Hunting Hot Weather: How to Adjust Your Game Plan for Warm Fall Hunts

Deer season is now officially open in Minnesota. Did you have a chance to get out in the woods on opening weekend? If you did, you definitely felt the heat: it was in the 80s over the weekend in Cannon Falls. Summer is still hanging on and making its presence known in many areas of the country, so as you prepare for your first hunts of the season, make sure you have a hot weather game plan. Check out our tips, below, to get started.

Stay Hydrated

Whenever you’re going to be away from access to clean water for an extended period of time, particularly in warm temperatures, you want to make sure you stay hydrated by bringing water with you. Our Bucket Backpack has five external pockets, so you can pack a water bottle in any one of them. You can pack extra inside the 5-gallon bucket – and here’s to hoping that by the time you drink all of it, you’ve made room for the wild game meat from the buck you just harvested.

Stay Inside the Stump Blind

Our Stump blinds will help protect you from the unforgiving sun and keep you cool. The doors and windows seal tightly to help keep heat out and keep your body temperature regulated. The windows open silently, so you don’t need to open them until you’re ready to take your shot. The blinds are made out of a UV-resistant polyethylene material, so you don’t need to worry about the sun fading or damaging the exterior of your blind. You can also keep your blind stocked with water to stay hydrated, as we mentioned above. If you’re hunting on public land, check to see if it’s legal to leave the blind up overnight in your area. If so, stock up your blind with drinks and packaged snacks and lock it behind you using our Locking Door Handle. Even though it might be legal to leave your blind on public property, public property means that your blind is open for all hunters to use if left unattended. Using the Locking Door Handle will help ensure other others don’t use your blind while you’re gone.

Check Bedding Areas and Water Sources

Deer are sensitive to extreme temperatures. They’ll gravitate toward their bedding areas to stay under the cover of shady vegetation and stay cool. They’ll also wander to water sources to stay hydrated and enjoy the slightly cooler breeze that comes off the water. If you don’t have a water source on your hunting property, you can add one by using our Wild Water System. The troughs are self-refilling, so once you fill up the tank, the troughs will refill whenever the valve senses that there’s no more water in the troughs. You can add our Wild Water Mineral Supplements to the water to give the deer an added nutrition boost and create a dependency on your property. Check your local regulations to make sure supplemental feeding is legal in your area.

To maximize your hunts during warm early fall weather, stay hydrated, stay inside the blind and set up near bedding areas and water sources. Deer seek water and relief from the sun during hot days just like we do, so keep this in mind as the season begins. If you haven’t already, check out our blinds and accessories to help you get ready for the 2025 deer season.

How do you adjust your hunts to account for warm weather? Let us know in the comments below!