Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Cold weather and deer movement

There was another 2,826 deer reported over the last 24 hr period.......a 123% increase over the daily average for the rest of the season so far iffin my maff is correct

I believe it…brother hunted our place yesterday afternoon and said the woods came alive. I hunted there a week ago with the heat and didn’t see anything until a doe walked to camp after dark.

Deer move in all temps. They move more when it’s colder. Same for most warm blooded animals. Is 8:00am better than daylight on a frigid morning, maybe. Only because it was a cold night / morning. The hunting that afternoon is better cause it was cold the night before. Better when it’s cold. Who is arguing this?

I slipped off yesterday and took my son and one of his friends. We sat in a clearcut where we can see WAY further than we can shoot. Saw 7 bucks (1 4yo 8pt, but my son could not pull off a shot) and maybe 10 ish does and yearlings. It was the best hunt I have had all year.

One other thing to remember and some folks know this and forget - U can be seeing 20 deer a day then the rut starts and does get chased and does going into hiding - bucks scared crap out of them - so even on cold days in the rut - some days it’s an offer - but if u throw the rut and first ever sit of season in a stand and stuff like that out the window - move more n cold - deer processors n Wilcox and Clarke I talk to say see lot more dead cold days - there are anomalies like the rut that can sway it either direction

Is there any biological standpoint as to why a deer would move better in cold? I mean other than freezing to death, which we just don’t deal with in AL. The idea that more deer are brought in to the processor could be a direct correlation with number of hunters in the woods increases on cold days. Not many folks want to sit in a stand when it’s 80 degrees.

They have to move more to feed more to stay warm. Sure, they handle the temps better than us but when they eat and metabolism gets going, they warm up and are more comfortable

My guess anyway

Deer don’t get cold like u and I do - they hav coat built for it

I been shut out way more in hot than cold

Just glad to be out here today hunting - beautiful

An old timer who had killed more big deer than I can remember told me this long time ago - u want the 3 Cs - clear (blue ski) - calm (steady light breeze in one direction) and cold - I find that most times to be true - high pressure barometer along w 3 Cs - deadly - we got a little bit of that going on today - not super strong but it is cool clear and calm

Ain't calm in NW Marshall county. Wind is blowing 20 plus out of the south. FWIW I, didn't get the first picture of deer from Saturday night until this morning. Zero pictures and zero deer seen in the fields here at the house yesterday with snow on the ground.

I agree they probably don’t get “cold” but they at least cool off some. And that is when they feed and move more to warm up a bit

Friday is shaping up real nice. Decent north wind, clear, and fairly high pressure. Plus our rut should be getting close. Hope I pick the right spot

Me either but this evening feels right

IMO, you hit on the real culprit with barometric pressure. I'll stop short of saying temperature doesn't matter at all, but I think most of the time it's not the temp, it's the pressure change that caused the temp change. Predominantly speaking, cold weather is a high pressure system, and you usually have those big high blue skies. I think most guys don't really think that deep, so they just say it's the "cold weather" that got the deer up and moving. It's like the dog on the porch that knows when a storm is coming, or your arthritic knee.

I suppose it might be different in other climates, but in Alabama I'd rather it be seasonably warmer than seasonably colder. I still have confidence in 70+ degrees, but if it dropped to the teens and a big heavy frost tonight, I think THAT shuts them down. But most hunters just like hunting in the colder temps, and I don't think it's really even about the expectancy of deer movement, it's just a subconscious thing.

And I think a sudden change either way is often problematic. In October during bow season, I want it to be 70 and stay 70.... I don't want it to suddenly drop to 30 tonight. Likewise, in January if it's been in the 30's, I want it to stay that way for several days.
And again, it's probably the pressure change that caused those temps to drop or rise, moreso than the temp.

Honestly, don't give deer human reasoning....they're animals born in the wild, live their whole lives in the wild, they don't know about A/C, it's just another day for them.

It’s not a guess, they have to eat more when it’s cold. They know cause momma (instincts) told them. Again, this has never been a debate, always known.

Yes they are! Hogs are too. Nasty weather is a hogs undoing. They have to move in the rain and eat when it’s cold.

Didnt move worth a piss up till lunch here today. It was pretty cold. My wet butt was anyhow

I believe there's some scientific credibility that a deer will actually slow his/her metabolism down in colder weather / climates. And I'll leave this up to actual trained cattlemen or biologists, but I suspect a ruminant can go a while without eating.

I mean, it makes traditional sense that a critter would need to eat more to sustain the increased metabolic drain of staying warm, but do deer get THAT cold? The Lord don't make no junk, I bet they don't actually feel the cold like we do.
And I don't think just getting up and wandering around casually would warm them up, if THAT was the reason they're moving in the cold? Honestly, I'd curl up in a tight ball out of the wind if I was just trying to stay warm.

Again, I think it's a better guess to presume a connection between unseen atmospheric dynamics (barometric pressure, ambient light on blue sky days, whatever), than to say they just got cold so they had to move more. I don't think God designed them quite that delicately.

I’ve always heard they move better in the cold, I think everyone has, but is there any scientific reasoning behind it. I’ve seen 20 plus in bow season in 80 ’degree weather. On days where we have hard freezes and a big temp change to cold, the deer shut down until the sun comes out and thaws the ground, sometimes 9 and 10 AM. One things for certain is there are definitely more folks that key in on the cold conditions to get in the woods, which is why the processors can obviously see a difference in the number of deer brought in. Long story short, I don’t know that there’s any truth to it other than the barometric pressure shifting with the fronts as someone else has said.

Don’t want to write a dang thesis - but southern deer move more during cold periods and eat more during cold periods. One study you can find is a 20 year rough study done by Bent Creek lodge just based on sightings. About as southern as you can get. And that real world study based on sightings and success means a lot.

Southern deer vs northern deer. Deer farther north are physically setup to weather the cold better, meaning they can shut down when bitter cold and lay up living on fat stores and those freaking mattress thick winter coats they develop. Southern, thin coat deer, cannot do that for days and days. They have to eat. They may lay up for 12 hours, say 8pm to 8am when we get really cold temps, but they gotta go eat after that. That makes the next afternoon on a food source a great place to be. Hunters have figured it out. And that helps create lines at the processors.

^^^^^
This

And wasn’t that actually proven shortly after Adam and Eve 😀

Today, lots of deer moving , nearly good as yesterday.