Trad Gang

Who likes to hunt on a rainy day???Was out doing some scouting today was raining but not a down pour, more like a moderate sprinkle.Walked up on a nice doe,never knew I was there.Kicked-up two other deer couldn,t tell what they were.How does trad gear hold up to the wet weather??Do you wax your bow because of the wet weather????

I don't do anything special with my bow, just try to keep the feathers dry! I really like the hunting right after the rain stops. Lots of animal movement.

I wanted to get out with my father today on the mountain. Been planning an afternoon hunt with him for weeks. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Just kept thinking about how heavy rains and blood trails don't go together. Now, if someone like you, Charlie, or Ken had been there with me...   :rolleyes:  

Always thursday and friday, I suppose....

I tend to not hunt if rain is in the forecast. I have lost several deer due to blood trail wash out. So if it is actually raining, or threatening to, I just don't hunt. Tonight the chance of rain is 60% and it has been drizzly all day. So this morning I checked my trail cameras and set up a DB blind in a spot I have been wanting to for two years. It is supposed to rain thru Weds. so on Weds. I plan on moving my wife's stand 10 yards further in to the timber as she has been spotted by deer each time she has set the stand. Rainy days are best for scouting and changing stands as smell gets washed away.

Love hunting in the rain-the more the better. I use a tube quiver to protect the fletch.
Hogs are easy to find when the weather keeps them under cover.

I am with you Bill on the scouting and working mid-season rainy days. Found a 150" giant two years ago in a drizzle. No noise and scent gets washed out too. Woods are so peaceful on a drizzling day.

goldflinger is correct too about being in the woods right after the rain stops, especially if it has rained steady for a few days and the sun pops out. Deadly scrape huntin like that cause the bucks WILL come freshen scrapes. JMHO

I'm with Bill.

I only hunt in the rain if it starts raining while I'm out. If its just a sprinkle I'll stay. I've done this all my bowhunting "career". I've only shot one deer after it started raining. I saw a white flash in a tree line about 70-80 yards out.  I could find no blood so walked a wide berth around the straight line flight to the spot where I saw the white flash. The doe lay there dead.

I will readily admit, the vast majority of the deer I've bow-killed over the years (mostly with compounds) have gone down in sight of me. Rain or not I wouldn't have had trouble finding these deer. I guess I simply worry that I might need a blood trail and the rain may prevent it.

i'm like Bjorn...i love being in the woods in the rain.  i use a Simmons rotoquiver that completely encloses the arrow and keeps it dry.  If it is flooding or a hard rain i'm not taking a shot (most likely won't see anything til it stops). But i love being there when it slacks up, and the woods come back to life.

I'm with Bill.  I have lost a 2 or 3 deer when the rain washed the blood trail away.  I'm still sick about them.  It is nice being out there in a drizzle, though.  I have made up a few ground blinds in the rain, hoping that my scent would be washed away a little.  I used to gun hunt in the rain with pretty good success.  The woods sure seemed to get quieter (less hunters) once the rain started.

Love the rain...never wax my bow...Catquiver is the choice and I also waterproof my feathers. A light coating of silicone on the broadheads and touch them up after the hunt to prevent any problems.

We have taken some nice deer while hunting in the rain.

I'll hunt in a *light* drizzle (like it was doing off and on today)  but no more shooting in the rain for me.  Very nearly lost a doe last year that way.

I hunt when I can I don't have the luxury of the whole season off and I'm on call 24-7 I wax my bow use a Safari tuff quiver and wait for a perfect shot. I shoot crappy feathers in the yard to make sure my broadheads fly good no matter what.

I always hunt rain, it is my absolute favorite hunting condition. I don't hunt downpours due to fear of loosing a blood trail, but anything less than a monsoon I will hunt. Today was drizzle mixed with some steady rain, and I was stuck in school!!  Most of my best shot opportunity's are presented to me in the rain.

As far as equipment, if your bow is finished I would not even think about water getting in. If your arrows are properly tuned you don't have to worry about them getting wet, they will still fly . . .

I tend to not hunt in the rain due to blood trail wash out.

I have never shot a deer in the rain, but I have seen lots of them out in the rain.  I'm just assuming that they get uncomfortable in the wet weather, and need to move around to get some sort of comfort.

QuoteOriginally posted by Stone Knife:
I hunt when I can I don't have the luxury of the whole season off and I'm on call 24-7 I wax my bow use a Safari tuff quiver and wait for a perfect shot. I shoot crappy feathers in the yard to make sure my broadheads fly good no matter what.

I'm with you Jim, I hunt when I can. I take my weekends and off time seriously. I guess if I had a shot that presented itself in the rain, I would think about taking it or letting it go. I guess it all would depend on the present situation.

Great time to get work done in the woods but bad time to shoot something

I'll hunt a light rain or after a heavy rain.  Bows are not a problem and if its raining when I go out I have sets of arrows made with Canadian Goose feather fletch.  They are darn near waterproof as is.

Since getting a tree umbrella years ago, hunting in the rain is one of my favorite times. Of course the only one I've shot in the rain was from the ground. I like the fact that I'm probably the only person in the woods!

VTer, that is how I feel, if someone else is tough enough to stick it out with me in the rain, I am more than happy to share the woods with them!

love hunting on rainy days

Being from the Oregon coast, if I didn't hunt in the rain, I didn't hunt!  It's a different story for me now.

I truly enjoy hunting the rainy days. Things seem quieter, the air is clearer and the woods are crisper.

I almost always hunt pop-up ground blinds when it's rainy. Easier to get closer shots (and stay dry).

I have tube quivers and waterproof fletching covers for the trips in and out. I use a paste made of 2 parts bee's wax, 2 parts linseed oil and 1 part mineral spirits on my bows. Especially my homemade self bows and laminated wood bows. My production bows get a light coat a couple times a year.

OkKeith

I enjoy a light rain for stalking but dread loosing a blood trail. It's happened to me before and I swore off rain hunting after that.  

I do add that sometimes we aren't given a choice and have to hunt when we can.    :)

In Oregon if your not willing to hunt in the rain you wont be hunting much. Besides a good rain will get the blacktails out of the thick brush they love so much.

I hunt for the enjoyment of hunting and hunting in the rain just isn't fun for me. Some might like it but I don't, all I ever got was cold and wet!

Now cold and snow I love! I just don't like a soaking rain.

I prefer hunting in the rain.  The woods are very quiet, the animals often won't hear you coming.  Plus this allows you to get closer to make clean kills.  Most animals I have shot have died within 60 yards.  You can hear where they fall.  

Here in NW Washington you wouldn't hunt if you waited for clear weather.  I think a lot of us, me included could dramatically improve our tracking skills to far surpass just following a blood trail.  I have found animals some would swear could never be found in a torrential rain.  Persistance has a lot to do with finding your animal.  I still have a lot to learn when compared with american indians in the old days and modern trackers like the border patrol.

I was out in the rain this morning enjoying it just fine until my fletching started to come off my arrows. They were glued on very well but some how the rain was the culprit.. Really dissapointing. I got them back on but it's not the same even though they still fly true. I just worry this will always happen in the rain

I have but not so much by choice, it started and I didn't quit.

I've never really invested the money in proper wet weather hunting gear but if I lived someplace like Washington state it would be a must for me.

I will go sit the Double Bull if it's "on and off again" light rain but that's mostly for spring turkey.

God bless,Mudd

i hunted in the rain yesterday. it was the first time ive ever willingly went out in the rain to hunt.here is the story. i was standing in my garage watching the rainwhen i coaught some movement to the right of my home. it was the same four does ive been seein for the past 3 yrs.archery season is on here in nc and i have yet to be in the woods well when i saw the does i couldnt resist , i ran inside grabbed my bow and bolted for the woods. i knew which block of woods those does where headed, i wanted to try to cut them off and do an ambush.they were moving a little faster than i thought, i never got in front of them, but i did catch up to them. they were in the middle of a brouse i guess when i saw them. i got to within 25 yrds but there was no clean shot. i guess the lead doe was a little jumpy to , it had been thundering all day with the rain.i dont know how she was alerted to my presence , but she started to bolt went 10 feet and turned around to look againthats when i saw the smaller doe to my left, oooo clear shot, 20 yrds , you can do this ruddy. i started to draw and the lead doe  blew just as loud as she could. they were outa there, hunt's over.that was the closest ive been able to get to deer on the ground with my bow. im still excited about what i did even though i never shot that arrow.that was the most fun i ve had in a while. i would definately do that again. see y'all in the woods ruddy

I have had so many good days in the rain. Even some better then good ones. All of the biggest bucks I have ever seen, I have seen on rainy days. Too bad I have never been able to shoot one of the monsters, but I have made some good meat in the rain.
 (http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/96buck.jpg)
 (http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/94buck-1.jpg)
 (http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/98buck01.jpg)

Absolutely my favorite times to be out. The deer just aren't pressured at all around here on those days and they know it. Don't get me wrong I will not sit out in a steady rain but a moist drizzly day is my all time favorite.

I love hunting in the drizzle the best. It really knocks your scent out of the air.

All that crunchy grass and twigs gets soft and you can really sneak around.

Also, if it's not too bad of a rain, it doesn't really affect tracking too much, and you can see the footprints even better.

drizzle, fog-yes but a hard steady rain -no as a blood trail washed out is useless. Like the quiet on those light rain days though, sometimes the deer just ghost up on you.

Rainy day, fog and damp...took this NJ buck with Bamboo and Southpawshooter after 20 minutes of calling and rattling he came in...

(http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a281/sf1oak/P9240009.jpg)