X Factor?

[perfectstorm]

I'm lucky enough to have pasture land surrounded by woods in my back yard (with a timed corn feeder), so even when I don't get to hunt, I still get to watch/track deer movement from the living room. I've got a question for you more educated & experienced deer gurus. Take this week for example, we have had roughly the same weather, wind direction, cloud cover & moon phase: but for some reason Sunday afternoon I saw more deer in 1 afternoon than I have seen all season collectively. (For the record, a cool front had rolled in days before this super evening occurred). What do you think is that X factor that turns some time periods into 5 star deer days?

I'm going to go back & compare historical data for this week to see if it's something like barometric pressure or something not so easily felt/seen but figured I would ask the GS first.

[bowhuntntxn]

If yall got rain from Thursday to Sunday like we did, it was possibly the break in the weather. If not that, then it was just one of those golden days we all hear about but rarely experience.

[ultralite09]

If yall got rain from Thursday to Sunday like we did, it was possibly the break in the weather. If not that, then it was just one of those golden days we all hear about but rarely experience.

This. Break in the weather is what I guess. I've seen where it's been raining all weekend and sunday afternoon is finally stops. Deer come out of the wood works and are all over the feeder.

[Boss Buck]

This. Break in the weather is what I guess. I've seen where it's been raining all weekend and sunday afternoon is finally stops. Deer come out of the wood works and are all over the feeder.

Sunday our ranch boss saw a lot of deer too. With some of the cold fronts we saw frost twice. I noticed on my last trip last Wednesday before thanksgiving how brown everything was on my way to the ranch. I think some natural food is gone. This helps the corn feeder. Just my 2 cents.

[perfectstorm]

We never had enough rain to stop someone from hunting. Just light drizzle. Which most people would say is perfect buck weather. I hunted all weekend in it and didn't see much, does & a few young bucks. Then sat Sunday evening out and BOOM incredible evening for deer. The next evening was again very average- saw a few deer out back but not anything like the day before. Here are the 2 days compared with historical data. I highlighted the hours I wanted to directly compare. Looks like it could have definitely been a drop in barometric pressure.

[perfectstorm]

Found this article from a guy who studied barometric pressure and deer over the years. Interesting read....

When deer season starts, it's natural to pay attention to the weather factors you can easily see and feel: the cloud cover above, the wind in your face, the rain drops dripping from the brim of your cap.

But it's easy to forget about the most important factor of all: barometric pressure. It's more difficult to judge without an instrument or the Internet, but you should know that pressure rises after a front passes and when high a high pressure system is building. It lowers before the arrival of a front and during a low pressure center.

I have collected barometric pressure data from around the country for years through log book entries from trail cameras, hunters and private studies. The results are clear and indisputable. Deer like a pressure above 30.00 in. {C}

And if you want to see bucks, the ratio of bucks to does sighted when the pressure is between 30.00 – 30.40 is a staggering 1 to 1! When it drops and is between 29.8 and 30.00 there were a third as many deer spotted and with that figure your chances of seeing a buck dropps to 1 in 3.

There is a sweet spot within the pressure scale that I have found and it seems to be at 30.20 to 30.30. There will also be a difference in sightings depending on if the pressure is rising or falling. Rising pressure right before its peak is best.

A lot of these high pressure points will come with wind, as that is a sure sign of pressure change. The windier it is, the more dramatic the change (usually). That’s why so many trophies are taken right after sustained high winds of +30 mph have died down. Watch your areas pressure in conjunction with high winds sometime and see what I mean. North winds (NE to NW), seem to bring the highest barometer readings. I believe that’s why many of our best stands and hunts are in conjunction with winds from these directions.

http://www.outdoorlife.com/blogs/big-buck-zone/2011/10/how-barometric-pressure-affects-deer

[Draco]

For about the first hundred deer I bow killed, I kept records of every thing including barometric pressure, thinking I would find some thing that would help me out. The only thing I ever noticed from my records was that there was a spike in deer movement and buck movement on evenings when the sun was setting as the moon was rising. The day before and the day after were usually very good as well. To this day I make sure I am in the stand on those days.