Does it get to hot to hunt?
Whitetail Deer
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I figure the majority waits for cool weather.
It never gets to hot for me. In Mississippi where i live and hunt we have a weak rut - I would take the first week or archery over the rut.
I've come to absolutely love early season - hunted KY last year Sept1-4 and it was super hot, but the hunting was phenomenal in the afternoons.
I plan to hunt TN 8/24 - 8/26 - then KY 9/7 -9/10
Anyone else love early season?
No. I hate it and I've killed a couple of good KY bucks early. I used to hunt early whenever I could, now I don't get out when it's in the 90s. That being said....it is a great time to kill a good buck it's just miserable weather wise. Loll
Also....I believe the wind is extremely screwy early season. Normally very minimal and during prime time the wind drops off to nothing. I believe this coupled with humidity makes it very difficult to beat their nose. Get a fairly stuff wind and I think that is a non issue.
Even in Aug thru Oct. it"s still 80deg.and full of monsoons,sceeters and No-See ums' Stop by... enjoy the misery of high temps big bugs,long sleeve shirts and long pants. And NO water.Get back to town and a Cold one is like Mothers Milk!
I hate hunting when it’s warm. I won’t pass an early cool front, but I don’t like hunting when the bugs are out and my sweat and smell is everywhere.
Having said that, just because I prefer not to hunt when it’s warm I’ll still be out when I can since there is a lot of other stuff lower on the list than hunting any day of the week.
I love hot weather period so I don’t mind hunting in 90degrees and high humidity. I’d rather have 90 than 10 any day. In the Midwest, deer are very predictable during those first couple hot weeks of the season.
I’d rather it be cold. But, if the season is in, I’m going hunting if it’s hot. Because heat is a non issue if humidity is low. Which it rarely is in a deciduous tree region. But, it’s hunting season and I’m going. Now, scouting in the humidity sucks. It takes some mind over matter. Cause smallmouth bass fishing waist deep in one of the many rivers around here, has me gill hooked.
Because of pigs and exotics, we can hunt year round. Went out to my ranch two weeks ago and it was 101 and humid! That is NOT fun!
I did hear that someone invented a blind A/C! Basically an ice chest with a built in fan that takes the cool are and blows it into the blind. If you got to work that hard, I say not hunt!
txhunter58 A/c Cooler setup on You Tube.Just something else to haul In and back.
No, got plenty of time to hunt with nicer weather and not be miserable. Takes the fun out of it for me.
times are changing. used to be Oct was cool with Indian summer days mixed in & November was cold now Oct is in the 90s & shorts & t shirts in November is not uncommon. I don't necessarily mind hunting in the heat but dealing with deer in hot temps is a pita I have a 320 qt comerccial fish box that I put deer in with ice in till I can cut em up. last year in va Oct was in the mid 90s & it's the first season in 37 that I didn't kill a deer with a bow...still had venison in the freezer so went fishing instead of hunting
Wish it never got above freezing during deer season, wish there was snow on the ground for 5 months a year. Hate hot weather. Hate humidity. Hate New Jersey in summer. It’s like the Congo here for 4 months straight, only your surrounded by ten million people at all times and most of them are complete buttheads. And the only thing I hate more than being stuck in New Jersey in summer is hunting here in early season hot weather. And that’s sugar coating it...
bow opens on 15 August in SC
I will be in a tree waiting,,,,
no it doesn't get to hot,,,,animals are out there,,so will I
For me mid eighties + and humid is too hot. I'll hunt early mornings, or if it's windy, but to just sit there and drip isn't for me.
I won’t hunt till the rut, when it’s cooler, except, antelope, where heat drives them to waterholes. When I was a lot younger I’d hunt opening weeks in stifling heat and mosquitoes and never had much success. It really was not fun.
hahaha, the answer is yes, but first week of archery is usually the tail end of the rut.... cool weather comes , sometimes, by thanksgiving but many late december hunts in a t shirt
i think last year was a couple hunts with a sweatshirt, maybe couple more with light jacket....looking forward to a hunt in PA snow this year!
If it's above 55 for the overnight low, I'm staying home.
If it doesn't take at least 15 minutes to layer up it is too hot to hunt.
I love early season whitetail bowhunting here in Alabama. I've got two opening day (October 15) Pops & Young bucks. Usually hot, but bucks are predictable on a regular pattern.
Im with moose and ghostbird. I live in ky so i don’t have a choice. If i wait for cold weather I’d only hunt the two weeks in January. The deer don’t get to stay in the house in the AC.
PA opens mid-Sept in the "Special Regs" Units. Last couple years have been kinda TOASTY, especially for the PM sits. But you just have to adapt................................. ;-)
2 years ago I started taking Gatorade "pops" along in the evenings. Let the small bottle of Gatorade freeze solid. In about 45 min when you start getting thirsty, about half of it is melted. Usually lasts almost til sundown if you don;t shoot a deer!
When its in the 80-90s up North usually I bag it and head out for some fall fishing. However, doesn't mean I can 't fish on my way to the hunting spot, where I may be on stand for only an hour or so due to the heat and lack of game movement. That said, the main issue for me is getting the game cool enough to take care of it myself or get to the butcher ASAP.
best chance for a velvet buck is those nice August evenings along the pee dee river,,,,
No way is it too hot. My two best whitetails came on opening weekend in WI when it was hot, miserable and the bugs were bad. I was able to intercept them when they were still on their summer patterns. Where I hunted, as soon as the weather cooled, the other hunters would come in and start baiting throwing off the patterns and turning them nocturnal. Nobody else was hunting when it was hot or weather crappy. As a result, I was able to leverage all of my scouting and hunt without pressure. Win win situation all around.
Also, I really like the short summer/early fall hide on a whitetail.
too hot for me, plus the mosquitos are bad still. Starts getting real good about Oct 20-25th when the pre rut starts.
It is necessary here in CA during archery season, have hunted over 100 degrees many a time.
If you don't hunt in the heat out far west you miss half the season. I prefer AZ in January but CA and Utah is what I get for now.
You want warmth... Come to AZ, we will be 105+ around the end of august (Deer Opener), maybe 115 in some areas... In the high mountains, maybe 80's , pretty hot and not fun! or is it? If I had the time this year I would be out hunting!!! :)
Good luck brothers!
Midday is a good time to nap eh? It's not like the deer are moving much then.
"Midday is a good time to nap eh? It's not like the deer are moving much then."
sure they are,,,all depends,,just as it does during cooler times yesterday it was about 90 here,,,there were deer in nearly every soybean field at noonish,,,
temps don't bother animals near as much as we'd like to think it does
hot weather = lots of mosquitoes and lots of odor. If we had prevailing winds > 3 mph and didn't have to deal with winds flip-flopping every 78 seconds I might like it a bit better. Though I do have more patients when it is cool...hot weather is not so bad. But more conducive to fishing.
Never too hot and Never too cold. The hunt takes priority over the weather!
never too hot to hunt. can be to hot to enjoy hunting
It would’ve been too hot yesterday Jim!!! I broke a sweat walking outside to throw out the watermelon rine!!!
I do not hunt in hot weather. First buck killed was in hot weather and I had a buck general to gut it. First buck I ever gutted as well. What a hot mess. Other then mid September in the high country where very cool at night where I hunt elk wait till late archery to hunt deer.
The cold weather when you get home is the bigger problem ha