Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot

In the central and northern states, a hot day can be the death of a hunt.  I’m hunting in central Illinois and the past couple of days have been torture for us here.  We’ve been reaching into the middle eighties as high temperatures and for hunting deer, that’s like roasting in the oven.  Last Saturday was the first time I’ve ever even considered not going hunting when I had the chance.  It was a tough call but there is only so much you can compromise when you go hunting.  I had to say no and leave the opportunity to go. 

When you go hunting in the heat, you have to look at one major factor.  The one factor that is essential is sweat.  I’ve said it before; if you start to sweat you’re done.  Sweating is a killer of scent control.  If you think the deer aren’t going to smell your sweat downwind through your scent-proof clothing you’ve got another thing coming.  You have to think about how much you sweat and where you sweat. 

Think about when your hands sweat in the heat.  When you’re walking through the woods, you have to consider all things you put your hands on.  The twigs, the brush, and the trees you touch will all have your sweat on them.  I have seen how deer react to human scent on objects in the woods and they don’t take kindly to it.  When it comes to a hot day, unless it’s the only day of the season you can hunt, my advice would be to let it go.  There will be other days in the season that will be more favorable to hunt than in eighty degree heat.