Maybe I am getting old, but these days I have a VERY difficult time dragging myself to the woods in crappy weather conditions. Heat & rain mostly. High winds sometimes. What makes the whole thing even more difficult is the lack of time to hunt anymore. Missing a day due to weather "hurts" more than it used to. I always say that I hunt to enjoy myself, but lately I find not a single enjoyable thing about sitting in poor conditions. Before my desire to get one, would over ride & I'd "tough" it out. It's really frustrating to look at the forecast and see rain on every day that I am off.
I hear you. It is extremely frustrating. What's worse is that you could tolerate it if it were nasty conditions that were conducive to deer movement like a front moving in or out. It seems though whenever there is a chance to get out it's just right in the middle of a heavy storm when you know the deer are going to just hunker down and chew their cud until it passes.
hahaha i know what your talking about. I'm 19 and weather doesn't bother me at all ill go out in the rain, snow you name it ill be out there. But as i have grown up and have been hunting with my father he does the same thing. He has stopped enjoying hunting in the poor weather conditions. I think everyone as those years too that just are not motivated to get up and go out when they know its gonna rain so your not the only one
I have had good success hunting bad weather, I can pick which days I can hunt most of the time and I'll take rain,cold and steady wind over hunting a calm sunny day anytime. As for motivation If you didn't have 1 down would you still consider staying home? I just enjoy being in the deer woods reguardless of the weather or the kill.It's the journey to get the buck that makes the story.:D
The only thing that will keep me out of the woods is heavy rain (like today). Not because I mind sitting in it because I've sat in much more unpleasant things and like it :p. Just because I dont' want to risk a blood trail getting washed away on a less than perfect shot. As far as being out there in crappy conditions knowing you probably won't see anything? Doesn't bug me one bit. There's always a chance. I'm driven to succeed and will do whatever it takes to get there.
It depends on the time of the year for me. I'll hunt some pretty nasty conditions in November. Yet it takes nearly perfect hunting weather for me to get in a tree in early October or January. I always want to kill a buck, but there are times when the warm bed sounds alot better than cold rain running down my neck.
That is so true. The forecasts I'm seeing are 60-70's and heavier rains. I could handle 40's & drizzle easier. 130, I may not stay "home", but I'd be able to hunt much closer & just bail out as soon as I felt like it. Driving 90+ minutes away to hunt conditions not conducive to deer movement is not giving me much motivation...although the $150 price tag for the license is
For me, being on stand during poor weather conditions is always more enjoyable than being at work or working around the house.
Amen Greg!! I would always rather be tired from hunting, rather than tired from working. Hunting is just not work for me. Yeah, it is labor intensive sometimes, but never work. I call every hunt an adventure.:D
Too true, but when I'm sitting in the stand getting pissed on thinking about the vacation day I burned or the house work I could be getting done instead of watching the trees soak is frustrating. I guess I just had more freedom to pick up and go when the conditions are right for hunting instead of having to schedule ahead of time and not knowing what I'll get.
I love the feel of my mistress even if she's cold, wet, and/or clammy. I cannot get enough of her. Rain or rainbow, it just makes sense to be there. I never set my goals so high that they cannot be achieved. I'm still having fun.
It's not like the deer stay home in bad weather One of the best moves I ever made was buying Sitka Gear, I can hunt in some nasty stuff with it on.
The last buck I shot was during later Nov...the temp was around 5 degrees and the wind chill was below zero. The fact that I braved those elements and succeeded made that hunt especially satisfying to me...he looks pretty good on my wall too.
I realised yesterday that my desire to succeed actually has HURT my season on so many levels .... last night I just went to a new spot and watched 2 button bucks playing 5 - 20 yards from my stand ... and I enjoyed last nights sit tremendously ... before that with all the drama in my season .... I let it bother me to where I wasn't having fun .... now I am again ... Great thread, Ryan
If your not enjoying yourself, It's on you. This Isn't pointed at you In the least Ryan, just to people that aren't having the fun they once had.
I am not going to get soaked to the a--,while bow hunting.I have never seen decent movement in heavy rains.It is such a low percentage play for me,and to add to the fact that you are very likely to lose your blood trail I wont do it.If it is light rain or the rain will be moving out reasonably soon then I will endure it. If I am out of State I am out regardless (rifle hunt).
As the responsibilites mount in my life, the more I realize how precious time is in the deer woods. Enjoying my time afield is very important to me.
I enjoy hunting in cold weather, only because we don't get very much of it here. If it was cold all the time, I know I couldn't handle it.
Yeah its a drag losing a hunting day due to rain and especially to the HEAT, I still go out but won't shoot one if the temps aren't favorable, to much like work!
I suppose it can depend on the point in the season for me. If it's early in the season, and it's raining even steadily, I'm staying in. Not because I don't want to be out there (and yes I know you can't kill anything from the couch), but because I'm more worried about IF I actually do get a shot. I'm always leary of what rain to can do to a blood trail, and for that reason alone, I often won't go out. Call me crazy, but that's just me.
