The following is an interview with renown whitetail hunter Bobby Worthington, we had a chance to get his thoughts on how rain affects deer movement.  

Will deer move in the rain?

Deer do move in the rain, but they do not move as well as other times. Deer do not move their best during a low-pressure front. There is inactivity in the deer herd when it is warm, windy, or rainy. Also, generally speaking, and all conditions being the same, I do not think deer like to move about after a rain when the woods are wet. They prefer to wait a day or two until things dry out and the weather stabilizes. During this situation, there may be long periods of inactivity. Deer will not move well during a low-pressure, no matter how long it takes to lift.

Does rain help or hinder the hunter?

Of course, if deer do not move as well in rainy conditions, it lessens a hunter’s chances of success. Deer must move for us to kill them. Deer movement is curtailed so much that I no longer consider going hunting when it is raining. There are just too many obstacles. I do not hunt in a box blind. I still hunt in a tree stand and I do not want to get my equipment and clothing wet. With reduced deer movement during the rain, it is not worth it to me. Now if a person is a still hunter where he is walking through the woods, as opposed to stand hunting, rainy conditions may benefit him enough to hunt during the rain.

Does rain affect scent?

Of course, a deer’s sense of smell is legendary. They do not need any help to detect danger with their nose. However, weather conditions do affect a deer’s ability to smell. Rain washes away the human scent. Sometimes I use rain to cover my disturbance when I move a tree stand. I have often waited until the rain started, sometimes during the middle of the night, to go move a stand. It does not wash human scent completely away but it certainly diminishes it.

When it is dry, deer have a more difficult time detecting scent. This is the reason we often see them licking their nose and why we can hear them blowing. When deer detect danger, they often make a loud forceful blowing sound, they are actually moistening the inside of their nostrils to help them to better detect danger with their nose. Humidity helps a deer’s olfactory system to work better.

So, the question is still asked, does the rain affect scent? The answer is that it does. But whether it helps or hinders a deer’s scenting ability depends on the circumstance. It is like so many other things with deer hunting. Sometimes a circumstance will help a deer and the next time, it will be a hindrance to them and help the hunter. That is just the way it is with deer hunting, and with many other things in life as well.

In conclusion, I would like to say that there are no absolutes with whitetail deer. If you think there are, just get around a bunch of other deer hunters and state something to do with deer as absolutely true and see how quickly someone tells you a circumstance where they saw the opposite take place. So, what I am talking about here are general rules as far as deer movement and the rain is concerned. The next time you go hunting, you may kill the largest buck of your life in a downpour. All we as hunters can do is play the odds and hope for the best. Deer movement is more complicated than most hunters realize. In my new book Final Quest (which will be available in August) I have a whole chapter dedicated to this subject. Happy hunting, Bobby Worthington

To consistently kill mature bucks, you must have some idea about your movement. Bobby shot this huge buck on public ground in the Midwest.