If you know it's gonna rain do you still go?

[nybuckboy]

Sittin here this morning debating about this right now. I looked at the accuweather and scoutlookweather and it says rain. I'm gonna put up the umbrella and give it a go anyway. I know there have been some mornings where I hear the wind and rain and just go back to bed. How about you guys (& gals).

[carloracer1987]

Im going out rain or shine, bucks wont stop moving because it sprinkling

[Early]

Best time to hunt...is when you can! So, go....rain or shine. Note: For mid day or late afternoon hunts when it's raining....hunt fields. An old grassy, weedy field is a much quieter, much safer place for deer to bed when it's raining than the woods where dripping provides cover noise for predators.

[SteveB]

No - recovery is as important as the hunt to me.

And recovery rates drop in the rain.

[oneidacountyhunter]

Little, on-and-off sprinkle I will go. Steady rain I go back to bed. Rain washes blood trails and I have never had any luck in the rain. I think they are mainly just bedded down in the pines to stay dry. IMHO

[Doc]

It's true that if the blood sign starts to dilute and disappear, you had better have one heck of a deadly hit. But then, not all rains produce that kind of blood-erasing effect. So, for me it is not just whether they are predicting rain, but what kind of rain are they calling for. For example right now I am hearing it literally pouring out there. No blood trail would have a chance of surviving long enough for recovery. This is a day that is better spent doing something more productive than being forced into a grid pattern body search of a dead deer (that usually signals a lost deer). But I have seen days when the rain was a light intermittant spray. I am quite often drawn out on those kinds of days.

[growalot]

This rain has been steady since midnight...from radar will be until 9a.m....that is when they will get up and start feeding...so...I turned off alarm til 6am and will take my time this morning...winds are to pic up to around 17mph out of the west I know exactly where I will be going for an all day sit...good luck

[RobC]

Its raining now and im sitting in my stand wondering the something.

[bubba]

I go to camp in the rain, if it is raining like now, I stay in camp.

[biggamefish]

No - recovery is as important as the hunt to me.

And recovery rates drop in the rain.

I agree I have been seeing people out in the pouring rain and I can't believe it. Just imagine you get that shot on your trophy and something goes wrong. Now you have to track him. Good luck when you rely on a blood trail and it is being washed away.

[nyantler]

No - recovery is as important as the hunt to me.

And recovery rates drop in the rain.

This is the reason I never bowhunt in the rain... I have helped way too many hunters look for their wounded buck in the rain and the recovery rate is unbelievably low.. just not a good idea.. like Doc says though, the light intermitant stuff doesn't usually deter me.

Edited October 6, 2012 by nyantler

[New York Hillbilly]

I just threw in the towel on hunting this morning. Well actually I threw ON the towel.....LOL...when I got back to the house. It was foggy and spooky out there when I started out, but at 8AM it started to sprinkle and by 8:30 the sky opened up in a downpour. I passed a single doe, and then a threesome of does together, one great big, one young adult and one this years fawn. All were absolutely broadside, in my shooting lanes, and as close as 8 yards from the base of my tree. There was no way I was going to risk turning the start of this season into a heartbreaking nightmare of shooting and then losing a deer,buck or doe. If I have learned nothing else since starting bowhunting at age 16 and now into my (oh...my gosh!) 37th season, if it's raining, I'm staying in.

[nyantler]

I just threw in the towel on hunting this morning. Well actually I threw ON the towel.....LOL...when I got back to the house. It was foggy and spooky out there when I started out, but at 8AM it started to sprinkle and by 8:30 the sky opened up in a downpour. I passed a single doe, and then a threesome of does together, one great big, one young adult and one this years fawn. All were absolutely broadside, in my shooting lanes, and as close as 8 yards from the base of my tree. There was no way I was going to risk turning the start of this season into a heartbreaking nightmare of shooting and then losing a deer,buck or doe. If I have learned nothing else since starting bowhunting at age 16 and now into my (oh...my gosh!) 37th season, if it's raining, I'm staying in.

"heartbreaking nightmare" that is perfect..

[landtracdeerhunter]

Yes! we don't let a little thing like rain stop the hunt. Love this sport way to much to miss a day, count of the weather. Now, we do use ethics when it comes to a shot. This morning for instance, rain stopped at 7:03, deer movement started at 7:33. If I got a shot, would of taken it. Keep track of the radar, to see where the end of the rain line is. Plenty of mornings like this one, rain early, then brightening skies after 8. No blood trail, no problem. Use your nose to find a deer. ( Terry Drury taught me that) I'm trying to get the most value, from my $98 fee.

Edited October 6, 2012 by landtracdeerhunter

[tughillhunter]

yes, i do hunt in the rain,, but i have yet to bowhunt, and want to so bad, just cant get the time for a course. was gonna do it over the summer but mandatory over time put a kabash on that. but yes, i will take any and every oportunity to get in the woods.

[Hunter1]

Yes I hunt in the rain best time to see deer

[Nomad]

A little light rain or on and off maybe. Depends on the part of the season we're in days I got left and so on.

Today i did not bother to get up, I go in on nights tonight 3,15 hour nights in a row,and hunted yesterday AM so why start off nights tired to hunt one time in the rain ?

Got 25 more days off in this season to hunt ,plus afternoons after working days if I wish, so I'm not pi.nned to a few days which makes my choice easy

[GreeneHunter]

I like hunting in the rain , otherwise its like walking on rice crispies sometimes !

[Paulie]

I hunt rain or shine....but if its raining I will probably pass the shots. I just like being out there. A few years ago I sat through what seemed like a monsoon for about an hour (becuase I had permission to go from the wife....and by golly I was going). Turns out as soon as the rain stopped I had a doe in front of me and then a monster 10pt can charging in....dam branch jump out and stole my arrow otherwise that deer was dead. Always like being in the woods right after a rain....the woods seem to come alive.

[nybuckboy]

Im going out rain or shine, bucks wont stop moving because it sprinkling

I'm not talking sprinkling... ya know it's gonna RAIN... you're gonna need your rain gear and tree umbrella. If the doppler shows a heavy cloud formation of rain that's what talking about.

Also I'm talking bow hunting not rifle/gun where you can shoot out a couple hundred yards sometimes.

I went out this morning as planned. Saw 2 eyes just inside the woods (don't know what) with my green light hat light and no rain at that time 6:15. Got in the ladder stand on the corn field edge and about 7:30 the wind picked up and it began and rained pretty hard for about an hour. Saw nothing.

Edited October 6, 2012 by nybuckboy

[fasteddie]

I hunted in a light rain this am . As luck would have it , I saw nothing .

[josephmrtn]

id go

[BizCT]

I have yet to melt in the rain. I can only hunt so many days each year. Rain, Snow, Wind, or Shine....I hunt sunrise to sunset. I've shot a few deer in the pouring rain.

[growalot]

a few years ago I hunted opening day of gun at camp...with my new rifle...soaked to the bone pouring..........next day there was snow on the ground and I shot a six pt( first rifle deer for me) in the shoulder with my 243...he still managed to snow plow 60yrds if I recall....I went to shot...no blood followed his trail...no blood...got to him and barely saw where I hit him.....not sure I would even hunt in the rain with a gun now...well shotgun yes...243...bow no...mist or fog...yes

[wdswtr]

I will not bowhunt in the rain. The risk of not recovering a deer in the rain from a bad shot is just not worth it ever. One can be as picky about shot placement and only take the perfect shot in the rain and you would be fooling yourself if you think your % rate of something going wrong with that shot isnt there. We all read story after story of people tracking deer on here for hours and hours with no recovery in good weather, now factor in no blood trail left after it as washed away. Seems quite silly to me. Not worth losing game over the desperation of I got to shoot one. Bowhunting is first on the seasons list, theres plenty of time left.