Frequently Asked Questions

Chances are, if you have a question, someone else has had it too. Below are the most frequently asked questions about DeerCast. Already have the app installed and are looking for support? Visit our support page.

How does DeerCast work?

DeerCast utilizes real-time weather data for a selected location and interprets, hour-by-hour, 13 different weather variables Mark and Terry Drury have identified as key whitetail influencers. The algorithm factors in each variables’ relationship to the THIRTEEN phases of the whitetail season and generates a forecast for deer movement in that specific area.

DeerCast is designed to work in the U.S. and Canada. Just select your current location, or a location of your choice, and DeerCast will pull custom weather data for that particular area.

Any iOS (14 or higher) or Android OS (10.0 or Higher) mobile device can run DeerCast. You can also access all the great features of your DeerCast subscription on a desktop or laptop computer at DeerCast.com.

There are four levels of DeerCast to choose from:

  • Free
  • Elite, at $29.99/year.
  • Elite+, at $49.99/year.
  • Unlimited, at $74.99/year.

With DeerCast Track, select your point of impact on an anatomical deer model and see inside the shot. The Track tool selects hits that most closely match yours from our extensive hunt database and then delivers videos that show the affected body systems.

You’ll also get expert advice from seasoned trackers on what you likely hit, how long to wait, and what to look for in the tracking process. Track is only available with an Elite account.

Take our algorithm and customize it to your area with DeerCast Custom! Custom allows you to dial in the optimism or pessimism of your DeerCast for each of your saved locations, fine-tuning a unique deer movement forecast that best reflects the characteristics of the area. ​Custom is an Elite feature.

It’s likely you also have the weather radar layer enabled. In your layers menu, deselect weather radar. That should return the opacity to your wind checker animation.

Yep! You can upgrade at anytime, even outside of hunting seasons.

Use your maps even in areas with no cell service by pre-loading your region with the off-line mapping feature. Stored maps will be saved locally to your device.

On the main page, below the DeerCast Forecast and the newsfeed is a text field with your profile picture and an invitation to post something. Tap there to get started!

Select the layers you want to view on your map by tapping the layer button in the upper right corner of your map screen. It’s the hexagon button with the stacked squares in it.

Any new item you’d like to add to your map is created through the Creation Button. It’s the plus sign in the hexagon on the right side of your map screen. Tap that, then select what kind of map item you’d like to add.

With Elite+, you can only choose one US State for landowner information. Unlimited gives you all 50 states, plus parcel lines for much, but not all of Canadian provinces.

Once your map is open, tap the map type button on the lower right side of your screen. It defaults to satellite and will be abbreviated with SAT. Tap it again to switch to the topographical map. It shows as TOP. Tap once more to load the terrain map. It shows as TER. Tapping once more brings you back to your satellite map.

Get to your profile by tapping on the three vertical dot tab on the right of your navbar. Then tap My Profile at the top. Now, just choose whatever fields you’d like to update, then tap, Save Changes when you’re finished!

First, navigate to your map tab. It’s the tri-folded map button on the lower left side of the navbar. Once your map is open, tap the search button. It appears as a magnifying glass in a hexagon on the lower right side of your screen. Then just start typing in the name of the town and DeerCast will begin populating a list, narrowing in on the results as you add more characters. Once the name of the town you’re looking for appears, tap it, and DeerCast Map will jump the map right there and let you get to work!

Open DeerCast Map. It’s the tri-folded map button on the lower left side of the navbar. Getting recenterd on your current location now is as simple as tapping the recenter button. It’s the reticle in the hexagon on the lower right side of the map.

Navigate to your map by tapping the map button on the lower left side of the navbar. It looks like the tri-folded map. Parcel data is considered a layer so your next step is to open the Layers menu. It’s the stacked squares inside the hex button in the upper right of your map screen. Tap on Parcels, then close out the layer menu and they’ll be enabled, but depending on your zoom level, may not be visible.

Radar is considered a layer in DeerCast, so tap the layer button. It’s the stacked squares inside the hex button in the upper right of your map screen. Once it’s selected, close out the layer menu and radar will be up and running. A few things you’ll notice at this point. A time slider will appear at the bottom of the screen and progress as it animates through a few hours in the past, the present, and then a few hours into the future. Pause it anytime by tapping the pause button at the left of the slider. Tapping it again will restart the playback. On the left of the screen is a legend to help you interpret the color coding of the doppler radar. In general, from top to bottom, the colors indicate increasing precipitation density. The top spectrum is for liquid rain. The next one down from that is freezing precip. The third one down is for wintry mix, and the bottom one is for snow. Tapping anywhere on them brings up a modal explaining each.

First, go ahead and navigate the map to the area you want to save. Then tap the Tools button. It’s the plus sign in the DeerCast hexagon on the right side of the screen. Swipe over until you see “Offline Map,” then give it a tap. Next, you’ll notice a red square with a reticle at the center. This indicates the area DeerCast will save. The default is a square mile, but you have the option to save five or 10 square mile areas, too. The level of detail is the same, the only difference in selecting a larger map is that the file size is larger. Really, your only limitation here is the amount of available storage on your mobile device. Once you’ve decided on the area you want to download, tap, Save Map. A save modal will pop up confirming the size of the area to be downloaded. It’s here that you’ll enter a name for the map and if you’d like to include parcel data with the map. Once that all looks good, tap Save and DeerCast will begin downloading your map information. You’ll see a status bar indicating the progress of your download. Swipe the modal down and out off the screen to background the download and get back to using DeerCast. While your maps are downloading, you can background the app, but shutting down DeerCast completely will halt the upload and you’ll need to restart it, so leave DeerCast running while you’re downloading an offline map. Pro Tip: You’ll get the speediest map download with a strong Internet connection.

On the tools button, that’s the plus hexagon on the right side of your map, tap Plot/Area and then begin placing points to create a perimeter. In realtime in the lower left corner, DeerCast will display the length of the perimeter along with the area. Once you’ve outlined your shape, tap End, then Save. Now choose if you want to save the shape as a generic area or as a Food Plot. If you select Area, you’ll be able to give it a name and a description. DeerCast will automatically populate perimeter length and area, as well as the date it was created. Tap Save when you’re finished.

Hit the map tab in your DeerCast navbar, then tap on your tools button. It’s the plus sign in the hexagon on the right side of your screen. Then swipe left until you see the Distance button, and tap on that. Now, just slide your map around and zoom in or out until you’ve centered the reticle exactly where you want to begin measuring, then tap Place Point. You can keep placing points to add segments to your distance measurement. As you do so, DeerCast will label each segment with its distance, in addition, it’ll give you a cumulative total distance in on the lower left side of your map screen. When you’ve finished your measurement, just tap End, and tap Delete if you don’t want to keep it, or Save if you do. When you tap Save, you’ll be given the opportunity to add a title, select a date and add a description. Once you’ve entered all the details you want, tap Save and you’re finished.

Just open your tools menu. Select Rain Station, then slide the map to center the reticle where you want one, then tap Place Rain Station. They show up as a blue beaker with rain drops at the top. Now that you’ve placed the Rain Station, give it a name and a quick description. The date is hardcoded to display whenever the Station was created. Once you save the Rain Station, DeerCast will prompt you to turn on the Rain Station layer so you can see and access it, along with any others you’ve placed. Toggle the Rain Station layer on or off at any time by accessing the Layers menu in the upper right of your DeerCast Maps screen.

To start a path, open the map tab in your navbar. It’s the folded map icon on the left side near the DeerCast home tab. Then, tap the Tools button. It’s plus sign in the hexagon on the right side of the map screen. Swipe to the left through the other tools until you see the Path Tracker button, then tap it. DeerCast is now ready to begin recording your movement. All you have to do is tap Start Tracking. Once you do that, you’ll notice a white bread crumb trail tracing your path. On the lower left of your map screen, DeerCast will report your GPS signal strength, total time on the track, distance covered, and total elevation change. While Path Tracker is recording your progress, you still have the ability to pan and zoom around on the map. If for any reason you need to pause your track, just tap the pause button at the bottom of the screen. It’ll change to a play button while your track is paused. Just tap that play button to resume your track. You can background your DeerCast app while it’s recording a path, but if you shut the app down completely, it will erase your track. When you’re ready to end the track job, just tap the Stop button. You’ll be offered the option to either delete the track or save it. If you select Save, you’ll get a prompt allowing you to select what kind of path this is, like a hike, or blood trail, access to a stand, shed hunting, or even marking a game trail. Give it a title. The date defaults to the date the track was saved, but you can change it to whatever you want. You can also add a short description to reference later.

To place a waypoint, tap the Tools button. It’s the plus sign in the hexagon located on the right of your map screen. Then, select Waypoint. DeerCast will now show a hex reticle that allows you to pan and zoom on the map for precision placement. When you’re happy with the location, just tap the Place Waypoint button. Doing this brings up the waypoint creation screen where you can add a title, pick an icon and its color, add a photo, and even attach a description. I suggest being as descriptive as possible when creating a waypoint because the more waypoints you have, and the longer they’re out there, the more likely it is you’ll forget key details, especially as the sheer number of waypoints you place grows. It gets harder to remember as time goes on, so do your best in the moment to add all the pertinent details. What if you want to make changes or updates to an existing waypoint? Your first step is to ensure the Waypoints Layer is turned on. It’s the stacked squares in the hex button in the upper right corner of the map screen. With the waypoints layer enabled, you can see any waypoint you’ve created. Navigate to the waypoint you’d like to change, Tap it, then, in the info box that appears, tap the three vertical options icon on the right side of the box. Doing so brings up three options. The first is Edit. Change the title for the waypoint, select a different icon, change the color, add or remove a photo, and change the description if you like. Make it official by tapping Save.

To check your wind, just navigate the map to the location, tap the tools button. It’s the plus sign in the hexagon on the right side of your screen. Then tap Wind Check. You’ll see a custom scent animation indicating the wind direction moving at the forecasted speed. The wind direction and speed are also shown in the lower left corner of the map. Get more detailed information on how your wind behaves and more importantly, how it affects deer movement, by tapping the info button next to wind speed.

It’s likely you’re in a fringe service area where Internet signal is very low. Switching your device to airplane will allow DeerCast to start up and give you access to your offline maps. Feed data will likely not load and your forecast will populate data cached from the last time you opened DeerCast with Internet service.

Some features and content are only accessible with an Elite account. Those items that are not included in your subscription are marked by a DeerCast icon with a plus sign inside. If you’d like to upgrade and access the content or feature, do so at DeerCast.com or simply tap on the hexagon filter on the item within the app to be taken to the Subscribe page.

DeerCast comes programmed with peak estrus dates based on location, but also allows the user to set their own custom peak estrus date to calibrate the THIRTEEN phases relative to their location. Check with your DNR for more detailed information on local rut dates.

DeerCast only looks forward, but we do think it’s important to look back and understand conditions to compare them with what you observed. For that, we use and suggest the desktop version of Wunderground.com.

Deleting DeerCast from your device is not enough to cancel your subscription. The steps required to cancel vary based on where you initially purchased the subscription.

Apple App Store:
  1. Open the Settings app.
  2. Tap your name, then tap Subscriptions.
  3. Tap the subscription that you want to manage.
  4. Choose a different subscription option, or tap Cancel Subscription. If you don’t see Cancel Subscription, the subscription is already canceled and won’t renew.


Google Play Store:
  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Play Store Google Play.
  2. Check if you’re signed in to the correct Google Account.
  3. Tap Menu Menuand then Subscriptions.
  4. Select the subscription you want to cancel.
  5. Tap Cancel subscription.
  6. Follow the instructions.
  7. If you have a subscription with an app and the app gets removed from Google Play, your future subscription will be canceled. Your past subscriptions will not be refunded.


DeerCast.com:
  1. Send an email to Support@DeerCast.com and request that your DeerCast account be cancelled.
  2. The email must come from the same email used to create the account.

If you have any questions, or concerns, or need help with any app issues, you can submit a support ticket or email us at: Support@deercast.com