Turkeys in the rain?
05-14-2013, 04:43 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 2,358
Turkeys in the rain?
I am fairly new to turkye hunting. I've sat through two youth turkey kills, but all the calling/smarts was provided via a friend.
Now I am trying on my own, I've had decent luck calling where I hunt and usually get a bird worked up.
Last weekend, mothers day, my wife floored me by asking me to take her turkey hunting, so off we went. It was raining off and on, but it was also the first day in 5 outings that I couldn't get a bird to respond, or even hear one far off.
Does rain effect the birds or was it just an off day?
Now I am trying on my own, I've had decent luck calling where I hunt and usually get a bird worked up.
Last weekend, mothers day, my wife floored me by asking me to take her turkey hunting, so off we went. It was raining off and on, but it was also the first day in 5 outings that I couldn't get a bird to respond, or even hear one far off.
Does rain effect the birds or was it just an off day?
05-14-2013, 06:03 AM
#2
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: West TN
Posts: 847
Bob sometimes chasing critters is like Yoggi Berra once said, "Ya don't know what ya don't know!" 
that being sometimes WHO KNOWS why the heck they act like they do?
But after nearly 3 decades of chasing turkeys, when it comes to rain I've come to believe that they don't "usually" make ALOT of noise in a steady to hard down pour. Now a light sprinkle, mist or intermittent rain usually doesn't bother them much. Also, rain dampens the woods so that the ground, leaves & foliage actually absorb sound vs bounce it around as it does when dry. That sometimes is the reason you'll think they just didn't gobble as much one day when perhaps they did but conditions for hearing them just weren't favorable.
Gusty or sustained winds also make hearing very hard. Plus, turkeys just flat out DONT like windy conditions because it makes their world "constantly move" which jeopardizes their 2 best defenses, their sight & hearing. In a steady rain I've come to realize that many turkeys like to stay in open areas like food plots, pastures, power line/gas line right of ways, mature hardwoods etc... They can at least see the approach of any danger in such open areas.
This likewise goes DOUBLE once the rain stops! If they haven't already, the birds will head for open areas once steady or heavy rains stop. They seek the open so they can see, they can hear (the sound of water falling out of trees won't interfere like it would if they stayed in the woods) plus they seek open areas to begin drying.
Sometimes when hunting in the rain you no longer are the hunter, just go sit in a known open area that you've seen them feeding or strutting in, get in a comfortable, waterproof blind, make a few yelps every 5-10 minutes & just let them hunt you! Stay on the lookout, they usually won't make much if any noise when they come in.
Wet or dry, patience & woodsman ship are THE most important tools the turkey hunter can possess. 2, 3, 4+ hours is just a few minutes to a turkey. They don't have anywhere else to be & nothing else to do! "Post 9am" gobblers are MUCH easier to hunt than "pre 9am" birds. Just pay attention & learn the birds in your hunting area. I hunted the same ranch in southern MO for 20yrs & great areas were just that year after year & what a big gobbler liked about one spot 15yrs ago is what his great-great-great-great grandson will like about that same spot next year!
that being sometimes WHO KNOWS why the heck they act like they do?But after nearly 3 decades of chasing turkeys, when it comes to rain I've come to believe that they don't "usually" make ALOT of noise in a steady to hard down pour. Now a light sprinkle, mist or intermittent rain usually doesn't bother them much. Also, rain dampens the woods so that the ground, leaves & foliage actually absorb sound vs bounce it around as it does when dry. That sometimes is the reason you'll think they just didn't gobble as much one day when perhaps they did but conditions for hearing them just weren't favorable.
Gusty or sustained winds also make hearing very hard. Plus, turkeys just flat out DONT like windy conditions because it makes their world "constantly move" which jeopardizes their 2 best defenses, their sight & hearing. In a steady rain I've come to realize that many turkeys like to stay in open areas like food plots, pastures, power line/gas line right of ways, mature hardwoods etc... They can at least see the approach of any danger in such open areas.
This likewise goes DOUBLE once the rain stops! If they haven't already, the birds will head for open areas once steady or heavy rains stop. They seek the open so they can see, they can hear (the sound of water falling out of trees won't interfere like it would if they stayed in the woods) plus they seek open areas to begin drying.
Sometimes when hunting in the rain you no longer are the hunter, just go sit in a known open area that you've seen them feeding or strutting in, get in a comfortable, waterproof blind, make a few yelps every 5-10 minutes & just let them hunt you! Stay on the lookout, they usually won't make much if any noise when they come in.
Wet or dry, patience & woodsman ship are THE most important tools the turkey hunter can possess. 2, 3, 4+ hours is just a few minutes to a turkey. They don't have anywhere else to be & nothing else to do! "Post 9am" gobblers are MUCH easier to hunt than "pre 9am" birds. Just pay attention & learn the birds in your hunting area. I hunted the same ranch in southern MO for 20yrs & great areas were just that year after year & what a big gobbler liked about one spot 15yrs ago is what his great-great-great-great grandson will like about that same spot next year!
