Hunting in the rain?

[XB I GO]

Our buck and doe season ends on Sunday and it is supposed to rain on and off. We have a doe and spike season until Feb 4th but the long term forecast shows it might rain then too.

Every time it rains there are a ton of deer getting their picture taken by our camera so I know that getting a shot is going to happen.

I don't want to have trouble following a blood trail. How much rain is "too much". How much is going to instantly wash away the blood?

Any pointers on what to do about rain?

Thank you!

[dutchhunter]

Never had a problem even in heavy rain with a lung or heart shot deer.

[nchunterkw]

Wait for a perfect broadside shot and then make a good double lung shot. The deer should not go far (50 to 100 yds typically). How have your blood trails been? If it is raining, it will start to wash away within 30mins. And if everything is already wet it will be diluted as soon as it hits the ground. Perfect shot or no shot. And don't wait too long to follow the blood.

[galamb]

I've never worried about blood trails.

But I'm old school and when I swapped my recurve for a crossbow my string tracker made the move as well. After the shot I still wait the 30-45 minutes for bambi to lay down and then simply follow the blaze orange string.

[longbow joe]

I love hunting in a light rain. The ideal scenerio is being there the first hour after it stops......many times the woods just come alive. ....l shot my biggest buck durnig this time ,a non typical 14 and many others .If this coincides with late evening before dark its like magic. As the others said nice broadside or quartering away shot and your blood will be good. I specifically use my old reliable matrix 330 for the rain its totally spray painted scope /mounts n all so it never rusts.just a wipe dry and lay it on top of our oil burner heater for a day to dry out.

[IronNoggin]

I live in a Rain Forest.
So of course we hunt in the rain as often as not.
Good, double lung hit, and follow up within 15 - 20 minutes MAX.
Never lost one.

Good Luck!
Nog

[Hester0305]

I've hunted a lot in the rain over the years. I've killed several deer with a vertical and xbow, I've waited too long before during a steady rain and didn't have much blood to follow because of the rain washing it away but was able to recover the deer. Good luck hunting and try to stay dry.

[SEW]

I agree with all the other posters. Deer move in the rain. Fish bite during the rain. Low chest shot!