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Curious about snow movement

greg728

greg728

Active Member
SH Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2021
Messages
180
Location
Pennsylvania
I’m currently doe hunting right now. There’s a herd bedding in a small timber patch about 70 yards from a food source on a farm I recently got access to hunt. They were coming out to feed just before sunset but I think other hunting pressure spooked them as they’re now nocturnal. Does anyone find pre-storm feeding to be a factor that drives deer to feed during daylight? We’re expecting 4-8 inches of snow Saturday afternoon into the night. I was thinking of sneaking in there a few hours before the snow starts in hopes they’ll be moving to feed before the storm. There are other parts of the property where I’ve seen deer movement though so if it’s improbable they’ll feed during daylight I’ll probably focus my efforts elsewhere. Just curious what people’s experience is with this.
 
Typically when the temps drop and pressure increases (i.e. a weather front is coming in) deer will move earlier to get to feeding it’s an instinctual action. Also after a weather from especially if the weather has been super cold or bad….. they are slaves to their rumen and must eat approximately every five hours.
 
woodsdog2 said:
they are slaves to their rumen and must eat approximately every five hours.
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This.
No matter what, they can’t avoid getting up for a bite to eat every few hours. A storm may just make them more comfortable to venture further or stay out longer during daylight. If hunting pressure is usually high, they will probably feel they have more leeway to move about during bad weather.
Just don’t get yourself dead out there if the weather is really nasty.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
This.
No matter what, they can’t avoid getting up for a bite to eat every few hours. A storm may just make them more comfortable to venture further or stay out longer during daylight. If hunting pressure is usually high, they will probably feel they have more leeway to move about during bad weather.
Just don’t get yourself dead out there if the weather is really nasty.
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Thanks. It shouldn’t be too bad and the farm is 7 mins from my house. I also don’t have to walk more than a few hundred yards from the truck.
 
greg728 said:
I’m currently doe hunting right now. There’s a herd bedding in a small timber patch about 70 yards from a food source on a farm I recently got access to hunt. They were coming out to feed just before sunset but I think other hunting pressure spooked them as they’re now nocturnal. Does anyone find pre-storm feeding to be a factor that drives deer to feed during daylight? We’re expecting 4-8 inches of snow Saturday afternoon into the night. I was thinking of sneaking in there a few hours before the snow starts in hopes they’ll be moving to feed before the storm. There are other parts of the property where I’ve seen deer movement though so if it’s improbable they’ll feed during daylight I’ll probably focus my efforts elsewhere. Just curious what people’s experience is with this.
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I find that pre-front movement CAN be decent, but for consistently increased movement my preference is post-front.
 
I’d get to the woods as early as possible and go SLOW getting as close To the bedded deer as you can get away with. As others have said, the deer have to eat, pressure will simply force them to bed somewhere they can get up and feed without feeling vulnerable. They will be bedded and feeding in thick security cover.
 
bowhunthard88 said:
I find that pre-front movement CAN be decent, but for consistently increased movement my preference is post-front.
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This is where I've gotten to. We have a bunch of deer just in the neighborhood and I'm able to hunt out the back door so I watch them. Snow or rain, I find that they want to be bedded down before it starts so that they have a warm and dry bed. If I am hunting the front edge of a storm, I want to be in my tree at least 4 hours before its due to start and ideally 6. The deer don't have the weather app to tell them exactly when its going to start so they might be early.

On the back end though, you can be sure that as soon as it stops they will be on their feet inside 30 minutes. I like to use the noise of the storm to sneak in and get set up to be ready as soon as it stops.
 
When I had more flexibility in my hunting days and hours, I wouldn't miss being in the woods as a storm was ending. That 30 minutes after the heavy rain stops along a field edge can be magical. They feed, they dry off, and (if you are lucky enough for the sun to come out) they warm up in the fields.
 
It makes for neat logic because we humans like that, but deer do what they want. There definitely are random days where every deer in the county is feeding at 2 in the afternoon, but I've yet to correlate it to anything. I'll be hunting today and tomorrow, but it's not because a storm is coming.
 
elk yinzer said:
It makes for neat logic because we humans like that, but deer do what they want. There definitely are random days where every deer in the county is feeding at 2 in the afternoon, but I've yet to correlate it to anything. I'll be hunting today and tomorrow, but it's not because a storm is coming.
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I can correlate those days easily. They are always the ones when I am at work.
 
If you are around here you are late if you wanted to beat the snow. Snowing like a son of a gun here.
 
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