Wind & Weather for Whitetail Hunting

Wind can make or break your hunt. See how Optimal Wind and hyper-local weather forecasts work together to put you in the right stand at the right time.

Choose the right stand with Optimal Wind.

Whitetails live and die by the wind. Every move they make is rooted in survival, and their nose is their best defense. One day, your stand is perfectly downwind, and the deer never know you’re there. The next day, the wind shifts and gives you away. We all know the heartbreak of seeing that target buck come into view only to raise his nose in the air and bolt. Buck: 1, Hunter: 0.

This season, stack the odds in your favor with Optimal Wind. Mark the ideal wind directions for each of your tree stand Waypoints (see how). Then, open the Wind Calendar to compare side-by-side wind forecasts for every spot you hunt. Green means you’re in the game, yellow is marginal, and red tells you it’s time to pick another place to sit.

Anticipate increased deer activity with hyper-local forecasts.

While the extent to which weather influences deer movement is a topic of debate around campfire rings and in academic circles alike, there are a couple of patterns that seem to consistently put deer on their feet:

• Warming temps after a frigid night: Wait for a warm morning forecast that follows a cold night. Deer will stay bedded longer if it’s cold; if you know the day will warm up quickly, you can count on deer moving out toward sunnier, warmer spots sooner.
• Barometric pressure changes: As a cold front approaches and barometric pressure drops, you may see feed in anticipation of hunkering down. When a storm passes, barometric pressure rises, ushering in blue skies and calmer weather—and increased buck movement. A sweet spot to look for in the forecast? Studies have found that bucks prefer pressure between 30.00″ Hg and 30.40″ Hg.

Ultimately, a plethora of factors influence daylight deer activity. onX Hunt’s Deer Movement Forecast (available to Elite Members) crunches 50+ parameters to deliver daily predictions of when and where deer are likely to be active.

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