Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

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weatherdude
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Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby weatherdude » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:25 am

Hello fellow beasts,

My name is Austin Dixon. I am a master's student in atmospheric sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and I have a bachelor's degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma. I have created a website dedicated to discussing the weather forecast specifically in relation to deer hunting. My goal for this site is to provide forecasts that are both detailed and user friendly (free of too much jargon). The site is totally free. I have been passionate about both weather and deer hunting most of my life and this website is a great way to blend those passions for me. I would love for all of you to check out the site and see what you think. My hope is that you will find the information both interesting and useful. It is still in somewhat of a development stage so there is not a ton of content yet, but I have made the first forecast discussion of the year for those of us that have a September archery opener. Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

https://huntthefront.blog

Thank you and good luck this season.


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stash59
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby stash59 » Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:09 pm

Welcome, enjoy this site and I'll check out yours.
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby cdeam » Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:33 pm

I'm bookmarking this. Very well done, sir. I like the maps and front discussion. Educational and informative. Thats my kind of forecast. I look forward to following your page this season. Keep up the good work!
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Jackson Marsh
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Tue Sep 12, 2017 1:39 pm

Welcome to the Beast!

I bookmarked your site and will check it out.
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weatherdude
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby weatherdude » Tue Sep 12, 2017 3:39 pm

Thanks guys!
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Ghost Hunter
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Tue Sep 12, 2017 8:22 pm

Nice!
I'm reason they call it hunting and not shooting.
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PUBLICbowhunter
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby PUBLICbowhunter » Tue Sep 12, 2017 11:25 pm

Welcome!
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E72
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby E72 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:07 am

This is something I know a lot of hunters would take a look at before scheduling their vacation time for a hunt. One of the most common questions on hunting forums..."What week for cold temps and rutting bucks in your state?". I will definitely check it out.
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby bowfreak8 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 1:10 am

Very Cool... Welcome to the Beast
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby sgspencer » Wed Sep 13, 2017 2:48 am

Nice page and information Austin. Are you able or going to do any longer range forecasting (several weeks out or general fall/winter predictions)? I know you can't go too far out otherwise its just a guess.
Thanks.
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weatherdude
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:02 am

If there is a lot of interest in long range forecasts (say a few weeks to a month) then I can certainly do that. Unfortunately at that range there is little to no specific information, but we could certainly get a ballpark of what kind of weather pattern we might see at that range. I personally don't find seasonal forecasts to be of any value. As you say, it's an educated guess at best. But, looking ahead a few weeks to a month is something I will definitely consider as we get into October and closer to the rut.
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby BradC36 » Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:10 am

Welcome and book marked your site as well, interested to watch and see how it develops!
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elk yinzer
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby elk yinzer » Wed Sep 13, 2017 4:19 am

Cool, looking forward to checking out what you come up with. Just some scattered comments, it would take a pretty serious product to replace the handful of site I use.

Presentation is everything when it comes to forecasting. I like elements of wunderground and intellicast. Another I rely on a lot is iWindsurf. Wunderground forecast maps are great tools, if they were more interactive that would be money. It certainly is a delicate balance between simplicity and details, but to be useful for hunters I think you need to go into more detail.

So many people are just idiots when it comes to weather. I have multiple friends that will look at the little icon on there phones and moan when it's wrong. "My weather icon says sunshine and it's raining outside". No clue how to read a radar or surface analysis map.

As far as long range forecasting, I think you have to be able to reference the uncertainty in the models. NWS does a great job of this if you take the time to read the "forecast discussion". Same with iWindsurf where you can toggle the base model. You start to realize that some weather patterns are predicable and pretty safe forecasts, and others can swing pretty wildly based on a lot of variables or a minor geographic shift.

I think easy access to historical data, presented in a consumable format, is another thing that would benefit hunters.

Especially out West, but even the mountains back East, figuring elevation in is important. For instance where I go elk hunting, if you search for the nearest town vs. where we actually hunt up on the mountain, you are often looking at 20-30 degree temperature differences. That is true to a lesser degree where I hunt in Central PA as well.
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weatherdude
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby weatherdude » Wed Sep 13, 2017 5:42 am

elk yinzer,

It's always great to meet a non-meteorologist that actually looks at the available weather information out there that isn't just their phone weather app. I groan when someone even references that awful thing. All of your ideas are great and are things I definitely have in mind for the future. Wunderground is a great site for several different types of data. If you like Intellicast you should check out RadarScope. It costs $9.99 but it's a great product with all of the radar info you could ever imagine. The NWS is always a great source; having been an intern at the Norman NWS office during my time at OU I will always point people there for most weather info.

As far as making historical data available goes, this would be a major, major undertaking. It would require access to multiple data servers from multiple different websites where the data lives for every part of the country and running all of them on the HTF page. And unfortunately it would cost me (a poor graduate student) more out of pocket money than I can put forward for this project at the moment. If the site begins to see major traffic, then maybe a historical data server of some kind could be an option. For now it just doesn't make sense to do.
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Re: Weather Forecasting For Deer Hunting

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:07 am

Welcome weatherdude. I will be paying attention to what you post.

I know you mentioned its probably beyond your scope right now but just to follow up elk's comments my biggest desire is for a site to replace weatherspark's historical weather graphical display. Not sure if anyone else remembers that but it was an awesome and also customizable, pick what you want to see of all the major weather indicators. Better than Wunderground. I miss weatherspark!

All the historic weather data you need is free at the following site - its just challenging to work with and make user friendly. I export it a year at a time into excel right now. Would love to see a web based app that has more capability than something like deerlab.

https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datatools/lcd
Last edited by JoeRE on Wed Sep 13, 2017 6:10 am, edited 2 times in total.


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