Hunting in the rain
 

Just wanted everybody's opinion on deer hunting in the rain. Light drizzle or a steadyrain is not a problem, I can stay dry. Is there a point when it is raining that it is better to call it a day or just stay out no matter how hard it is raining? What's your opinion and or experience.

deer sir...i know for a fact that deer will move in the rain, seen it with my own eyes. I live in texas and we sat through the rain all day and they did come out in it.. It was not freezing rain, but it was cold as all get out fer a texan.
They must eat, but they don have ta drink from a water source when it rains i would imagine .

You can't see deer if you are not hunting.

I like to have a protected spot or two to go sit when the weather is nasty. No sense in getting rained on if you don't have to.

In SC they will move during a light rain. They can darn near move silent then. I like to hunt when I know the rain will end during the day. The rain washes the area of your scent, and they will often move just after a heavy rain ends.

Well last weekend I sat out in the rain all day, started out as a drizzle and picked up to steady down pour. I was using my expensive supposably good rain gear i bought at bass pro and i still got soaking wet. I didn't see a thing. Not saying they werent out but they didnt travel my way. But like ya say can't kill em if your sitting at home.

Thanks
 

Thanks everybody. Saturday is opening day for bow here in Ohio, and of course they are calling for rain and thunderstorms. I am going out anyway, just wanted to see some opinions. I have a tree stand and a ground blind set-up already. I figure to start out in the stand and if the thunder boomers come in move to the ground blind.

I have always found that deer will hunker down in a down pour or really nasty weather, but will move more than usual in a steady or light rain.

Personally, I hunt public land and love to see rain in the forecast. It keeps all the couch potatoes and amateurs out of the woods. I have the whole place to myself!!

I can't stand deer hunting in the rain. Duck hunting in the rain on the other hand is a different story. I may deer hunt in a light rain, but a moderate or heavy rain, no way. That's just me. I do love to hunt just after a long heavy rain though. After a long heavy rain, just about every critter in the woods will move. I know deer will move in a light to moderate rain, but in heavy rain, pretty much nothing is going to move.

PLEASE, don't tell me you have the Redhead Squaltex!! I just bought a jacket and pants and returning it is out of the question (see my post on basspro customer service in gear reviews).

For some reason, some folks try to humanize deer, especially when talking about the weather. These deer stay in their woods all year, even during those cold, nasty winters we have here up north.
When rain comes, unless it's a complete downpour, I have seen deer moving quite often. We may hate the idea of walking around in a steady rain but the deer have been doing that their entire life. Rain does not bother them,
A light or steady rain is a great time to be in those woods.

I like hunting :deer: in the rain.

staying dry
 

I have some Gor-Tex gear that has kept me pretty dry in the past, so getting wet is not really too much of a concern to me. I know deer hunker down in a heavy rain rain, and I am not very good at stalk hunting. So I was thinking on stalk hunting during a heavy rain to hide sound and smell to see if I could sneak up on one.Bad or good idea? I have a lot of options which itself is almost a problem.

i lived in Oregon for quite awhile and where we lived it rained all the time so if you didn't hunt in the rain you didn't hunt

i enjoy it myself but i grew up in it

As said you can't kill em if your not in the woods. So I usually go when its raining because I have the gear to keep me dry. But where I hunt, I see very few deer.

I try and stay out in the rain as much as I can. If Im in a box blind I will stick in out and try to stay alert. I will admit, I do see fewer deer when it gets beyond a drizzle. If it gets heavy and I put my head back and take a little nap, waking up every 15 minutes to take a look. I probably have missed many deer that way, but I don't think too many. I did fall asleep once in a ground box blind and wake up and have 3 does 15 feet away and I wanted to fill my doe tag that day too!

If im in my climber or ladder stand, I have rain gear to wear but if it gets bad, heavy down pour or lightning, Im heading in. I watch the weather though carefully. If it has been raining all day and plans on letting up before dark, I want to be in my stand when the rain stops. If the deer have been laying all day, there going to want to get up and move around as soon as its over.

I don't think deer will bed down for an entire day if it's raining. Deer have to eat, something like every 4 to 6 hours. Think about it. Most of the time, during hunting season, it's rather cool to down right cold when it's raining. Even with all that fur, deer have to burn calories to keep the internal stove blazing.

I'm sure that they may bed down for the first few hours on a rainy day, but after that they're up and moving. Hunters see lees deer during rainy weather because most hunters head for home/camp. Those who stay in the woods may not see any deer because of all the noise. Think about it. Ever notice how when you're sitting in your stand/blind and it's really quiet, you seem to be able to make out every little detail your eyes see? Your brain has literally decided to not rely on your senses of smell and hearing, instead focusing most of it's power on your sense of sight. When it's raining, however, there's tons of noise, and your bain devotes much of its attention to that sense, instead of sight. Just rambling....sorry

Got to be in it, to win it !



Can't shoot'em from the couch !!!

Lightning will put me in the truck,but I love to hunt in a light rain.

Hunting in the rain is not a issue ,but with certain weapons or shots blood tracking in the rain definitely will be .
They will move during the rain but the activity is definitely cut down,
during the rain what i noticed sometimes that they would bed down close to their main food source .
good luck :cool2:

Rainy days are the best! Especially breaks in the rain, for turkeys and deer. They will bury themselves in thick evergreens to stay dry if it's raining extra hard or it's cold too. But there comes a point when no matter what they do they will get wet and cold and moving warms them up. If it's the rut almost nothing but death will stop them anyway.