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Rain or No?

Obviously this is regional....if u hunt here in Florida and u see a big storm coming and can't make it back to ur vehicle before it hits, head for the nearest cabbage palm grove...it can be pouring down hard and u can/will find an area where the big fronds overlapping each other will make a good shelter and u can wait it out. The animals go to these areas also so I am extra sneaky after the storm is over and have had good encounters on the ground in these situations
 
#1 - All day every day. Really great for stalking. Also works for stand hunting. I saw great movement in between some rainstorms and shot a doe opening day. You do have to be mindful of tracking if it is currently raining or will rain later. Take only high percentage shots. The doe I shot had her entire blood trail washed away but I heard her crash and walked right to her. It is a chance you are taking though. Best preference is right after a rain but often you get rained on to be in the right spot when the rain starts to clear.
 
Bama_Xander said:
#1 - All day every day. Really great for stalking. Also works for stand hunting. I saw great movement in between some rainstorms and shot a doe opening day. You do have to be mindful of tracking if it is currently raining or will rain later. Take only high percentage shots. The doe I shot had her entire blood trail washed away but I heard her crash and walked right to her. It is a chance you are taking though. Best preference is right after a rain but often you get rained on to be in the right spot when the rain starts to clear.
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Also, less people in the woods.
 
#1 for me but only a very light rain or snow. If it’s a down pour I’m not going out and don’t think the deer like that either. But when it’s light I see more deer, think they like how it quiets their steps. When it’s dry out and there’s no wind, they make noise walking through the woods and seem to be on edge and move slower.


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I will hunt in the rain but from the ground. Tried it once from my saddle last year and said never again. My fingers were frozen and on the way down that was a big issue. I can stay in the rain on the ground with my rain suit but not in the saddle. Or I will be in my blind.
 
wihunter50 said:
After a couple sits in the rain this year, I am wondering was the general consensus is on hunting in the rain. All other things being equal, how does rain influence your decision to hunt? Do you feel hunting in the rain: 1. improves hunting success, 2. decreases hunting success, 3. no change in hunting success, or 4. don't care, I'm not sitting in the rain. Thanks,
-soggy sitter
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It's situational. Rain makes stalking or accessing sensitive areas easier. It generally retards deer movement in my experience but when it breaks you sometimes get an uptick in movement.

I don't enjoy hunting in the rain, but do it every year. I have a nice and quiet little windbreaker/rain jacket that always goes with me when I hunt and ever since I started wearing the collapsible yoders chaps I basically have raingear on me even on a perfectly clear day. So a little rain isn't a big deal at all. All day rain I've kinda gotten to the point where I'll do something else or sit in a covered stand.
 
Misty rain I tend to see more and Killed one on Columbus day in a really nasty mist/Fog. I hunt public and have some Private I own and hunt. The private is very much a luck of the draw-type of place as they bed in the Lumber company pine trees and come on to my property for Acorns and Water. I have not seen much this year and found out why. They are harvesting a 2000 acre tract of lumber and the bedding habitat has now moved. Because of the heavy rain I decided to scout some, and found some sign on the top corner. I was able to wait for the rain to almost end and sneak up there with the help of the rain. As soon as it stopped killed another buck at 4:00 pm.

Right after a hard rain I have seen huge increases of movement. During hard rains I have not seen much. Misty rain I have also seen an increase in movement, but this has been public land, so the lack of other hunters in the woods could be a contributing factor to this as well.
 
Like many of the others.... I would rather not hunt in the rain for a variety of reasons. The most important one is the ethical dilemma it creates if it washes away the blood trail. Light rains or off and on quick showers during the pre rut can be murderous for those bucks that like to freshen their scrapes after a rain. Some say this doesn't happen but I disagree. Mostly though.... I'm a 4!
 
woodsdog2 said:
Like many of the others.... I would rather not hunt in the rain for a variety of reasons. The most important one is the ethical dilemma it creates if it washes away the blood trail. Light rains or off and on quick showers during the pre rut can be murderous for those bucks that like to freshen their scrapes after a rain. Some say this doesn't happen but I disagree. Mostly though.... I'm a 4!
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This goes for me too!
 
I dont care much for bow hunting in the rain for the same reason most have already listed. Tracking can be tough. But I love hunting in a good, steady rain if Im gun hunting.
 
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