Hunting in the heat
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: 12yards
05-Sep-24
Went hunting in SD for a few days and man, was it hot. Never hunted in 90-100 degree heat before. I didn't enjoy it that much. But I gotta admit, the deer still moved. I suppose the deer in SD are used to heat and part of their everyday life. I saw some really nice bucks, but nothing close enough to shoot other than does and smaller bucks. What are your experiences with hot weather hunting and do you enjoy it? I get some people love the thought of shooting a velvet deer, but it doesn't really intrigue me that much.
From: bigswivle
05-Sep-24
No choice here, lol. My bow season starts nexts weekend and all the bucks will be hard horned and pre-rutty. I wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt most of the time as well as carrying two thermacells. Great time to hunt my deer and usually have no pressure from any of my neighbors.
From: fdp
05-Sep-24
Same here. If you are going to hunt the early archery season in Texas, you are going to have some hot days.
From: Grey Ghost
05-Sep-24
12Yards, I'm with you, I don't care for hot weather hunting. It's odd, I can fish all day in 100 degree heat, but give me frosty mornings with day highs in the 40-50 range, or colder, for hunting. It's the main reason I stopped antelope hunting. I realized I wasn't enjoying it due to the heat, and if I killed something, it was always a scramble to take care of the meat.
From: jmiller
05-Sep-24
The season in ND opens early, but I try to wait for a cool front and north winds. I don't seem to see much when it's hot. Last night a cool front moved in and got a buck on his feet.
From: fran
05-Sep-24
In a 100 degree heat a quick kill and recovery must be essential to keep the meat from spoiling.
From: WV Mountaineer
05-Sep-24
I hunt when I can. When it’s hot I don’t like it as much as a cool 20 degree morning.
From: LOSTNwoods
05-Sep-24
Best time to pattern a mature buck. First two weeks. After that u have to get lucky in Oct and then it’s a long wait until last week in Oct.
Also take out some doe early for herd control.
I’m hunting in 5D
From: 12yards
05-Sep-24
The mosquitos were almost non existent, but the noseeums were absolutely brutal. In the future, I won't go based on a schedule. I will look at the forecast and go during a cool down. Nice to be retired and flexible.
From: 12yards
05-Sep-24
Congrats jmiller! Nice buck!
From: drycreek
05-Sep-24
Nice one jmiller ! As fdp said, if you want to hunt, it’s gonna be hot. Sitting in a popup is even more brutal. You can use a thermacell for the skeeters but the sweat is still gonna run down your crack.
From: fdp
05-Sep-24
Yep....no breeze in a pop up blind.
From: t-roy
06-Sep-24
Congrats Jeff!
From: Altitude Sickness
06-Sep-24
Nice buck Jeff. Congrats !
From: Hunts_with_stick
06-Sep-24
Awesome!
From: Will
06-Sep-24
Good luck with it.
I've never hunted in more than the low 80's, luckily. That said, the risk of meat spoilage is real. You definitely want to be ready to take care of the animal ASAP. Even if that's just skin/quarter, stuff in cooler/s.
From: Supernaut
06-Sep-24
Congrats on the beautiful buck Jeff!
Early season can be pretty warm here in PA as it starts for me in the middle of September. I hunt whenever I can and just deal with the heat. On the plus side, my neighbor is a butcher and I can have a deer hanging in his cooler within an hour after I send an arrow on it's way.
I dress appropriately and try to keep the skeeters away.
From: RonP
06-Sep-24
done it and do not like it mainly because of the greater risk of meat spoilage as mentioned. i don't do it anymore unless i know it will drastically cool off in the evening and overnight.
i never had the desire to shoot a buck or bull in velvet. i think they're ugly.
From: itshot
06-Sep-24
the heat sure can make for some uncomfortable hunts and brutal blood trailing but when it works out it's worth it!
never had a problem with meat spoilage, especially on morning hunts, as long as the animal was recovered within a few hours, skinned, quartered and iced
an evening hit can result in spoilage by coyote within a few hours, though
From: will Tell
06-Sep-24
Had a nice Buck spoil on me because of the heat. Couldn’t find him till the next morning and he was already spoiled.
From: 12yards
06-Sep-24
I agree with you RonP. Not a fan of the velvet look. I do love the look of an early season polished buck though. Early season coat with a freshly polished rack is a good look IMO.
From: KY EyeBow
06-Sep-24
Our opener is tomorrow in KY. Everyone always bitches and complains about the hot weather,,,, except for the deer! Statistically the weather a month from now is just a few degrees cooler than what it currently is. Yes, a quick recovery is paramount, otherwise just learn how to care for them and you shouldn't lose any meat. When I kill in the evening, I put 2-8 pound bags of ice in the chest cavity, hang the deer, head down, then take to the processor by 9AM the next day. The deer I kill early taste just as good as the ones I kill later in the season.
From: butcherboy
06-Sep-24
When you have a quick clean kill you actually have a little time to take care of the animal. Skin and breakdown the quarters and if there is a breeze then let the meat cool down a little before putting it in a cooler with ice. Animals left Over night spoil because of the heat left inside the body and under the hide. The ground will act as an insulator as well and that’s the side that will spoil faster.
From: bigswivle
06-Sep-24
There’s definitely no “leaving them over night” option in the FL this time of year.
From: Michael
06-Sep-24
I like early season. Yes you have to take care of the meat correctly. I think of early season like I am hunting a summer pattern. The deer move all summer in the heat. However that pattern changes quickly especially if they are stripping velvet off.
Here lately I prefer not to shoot does early because well I don’t want to do the work to take care of them but I will do the work to take care of a buck.
So far this year in Nebraska I have noticed the deer are concentrated around corn. Not seeing much activity in beans. Been seeing a fair amount of guys picking dry land corn as well.
Oh and 12 yards I know exactly what you mean about the bugs. Not a mosquito around down here but the no see ums have the back of my neck bit up.
From: Aces11
06-Sep-24
Great job! Congratulations Jmiller, from another ND Boy.
From: Franzen
07-Sep-24
I'm not a fan of hunting in heat and humidity; it's just not that enjoyable. More and more, if I can avoid those conditions altogether, it's a plus.
From: Thornton
07-Sep-24
I used to think a good hunt could only happen on a cold November or December day. I've probably had more memorable September and October hunts with bucks less than 40 yards away than any other time of the season.
From: TGbow
07-Sep-24
It can be 80-90 degrees in October here when archery season opens. I don't like it but I usually hunt anyway. Even in the winter time it can get warm some days. Watch for snakes
From: deerslayer
08-Sep-24
Best way I found is the gutless method. I leave the deer on my tailgate and bone it out, putting the meat in a meat tub as I go. Then when I get home, it’s straight into the refrigerator. Then it’s just as good as hanging, only now I don’t have a carcass to fool with.
