Going to get about 8 days in the field this season.

Is 50 degrees too warm for buck movement?

Justin

I had 3 bucks come in sunday in ohio and it was about 50 out. They even came in about 5 thirty.

No, 50 is not too warm. Many big bucks are killed every year in 90F+ temps here in SC in the early season.

Terrific.

There chasing does at my house, 50 deg.

Bucks gotta eat just like anything else.

Two years ago here in Wisconsin, we had 70º temps the first of November. That's the start of prime hunting here, and very warm...I'm usually shivering, not sweating by then! I even nearly stepped on two snakes.

While deer movement slowed during mid day, I did see three different bruiser bucks during that hot stretch.

50º? Go get em!

50 degrees may or may not be warm. If you’re in Fla it’d be freezing. In northern BC it’d be warm. The advice that bucks move every day no matter the temp is sound. So too is the diminished daytime activity if it was unseasonably warm. Got nothing to do w bucks though, it’d effect all deer

The buck I shot in the early 90's was active at 70 degrees, and it was pushing upper 70's till I got him out and home. 50 degrees? They are driven by instinct, not temperature....especially when the rut's on.

No!

I thought the rut was based on length of daylight...

Deer move everyday regardless of temp.

I’ve identified some really nice bucks very close to my home

Stands are set. Will be making decisions on best location for Saturday.

Thanks all!

When it’s unseasonably warm during the rut, bucks may curtail their running around some until after dark. This is why some people think activity during the rut is way down at times. They’re still doing it, just mostly after dark when it’s cooler. To answer the question, 50 degrees is definitely not too warm at least not here in Michigan. And, I think even though it may be warm at times, if a buck gets a whiff of a hot doe, he’s going to go looking for her no matter what.

MP

The rut is based on does coming into estrous. That is mostly the same time every year and is inherent in the genetic makeup of deer. It's timed for a gestation period that allows birth in the spring...after cold winter in the north. Daylight works the same every year, and some southern deer breed as late as January.

Now that said, my comment was on what drives a deer (instinct), not what triggers the rut...which is biological, not atmospheric.

No.

Put it this way, regardless of temperature, they have to move sometime, they don't hibernate...

Not at all.

I killed my best buck ever at 2:30 in the afternoon, it was about 65 degrees. He was completely "dumb", chasing does.

iv posted this before & it has served me well over the years just think like a deer based on the weather conditions. as soon as the first cold snap hits the deer acclimate & grow their winter coat now if it warms again they just can't shed it so they stay where ever it's the coolest in that area. it's a really simple way of patterning deer that so many just can't figure out......I if you were the deer based on the current weather conditions where would you be

Depends on where you are and when in the rut cycle. Pre-rut I'd be inclined to hunt mornings and evenings. During the rut, any time of day. But really warm temps will push rut activity into the cooler hours.

Get out there....& good luck!

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