Weather Warriors?

R

roy reali

New member
You are planning to go hunting tomorrow morning. You pack all you gear this afternoon. You check and double check to make sure you have everything. You even check the weather forecast, which tells you a storm is approaching for the afternoon of your hunt. You figure you should be fine.

You wake up and look out your window. The weatherman was half right, the storm did come, only about ten hours sooner then thought. You see rain, wind, and just plain nasty weather outside. What do you? Do you go hunting or crawl back into bed?

Does poor weather stop you from hunting or are you like the mailman, niether snow, nor rain, nor heat will stop you? Is there a weather limit for you? What if it is too hot, does that keep you from going hunting?
 
It really depends on what mood I am in. Some days when it is raining I just roll over and use that as an excuse to get some rest. Other days when I am rested up I see it as a challenge and go at it. On rainy days I try and get under some type of shed or barn and watch the field or woods according to which location it is. Let me say I am not going to sit in heavy rain in my tree stand. I can tolerate a lite rain or drizzle, but I don't care about down pours. As far as snow, that is a little different. I enjoy hunting in the snow and I don't mind bitter cold as long I am dressed for it.
 
Sorta like BIGR; it depends on my mood, and what I'm hunting.

I've successfully hunted a large variety of animals in bad weather. Wind, sleet, snow, hail, and rain. My tactics change according to the weather, but I'll hunt in it often enough.

But sometimes I'll just postpone the hunt 'till after the weather clears. Most times game is more active after a storm, so if I don't figure I can find where they're hidden at, I'll wait for the storm to end and the game to come out to feed.

I actually enjoy hunting in gusty winds if they aren't too awful bad. The wind covers small noises I might make, and covers movement pretty well too, since trees and grass are moving. You just have to change tactics a bit and figure out where the game you seek is spending the day, and it's usually in a place where they aren't as exposed to it.

Daryl
 
Depends what I'm hunting and how. Bowhunting?...no way. Try following a blood trail in the rain. Waterfowl?...bring it on.
 
Naw really the only thing weather does is limit who goes with me. My younger ones don't like inclimate weather, but my older boys' love it!!;) When I hunted by myself, no weather stopped me unless the roads were untravelable!:eek: but weather never stopped this idiot.:o
 
Doesn't phase me much anymore, but then again I am also a career weather forecaster/observer. When everyone else is headed inside out of the rain, I'm usually the one going the other way with a Kestrel 4000 to get a wind reading. As long as the roads are still passable, its all good.
 
Does not matter, unless the roads are iced over and the snow is falling so fast and hard I can't see.

Duck hunting is usually pretty good in bad weather.
 
Just realized the second part of the OP's question, which I never really had to think about. What if it's too hot?

I grew up in Wisconsin so hot weather during hunting season was never an issue except maybe for early grouse or ducks or late spring turkeys which are all relatively easy to cool down. I guess in hot weather I've only hunted birds. It just doesn't feel right to hunt otherwise unless it's near freezing or well below at night.

Hot weather hunting for big game? Never really had any experience with it.
 
Does poor weather stop you from hunting or are you like the mailman, niether snow, nor rain, nor heat will stop you? Is there a weather limit for you? What if it is too hot, does that keep you from going hunting?
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If the weather rolls in, it's not going to stop me from hunting (unless it's a severe snow storm, that won't let my vehicle even get close to the hunting area).

A few years ago, I spent 4 days huddled under a tarp in the "shanty town" my hunting party built. The temperature was barely above freezing during the day, and we had constant rain - often massive downpours. Then, of course, the temperature would drop to around 20 degrees at night. We wanted the tent to remain dry, and tried to stay out of it as much as possible. So, when we weren't grabbing firewood from one lean-to tarp shelter to stack under the one we huddled under, we were digging trenches and drainage ditches for the runoff. It was a miserable trip, but we stuck it out for the -maybe- 6 hours of hunting we got in over those 4 days (lighter periods of rain - it never stopped).

Snow? Hah! Snow is a blessing for most of the hunting I do. I'd rather hike and hunt in an active snow storm, than be moving through it with clear skies. It makes a good hunter nearly silent, and allows them to creep deep into the 'hides' the game are using. And if it's the first snow of the year, it's easy to figure out where the animals will be going - to lower elevation ;).

Too hot? For small game, I'll time my hunting activities to avoid the hottest part of the day. For big game, there's a lot of water consumed.

I did have to cut an Elk hunt short in 2001, due to weather. It was caused by the 2WD cargo van I was driving, though. We got hit by a massive snow storm, and I had to get that ungainly thing off the mountain before it was entombed until spring. The area would be closed a week later (for 8 months), and it would have taken far longer than a week for enough snow to melt for a wrecker to pull me out (more than 18" fell in the first hour, and the storm was supposed to last 4 days). That was a close call that won't be repeated again. On long hunts, I now drive out to where I can get a cell-phone signal for weather updates, every other day, or so.

Hot weather hunting for big game? Never really had any experience with it.
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I've had some 100+ degree Antelope hunts. Lots of water. Lots of water...
Still filled our tags. ;)

Weather won't stop me from leaving (unless it is incredibly severe), but can sometimes keep me in camp...
 
I will hunt in bad weather if I think it will help the hunting. But, we don't normally get long periods of nasty weather. When a few hours of downpour come the deer don't like it any better than you do and move very little.

I don't mind hunting in the snow. We don't get enough of it to lose the childish urge to play when it comes. Deer move more before and after though.

For waterfowl, the worse the better it seems.
 
Back before the Internet, I've seen weather folks goof. But with the NOAA website, it's pretty hard for ME to be off by very much, particularly with some years of experience in watching the weather.

I love to hunt ahead of an incoming front. The deer are moving around a lot more at that time. When the wind picks up, the deer bed down. While that's not a bad time to kick Bambi out of bed if you understand bedding areas, I see little point in being uncomfortable.

Commonlly in Texas, after a norther, the wind dies off and it's sunny and cold. A great time to hunt. Walk/stalk, sit or sit and rattle: Everything works.

I'm sorta like Bambi: When the weather's bad, I also bed down.
 
Big game hunting? I'm out the door regardless of weather or the forecast. Weather changes, the forecast is often wrong, I've got extra clothes and a warm dry truck if it gets really nasty.

Plus, you can't get your deer if you aren't in the woods.
 
Big game hunting? I'm out the door regardless of weather or the forecast. Weather changes, the forecast is often wrong, I've got extra clothes and a warm dry truck if it gets really nasty.

Plus, you can't get your deer if you aren't in the woods.
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+1

For deer and elk I'm out in the weather. Here in Colorado you get a short season most less than a week and only one animal per tag. So you had better take advantage of the situation, the only exception is when they call a severe weather warning. Then I pay attention and if the weather starts to look like it is going to turn I'm headed back at full speed for camp or the truck. Having to wait out a blizzard in a tent isn't any fun but a lot more comfortable than having to do it in the elements.

Just realized the second part of the OP's question, which I never really had to think about. What if it's too hot?
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I hunted big game in Colorado as well when the temps reach 80 degrees. Just have to be quick about getting the skin off the animal and getting the meat cooled down. If I know the weather is going to be warm I usually try to find a local processor before I go, and I take plenty of ice in coolers on the trip.
 
Depends. If it's raining or snowing, no big deal, I've got hand warmers, wool and rain gear for that.
If the wind is blowing like a hurricane, then I stay home--elk and deer tend to bunker down when they can't hear or smell well. I'd almost have to trip over them to find them.
 
If it is the first day of bad weather, I stay home. I don't see many animals up and moving the first day. After that, they seem to get used to it and I am back on the hunt.

There is no such thing as too hot to hunt....:D
 
If things are too nasty for me to load up the truck and go, I won't go. I things turn nasty after I am hunting, I will stay around until I can't take it anymore or until I am afraid unsafe conditions have resulted.

I won't leave the stand just because it rains a little, but I won't leave for the stand if the forecast is for storms.

The cold doesn't bother me until which time I can no longer control my shivering or can't feel my hands or feet. It can be hard to climb down from a tree stand when you have no sensation in your feet. Can't aim so well or have proper trigger control if you can't stop shaking.

If my clothes have frozen hard to the stand, it is probably time for me to go.
 
So is anyone saying that they bowhunt in the rain? What if you actually hit something and need to follow a bloodtrail?
 
I don't get out nearly as much as I like, so I'm in the woods regardless of conditions. Some snow storm hunts I've had were simply walks in the woods though, since everything was bedded down and would have to be practically stepped on to make it move.
 
Given my current job, I don't have as much opportunity to hunt as I once did ... or as I will when I retire (Lord willing). As a consequence, it has to be really, really bad out for me to pass up on a scheduled day in the deer woods. Torrential rain will keep me in, but scattered thunderstorms won't. The two biggest buck I've taken were on overcast days with on-and-off drizzle and rain showers.

Also depends on whether I've been successful or not yet. If there's already one in the freezer, I might not go out on a particularly miserable day. But it would still have to be more than just uncomfortable.

Never experienced a day that was too hot to hunt.
 
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