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Hunting in Heat

No...not talking about the rut....

So its been balls hot here lately and they're talking 90s in the southern half of our great state this week. What's your tips for hunting in an inferno? Anything to tactics, to clothing to diet and bugs.

I plan on hunting over water later this week. I'm really worried though about sweating bullets and stinking the place up.

Best advice I have for hunting in heat is don't hunt in heat. I sweat walking in even when it is mild weather so I avoid heat as much as possible. But being retired helps since I can hunt any day I choose to.

Stinking it up isn't a big deal, we go days even weeks out west without showering. By the end of the hunt we are ripe and still kill elk. Hunt the wind, I tend to hunt thicker cover and shade between the water source and bedding area. This past Saturday action started around 3:00 for movement through to the water. My experience is that they won't bed as long on hot days if they can access water through thicker shaded areas. I'm not a fan of thermal cells as they have an odor they give off. I tend to wear my lighter First Lite Merino Wool clothes on these days along with a headnet. Black knats are annoying, the headnet lets me concentrate on not moving and swatting.

I hunted the opener and sweated my butt off, I will not be hunting this weekend with the temps in the high 80's and humid. I'm not worried about scent so much as not being able to sit still when I'm hot. The mosquitoes really made a come back with the warm temps last week.

Bottom line for me is this. I hunt because I enjoy it. If I am sweating my ass off and fighting all kinds of bugs I don't enjoy it much. I hunt in wind, rain, sleet,snow, and freezing cold. If I believe it's days that are conducive to deer movement. I am not going to go out in miserable conditions just because I'm chomping at the bit.

I had meat spoil (front shoulders) a few seasons ago when the heat was bad. Yes, I saw deer but im in it for the meat so I was bummed when I wasn't able yo enjoy all of my harvest.

I made a bad hit on a deer. Gut shot to be exact. 22 hours later I found her. Bloated to hell. Flies and bees all over her. Broke my heart the second my arrow clipped that branch. Even more so when I found her. Definitely one of my all time lows in my hunting career. If you do have a opportunity to take one in this weeks heat. Make sure it's a slam dunk.

There is really no such thing as a slam dunk in archery, there are a lot of things that can go wrong on every shot....especially when you think it's a slam dunk.

I know fivers and I think you know what I mean too.

GoJakesGo

Was it a shoulder hit and/or long recovery?

No. Typical behind the shoulder sho(t very early evening) with the typical blood clot hemorrhage. Shot looked good, felt good but she ran to my left which had pines so I didn't see/hear her crash. Waited an hour, made the recovery, packed with ice, caped 4hrs after shot, washed/trimmed, packed with more ice while hanging in cool garage.

Got cutting early next morning and anything not wiped extremely clear had a warm meat funk. Didnt want to risk the families health so a majority of the front shoulders, neck (where blood drained), tenderloin, and some rib meat was tossed.

Lack of judgment on my part. I knew the temp was going to be high and I didn't have the time to properly quarter the animal yet I decided to take the shot. a foolish mistake I regret

I've hunting each night since the opener. Saw 20 Monday and 11 last night w/a group of 4 bucks. Could have filled tags each night but decide not to take a doe until it cools down or the weekend. I really don't have a problem hunting in heat as we hunt 70-80's in Wyoming each year. As long as it gutted and the deer gets to cool down and doesn't heat to much up in the morning, we have had no problems. I would never pack it with ice as water will cause bacteria to start much faster.

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