Must be the weather pattern here in PA that has me thinking (never a good thing). How many of you hunt in the rain? Let me take that question a bit further, and does the intensity of the rainfall dictate your decision, or is more of a situational/time of year decision (last few days of the season, prime chasing/seeking phase, tail end or head end of a front, etc)? For me, it's early in the season, and I prefer not risking a possible tracking situation with a steady rain, so more than likely I will be staying in today. As much as I would like to say the tracking issue would remain priority number one regardless of what point in the season it was, I'm not sure I would be sitting it out later in the season. How about you?
If its a lighter rain, I will still hunt in it no matter what. But if its a downpour, I will usually only hunt in it after October or so. I just throw on my rain gear and its not a problem
i like to hunt a soft rain, but down pour probably not. You take that chance of not being able to track an animal, but I usually have pretty good luck and deer are on their feet during a light rain...
MGH you're reading my mind. I'm sitting here wondering what I can do with this north wind though! The little bit of light rain we're getting here is fine by me. North wind is not. Should I compromise just to be hunting?
I've had incredible luck in seeing deer, especially bucks in the rain. I killed one of my doe last year in the rain. In a downpour it can hinder your blood trail, but just like the use of one broadhead over another, the better your shot placement is, the easier it is to find the animal. If I was YOU, today would be a day to spend with the wife. I'll be in the stand either in rain gear or with a tree umbrella. I don't expect to see much as the deer have been pounding my other food plot, but one never knows. The rain here in PA doesn't bother me as much as the N/NW winds. EDIT....lol early, we both hate N winds. I have one good N wind stand. I just don't want to hunt it all week.
She's working. You make it sound as if I'll be in trouble if I don't The N wind isn't great for me, either. The only stand I have good for that wind really is the one I hunted Saturday morning. Since I'm not hunting 6 days a week every week this year, I may give it a try if it's light enough (rain wise).
I won't compromise on the wind with regards to hunting a stand that I shouldn't. My one stand for the N wind offers super exit and entrance routes, so I have no problem hunting it a few times a week.
Since I mainly hunt the weekends and some vacation days, I'll hunt the rain as long as its not a down pour.
Like the others, a mild rain or light freezing rain for a short period of time is OK, but anything more than that its to the house. Don't want to get sick and miss out on any prime time hunting.
Just my opinion, but I think it is irresponsible to shoot a deer with a bow in a downpour. I wouldn't liken it to a broadhead/shot placement. A great shot placement resulting in a double lunged deer, can still result in that deer traveling 150+ yards. Even a good blood trail could be washed away in 30 minutes during a downpour. If you track it sooner because of the rain, then I think thats another reason avoid shooting a deer in a downpour.
x3 I am getting very conservative in my old age. 1. I just dont like rain, 2. even a slam dunk sometimes needs a blood trail to lead you to the deer. I prefer to limit the odds that I will need to do a grid search to find a deer.
Completely agree. I should have worded that differently. Downpours are no time to be shooting a deer, even slam dunks.
Depends, if I'm gun hunting then I'd be out there in all but a downpour, for archery in a light rain I'd most definitely be out there. Just be sitting in my blind instead of a treestand.
When I left it was a fine mist, but I just got back from Del Co where it started raining like a big dog! I won't hunt in heavy rain either.
i've always hunted the rain and love to do so, it takes 2 of the deers main sences away, smell and hearing....and they just seem to do some whacky stuff in the rain.
