OUTDOOR LOGIC WITH BIOLOGIC
Barometric Pressure’s Influence on Whitetail Movement When the Pressure Is On In the author’s opinion, no other aspect of the weather has as big an influence on deer movement as the atmospheric pressure, also known as the barometric pressure. (Photo Credit: Paul Tessier)
Many hunters want to know, “What are the triggers that make mature bucks get up and move during legal hunting hours?” This way we can maximize our hunting time and we don’t need to burn our pristine hunting locations when the odds aren’t in our favor. The problem is there are many influences dictating whitetail movement – however, some are more important than others. Back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, I was involved in a study we called the “W.M.W.M. Study” (What Makes Whitetails Move). While the findings of the study were to be used in a book and video, I really had a more 32 Cooperative Farming News
jealous motive … I wanted to know what conditions proved to give the best potential for seeing more deer and harvesting mature bucks. There is the possibility of having a successful hunt just about any day, but I wanted to maximize my time. Keep in mind, this was before smartphones and trail cameras made it MUCH easier to gather said information. We documented numerous statistics such as temperature, wind direction and speed, lunar phase and position, cloud cover, precipitation, relative humidity and barometer, among several others. We took these readings when we began our observations, and then
