the girls to all of their activities. I saw a doe bedded in a little opening in heavy rain. She was there one hour later. I also saw a doe and two yearlings ravenously feeding in a grassy field. They were gone 15 minutes later.

[Turner89]

If it's raining and blowing they really only have eye sight to rely on. I look for them in farther out in clear-cut. Like the does you saw in the fields.  I get up high, and just glass every bit of a clear cut. Watch for them to stand up occasionally to shake the water off.

[fishnfur]

I'm with you Pope.  Same exact story, but in a different place.  I'm thinking that it really becomes a matter of being in the right place at the right time when the conditions get nasty.  Wrong place at the right time - no deer.  PolarBear was in big timber last Halloween during that nastiness and saw a ton of deer.  I was in big timber and got totally soaked, like I've never been before, and saw no deer.  It did sound like a couple of deer were taken in the clearcut a half-mile to the east of me while I was out there drowning.

Don't forget about the forest opening option for really nasty weather.  These rare spots, just small areas of brush, where the seedlings didn't get planted or died, that are surrounded by large areas of forest can often be the retreat of big bucks during inclement weather.  Likely spots are pretty easy to pick out on satellite photos, but you probably need to scout them immediately after a storm to determine which ones show tracks or other sign to indicate that they are used during storms.  Alternatively, knowledge that a forest opening is close-by before you start your hunt gives you an option of checking it out if the weather turns bad.

[fish vacuum]

Is there a terrain type and habitat I should be targeting?

Do you want to be in the timber when branches and trees are falling? Neither do the deer.

[Skyvalhunter]

Deer don't like the wind in the open or the timber. Look for areas sheltered from the wind like ridges that block the direction the wind is coming from. That being said its going to be dangerous out there in the trees if we get the kind of wind storm they are talking about. Look for breaks in the pouring rain when they might be feeding.

[hemi]

Good luck to all heading out tomorrow.
Stay dry

[pope]

If it's raining and blowing they really only have eye sight to rely on. I look for them in farther out in clear-cut. Like the does you saw in the fields.  I get up high, and just glass every bit of a clear cut. Watch for them to stand up occasionally to shake the water off.

Best aspect is on the sheltered side I assume? If the wind is out of the south east, do you look on north and west facing slopes? Thanks for your response.

[JDHasty]

I apologize for not already knowing the answer, but I've hunted plenty of stormy days and I can't say the number of deer sightings was better than, let's say, a cloudy/misty day with a steady, light wind. Yet every year when a storm approaches, hunters get excited about hunting blacktails. I've seen increased deer movement before a storm and after a storm, but not in heavy rain and wind.

Am I doing it all wrong? Is there a terrain type and habitat I should be targeting? I totally understand that wet weather allows a hunter to quietly sneak around in the woods. Last Halloween I took a day off and hunted in steady rain with a strong south wind. I spent my time on the leeward side of hills in 2nd growth timber and it was not the most productive day.

So, what specific advice will some of you seasoned blacktail guys offer up for hunting in the kind of weather predicted for the opener?

BTW, this evening I was running the girls to all of their activities. I saw a doe bedded in a little opening in heavy rain. She was there one hour later. I also saw a doe and two yearlings ravenously feeding in a grassy field. They were gone 15 minutes later.

I like to be on a stand at a favorite feeding location as the storm is ramping up.  I think that they may be topping off before going into hunker down mode.  I don't see any deer when the storm is raging.  I do see them moving about after a storm front has passed through and it calms down.

This is totally different than a soaker of a rain storm that does not include the wind factor.   I like them too.  In them I see the deer out in the thick of it.  Use binoculars and especially look for them standing or bedded under lone doug fir trees that provide protection from the rain like an umbrella some times, but some rainy days they are just out walking around in the rain all day long.

I shot a doe one year on an antlerless tag and a couple friends were watching the herd with their binoculars and they said when the Lightfield Slug slammed home that water sprayed in all directions off her in all directions.   

[Sitka_Blacktail]

Deer don't like the wind in the open or the timber. Look for areas sheltered from the wind like ridges that block the direction the wind is coming from. That being said its going to be dangerous out there in the trees if we get the kind of wind storm they are talking about. Look for breaks in the pouring rain when they might be feeding.

Exactly. If trees start blowing over or widow-makers coming down, deer will be out of the timber. They do like being in the dog hair 12-15 year old stuff though, as it's big enough to break the wind but young and limber enough to take a big gust and not blow over. I have seen plenty out in the "open" though in a big blow. They will use the terrain to keep out of the worst of the wind. Either they will get in a ravine, or on the lee side of a hill, or bunker down behind old logs or stumps. Old growth cedar and fir stumps are the best.

Also, right after a big blow is a good time to hunt.  Deer will be out filling their bellies.

[fishnfur]

If it's raining and blowing they really only have eye sight to rely on. I look for them in farther out in clear-cut. Like the does you saw in the fields.  I get up high, and just glass every bit of a clear cut. Watch for them to stand up occasionally to shake the water off.

Best aspect is on the sheltered side I assume? If the wind is out of the south east, do you look on north and west facing slopes? Thanks for your response.

Pope- Your speculation makes perfect sense and is likely the correct answer in a perfect world.  I've got a feeling that in a deer's world, any port in a storm is good enough.  I just gassed up the truck and I was standing on the lee of the truck while I waited, which was way better than standing out in the wind.  Similarly, I assume that deer don't need a very big obstacle or hole to knock down the wind to tolerable levels (in most cases.  In 60 mph winds -  ).  Down here in the hills I often find the wind direction is 180 degrees from that in the valleys.  The direction of the ridges and ravines have some magic that can totally change the direction of the wind from what you'd expect.  I suspect that is the case where you hunt as well.

I think if you can get above a reprod/timber edge someplace that appears to be downwind of the storm and then stay in the glass, you might just find the object of your affection.  Then again, I may be full of bovine excrement.

[fish vacuum]

The direction of the ridges and ravines have some magic that can totally change the direction of the wind from what you'd expect.

I've watched low clouds blow up a valley before. At every little drainage there would be an eddy of swirling clouds.

[JDHasty]

OK rack.  Big bodied deer though   

[fishnfur]

     JD - did you make a kill on that big bodied deer?

[JDHasty]

    JD - did you make a kill on that big bodied deer?

Guy I was hunting with did

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

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[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

^^^this little fella was in the timber right in the middle of the storm.

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[fishnfur]

Gave him a wave and kept hunting huh?  Nice!

[fishnfur]

    JD - did you make a kill on that big bodied deer?

Guy I was hunting with did

That's a hell of a nice forkie.  Nice eyeguards too.  I'd eat him!

[JDHasty]

    JD - did you make a kill on that big bodied deer?

Guy I was hunting with did

That's a hell of a nice forkie.  Nice eyeguards too.  I'd eat him!

3/4 inches of fat on it.  Lots of fat on the two point I shot too.