How long after a storm till they come back up ?

[LionHead]

So this lat weekend I hit one of my favorite alpine areas in Californias D6

I Backpack in 5-6 miles up and down 4-500 ft a couple times to get to a ridge opposite of the ridge I have seen bucks on before (never taken one from this area) and it's covered in tracks and scatt both buck, doe and bear. I glasses for 2 days without a sighting.

Now day 1 we did get caught in the TStorm and had to make a hastey camp on the side of the hill and was pretty much locked in my tarp for the remainder of that day.

How bad of a storm is needed to make deer drop below timberline? Rain?hail?snow? Just thunder?

And if so how long till they come back up? 1 day ? 1 week.

Any insight is appreciated

 

[KClark]

The old bucks won't leave until there's a good cold snow, usually 6"-12". They know when it's going to last through the winter and bail at the last minute, sometimes too late. A thunderstorm won't move them at all.

 

[LionHead]

Ok, so I just gotta stay at it and keep glassing.

Still learning alot. Wanted make sure I wasn't wasting my time in the wrong weather patterns

 

[Bubblehide]

I was up scouting and area south and east of D6 about that same time. I don't see it as the deer moving, as much as moving to under-utilized locations for better feed conditions. Okay, what the hell does that mean. In the area I went to, there are plenty of feeding areas that the deer normally don't use do to a lack of a water supply. Keep in mind that deer need water to digest their food. They can sometimes get it from the plants they eat, lick it off of leaves, or find a drinkable supply. These thunderstorms have resulted in running water in places that seldom have stagnant water. Old dried up springs are now flowing, water is now pooled up in places I haven't seen a drop in a decade of more. So in short, the environment/ecosystem has changed, improved, providing much more usable habitat for the deer, bear... So, they are now much more dispersed. Additionally, with the moon phase during that time, they tended to be nocturnal. As such, if you couldn't find them bedded, or happen to spook them up, they were much more difficult to find during the day.

These thunder storms have made some significant improvements to the habitat. Feed conditions and variety have improved and increased. But the improved water situation will not stay at these levels. So relax, for the most part, by general season, it will be back to expected.

 

[Pueblo]

What I've seen is bucks will run to the bottom of drainages during nasty storms and hang out near and hide in the brush and aspen. This could be anything from a 200 yard to a 2 mile displacement. Within hours they are back out in the open usually. Back in 2014 in the Ruby Mtns we had non-stop T-storms and the bucks stayed down in the aspens for a few days, but still close enough to spot from the same vantage points.

 

[LionHead]

All very good info. Thank you for your insight.

I agree it has been unusually wet compared to our decade long drought conditions.

I did notice it was almost a full moon . I've heard it both ways that deer are out less in the day druing a full moon and become more nocturnal. I've heard it the other way.
Personal experience (not much) tells me I see less deer nearer to full moons
Unfortunately this was just the time I've had available to go scout.

I'll be back up in a few weeks hopefully I get better results

 

[bluetick78]

I know of a spot like that, covered with sign but couldn't find the animals. Took me 3 years to find them, turned out that the route I was using was bumping them into the timber before I got there. Maybe try a different approach to see if that changes your luck. Just a thought.....

 

[Nomad]

What I've seen is bucks will run to the bottom of drainages during nasty storms and hang out near and hide in the brush and aspen. This could be anything from a 200 yard to a 2 mile displacement. Within hours they are back out in the open usually. Back in 2014 in the Ruby Mtns we had non-stop T-storms and the bucks stayed down in the aspens for a few days, but still close enough to spot from the same vantage points.

I'm 3/4 of the way through Mike Eastman's book and just read a chapter that included this very topic. Mike states almost exactly the above quote from Pueblo. If I recall correctly, he mentions that it may actually take up to 2 days for them to work their way back after a really severe storm.

 

[LionHead]

I just finished reading that book. That's actually what prompted my OP, wanted to see if others with experience agreed.

I can also get with Bubblehides assertion of greater displacement due to increased access to water compared previous years.
But I'm always looking to learn from others experience. Hunting is definitely a challenging sport I wish I had started in my younger days, so much to learn.

 

[KClark]

You've already embarked on the very best way to learn, getting out there scouting and hunting. You can't spend enough time out-there-doing-it so your second best methods are reading and cruising websites, watching videos and asking questions. At some point the fog will start to clear and you'll be able to identify the bs and wives tales so common with hunting. Once you settle into your groove and gain experience you'll lose the confusion, build knowledge and become successful in your goals.

Pro tip: Don't start threads asking which caliber, what's the best scope/binos or who makes the best boots. There's no right answer just strong opinions that seem to always lead to a pissing match with no clear "BEST".