This thread is literally the entire point of the book.
It’s a dispassionate review of thousands upon thousands of hours of hunting, analyzed for every variable we tend to care about.
Shep does not recommend YOU not hunt when there’s a south wind. He just points out that given the fact he’s a doctor, has a family, likes to engage in other outdoor activities, and lives in south Alabama, the tradeoffs of hunting when the odds tell him not to, are not worth it.
he makes EXPLICITLY clear that wind direction has nothing to do with an uptick in daytime deer movement. It’s that it CORRELATES with warmer weather. He also makes EXPLICITLY clear that temperature reigns supreme in dictating day time deer movement, and that it’s RELATIVE.
That means that in the south, where it’s freakin swampy hot all year, temps hitting 40* cause a drastic increase in daytime deer movement. This only comes to light after doing multivariate analysis, and ruling out all of the other little things we THINK and FEEL make a difference. He also admits he doesn’t hunt up north, and can’t speak to TACTICS for hunting there. But that the temperature change RELATIVE to average temperature, and the temperature the day before, is what dictates the uptick in daytime deer movement. This leaves the door open for the “deer move more when it warms up after being below zero for three days” stuff.
the OP’s take from the book is literally the polar opposite of the message he’s trying to convey.
for MOST of the country for MOST of the time MOST people hunt, a southerly wind correlates with warmer temperatures,RELATIVELY speaking. And warmer temperatures, RELATIVE to AVERAGE temperatures, or temperatures on days BEFORE and AFTER the warm days, lead to diminished daytime deer movement.
remember, deer are nocturnal, generally speaking. This isn’t hunting lore. It’s biological fact. Of course there are exceptions, and deer move in daylight. Obviously, why else would we hunt? We look for anything that will cause deer to move more in daylight hours. Guess what makes deer move during daylight hours, more than anything else, in most of the country for most of deer season? Cooler weather.
It’s a dispassionate review of thousands upon thousands of hours of hunting, analyzed for every variable we tend to care about.
Shep does not recommend YOU not hunt when there’s a south wind. He just points out that given the fact he’s a doctor, has a family, likes to engage in other outdoor activities, and lives in south Alabama, the tradeoffs of hunting when the odds tell him not to, are not worth it.
he makes EXPLICITLY clear that wind direction has nothing to do with an uptick in daytime deer movement. It’s that it CORRELATES with warmer weather. He also makes EXPLICITLY clear that temperature reigns supreme in dictating day time deer movement, and that it’s RELATIVE.
That means that in the south, where it’s freakin swampy hot all year, temps hitting 40* cause a drastic increase in daytime deer movement. This only comes to light after doing multivariate analysis, and ruling out all of the other little things we THINK and FEEL make a difference. He also admits he doesn’t hunt up north, and can’t speak to TACTICS for hunting there. But that the temperature change RELATIVE to average temperature, and the temperature the day before, is what dictates the uptick in daytime deer movement. This leaves the door open for the “deer move more when it warms up after being below zero for three days” stuff.
the OP’s take from the book is literally the polar opposite of the message he’s trying to convey.
for MOST of the country for MOST of the time MOST people hunt, a southerly wind correlates with warmer temperatures,RELATIVELY speaking. And warmer temperatures, RELATIVE to AVERAGE temperatures, or temperatures on days BEFORE and AFTER the warm days, lead to diminished daytime deer movement.
remember, deer are nocturnal, generally speaking. This isn’t hunting lore. It’s biological fact. Of course there are exceptions, and deer move in daylight. Obviously, why else would we hunt? We look for anything that will cause deer to move more in daylight hours. Guess what makes deer move during daylight hours, more than anything else, in most of the country for most of deer season? Cooler weather.
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