Hunting in the rain

[teamtingler]

Given the recent weather pattern (rain, rain, and more rain), I'm curious to hear other bow hunters strategy for this time of year in the rain? Are the deer more active during mid-day vs. early morning or late evening when it's raining? Or do you maintain the same strategy as you would a 50 degree sunny day?

[harvey lee]

If I know that a storm is moving in I will always try and hunt right before the storm. The deer are the best indicators of a oncoming front with their feeding patterns. Another good time is to hunt right after the storm as the deer have been bedded down for awhile and will be looking for a good meal. With this lighter rain but rain that continues for hours or a day or two, I will wait until the rain is done and get out asap. Its also very hard to track a deer in this type weather as the blood trail isnt much. Even with a great hit the deer can still travel for a long distance and this is a recipe to lose the trail and deer.

I think we all owe it to the animal we love to hunt to make sure we will have a high percentage to recover the deer we shot.

My suggestion would be to wait until the rain is over and then go out. I also like to hunt every chance I get but its nice when I also recover the deer I was shooting at.

[CC Hurl]

I agree H.L. My plan for this system is hope the rain is coming to an end tommorow affternoon and hit the woods. As H.L stated they will be ready for a good meal affter sitting so long. Maybe them Bucks will be more in the mood for that doe also.

When the systems are not so big i will watch the radar and look for a window in the rain and get out there. If i get a little wet... oh well.

Sounds like the wind will be up there tommorow also. Just praying we get one of those dry evenings were the wind dies down during the golden hour. Talking about tommorow of course. Not looking good for today.

CC HURL

[paceman]

I believe that this rain we are having isn't affecting the deer that much. It has been fairly light and the temps have been pretty steady. However when the winds start blowing I have noticed that the deer still move but it will be in the woods, clearings, areas where the wind isn't blowing into there faces. A NW corner of the field with a strong NW wind is a good spot. I will go out tonight and I will go deeper into the woods and sit on a funnel. The wind is forcasted for the low 20's. That isn't too bad in there. I expect to see deer browsing still. And like earlier stated I will not take anything but a perfect close shot. Tracking a mis hit deer in the rain is a dump shoot as best.

[PerchJrkr]

i know on tuesday night when i shot my big buck it was pretty crappy weather. some light showers and foggy and misting and i saw 13 deer before mr. big came out. all over the field edges and feeding away. from what ive heard a little mist or even a light rain doesnt effect em that much, it all depends on what you wanna sit through! Now if its more than a light rain that might be a different story. I second the thought that they dont like the wind that much, this year and previous years when its cooler and windy ive noticed they would rather come out on the downwind side of the woods, i dont know if its because they wanna stay warmer and out of the wind or if its a scenting issue?

[96trigger]

I agree with everyone. I'm pretty bummed about my MEA weekend. I usually get quite a few hunts in while I'm off. The weather in SEMN is not cooperating. This morning was heavy rain, as well as tonight, tomorrow, 40mph winds. I don't like being in trees when they are swaying back and forth. Sounds like Saturday is going to be the only good day to get out down here. I went out last night but new that if I shot one, it would have to be found last night before the rain hit or it would be gone. I don't know if I could handle hitting a nice buck and then having the possibility of losing it because of the weather. My heart just wasn't in it last night so I bailed at about 6:00 p.m. Which was good, by 9:00 it was raining pretty good. A buddy of mine shot a nice buck last night at 5:00, so that made it a little worse. Oh well, thats hunting, next weekend looks awesome for hunting. I might have to take a day off before the firearms come out, when they start up, I put the bow away for the year.

[NELS-BELLS]

Based on my experience I've found that deer move better after a cold front than before and fish always bite better before a cold front than after. So go fishing before and hunting after.

Also, I was watching a Drury Outdoors hunting video and they said the same thing in regards to deer hunting, that one of the best times to be in the stand is right after a front moves through and you have high pressure. (blue skies and cold)

Deer still move in light rain but strong wind is not so good.

Nels

[bigbucks]

Shot a small one in WI Thursday night to finally get my EAB sticker. I wasn't 100% sure on the hit, so we waited a few hours & it rained in between. It had been raining not long before we went out, but only sprinkled a little while on stand. We knew it was going to rain again sometime that night, but I was pretty sure where the deer had bedded close to the stand, so we came back about 3 1/2 hours later. We found it curled up in it's bed dead in about 15 minutes & it had gone no more than 75 yards, but it didn't drop, it curled up & died. In this case I think it was the right decision. The hit was between the shoulder blades, but a little low, apparently not too low, but very close. If I'd have found the arrow in the first 30 yards I'd probably have continued on, but it fell out at about 40. It was a pass through, but the fletching end stayed in for a while, not sure how, other than it hit a shoulder on the entrance & then nicked the other or hit a rib on the exit.

[cupper]

I am a teacher and my hopes to get some good hunts in last TH and Fri were dashed. I tried to get out as much as I could, but the weather made things real tough. I hunt down by Hokah in Houston Co. On Friday Morning I had a wind in my face as i watched the trees on the other side of the valley blow the opposite dirrection... I was winded and snorted at by a deer about 150 yds away... the dirrection the wind was coming from according to my puffer bottle. What are some strategies people use when hunting in that situation... other than sit on the couch and wait it out

[Bassboy1645]

hmm impossible they winded you..deer can bust a person without actually winding them. or maybe a big tree or a hill made your currents swirl...Ive seen this time and time again esp in bluff country in se mn. a seemingly straight wind or one that is "wrong" for the stand can be ideal because of a swirl. its hard to detect but you can play it if you know what to look for but its risky at best.