Ethics on rainy hunts

[Nomad]

In 1,979 I went on a 9 day canoe trip in Northern Ontario , it rained 6 days . My rain gear was a vinal poncho .... We canoed in the rain , set up camp, and built fires in the rain .

In that trip I learned that I could survive quite well being wet for days.....

Today I don't   bow hunt in anything more then a passing shower. Why ?

Same reason I don't sit out on the patio in the rain , I just prefer to wait for better weather.

[doebuck1234]

No heavy downpours or high winds for me.passing shower,sleet,snow im fine with.agree with alot of these post saying everyone has their own level of experience and confidence while hunting in rainy conditions.to each their own

[Lawdwaz]

Downpour, nope.

Light misty rain in the rut, heck yes.

I'm talking bow.  Gun, I'll hunt in a downpour all day.

[ATbuckhunter]

I don't think its unethical, but it really shrinks you margin of error. Ill hunt pretty much any weather since I don't have the luxury of living close to the places I hunt. Maybe if its really coming down ill scrub that day and go a half day on sunday. 

[Chef]

As long as it is not a heavy rain why not


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[travisrage]

I hunt in the rain cause thats the best time to catch a big boy moving. I have had tons of great blood trails in the rain still becuase a well placed shot and only a deluge will get rid of it fast enough. Past 5 deer i shot went 50-60 yards. Not a big problem. For the guys that say they dont hunt in the rain they obviously arent as obsessed as i am or have much more time to hunt. Good luck and shoot straight


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[YFKI1983]

I can usually get up to bowhunt only about 3 weekends a year so if I'm not getting soaked I'll be out there. If I lived somewhere I could hunt whenever I felt like it then I'd pick and choose when to hunt

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[nyslowhand]

I'm with Larry302 and Grampy, rain takes the element of fun out of the hunt, esp with a bow or ML in hand. More power to those of you who can endure the rain.

Just an opinion, but if there were a Top-10 list of no-nos for deer hunting, hunting in the rain would be at the bottom of the list.

[moog5050]

12 hours ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

 

 

Not sure that's true. Wonder what the true stats are....


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No way to track that Biz, but I can tell you that my kill percentages are just as high with bow as with gun.   I have lost 2 deer after connecting, one was a gut shot on a doe my first year bow hunting and that was after leaving her overnight and bumping her the next morning.  The other was shotgun where we tracked the doe forever, lost the trail and found her body (what was left of it) the next spring.  I have also killed more deer with bow than gun so my recovery percentage is actually higher with bow.

Edited October 19, 2016 by moog5050

[chas0218]

I hunt in the rain, if a deer I'm looking to shoot comes by it needs to be the perfect broadside opportunity and I should be able to do the rest. If I do my part they will be dead in seconds after the shot. I have lost 4 deer in 16 years either bad placement or no blood. Never lost a single one in the rain granted I haven't shot as many in the rain but none lost.

Edited October 19, 2016 by chas0218

[Fletch]

I have no problem shooting one in a light rain with a bow. I have before and a good blood trail in a light rain stays quite a while. Also, the ground is usually muddy and the deer actually leave a better track to follow. Tracking a deer is not all blood, there are prints, disturbed leaves, a hoof scrape across the top of a downed log lifting up the moss..... Now a steady rain or downpour I'm not going out anyway due to my own comfort as well as recovery issues.

Edited October 19, 2016 by Fletch

[airedale]

As Clint Eastwood said "A man has to know his limitations", you have to be honest with yourself about what you are capable of and use those capabilities accordingly. There are many skills that have to be acquired for hunting, some learn and can use them very well and others not so much.

When I was a young man I would hunt in any weather, rain , snow, cold, windy it did not matter because I loved hunting so much, I would dress for the conditions and hit the timber at every opportunity I had when off from work. I knew what I could and could not do when it came time to take the shot. 

If someone wants to say I was unethical I could care less.

Al

[WNYBuckHunter]

15 hours ago, The Jerkman said:

Oh I don't disagree. Which is why if you are going to hunt the rain you need to have a high percentage shot. You're not going to be taking the same shots in rain as you are perfect conditions

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I beg to differ. I dont take marginal shots with a bow ever. Rain, snow, sun, weather conditions dont make a difference. I take shots that I feel are good and Im comfortable with. Unfortunately, I dont always hit exactly what I aimed for, for a variety of reasons. Some I can control, some I cant. Nobodys perfect, nobody makes a perfect shot on a deer every single time. Anyone that says they do is a liar. I will bow hunt in a light rain, and Ill stay on stand through a heavy rain if its supposed to end, but if its going to be an all day heavyish rain, I wont hunt. There have been times that I have lost deer in good conditions, it happens. Im just not going to risk not being able to find a deer I shot anymore than I have to.

[Core]

I don't see a hard and fast rule here. Hunting in the rain increases the odds of not recovering, there is no doubt about it. But lots of what we do does the same thing. Bowhunting for example. If we all hunted with slug guns and kept our shots to bow distances our recovery rates would be through the roof.

A good double-lung is going to take a deer out fast, but even a hundred yards in heavy brush if you have a fairly good idea of where it is could be a real challenge to find. I think if you're in woods with lots of visibility it changes the calculation vs woods with heavy brush and thorns everywhere--the kind that when you're on the ground you can't see more than 10 yards and need a machete to get anywhere.

[landtracdeerhunter]

15 hours ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

The bigger question is bowhunting in general even ethical for the average guy? I always wonder how many deer are injured each bow season.


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Actually, I have seen more deer injured in firearms season than bow. Maybe because of greater percentage of firearm hunters.

[rob-c]

16 hours ago, Biz-R-OWorld said:

The bigger question is bowhunting in general even ethical for the average guy? I always wonder how many deer are injured each bow season.


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A slob hunter is a slob hunter no matter what implement they chose . A bad shot can happen at any time gun or bow . 

[TreeGuy]

I consider myself a slob hunter ! Or giant, bigg'n, trophy, mature etc etc

[chas0218]

2 hours ago, WNYBuckHunter said:

I beg to differ. I dont take marginal shots with a bow ever. Rain, snow, sun, weather conditions dont make a difference. I take shots that I feel are good and Im comfortable with. Unfortunately, I dont always hit exactly what I aimed for, for a variety of reasons. Some I can control, some I cant. Nobodys perfect, nobody makes a perfect shot on a deer every single time. Anyone that says they do is a liar. I will bow hunt in a light rain, and Ill stay on stand through a heavy rain if its supposed to end, but if its going to be an all day heavyish rain, I wont hunt. There have been times that I have lost deer in good conditions, it happens. Im just not going to risk not being able to find a deer I shot anymore than I have to.

I don't either but if it was raining then I would want to make sure the the deer isn't going far. I have no problem taking quartering towards shots but in the rain knowing that it could wash away blood on a long trail I wouldn't take that shot. I would want to take a shot that almost always guarantees a short track.

I have hit deer single lung and some seem like they go a mile but on the other hand I shot a deer single lunged and it went 30' before bedding down and dying.

[LET EM GROW]

I dont think its un ethical at all to bow hunt in the rain. As long as the hunter knows their limitations even in perfect weather. If your not comfortable with the shot, you just dont take it... PERIOD. As a teen i took several marginal shots on deer and never even thought twice about it. Shots that i regret ever taking now and they cost me several deer worthy of the wall. I learned the hard way, BUT I LEARNED and now will only attempt a harvest if I'm completely comfortable and confident i can make the best shot i can. Or the deer will walk.. I will do my absolute best to never lose a deer again. I've sen some awesome deer movement in the rain , esp during the rut, a lot of people wont hunt the rain so the woods are much less pressured at that time.... that being said i will be out there waiting on a hit list buck..

 

I wont hunt in a down pour unless its going to end before my sit is over, light rain, wind, snow.. bring it on..

[Grizz1219]

I'll hunt in showers but if it is calling for steady rain over night... I won't... You can think you will only take perfect shots but every bad shot starts off with the idea it will be perfect... We all make mistakes... I just don't want to lose one because the blood trail on a questionable shot is lost due to rain.. 

[landtracdeerhunter]

  I'll be out enjoying the wet weather hunting. Call it what you will; but I enjoy the taste of a rewarding shot.

[NFA-ADK]

Downpour is a bit much for the bow, gun the only thing that takes me out of the woods is really warm weather. 

Bow I wont hunt high winds or downpours or really warm weather, light rain or drizzle and I am hunting.  Otherwise if it's enough to wash the blood away in 5 min I would rather not take a shot but I will more than likely stay in the woods as long as it does not downpour.

[WNYBuckHunter]

1 hour ago, chas0218 said:

I don't either but if it was raining then I would want to make sure the the deer isn't going far. I have no problem taking quartering towards shots but in the rain knowing that it could wash away blood on a long trail I wouldn't take that shot. I would want to take a shot that almost always guarantees a short track.

I have hit deer single lung and some seem like they go a mile but on the other hand I shot a deer single lunged and it went 30' before bedding down and dying.

You missed my point.

[dbHunterNY]

shots I take in the sunny weather versus in a whiteout or raining are all the same... ones I feel I can make with no excuses.  if it's raining especially I try not to stop the deer.  I don't want it seeing danger before it gets sticked and trying to run even farther.  I hunt in everything.  that said a down pour has to have me under cover of some kind.  deer aren't moving as much either as they're doing the same thing I am... riding it out.  down pours don't usually last long.  shortly after the action picks back up.  I've tracked a lot of deer during a light rain in the wet forest floor duff with little blood but it's blatantly obvious where the deer ran and kicked things up.  I try to avoid shooting deer in a good rain but it's not something that'll make me pack up my things and head back to the truck either.

[dbHunterNY]

had a new hunter shoot a deer.  must have been a single lunged hit idk.  took three of us plus him jumping the deer and then backing out until the next morning.  it was raining a lot and it was so thick spots had you losing your bearings and on all fours.  it never left a 50x50 yard patch of cover.  I drilled a buck at a field edge will a large cut mechanical head and heard the wind get knocked out of the thing.  had little blood.  it ran through fields on a dead sprint and went well over 200 yards. out of site.  I think cover has a bit to do with how far they go.  that'd said a good rain, out of sight, and fallow crp fields would be a nightmare. an entourage of tracking buddies and tedious grid searches would be inevitable.