My season runs next Monday through Friday and so far the forecast has it raining every single day. What are some tips some of you would be willing to share for sealing the deal in the rain?
Sit in a blind and stay dry.
Hunt hard , hunt often. Pressure will be less because the fair weather hunters will be home in bed. Birds will go to fields in the rain.
Two very good answers. I would add, do some scouting so you know where to set up.
There are a lot of folks out there that like hunting in the rain. I am not one of them. The main reason is that it mucks up my gear. After too much rain, every open space in camp is filled with wet clothes and the calls are soggy and . . . well, I just don't like it.
If I have a downpour coming, it is great to hunt right up to the first drop. My experience is that turkeys will shut down when the rain initially hits. They seem to bunch up and get defensive. That is usually a good time to go in and re-rig. After it rains for a couple hours, the turkeys will stop being bothered and they will go out in the fields and hunt worms and half-drowned insects. If you have access to radar, be ready to be out there just as the rain lets up. That is also a great time to be out.
The one time I will use a blind is when it is going to be raining. I have a pop-up that I used more when the kids were little. It is not water proof, but I put a camo tarp up on the inside to catch the rain and send it down in back of me. If it is really going to pour down, I will go out to one of my fancy deer blinds and sit. I have been in some awesome thunderstorms out in those. Turkeys will go quiet during the worst of it, but as soon as a cell goes over and the rain is reduced to drizzle, the action will pick up.
:popcorn: My experience is that a light rain will not affect them drastically. A heavy rain and or thunderstorm will push the into the woods. Hunters will be less. Be patient and calling for us is less. Good luck
I absolutely LOVE hunting in the rain. Gear gets wet and I get to play with it drying and taking care of it all. My preferred method of hunting is a bow and use cut wing feathers from prior harvests to fletch the shafts and they get wet and the arrows still fly okay. Friction calls stop working without playing them inside a bag (2 gallon Zip-Lock or small trashcan bags work best) which is a lot of work unless you are in a blind or staying put. Use a mouth call. I generally don't call and instead try to use the cover of the rain to find the best setup. The order of the day is minimalism as trying to keep stuff dry is a royal PIA. I wear my gray and black rainsuit over my camo in case the rainstops. A good wool cap and gloves help keep me warm and so does moving about the woods. The rain covers all sorts of noise and movement. I feel confident the rain keeps the birds from staring around and they are clearing the water from their eyes just like anyone/thing trying to look around. Run and gun (bow?) is so much more fun. Getting wet really sucks but once you are wet you are wet and the fear of getting wet goes away. Everything said in prior posts is absolutely true about the behavior. After the rain stops the leaves and ground are not noisy but the movements are more detectable. With luck the wind is blowing which does help conceal movements.
Rain is okay but head for shelter (camp or vehicle) if the lightning begins to fly. Not worth getting killed and missing the next few decades of hunting.
If you needed nourishment you'd go. Head out and feed your soul and enjoy the church of the great blue (gray if it's raining) dome. If the day is miserable you have learned something and not relied on another's experience. Your skillset will enlarge as you make mistakes and find solutions. If you have limited time and sit inside you will be miserable. Head out and at least be miserable in the woods which kicks the &$%^**^%#%^ out of being miserable inside in camp.
At the end of the potentially wet and cold day with still empty tags take a long hot shower and enjoy swapping lies and telling stories over a cold beer and bowl of chilli. We have all had crappy days when it was too hot, buggy, windy, cold,etc..... We have also had wonderful and memorable days when it was too hot, buggy, windy, cold,etc... The most memorable hunts always had an element of overcoming adversity. Have a go and have fun. Let us know how it all went.
Quote from: Kevin6Q on April 04, 2015, 07:57:53 AM
I absolutely LOVE hunting in the rain. Gear gets wet and I get to play with it drying and taking care of it all. My preferred method of hunting is a bow and use cut wing feathers from prior harvests to fletch the shafts and they get wet and the arrows still fly okay. Friction calls stop working without playing them inside a bag (2 gallon Zip-Lock or small trashcan bags work best) which is a lot of work unless you are in a blind or staying put. Use a mouth call. I generally don't call and instead try to use the cover of the rain to find the best setup. The order of the day is minimalism as trying to keep stuff dry is a royal PIA. I wear my gray and black rainsuit over my camo in case the rainstops. A good wool cap and gloves help keep me warm and so does moving about the woods. The rain covers all sorts of noise and movement. I feel confident the rain keeps the birds from staring around and they are clearing the water from their eyes just like anyone/thing trying to look around. Run and gun (bow?) is so much more fun. Getting wet really sucks but once you are wet you are wet and the fear of getting wet goes away. Everything said in prior posts is absolutely true about the behavior. After the rain stops the leaves and ground are not noisy but the movements are more detectable. With luck the wind is blowing which does help conceal movements.
Rain is okay but head for shelter (camp or vehicle) if the lightning begins to fly. Not worth getting killed and missing the next few decades of hunting.
If you needed nourishment you'd go. Head out and feed your soul and enjoy the church of the great blue (gray if it's raining) dome. If the day is miserable you have learned something and not relied on another's experience. Your skillset will enlarge as you make mistakes and find solutions. If you have limited time and sit inside you will be miserable. Head out and at least be miserable in the woods which kicks the &$%^**^%#%^ out of being miserable inside in camp.
At the end of the potentially wet and cold day with still empty tags take a long hot shower and enjoy swapping lies and telling stories over a cold beer and bowl of chilli. We have all had crappy days when it was too hot, buggy, windy, cold,etc..... We have also had wonderful and memorable days when it was too hot, buggy, windy, cold,etc... The most memorable hunts always had an element of overcoming adversity. Have a go and have fun. Let us know how it all went.
Oh shoot :help:lol
I don't hunt in the rain because I don't enjoy it. I hunt for pleasure, nothing else. Approximately an hour after the rain stops is one of my most pleasant times to hunt as the droppings from the wet leaves is usually over by then as well. Turkeys seem to like that time as well.
I know my new Long Box from Spring Creek Calls, will not see rain if I can help it!
Too sweet sounding and I once ruined an old Lynch Foolproof, that sounded great, until it got soaked. Never sounded the same after that. I got it to the point it worked, but it was never the same.
Keep a zip-lock freezer bag handy.
:newmascot:
I don't mind as long as it is not a downpour. I wear my rain gear and if I know showers or light rain is expected I carry a folding umbrella in my bag. The umbrella has saved me especially when I didn't know rain was possible. Nothing worse than walking back to the vehicle with no bird and soaked. Also helps when a shower pops up and you can stay in. Hunting is good right after a shower.
I like to enjoy myself, and simply do not in steady or heavy rain, and use them days to rest for the next hunt.
A light sprinkle or shower here or there is not bad, but steady or heavy rain, not me. I have enough things to do when I get home, besides tearing my 11-87 down and drying calls, vest, etc. because they got soaked.
And you want to see a very colorful bird on a nice Spring day go from beautiful to down right hideous looking, shoot one in the rain.
Season is short so rain,sleet,snow,hail,wind,thunder,or fog I'm hunting.
Quote from: USMC0331 on April 04, 2015, 07:55:41 PM
Season is short so rain,sleet,snow,hail,wind,thunder,or fog I'm hunting.
Exactly. We get 1 month. 11 months is a long time to wait til next season. I scout well and know where they go during rain, the same goes for wind. Then I hunt them accordingly.....
I don't do lightning or tornadic wind, but the rest of the time i'm out there.
Sent by this stupid phone
Quote from: zelmo1 on April 04, 2015, 07:41:57 AM...A heavy rain and or thunderstorm will push the into the woods...
In my parts, it's the exact opposite. Turkeys head for wide open fields when it pours. Actually, they head for wide open fields even when it's not raining. ;)
Quote from: stinkpickle on April 04, 2015, 10:41:28 PM
Quote from: zelmo1 on April 04, 2015, 07:41:57 AM...A heavy rain and or thunderstorm will push the into the woods...
In my parts, it's the exact opposite. Turkeys head for wide open fields when it pours. Actually, they head for wide open fields even when it's not raining. ;)
:icon_thumright:
We only get a week in IL so I really need to make it count.
Open fields and woods roads when it's raining.
We've shot several in heavy rain with the kids sitting fields in the blind with decoys out. Our birds head for fields or open areas in the rain and especially plowed fields. With 2 days of Youth Season we deal with the weather we get. If there's anything less appealing than a rain soaked dead turkey photo, I don't know what it is. My son shot his first longbeard in the rain when he was 8 years old and I spent an hour with towels and a blow dryer just to take that special photo that we'll treasure forever.
We were talking about the biggest turkeys we'd ever shot a while back. I mentioned that I'd shot a 24.5 lb gob a few years ago and was weighing it just as the clouds opened up and poured rain. When I came back out a half-hour later the scale showed close to 30 lbs. The bird had been hanging upside down and the rain had soaked the bird deeply instead of sloughing off the feathers.
The forecast for this week in southern Illinois calls for rain every day. Having broken my ankle and on a walker, this meant limited access and probably some help in getting all of my gear to the set-up spot. Thankfully, my wife "volunteered" to head out the door at 5:30 this morning for the 15 minute drive to the 20 acre picked soy bean field I could hunt considering my condition. The walker and I made it just fine across the picked soy bean field, although at rather leisure pace. After setting up the Pretty Boy, breeding-position hen, and feeding hen in a light sprinkle, my wife return some 200 yards to the truck to read and snooze. At 7:30, a gobbler that had initially been some 300 yards away 30 minutes ago just had to investigate my Primos gobble tube and, at 25 yards, a handload of #5 allows him now to rest comfortably in my refrigerator. I'm not a fan of pop-up blinds because they limit my visibility and, at least the couple that I have, are a pain/noisy to set up. Yes, they do keep you dry and you can move around with ease, but I'd rather wear my camo Frogg-Toggs and sit in my ground lounger in any weather, including not only rain but snow. This is a minority opinion among my deer/turkey hunting buddies, I might add. So...to each his own. Just remember that rain, snow, etc. is a natural part of a turkey's life. They'll be out there somewhere and it's up to us to figure out where they are and how to lure them in. Best of hunting!
Hunt the fields in a blind and stay dry. In addition, use a couple of deeks. I recommend a strutting jake and at least one hen. Good luck and keep us posted.
I'm not a huge fan of hunting in the rain but I do...I killed a gobbling bird (who had another gobbler with him) in a thunder and lightning storm. It was pouring so hard that when I put up my scoped shotgun, I couldn't see him at 20 yds. Took me three attempts at mounting the gun and putting it down again before I could make out the dull white dot that was his head through the scope. Man, I shot and couldn't get out of there fast enough! The storm had crept up on me and was suddenly full lightning and pouring rain before I could move! that was an "experience!"
I have seen birds still on the rooste at 10 am on rainy days. But if you can get to a field as soon as the rain breaks they will be out drying there feathers. even if the break in the rain is only for a few hours.
Rain around here is common during turkey season. I agree w the heading out to fields once the rain stops. At my old house theyd cram into the horseshoe pits in the yard trying to get somewhere dry. If it thunderstorms unless you're having a heart attack you should be out there immediately after. Thunder all night makes the birds go nuts come morning.
I don't mind rain but wind is another story. Tomorrow is opening day in NJ and the forecast is heavy rain, thunder and 15-25 mph wind. I'm probably gonna hold off until Tuesday.
It's now the Illinois third season and there's only three days left. Broken ankle or not, I'll put the big black garbage bag over the boot (I'm able to leave the walker at home now- two Walmart plastic bags, the big black bag, all covered with a portion of a blue jean leg to take the abuse and duck taped in position) and make my way some 300 yards from the truck to my set up spot. Come rain or shine, I plan to be out there since I can't shoot anything from my couch, even though it's a much more comfortable and dry place. I won't be taking my Remington 1889 hammer double barrel, however, but will take the Remington 870 instead. Maybe when the Illinois fifth season rolls around it will be dryer...and the buffalo gnats will have disappeared!
Like some of the other posters here, I am no fan of the Rain either. High winds or Rain, and I am fast asleep in my bed!! :gobble:
It's seems that most say head for open fields when raining or just after. What if there's not much open areas? Roads / Trails?
If I'm hunting in the rain I leave all my friction calls at home. Only call i bring are mouth calls. Hunt field edges or just inside them. Always been told heavy rain effects turkeys vision and hearing which is why fields are good.
I do not like hunting in the rain, primarily due to the physical comfort and extra work of cleaning my gear. But I actually believe I have had a higher percentage of success hunting in the rain... Especially intermittent rain...
I look for areas of cover that provide protection adjacent to areas of clearing where the birds can stand and dry off when it is not raining.
The toms at this time of year are fairly pre-occupied with sex, and probably similar to humans, conditions have to be just right for the females to want to engage.... This is probably to our advantage...
Birds are far less vocal in the rain, but often, if I can drum up a gobble, eventually a bird works in... Many times I get that initial gobble, and then birds come in quietly sometime later. If I get a gobble, I generally stay put in the rain, unless I feel there is a strong tactical advantage in moving.
If I do get a gobble, I settle in, and start some periodic lonely yelps and clucks (nothing aggressive)... And wait patiently... Almost always in the rain, those birds just seem to appear, and generally quietly. All the sudden, I wake up from my daydream, and there is a tom...
I am not a fan of blinds, but hunting in the rain is one of those times that I would consider it... Biggest reason being, is that sitting still for that long with no knowledge of a bird close at hand, I am more likely to move and run off a bird I did not even know was there.
Often times the birds show up during the breaks in the rain... When it slows down or stops for a bit, is when I become more attentive... As soon as it stops, I throw out a couple yelps, and then some periodic contented clucks or purrs... Periodic, as in every 5 minutes or so (which when I am hunting seems like a heck of a long time to NOT call).
It seems to me that in the rain, a tom will more actively seek out a hen, rather than waiting for a hen to come to him, which gives us the advantage... The fact that they do so quietly is the downside...
I like to hunt fields anyway, but especially when It's raining. Rain and the wind that often comes with it, cuts down on how far I can hear birds if they're even gobbling to begin with, and out in the open I can see exactly where the birds are. I can try to call them, back away and circle to get into a better position, whatever.
My ears aren't what they used to be, and when you throw in some rain and wind it makes it tough for me to hear much else. Unless I hear a bird gobble I can set up in the woods in known turkey areas and basically blind call, or I can set up along a field in known turkey areas and see what's going on around me for a good distance. I guess I feel like I'm more in control of the situation when I'm someplace where I can see. If nothing else, at least I'll usually get to see some birds that I probably wouldn't have scanning a 30 yard circle around me in the woods.
Bob
I killed my first gobbler in the rain because he gobbled at the thunder. He came to the call in a hurry. A few years later I shot another bird while it was raining. I'm a lot older now and generally don't hunt when it's raining. I'll venture out while it's misting occasionally but never in a good rain.
I use a blind in the rain and setup on a field with a DSD decoy or 2. These boys put on a show in a complete downpour!
MK M GOBL
Hunting in the rain can be very productive. I prefer fields and, if I don't have access to a blind, will use of the tree umbrellas.
(http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh94/fwammock/3-22-201311-03-44PM_0007-Copy_zps802ac881.jpg)
Tree umbrella user here too. Love that thing. I head to a field and set up and call sparingly. Love those days when it spits and stops. Killed several birds, most of whom came in quiet. I killed one a couple years ago late in the afternoon, about 2 hours after it had mostly stopped. I had not heard anything and was bored to tears. had my phone out playing around on it and he came in quiet. Made it to about 6 steps from me. He just angled away and I set the phone down and picked the gun up SLLLOOOOWWWWWLLLLLLYYYYYYY and shot him after a cluck at about 15 yards. tagged me out that year. The only reason I knew that this bird was there was because I had found fresh strut marks. I had killed the Big Dog about a month earlier and this bird never gobbled, at least when I was there.
I don't enjoy it at all. but, I have had great luck over the years on rainy days so I still hunt in it. Kinda like buying a diamond for your wife, its no fun and even hurts a bit, but the results can be epic!!!!
I don't hunt in the rain anymore, if I'm out hunting and a storm comes up then I will head to one of my shooting houses and wait it out, but just sitting in the rain, don't hunt nothing in the rain.
Birds are out in all kinds of weather. You wont kill em' at home or in camp. Use your scouting and set up in fields and wait. Or if you want to start near a roost ,maybe you can get it done and get with a bird before you get to wet. I always say," The forecast calls for turkey pain."
There's no better time than when the rain finally stops and sun peaks out.
Like I said, I don't like hunting in the rain but the birds are still out there. They don't have warm, dry houses to sit in so they're out there doing what turkeys do. If I had everyday of season to hunt I might skip the rainy days. But I don't so I hunt every chance I can, rain or shine.