What do whitetails do when its raining in your area?

[insttech1]

Yeah, first of all, I know--don't shoot one in the pouring rain and risk losing the trail...this isn't a debate about that.

It was raining on/off tonight in a drizzle, so I went out.  (In mid-Michigan, by the way...).  I got rained on for 45 minutes, then it stopped for 45 minutes.  

With 30 minutes of shooting light left, it started to rain again--lightly.  I decided to leave my ground blind, as I had seen/heard nothing, and see if I could jump anything around a very large bedding thicket, as I figured they might be in there laying down...

Well, I jumped one, but not how I imagined.  It was a large-bodied buck, either with 10" spikes, or maybe a little fork...but he was laying in the middle of an open field of grass that was 8" high, with no cover at all!!

I was heading to some apple trees, and concentrating on them, as he lifted his head from 35 yards, and then bolted for the next county!

Then I jumped a doe and two yearlings just up and walking around...but I think they were heading toward a feeding area, and preparing to cross a small road.

I figured if I did get on some deer, they'd at least be UNDER some kind of cover, and not laying in the open field...getting wet.  That buck could have gone another 30 yards and at least made it under a tree...but didn't?

And from the way I jumped him, I know I surprised him, as I had just rounded a corner; I know he didn't see me coming and laid down...

Thanks for the input!
Marc

[vermonster13]

Rain(not thunder and lightening) doesn't bother deer in my experience. If anything the overcast makes them more active during daylight.

[Allan Hundeby]

When it's overcast or rainy, it's darker, and they move more during the middle of the day.  They're also later-to-bed in the morning, and earlier-to-eat at night - giving me more time to shoot/track.

[insttech1]

I agree about the overcast part and activity.  I just figured that with the total amount of rainfall, they would have bedded later than normal and waited for a complete halt of the rain...especially since it didn't stop for very long.

I've jumped/seen a lot of deer in this particular area...just never seen one bed so far away from cover like that.  They are usually within a couple yards of the underbrush, and can bolt right in if need be.

That buck ran faster at the sight of me than I've seen them run during gun season while being fired upon by yahoos with slug guns...and branches breaking around them.

Oh well...sometimes they just do things that make me scratch my head...

Take Care,
Marc

[vermonster13]

If you have a lot of coyotes, I've noticed they'll bed in an area that gives them a good view of whats around(if the yotes are hunting the thick stuff). I've jumped big bucks in places you wouldn't think would hold a grouse and they don't get disturbed in those for that very reason most times.

[jacobsladder]

i was driving up my private drive today in the rain and had two laying out in the middle of the mowed grass...50 yrds from the edge of the woods...just laying there and looking at us... this is also mid michigan.....if they arent getting pressured hard ..they do pretty much what the heck they want...

[Mike Brown]

What do whitetails do when its raining in your area?

In my area they generally get wet when it rains.  :D  

I have seen them move and I have seen them lay up.  I guess if I had all the answers I would have a bunch of big bucks on the wall........

[Bill Carlsen]

I've seen deer in pouring rain feeding in fields as if it were a nice sunny day. Other days they seem to head for cover. It seems that they do what ever they want. If they are hungry they get up and feed. If they want to bed down, that's what they do. Hunting whitetails with a bow is a chess game...guess I should have joined the chess club in HS and learned how to do it better.

[Minuteman]

Mike beat me to it , they get wet!

[Jason Lester]

In this area they, well... I'll let you know if it ever rains again. LOL Been a long dry summer here. I'm hoping the deer get back to a more normal pattern. I have hunted several times in an area you could usualy count on them crossing. Nothing so far at all. haven't seen one deer.

Years ago I have noticed increased movment just before and at the start of the rain (depending on how hard of a rain. Mostly lighter rains they haven't laid down from what I have seen.

[insttech1]

Thanks for all the input everyone!

We've got some more rain coming this week...we'll see what happens.

See Ya!
M

[Brian Gillispie]

Hey all,

What is this "Rain" you speak of?


68 days and counting without rainfall,

Brian Gillispie

[Swanny in MD]

Around here they usually go in backyard sheds and play cards and drink wiskey until the rain lets up.  

I've arrowed a few while they were inside - it's always interesting to see the look on their faces after I appear in the doorway with my bow drawn.

[Izzy]

Ive seen them bed in the open during light drizzle quite a bit.

[Curtis Haden]

They mostly work on their tunnels around here.

[insttech1]

You guys are bloody hilarious...

Did you just check out of the Holiday Inn Express????

[waknstak IL]

I don't think it makes as much difference to them as it does to us. You would think they'd bed under pines or thicker trees. But sometimes they just lay out in the open.

[Mike Brown]

insttech1,  All kidding aside I think a lot of variables come into play.

How hard is it raining?
What is the temperature?
How long has it rained?  They have to eat sometime.
What has the rain done to crops or acorns etc...
How hard is the wind blowing?

As I stated before I have seen them move and I have seen them bed up.

[Ray Hammond]

I've seen deer bedded up under wax myrtle bushes in a swamp during a rainstorm...a wax myrtle is a dense, waxy leafed shrub about 8 feet tall..very dense...and where it stood in the water it had no leaves or branches low to the ground...and because there was no standing water under them it made a perfect roof over their heads I guess.

[insttech1]

Thanks for the info gents...rain's coming tomorrow...looks like we'll go for round two!!  (of this season, anyway...)