What have you guys noticed about deer movement in the rain? The forecast calls for showers on Saturday and I'm wondering if it's worth getting wet.....

go as long as it is not pouring....deer don't mind the weather....remember to have your bow strings waxed throughly though to keep it water proof

I've seen plenty of deer in the rain, I think they still move. PErsonally, I dont mind hunting in a drizzle, but the heavy rain means back to the truck. I always keep the rian suit in the backpack, but theheavy stuff is not for me.

I would say give er heck. I am going out Saturday and they are saying rain for MN also. This weekend should be good. The deer are starting to move here--starting to se dead deer on the highways all over.

good Luck!

Man speaking of which, when I was driving back from Atlanta, MO last weekend a young lady had slammed into a huge 10 pointer on 63 hwy (right on the border of Macon). By the time I saw her, there was about 3 guys that had stopped to help her and I assume one of them will collect the rack...

If it's just spitting I'll take my tree umbrella and have at it. If it's a steady Rain RAIN, I stay home and watch the weather. I love to hit the woods right after it stops. Surprisingly, a real heavy rain does seem to get them on their feet. They don't seem to like laying on the ground with water running under their belly. Look for them in or along the edges of stands of pines munching mushrooms. One of the most often proven truisms I ever heard was from an old Southern farm boy. He said, "If the cows are up walking and feeding, so are the deer. He got it from his old Southern grand pappy.[8D] The problem hunting in rain(especially if there's no wind) is your scent goes straight down and mushrooms out all around you.

I posted yesterday that I love hunting in a drizzle. Driving downpour no. But light showers yes. It keeps the scent down and allows you to quietly enter an area cover in leaves. Also deer move during light rain but tend to bed up in a downpour. Thats just my observations.

SteveO.... I have to differ with you on the scent problem. Your scent goes straight to the ground and lingers on every bush and tree.

From what I read in some hunting mags (maybe not the most reliable source I know) the rain has a tendency to help out with odor by absorbing it. I don't know, I trust someone with actual experience more than what I read in a magazine but I thought I would put in my two cents.......

Deer will move when it is raining. They are not going to starve just because of some rain. One thing that I have noticed is that when it is raining, I'm not getting wet because the leaves are still on the trees mostly. My climbing trees are oaks and they have a nice natural umbrella, the branches. The only time that I regret the weather is when it is excessively windy.

I guess it depends on your region. I know on our place in Central Texas, if it's storming, the deer lay up. Even if it's justa good steady drizzle and intermittant showers, sitting on a stand is useless unless you expect the weather to break soon. If wet weather socks in, eventually the deer will get up to feed, but where I hunt, all they typically have to do is stand up in their bedding area to do that. I've killed a few deer in bad weather. All with a rifle, and none of them from a stand. I've had to walk them up. Samewith high winds.

I don't like to bowhunt in wet weather.
A) the water can affect your bow in very very wierd ways.Things like a wet string will really kill your arrow speed.
B) rain will wash away a blood trail, and when you're hunting 1700 acres of wide open hill country, thatcould take daysof grid searching.

I know alot of guys are hard core and will sit in their stands through a tornado. But not me. Cold weather, I'm fine all day. But if it turns off wet, that's when it gets to me.

When the weather does break, the deer will move like crazy. That's the time to be in your stand. Here's where paying attention to weather forecasts comes in handy. Especially if a storm moves in over night and it's not expected to clear untill early to mid morning. The deer will lay up through the storm during the night and at daylight they'll be all over the place.....