Does Weather Impact Deer Movement? Here’s What We Know

October 30, 2024 By: Brian Grossman

As hunters, we’re always looking for the slightest edge we can gain to improve our odds of success in the field. We buy the latest gear, read up on all the latest hunting tips and techniques, and we watch the weather to make sure we’re taking advantage of the best days to be in the field.

But what exactly are those best days?

Is it the days when it’s so cold, you have to bundle up like the Michelin man to stay in the stand? Or is it a rainy, windy day on the heels of a cold front? There have been plenty of theories passed down over the years but little in the way of actual data to determine whether any of these beliefs hold true. 

Anecdotally, it may seem we see more deer under certain weather conditions, but is it because the deer are actually moving more? Or is it just because we tend to hunt those days more often, a little more carefully, and with a great focus on what’s happening around us? 

While deciphering how deer react to various weather conditions may have been difficult in the past, today’s GPS-collar technology gives us a much better insight into how deer behave, and what factors influence that behavior. We can now monitor a deer’s activity 24/7 to see exactly what they are doing at any given point in time, and how that changes from one day to the next. 

This technology has allowed us to learn a tremendous amount about deer movement, home ranges, breeding behavior, and more. But we’re just now scratching the surface on the effects weather may play on movement. So, with that in mind, lets take a look at some of the most common weather factors, and what we know — and don’t know — about how they influence deer behavior.

Temperature

A common belief among deer hunters is that unusually warm weather suppresses deer movement and below-average temperatures stimulate deer movement. In theory, that makes sense. But keep in mind, white-tailed deer have adapted to not only survive but to thrive in a wide range of weather conditions, from the frigid winters of Canada to the brutal summers of South Texas and Florida.

That’s not to say temperature swings don’t have any influence on when or where deer move, but the impact to overall distance moved seems to be negligible. And the closer you get to the rut, the less impact temperature — or any other weather factor for that matter — seems to have on deer movement. A deer’s sole focus is survival, and that means no matter how cold or warm it is, deer still have to eat, drink, avoid predators, and breed.

A 2019 study by Jamie Goethlich of Auburn University looked at how deer on a South Carolina property reacted to a variety of weather factors, including temperature. During the pre-rut and rut, the results were varied. There seemed to be two optimal temperatures where the probability of deer movement was highest — one at the cooler end of the spectrum, and one on the warmer side. And for any temperature between those two peaks, deer activity was less likely. 

During the post-rut period, deer were more likely to be active in the morning and at night when temperatures were at the higher end of the spectrum, and more likely to be active in the day or evening with lower temperatures.

If that’s confusing to you, you’re not alone! But the bottom line is this: regardless of what the temperature was, activity was still occurring at all times of the day and night, with minimal influence on peak movement at dawn and dusk.

The Deer-Forest Study in Pennsylvania is an ongoing research project between Penn State University, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, and the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry. During its 10+ years, researchers have looked at a variety of factors influencing deer movement, including several that were weather-related.

A few years back, the researchers took advantage of a warm snap in October and November to see what influence the increased temperatures had on deer movement leading into the rut. Ultimately, they couldn’t discern any difference in the amount or timing of deer movement due to the warm weather. The bucks they were monitoring still moved steady at around 1/2 mph 24 hours/day.

Wind

Wind is another weather factor that draws a lot of debate among deer hunters, with varying opinions on whether deer prefer a steady breeze for the ability to smell distant threats, or dislike it for the sound and movement it creates, which may hinder their ability to detect potential predators. 

Both the Auburn and Deer-Forest studies have looked at the impact of wind on deer movement. The Auburn study saw little difference in the probability of deer movement regardless of wind during the pre-rut and rut periods. Post-rut, the probability of buck activity declined as wind speeds increased during mornings and at night. 

The Deer-Forest Study saw the least amount of deer movement during calm conditions, and activity steadily increased as wind speeds increased. Diefenbach was quick to point out that days with strong, gale-force winds in Pennsylvania are too few and far that time of year to collect enough data for significant results.

Like temperature swings, the impacts of wind on deer movement aren’t significant enough to dictate if or when you should hunt. Deer were still moving at all wind speeds, which means the opportunity exists to fill a deer tag.

Rain

Rain also seems to draw mixed emotions from deer hunters. Some hunters love to hunt a rainy day while others opt to stay home. But according to a survey conducted by the Deer-Forest Study, over half of the deer hunters questioned believe that a steady rain reduces deer movement. 

But what does the actual data tell us?

Well, once again, we have some mixed results. The Auburn study shows a slight increase in buck movement when it’s drizzling rain and average deer movement during a steady rain. Keep in mind, though, that any differences in movement one way or the other were minimal. 

The Deer-Forest Study, however, found a much more significant effect — at least with bucks. While does don’t seemed phased by a rainy day, bucks reduced their movement by as much as half on rainy days. That is, unless the rain event includes significant wind.

Here’s what Jessica Hepner, an undergraduate student involved with the research, wrote about the relationship between wind and rain in a Deer-Forest Study blog post:

“This shows that there is an interaction between strong wind and rain. Deer respond differently when there is wind and rain together rather than just wind or just rain. Rain alone causes a decrease in buck movement. But a little rain has no effect on buck activity if there is a strong wind blowing. Strong winds will increase buck movement no matter what!”

So, you no longer have an excuse to stay home on those rainy, windy days!

Cold Fronts

Probably no weather event is more revered by deer hunters than a good cold front. The common belief is that cold fronts get deer “up on their feet,” moving and feeding more than usual. I held this same belief for a long time, and I still can’t help but get a little giddy whenever I see a good cold front in the forecast. But to-date, the science just doesn’t back up this belief. 

I won’t get too far into the weeds on this one, because we have an entire article dedicated just to this subject. But I will share what the folks with the Deer-Forest Study found. In October, researchers with the project took advantage of a big cold front that passed through the area and crunched the data on how that front impacted deer movement. 

Once again, they didn’t see any overall difference in speed of movement or total distance traveled before, during or after the front passed. Duane Diefenbach, who heads the study for Penn State, said at this point he’s not willing to say cold fronts have no effect, but he’s not willing to say they do. But for the seven deer they monitored during the front, he didn’t see an overall pattern.

What Does This Mean for Hunters?

One thing that is quite obvious from the current research on how weather impacts white-tailed deer movement is that we still have a lot to learn! As you’ve read, the results of studies conducted in different parts of the country with varying terrain, habitat, and weather conditions don’t always agree. But according to Dr. Bronson Stickland of the Mississippi State University Deer Lab, there may be some clarification on the horizon.

“In our prior research, we generally found little to no effect of weather on deer movements,” said Strickland. “Certainly not enough of an effect to motivate a hunter to hunt or not hunt based on the weather forecast. However, we now have more sophisticated analytics to measure deer movements better than in the past.” 

“Additionally, speaking for myself, I looked at daily movement rates (like total distance moved in a 12 or 24 hour period) and found no reliable relationship with weather.  But we are currently taking another look using a different analytical approach that accounts more for specific deer behaviors and we have found some noteworthy effects of weather.  We will be releasing this information in the next few weeks. So stay tuned!”

But until then, one thing we can agree on is that deer are going to continue to move regardless of temperature, wind, rain, or any other weather factor Mother Nature throws at them. They have to in order to stay alive. And at least some of this movement will occur during legal shooting hours. In fact, Jamie Goethlich, who was the graduate student responsible for the Auburn study, found that deer movement was impacted by weather factors the least at dawn and dusk. 

Photo of a nice Pennsylvania buck in the fall.

“For both sexes in all seasons, we were most likely to see a significant relationship between abiotic [weather] factors and activity during daytime and nighttime and least likely to see an effect in the morning and evening,” said Goethlich. “That suggests the normal crepuscular activity peaks we see in morning and evening are important regardless of weather condition and adjusting activity behavior based on abiotic factors occurs most often outside normal activity peaks.”

So, in my mind, the take home message here is to not let weather factors — temperature, wind, or rain — keep you from hunting on an otherwise good day. This is especially true as the rut approaches. The desire to survive — and especially to breed — will trump those outside forces, and provide you with the possibility to finally put a tag on that buck you’ve been chasing all season.

About Brian Grossman:

Brian Grossman joined the NDA staff in 2015 as its Communications Manager and now serves as the Director of Communications. Brian is responsible for amplifying NDA’s educational message for hunters through social media, e-mail, podcasts, and the NDA website. He has been a freelance writer, photographer, videographer and web designer since 2003. A trained wildlife biologist, Brian came to NDA from the Georgia DNR Wildlife Resources Division, where he was a field operations supervisor, overseeing management of 15 Wildlife Management Areas. Brian currently lives in Thomaston, Georgia with his wife, Tina.