# Duck hunting in the rain???



## jeepguy (Nov 7, 2005)

I have never experienced it, does hunting dramatically slow down, pick up, or does it not really matter?


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## jbaincfl (Feb 5, 2003)

as long as it is not pooring it doesn't hurt. Keeps the sun out of your eyes and off the decoys. I like a light mist.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

any weather is better than a blue bird day!


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## HATCHETMAN (Mar 15, 2007)

Hunting in the rain is O.K., but my favorite is a blue bird windy day, or a bluebird day with snow on the ground.....MALLARD KILLIN' WEATHER!!


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## jbaincfl (Feb 5, 2003)

Some of my best hunts have been with a light snow 4-12 hours before a big storm hits. Mallards are feeding like crazy.


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## d wiz (Jul 31, 2003)

I will take a bluebird day over rain any time. Everything turns into a muddy mess in the rain. There is also the concerns of rutting up unimproved roads, getting the decoys in and out of fields, difficulty identifying drakes (especially this time of year), etc...

Besides, we have never had a reall issue with getting our birds on clear mornings.


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## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

I personally love those light drizzle and light snowy days! My so-called "On the deck days". It can get to be a bit messy, but that's the climate I pray for the night before. Definitely had some our best hunts on these days also and them are usually the first ones to pop in my head. 
It's so easy for some guys to hit the snooze button on them days also. :wink:


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## Carbon Express (Sep 17, 2005)

I hunted in a light rain/drizzle last night. The birds worked ok but with the lack of sun it was tough to pick drakes as they are mostly pretty drab yet. I had to pass on quite a few birds because I simply couldn't tell drakes from hens on some groups. I did manage my first wood duck, a group of about 12 came in nice....those drakes stuck out like a sore thumb. I hope to get him mounted. Back on track I have always prefered any kind of cloud cover to sunshine, but would always take light snow over rain.


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## Blue Plate (Jul 31, 2006)

I would MUCH rather have a bright sunny sky than rain. Give me a windy, sunny day and I will be happy. I don't hunt in the rain, never had good hunting in a steady rain.


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## 4CurlRedleg (Aug 31, 2003)

HATCHETMAN said:


> Hunting in the rain is O.K., but my favorite is a blue bird windy day, or a bluebird day with snow on the ground.....MALLARD KILLIN' WEATHER!!


Hatchet knows.


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## Bobby O (Mar 15, 2006)

My Best days are in the cloudy Rainy, snowy, and windy days. The blue bird days are not in my mind the ducks fly a mile high and look like spects in the sky you need to keep them down with the rain moving around. Things may get sloppy but the hunting gets better it makes the birds go out and feed and move around to get there blood going.


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## Olson21a (Feb 1, 2005)

Placement of decoys is 95% of your hunt. It doesn't matter what the weather is...IMO. I have killed hundreds of birds both ways. I'd rather hunt the ice! :lost:


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## usmarine0352 (Nov 26, 2005)

Any weather is ok.

One day when it was a straight crazy downpour (I should have stayed in bed....lol), I had ducks landing in my spread the whole time. I was sleepy from work, so I'd wake up, look around, see ducks in my spread, jump them and take my shots.

But I would much rather have a sunny day. It's much nicer and not wet, muddy or cold.

Sometimes storms bring in birds alot, so it's good to shoot right before a storm.

What somewhat rainy, bad weather does is keep the ducks lower on the deck and covers you up, so it's usually easier to decoy them.

Most of my best days have been sunny and nice, for ducks AND geese.

:sniper:


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## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

usmarine0352 said:


> Any weather is ok.


This is true. All you can try to do is plan ahead. But you can only do so much. Weather can change.

Windy is the most important thing.
Clouds are better than sun.
Light snow is better than light rain.
Fog is tough, its ok if you are in exactly the right spot.

So, cloudy and windy and a little snow is the best.
Cloudy and windy is second best.
Windy is good.


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## I_grow_pheasants (Sep 28, 2005)

I have had memorable hunts on rainy days, blue bird days, snowy days, and just after a huge blizzard. It is easiest to hunt on blue bird days, but for me more fun on rainy days and snowy days. Two of my best hunts have come in a steady all day rain, and in a blizzard. Of course wind will always help.


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## sdsufowler (Mar 22, 2007)

The Best days are the worst weathered days. They keep all those city slickers away from the marshes and fields because the mojority of them cant handle the elements. That leaves less pressure and more birds for my crew to work with.


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## tb (Jul 26, 2002)

If you were out today -- that's the right type of weather for waterfowling.


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## Quacker Wacker (Oct 12, 2006)

jeepguy said:


> I have never experienced it, does hunting dramatically slow down, pick up, or does it not really matter?


The nastier the weather the better by far for me(as long as its not downpouring). I have experienced the best waterfowl in 15 degree weather wit h15-20mph winds and a drizzle or snowing. My dad sad back when he hunted ducks and geese this was his best weather too.


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## Bob Kellam (Apr 8, 2004)

Two of the most memorable duck hunts I have ever been on were years ago in near blizzard conditions SE of Bismarck. Both times we hunted corn stubble. Once the mallards saw a few dekes on the ground they poured in it was one of the most remarkable things I have ever seen to this day. We shot a few ducks thinking we needed to get out of there and while we were picking up the mallards just kept coming.

Bob


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## malspeck (Nov 21, 2005)

Today would have been a great duck day maybe a little more drizzle. We would hunt the flooded rice fields instead of marshes on the rainy, windy days and it would be great, many memories. I don't know if it's the same for the dry fields here. I also remember a hunt at the Bear River Refuge in Utah and the snowflakes were coming down as big as silver dollars and all you could hear were the whistling wings and you'd look up and those mallards looked like H-46's coming in for a landing because they'd were on top of you before you knew it. At least for duck hunting, the worse the weather is the better unless you get caught up in a lightning storm (had that happen before and it was nerve-wreaking.)


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## justund223 (Aug 28, 2006)

> unless you get caught up in a lightning storm (had that happen before and it was nerve-wreaking.)


happened today, nothing like holding a lightning rod in your hand with bolts landing around, we got outta there pretty quick


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## gboyd242 (Jul 6, 2005)

Since it never freezes or snows here in CA, the nastier the weather the better. Usually our coldest mornings are in the mid teens and the average is about 40 degrees. For ducks, I would like any kind of bad weather like rain, wind, fog, hail, thunder, etc. but for geese I think the best conditions are overcast with lots of wind. Temp doesn't seem to matter too much.


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## SJB (Jul 2, 2003)

Colorado has some extreme weather alright. One of the most memorable was my cousin and I hunting in southern Colorado when it snowed all day. We were standing (with chest waders) in knee deep water. I looked over at my lab and she was standing in the water with ice floating around her, but loving every retrieve as the mallards came in. It snowed about 8 inches that day. The next morning it all melted because it is much more solar at 8500 elevation. This creates fog, very thick fog. The ducks won't fly in the fog. But when it lifted, the ducks came out of the barley and wanted water bad. We welcomed them with and in a few minutes, there was a limit. We packed up the dekes and then just watched. That was in the mid 1980's. I have never seen that again.


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## mnbirdhunter (Sep 15, 2005)

I prefer to hunt in the rain. I guess it just feels more like duck hunting weather to me.


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