Home Forums Birds & Dogs Turkey Hunting Does it pay to hunt turkeys in the rain?

We have a short season in MN and I'm hunting Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Both Friday and Saturday look rainy. Saturday morning potential thunder storms.

I'll probably hunt out of my pop-up blind and may not have much competition on my public land area.

Do the toms still move and respond to calls in the rain?

As long as it's not a downpour or very windy, you got a chance. In rain whenever I can I'll hunt near a field, see them in the fields all the time in the rain.

They still move, gobble, eat, breed, etc. It may not be the exciting blue bird day action, but yes, you can still kill them.

In my experience they don't call as much, but are pretty active out in the fields. Actually, I see a lot more game in the open during the rain.

I've also noticed that they'll stay up on the roost a long time. As in sometimes until 7:30-8:00AM. If there is a blind to sit in, I don't mind setting up in a clearing, a hayfiel, something like that.

Yes, you can hunt turkeys in the rain.
Biggest tom I ever killed in Missouri was in a driving rainstorm. He came in silently to my call, and suddenly appeared near my decoy.

Just be sure your there when the rain stops. It's game time then.

Thunder often gets the gobblers real talkative, and I've had them get very responsive when the thunder stops.

Steve.

As described above...You can't go wrong hunting fields when its raining or just after. I'm not sure if its because the food they eat in the fields or if it just helps them dry off faster that makes them like the fields better. I love hunting on a "light rainy" day. It isn't like they can go inside

A couple of other possible reasons turkeys go to fields during rain:
1. There's lots of noise in rainy woods, which diminishes their hearing as a defense, so maybe they go where they can rely more on visibility.
2. Rain might slow the grasshoppers and crickets down more, so it's easier to feed in fields during rain. (This might also be a reason why they use fields more in the early morning while the grass is wet.)

Steve.
Maker of The Northern Scratchbox turkey call.

Makes sense...

YES I have killed Toms during light rain, heavy rain and thunderstorm downbursts.

OK guys... Im going to hunt in a thunderstorm!

Maybe point the shotgun down when I walk out to the blind though... ;-)

Yes, they don't go to Motel 6 and are still in the woods! I've had a lot of success immediately after a storm.

I once killed an old tom,literally minutes after a tornado passed a few hundred yards from my pop up blind.

The weather suddenly cleared and the gobler came in silently to my calling. Killed him and went home to an angry wife who was afraid the tornado had killed me.

..gol dern, Doc!

You my new turk chootin hero.

Id of fled the area.

Doc, got caught in a similar situation once - got a call from the farmhouse telling us that tornado warnings were posted for our area. We were five miles from the truck - just kept on hunting in the thunder, rain, and lightning. Not much choice. I don't hunt turkeys in the rain by choice - if it happens it happens - and they do move fine in light rains.

I think a cold light drizzle is the best turkey hunting. Keeps the hen on nests and the Toms get lonely fast. Heavy pouring rain and wind make it hard for the birds to hear you and vice versa........

I remember hunting in a T-storm once, in Pennsylvania near the New York line. The only problem was that while it was thundering and lightning, I was holding a big lightning rod in the form of a 10 gauge single shot. It made me so nervous I leaned the gun up against a tree about 40 yards away until the lightning ended.

As soon as it ended, the gobblers started sounding off across the line. I made them residents of PA, and then sent a load of thunder from that big barrel.

Steve.

Rain wind lightning hail today..
2 of us killed 5 birds..

I went to a small gun show yesterday and saw alot of turkeys out in the fields! but they were 20 miles from where I hunt!