Storm bedding

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Brad
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Storm bedding

Unread postby Brad » Sat Sep 11, 2021 4:07 am

I am curious what all of you experienced guys have seen as far as where a buck beds when it is storming. If they have a secure spot do they stay in the same bed or beds? or do they move to a spot with better overhead cover? If they are bedding on a field edge in early to mid september, would they still be there if it's storming? just curious what others have seen in these conditions. Right now I am about 5 days from our season opener (finally!) and they are calling for thunder storms the night before and into the early morning, then rain until late morning, and then it is supposed to clear up from late morning to early afternoon. With the storms through the night, and the temp is supposed to drop about 10 degrees compared to the days before, I am thinking there is a good chance of increased buck movement. But I am wondering how the storms could effect where they are coming from.


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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby PK_ » Sat Sep 11, 2021 4:20 am

Normal thunderstorm don’t bother them too much. But stronger and longer duration storms can push them out of the overhead cover and into the fields especially with high winds.
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Sat Sep 11, 2021 4:32 am

My experience has been that they are not bedded at all but are instead up moving during storms.
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby Brad » Sat Sep 11, 2021 12:57 pm

PK_ wrote:Normal thunderstorm don’t bother them too much. But stronger and longer duration storms can push them out of the overhead cover and into the fields especially with high winds.


interesting. are you referring to daytime storms they will go out into the fields, through the night, or during normal times of movement? Do you think through the night the storms would make them hunker down more than normal during their primary feeding times or are you saying the storms will get them moving more during those times? and I'm curious if storms during the time they head back to their beds if it would change where they end up bedding?
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby Brad » Sat Sep 11, 2021 12:58 pm

szwampdonkey wrote:My experience has been that they are not bedded at all but are instead up moving during storms.


do you mean they are up and moving during their normal feeding times during storms? or do you mean they will get up more during normal bedding times during storms?
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Sat Sep 11, 2021 3:04 pm

Brad wrote:
szwampdonkey wrote:My experience has been that they are not bedded at all but are instead up moving during storms.


do you mean they are up and moving during their normal feeding times during storms? or do you mean they will get up more during normal bedding times during storms?


I mean that id be a wealthier man if I had a dime for every time the landowner would call me to tell me there was just a huge buck out in his field where am I right now when i decided not to go hunt because there was a big storm coming and it was blowing and raining cats and dogs.

So im saying they move more often in daylight hours in my experience outside of their normal bedding times, like 4 hours before sunset instead of their normal 2 hours or at 10 am instead of already being in their bed for 3 hours. In my experience storms get them up and moving.
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby PK_ » Sun Sep 12, 2021 12:45 am

Brad wrote:
PK_ wrote:Normal thunderstorm don’t bother them too much. But stronger and longer duration storms can push them out of the overhead cover and into the fields especially with high winds.


interesting. are you referring to daytime storms they will go out into the fields, through the night, or during normal times of movement? Do you think through the night the storms would make them hunker down more than normal during their primary feeding times or are you saying the storms will get them moving more during those times? and I'm curious if storms during the time they head back to their beds if it would change where they end up bedding?

So I was speaking more about longer storms like fronts coming thru that have high winds (not just a little windy, I am talking much higher than average) for a day or more. The deer will just stay out in more open areas, like brushy fields or bean fields day and night.

If if it just an isolated but strong thunderstorm that comes thru while they are out feeding, they will usually just hunker down until it lets up.

It has to be a real bad storm to get them up during the day and relocate them to the fields if they are already in the timber…

Edit: just read szwampdonkey’s last reply, that’s exactly what I am talking about. When it’s really storming they will get out into the fields, think about it, pretty much all their senses are wiped out in the timber in those conditions.
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby Brad » Sun Sep 12, 2021 7:28 am

PK_ wrote:
Brad wrote:
PK_ wrote:Normal thunderstorm don’t bother them too much. But stronger and longer duration storms can push them out of the overhead cover and into the fields especially with high winds.


interesting. are you referring to daytime storms they will go out into the fields, through the night, or during normal times of movement? Do you think through the night the storms would make them hunker down more than normal during their primary feeding times or are you saying the storms will get them moving more during those times? and I'm curious if storms during the time they head back to their beds if it would change where they end up bedding?

So I was speaking more about longer storms like fronts coming thru that have high winds (not just a little windy, I am talking much higher than average) for a day or more. The deer will just stay out in more open areas, like brushy fields or bean fields day and night.

If if it just an isolated but strong thunderstorm that comes thru while they are out feeding, they will usually just hunker down until it lets up.

It has to be a real bad storm to get them up during the day and relocate them to the fields if they are already in the timber…

Edit: just read szwampdonkey’s last reply, that’s exactly what I am talking about. When it’s really storming they will get out into the fields, think about it, pretty much all their senses are wiped out in the timber in those conditions.


looking at our weather report, it's still calling for thunderstorms from midnight until around noon on opening day 4 days from now, but pretty much no wind... only 5 mph or less all day and night, and only around 60% chance of rain. So at this point it could be great weather or it could storm. In this case, with chance of thunderstorms but very little wind, do you think the bucks will likely just do what they normally do?
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Re: Storm bedding

Unread postby PK_ » Sun Sep 12, 2021 11:55 pm

Brad wrote:
PK_ wrote:
Brad wrote:
PK_ wrote:Normal thunderstorm don’t bother them too much. But stronger and longer duration storms can push them out of the overhead cover and into the fields especially with high winds.


interesting. are you referring to daytime storms they will go out into the fields, through the night, or during normal times of movement? Do you think through the night the storms would make them hunker down more than normal during their primary feeding times or are you saying the storms will get them moving more during those times? and I'm curious if storms during the time they head back to their beds if it would change where they end up bedding?

So I was speaking more about longer storms like fronts coming thru that have high winds (not just a little windy, I am talking much higher than average) for a day or more. The deer will just stay out in more open areas, like brushy fields or bean fields day and night.

If if it just an isolated but strong thunderstorm that comes thru while they are out feeding, they will usually just hunker down until it lets up.

It has to be a real bad storm to get them up during the day and relocate them to the fields if they are already in the timber…

Edit: just read szwampdonkey’s last reply, that’s exactly what I am talking about. When it’s really storming they will get out into the fields, think about it, pretty much all their senses are wiped out in the timber in those conditions.


looking at our weather report, it's still calling for thunderstorms from midnight until around noon on opening day 4 days from now, but pretty much no wind... only 5 mph or less all day and night, and only around 60% chance of rain. So at this point it could be great weather or it could storm. In this case, with chance of thunderstorms but very little wind, do you think the bucks will likely just do what they normally do?


I would guess so. But even if a heavy rain without wind rolls thru while they are feeding right around daylight, they may hunker down in the beans and end up bedding there for the day…but yea, I wouldn’t really count on them changing their bedding with that forecast.
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal


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