• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Bad Weather Hunts

B

Bratch

Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2022
Messages
41
In traditional Oklahoma style we went from no wind yesterday to 20+ MPH winds today and it got me thinking about saddle hunting.

Does anyone have a wind threshold where they’ll stay out of the trees and hunt from the ground or just stay home? I’ve hunted 20-30 MPH winds from the ground but this will be my first year with a saddle and wasn’t sure how I’d feel being elevated as I watched the trees in my yard whipping around.

How about thunderstorms in the forecast?
 
Watch the radar for approaching storms. As far as the wind, if you can't hold your pin steady hunt from the ground or stay home.

Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk
 
If it's windy enough for me to see trees swaying, I stay on the ground. A stiff wind (20 mph & up) seems to blow me around enough that I'm not really having a good time! I've purposely "practice climbed" on windy days at home, & now know when it's too windy for me! ;)

With the noise from the wind, I can either pick a spot & sit, or still-hunt/scout until I see or "bump" something, then I go from there.
 
Above 15mph is my cutoff most of the time. Sustained wind at that level pretty much shuts down our deer movement. I know that varies depending on where one hunts and the normal conditions for the area. Friends that hunt the midwest regularly hunt 20-30 mph winds and have good deer movement because that is mostly normal.
 
We have deer movement in 20 MPH+ winds. Sounds like it’s personal but 15-20 MPH I may want to start looking at other options.
 
Depends a lot on the tree you plan to climb, and not just the trunk diameter. A blackjack that's 10" diameter but only 30 feet tall will sway a lot less than a 14" diameter hickory that's 60 feet tall. I have climbed when I could feel the tree moving, but I think the shooting conditions are an issue before safety becomes an issue.
I just checked the weather history, and the day I shot my biggest buck, the wind peaked at 17 with gusts to 28 - just a normal Oklahoma fall day.
 
Last edited:
Bratch said:
In traditional Oklahoma style we went from no wind yesterday to 20+ MPH winds today and it got me thinking about saddle hunting.

Does anyone have a wind threshold where they’ll stay out of the trees and hunt from the ground or just stay home? I’ve hunted 20-30 MPH winds from the ground but this will be my first year with a saddle and wasn’t sure how I’d feel being elevated as I watched the trees in my yard whipping around.

How about thunderstorms in the forecast?
Click to expand...
I kinda like swaying in the tree a little. It did freak me out a little when a perfect wind direction met up with my mass and momentum one time. It was literally kicking me off the tree……and it wasn’t blowing terribly either! I was like what the heck?
GA wind isnt too crazy generally, but I have also swung back and forth pretty drastically in a good size pine one time I remember well. I wasn’t exactly skeered, but it was testing my limitations for sure!
If it’s really windy, I’ll find a bottom and try to get out of some of it. I don’t play with Thunderstorms. I’ll leave before it comes in or stay home and curse, period.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top