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Hunting in the Rain, who does it? I called a jake in yesterday while bow hunting...surprised.

Started by Honolua, April 15, 2015, 09:36:20 PM

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Spitten and drummen

the rain really has more of a influence on us than the birds. that is their environment and they go about their daily lives. does it shut them down? depends on the timing mostly. they have a window to breed in and a little rain is not going to stop it. I do think that it hampers the hunting more so than a blue bird day but they are still there and unlike deer , they do not just lay up and not move. you catch one in the right frame of mind , rain ,sleet, or snow , he will come.
" RANGERS LEAD THE WAY"
"QUEEN OF BATTLE FOLLOW ME " ~ INFANTRY
"DEATH FROM ABOVE " ~ AIRBORNE

greentag

of all the turkeys ive ever killed I would say that I have killed more of them in the rain,also the best one I killed was in the rain,

ol bob

Love the rain set up close to afield in a dry place call softly about ever 15 min. and watch they will be on top of you before you know it.The great thing you don't see other hunters.

dejake


silvestris

I never hunt in the rain, never.  Why?  Because I don't enjoy it, I hate wet, dead turkeys and I see the inclement weather as an opportunity for the turkeys to have unmolested time.  Now, an hour after a rain can be the best time to hunt, especially with a wind shift.
"[T]he changing environment will someday be totally and irrevocably unsuitable for the wild turkey.  Unless mankind precedes the birds in extinction, we probably will not be hunting turkeys for too much longer."  Ken Morgan, "Turkey Hunting, A One Man Game

Honolua

Quote from: dejake on April 16, 2015, 10:11:09 AM
One question; why would you sit beside your blind, instead of in it?

It's all growed up real fast back there and there's only one shooting lane with the bow. Since I was trying to be sneaky and didn't have the loppers I sat beside it. Lol

Honolua

I have 4 ground blinds out right now. As soon as I got out to one of the blinds I haven't visited in a while today it started raining. I wasn't having much luck at all so I loaded up and headed to another one a half mile away. On the way I kept seeing really fresh sign and sure enough when I got to the next blind there was a couple hens right beside it.

It started pouring bad as soon as I sat down and then came the Thunder and Lightening; enough of the latter that I was a bit nervous.

I ended up doing some real loud and aggressive calling and gobbling and as the thunder and lightening subsided I started hearing some yelps and clucks on the left about 50 yards and clucks and purrs to the right.

On the way out I went to the right to find two hens and left them un disturbed. As I was leaving I saw a Jake that had been on the left.

As I came around a bend in the path I saw a coyote that was headed right for me but he turned around quick and offered no shot.

But the turkeys I saw were enjoying the rain...

Gamblinman

If its raining, I just pop open the Shack Attack blind and sit back and relax.


Gman
"I don't hunt turkeys because I want to. I hunt turkeys because I have to."

jg

where I hunt in arkansas ,tomorow is our opener and the forecast is 100 percent rain on sat and 80 percent on sunday but I miss turkey hunting so I will definatly be out there in my new frogg toggs rain gear and see for myself,cant killem on the couch!!!
Ozark beard busters

g8rvet

If I did not hunt in the rain, I would not have hunted much this year in N Florida.  The first 9-10 days were nice, since then, hot, muggy and either heavy fog or rain.  I prefer rain to fog. 

I just change tactics in the rain.  I tend to think less about gobbling on the roost birds and look to travel corridors. Call and move quietly. 

Hunted one morning several years ago with my nephew.  It was UGLY out-windy, spitting rain, but no thunder so we said we were going. We were heading to a low draw that the birds like to travel on windy days and on the way, my nephew said "Here the train".  I said yes, but the tracks are THAT way, not THAT way".  No doubt we heard  a small tornado. We were a half mile or more from the truck and in a low area, so I said, lets just hunt.  At about an hour after fly down I spied a gobbler.  I was watching him through the binocs and he was gobbling pretty regular.  100 yards away, but downwind.  Could clearly see him gobbling in the thin pines and could not hear anything but the howl of the wind. We called and him and the jake came in to about 50 yards from us (nephew wanted to take the shot, I would not let him).  We could not hear him until he was around 60 yards away. We did not kill him but he was dubbed the tornado turkey.  I lost the least the next year, but I got two of his buddies before the season ran out-they were two year olds, he was a mature longbeard.  I know we could have killed him, both barrels pointing at him and if we shot together I am quite sure we would have, but I figured I was teaching a lesson that day-nephew was 15 or 16 at the time. He is grown now and a good turkey hunter that learned a little from me and lot on his own.  He is even teaching his Dad now how to turkey hunt.   
Psalms 118v24: This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

tomstopper

I don't mind hunting in the rain. Killed some of my best birds in the rain.....

hoyt

I remember one gobbler I killed just as soon as a heavy downpour ended. It was a real Toad Stringer and everything was soaked. I was on my way to work back in the late 80's or early 90's and hunting Piedmont WMA in S.C.

I was standing on the county road where a power line crossed and decided to try one more yelp with my Lynch Jet Slate. He gobbled about 75yds. from me up in a pine about 50 yds off the power line.

I eased in a little ways and yelped again and he pitched down about 30 yds from me and started struttin. Killed it with my fairly new Winchester 1300 Turkey Gun. He was drenched.