It's supposed to be raining this weekend (opening weekend), so just wondering if I should get ready to sit in the rain? Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
I'll hunt the rain on occasion, but usually not during the early season. All kinda depends on what kind of rain. Any type of moderate to hard rain could was away a blood trail making recovery difficult. During the pre-rut and rut, there's just so much activity that I'm not going to let weather affect my decisions as much.
I do during the rut. If its downpouring i'll usually wait till its almost over and then go but if its just period rain then I definitely want to be on stand.
depends. wet is ok, wet and cold sucks, wet and windy sucks, soaking sucks. Now hunting in the snow, that there is a good time.
That's where ground blinds excel for me.... Light rain, ground blind and standing corn is a win win combination for a rainy day set!
yes I'll hunt light rain, and I've sat in a tropical storm and seen the biggest buck of my life step out onto a field 50 yards away. That being said my buddy did lose a deer last year b/c it started raining after he shot a deer and we lost the trail. I agree that a ground blind can help make a rainy day very enjoyable.
I like to hunt in the rain, but hunting in the rain or just after a rain leads to one big complication. Your blood trail will be hard to find. If you hunt where there is little to no cover then rain might obliterate an otherwise easy blood trail. It turns all the leaves on the ground into a shiny mess and identifying blood is painstaking. It is up to you if you want to hunt in the rain or not, I usually like to hunt a light rain, but I shot a doe last year (double lung) about an hour after a light/moderate rain and it was really hard for me to track, I would find a speck of blood here or there on a rock. I found her eventually about 200 yards from where I shot her. Cant believe she made it that far.
Yes I hunt in the rain often, just use the right gear and you'll be ok. I won't do lighting and down pours however, but most sane people won't. I've killed many deer in light to moderate rain.
I sat through a 4 hr thunderstorm on Nov 11th last year in Illinois and the temp dropped over 20 degrees by the end of the storm. Within 1 hr of the rain moving through I shot the biggest buck of my life (190 inches). The storm was really bad with really high winds but I was out too far to walk back so I waited it out with my Rivers West on. Best decision of my life. If it is an all day monsoon then I most likely won't hunt, but if it is going to move through and end at some point through out the day I will be on stand.
Like most people said light rain is no biggie. When thunderstorms and heavy rain are coming through you want to leave your stand just soon enough to avoid getting soaked and on the back in you need to be in your tree as soon as it stops
Awesome question R22. I am in North Dakota as well, and was wondering how to play the rain this weekend. Fortunately, the area I'm hunting this weekend is where I've got my blind set up. So with that, I don't think I will alter my plans for the hunt much.
I will not hunt in rain because I'm afraid if I shoot something, the blood trail will get washed away. If it's raining I aways watch the radar because I have seen many bucks right after the rain quits. I try make sure I'm out there when it ends. Blessings..........Pastorjim
I will but I don't like to with a bow. Mostly because I am color blind to start with an then trow rain into the equation and that makes following a blood trail almost impossible. if its light I will stay put much more than that I will usually bail because I don't want to chance loosing an animal.
Wow..thanks for all the replies! I guess I will keep an eye on the radar and forecast. I was hoping I could since harvest takes first priority. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Light rains are great. Especially during the rut, bucks to me tend to move more during it. I believe it has to do with the fact that scent is held down so they have to get up to where the does are or directly where they have been. If its torrential then more than likely they are hunkered down as well. But as soon as it lets up they'll be moving. That is really any weather situation. Last year I headed out in the morning to hunt. Got to the farm and it was blowing so hard there was no way I was gonna chance sitting in a tree. Checked the weather and it was supposed to die down by 11 am. Went home and went back to bed. Got up in time to be in the stand by 10. Still blowing pretty good but you could tell it was starting to slow down. When it finally did stop, the woods were so quiet, then all of a sudden deer just started pouring out of the bottom. Like somebody flipped a switch.
