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.
From: Michael
15-Sep-24
MN opener was today. High of 85 degrees today. Got it done tonight. I scouted this public spot all summer. Had 3 good bucks hitting the bean field. I put boots on the ground in early August. Picked out a couple of trees. The best spot needed something southerly for wind. We had SE all day. He hit my window at 15 yards and the arrow was on its way. Perfect shot and he was down in about 80 yards.
From: drycreek
15-Sep-24
Nice buck Michael, now you can sit in the a/c while you’re buck is chilling.
From: Altitude Sickness
15-Sep-24
Congrats !
From: Hunts_with_stick
15-Sep-24
Nice buck
From: BMF11
15-Sep-24
Great MN buck, Congrats!
From: TGbow
15-Sep-24
Nice buck Michael!
From: nchunter
15-Sep-24
I used to hunt the western foothills of NC. The season started first Monday in September. The mosquitos were terrible. When you shot a deer the clock was ticking to find it and cool it off asap. The blowflies and yellow jackets would be all over you while cleaning the deer. At least by the third week there it cooled off considerably. Hunting Uwharrie was a mosquito nightmare in September. It was in central NC and it was normal to go in at 65 and come out in the 90s.
From: bluedog
15-Sep-24
Well done Michael, nice buck and well executed plan.
From: Whocares
15-Sep-24
Way to go Michael! Short season. Now get after the grouse.
From: 12yards
15-Sep-24
Congrats Michael! Way to get it done on public land!
From: Insheart
15-Sep-24
Good luck Steve. Couple nice looking bucks on the ground, well done.
From: nchunter
16-Sep-24
Beautiful deer, congratulations
From: JayG
16-Sep-24
When I was stationed down at Ft Bragg, my cut off was 85 degrees. Any hotter, I would stay at the pool. LOL I used to just wear a pair of nylon running shorts, a mesh bug suit over it and a pair of boot. I used to get way up, like 18ish feet to keep my scent as high up as possible... You could still hear the sweat dripping on the ground down below for the first 30 minutes on stand. It would take about that long to stop the profuse sweating that would get going from using my climber. Hunting in the heat is pretty miserable. Give me a snow storm any day.
From: jmiller
17-Sep-24
I generally prefer hunting in the cooler weather as well, this buck was taken when the air temperature was -17. North Dakota sure offers extremes during the bow season!
From: DonVathome
20-Sep-24
I prefer cooler for all reasons above. If it is hotter then normal for that time of year I find hunting a little slower. That said if 90 degrees is the norm and if it is 90 deer will behave normally. Cloudy cool days have always done better than hot sunny days.
From: 12yards
29-Sep-24
Update. Went back to SD and killed this nice 10 on a day that touched 100 degrees. Amazing these animals are used to the heat. They still need to eat and drink. This one and another similar were together heading for a crop field half mile away.
From: t-roy
29-Sep-24
Congrats on your success, Steve!
From: W
30-Sep-24
I came across a rattler before daylight one morning when it was hot enough to make me wear shorts and a t shirt with a bug tamer suit over it. Killed a doe that morning. Go when you can go.
From: W
30-Sep-24
I came across a rattler before daylight one morning when it was hot enough to make me wear shorts and a t shirt with a bug tamer suit over it. Killed a doe that morning. Go when you can go.
