Deep South Extreme Cold Weather And Deer Hunting

[Bigbendgyrene]

Know there's a VERY long thread on the cold weather coming, but I'm sharing this post with a very specific focus on how it will affect deer hunting.

Living outside Tallahassee, FL, I've always had the best luck hunting cold snaps but typically that's more like drops from high/lows of 70/50 to high/lows around 50/30.

Current forecast for North FL has Fri, Sat, Sun, and Mon with lows between upper teens and 20s and highs between 30s to 40s.

Whereas I generally think of mildly cool temps helping to get deer to move during daylight (versus using cooler temps at night to run around when really hot in days) I can't help but wonder if the deer might want to stay bedded up more during the really cold temps, and then make up for it by heavy feeding as the slow warm-up starts next week around Tuesday and Wednesday.

With this forum a relatively deep-south-focused one, very curious to know what folks' first-hand observations/experiences have been hunting VERY cold snaps.

See more daylight movement when lows dip into teens and highs barely break freezing OR find they stay in bed like humans want to do when really cold and then make up for it by feeding heavier on the back side of the cold front? Strategies change on when to hunt (mornings vs evenings), areas hunted (closer to bedding vs over food plots), etc?

TRULY looking forward to ANY / ALL intel that ends up being shared in this thread.

 

[SC Hunter]

Cold cold mornings I usually see more deer around 8-10 AM. If you have a clear cut, field or powerline I'd sit there, they'll want to get in the sun and warm up some. If it's windy and in the teens I would think(I've been wrong before) they'll stay in bed until it settles down some. I'm going to try to sneak away and get on some this weekend but we'll see. Yall be safe and have a Merry Christmas!

 

[diamondback]

In my experience they wait until later to move. I like hunting 10 to 2 when it’s below 30. I’m in south ga. Like was said I like clearcuts when they want the warmth from the sun. Wind may be one variable but the rut in your area will have more effect than anything and the big mature ones seem to like moving when it’s blowing 15-20 during the rut. My guess is they use the wind to locate does and feel the movement from the wind help cover their movement the same as hunters that like to stalk on windy days. Late afternoon will also be good because they need to take in more calories to get them through the colder nights so then it’s time to be over a green plot or corn.

 

[earlthegoat2]

Being someone who grew up hunting more extreme colds in MI, I find the deer are moving more the colder it is with very few exceptions.

If you can stand to be out there, you should see some deer. This seems to be true despite other weather factors as well. Things like precipitation (so snow in these temps) and gustier than usual wind seem to not apply but it makes hunting that much harder too.

I have never seen world class bucks during these times either but I have scarcely ever seen 150 bucks in my lifetime either.

I shot this deer in MI this year in not too extreme of a temperature (25 degrees) but in very extreme blizzard conditions. My visibility may have been 20 yds at the time. Luckily he was 10 yds away when I saw him and came a bit closer before I shot him.



That is just one of a few I have taken in extreme conditions over the years.

One year I was desperate for a deer and had been skunked most of the season. In MI, the muzzleloader season is later in the year so I had that on a -2 degree morning. Luckily a deer of decent size walked out just after full light and I got it. That was a very cold gutting job and I would not have been out there had I have shot one earlier in the season.

 

[doenightmare]

I think they wait a little later to move in the AM. Maybe 9:00 or 10:00. The effect of teen temps on my hunting is no bueno.

 

[Nicodemus]

Only thing I'd do different would be to hunt a big broom sedge field or old fallow field where it gets a lot of sun. I've noticed deer tend to lay up in there and catch the sun.
I don't think the weather affects deer like it does us.

 

[Sixes]

They will lay up somewhere out of the wind and in the sun if possible

 

[hawkeye123]

Last time it was 11-12 I saw 21 does & 8 bucks bout 6-7 yrs ago early Jan in Meriwether co..all between 845 & 11..I'm hunting sat am 8-12..skipping tomorrow ..good am to sleep in!

 

[fireman32]

I think they move longer into the day when it’s cold. And judging by the heavy coat on the doe my boy shot the other day, they’ll be just fine in this cold.

 

[antharper]

It hasn’t been as cold as it’s gonna get in so long I’ve forgot . But I’m off work til the 3rd and need about 3 to fill my new freezer so I’ll be in a tree starting in the morning at daylight . I’ll report back . May not see a deer, but chances are if I do it’s taking a truck ride . Or at least getting shot at

 

[BeerThirty]

In my experience they wait until later to move. I like hunting 10 to 2 when it’s below 30. I’m in south ga. Like was said I like clearcuts when they want the warmth from the sun. Wind may be one variable but the rut in your area will have more effect than anything and the big mature ones seem to like moving when it’s blowing 15-20 during the rut. My guess is they use the wind to locate does and feel the movement from the wind help cover their movement the same as hunters that like to stalk on windy days. Late afternoon will also be good because they need to take in more calories to get them through the colder nights so then it’s time to be over a green plot or corn.

I hunt Wisconsin in single digit and low teens and this method works there too.

 

[35 Whelen]

South facing slopes here in the mountains.

 

[Buckman18]

I’d say the first couple hours of the coldest morning after the front will be slow, but really it’ll be business as usual otherwise. Sunny side of the ridges, clearcuts, overgrown fields with sun, etc in the morning and mid day… bait stations and food plots in the evenings, especially this year in the NE GA mtns with an acorn failure..

The evenings before the front will be glorious.

 

[bfriendly]

Only thing I'd do different would be to hunt a big broom sedge field or old fallow field where it gets a lot of sun. I've noticed deer tend to lay up in there and catch the sun.
I don't think the weather affects deer like it does us.

This^^^ when folks say they see more movement later in the day, it’s cause they weren’t cray cray enough to be out there before daylight on a day like this! If I were hunting today, I don’t think I’d be in any tree, leaner or saddle. I just hope my ground blind didn’t up and leave……I bet it’s not in the same place right now

 

[mallardsx2]

According to my cameras, yesterday was the day to hunt. The deer knew this was coming. For sure. Lol

 

[earlthegoat2]

According to my cameras, yesterday was the day to hunt. The deer knew this was coming. For sure. Lol

The deer also will move a bit more after a big storm.

 

[Browning Slayer]

It hasn’t been as cold as it’s gonna get in so long I’ve forgot . But I’m off work til the 3rd and need about 3 to fill my new freezer so I’ll be in a tree starting in the morning at daylight . I’ll report back . May not see a deer, but chances are if I do it’s taking a truck ride . Or at least getting shot at

Good luck trying to get a bullet to fly in this wind. I’m drinking coffee debating about the tree or not..

 

[jmac7469]

Years ago on Christmas eve we had a big cold front like this that dropped temps from 70's to high teens, it was the best morning sit I personally ever had. Seen 55 deer that morning I'll absolutely never forget it. Deer were everywhere. Most of the movement was from 8 to 1130. I ended up sick for a week after that sit but what an experience. Dont know what it will be like this time but I'll be in a tree for sure.

 

[B. White]

We have a very long season now. This is good weather to spend drinking coffee and cutting one up I have in a cooler. I'll be back to hunting in a sweatshirt and tennis shoes next week.

10 is the coldest I killed one a long time ago in Talbot. Feeding heavy on pin oaks early, so I only sat a few minutes. I remember sitting against a log since I felt climbing a tree would be too much work with all the clothes. It was low humidity, no wind and no cloud cover. Higher humidity and wind today will make it feel a lot worse. Below 10 I've never seen any move early around here.

 

[Bigbendgyrene]

Deer movement or not, can't imagine sitting in a tree this morning. I like hunting windy days, but whole different level of windy this morning. House cracking and creaking with really HEAVY gusts this morning.

Above shared, daughter loves her swing set and swings about 30 mins most days... told her this morning it's only going to get colder / stay colder for next 3 days so she's bundled up swinging like a banshee right now!