Turkey hunting in the rain: where the birds go, and what to change

Is it worth going?

Yes, with one honest qualification. You will probably hear fewer gobbles than on a still, clear morning. Gobbling is a display behavior driven by the breeding season, and the NWTF's work on the science of gobbling describes it as something that peaks and ebbs through the spring rather than something weather switches off. Rain and especially wind make a gobble carry less far, which means you hear fewer of them even when the same number are happening.

Here is what you gain in exchange, and it is more than most hunters admit:

• Birds come to you. Turkeys leave thick cover for openings when it rains, and openings are where you can see and set up.
• The woods are silent. Wet leaves do not crunch. A hunter who normally cannot move without being heard can reposition on a bird for the first time all season.
• Public ground empties out. On heavily hunted land, the forecast does more to clear a parking lot than any amount of walking, which matters a lot on the ground described in public land turkey hunting.

Where turkeys go in the rain

A turkey's feathers shed water well, but a bird in dripping timber is a bird that can neither see nor hear anything coming. Rain in the canopy is loud, and the woods go dark. So they do the obvious thing: they walk out.

Hunt the openings. Field edges, pastures, mature open hardwoods, logging roads, power line cuts, food plots and hilltop benches are all better bets in rain than the creek bottom thicket that held birds last week. A gobbler standing in a wet pasture at mid-morning is a classic rain-day sighting, and it is also a bird you can see from 300 yards away and plan an approach on.

Timing shifts too. Birds often fly down later and stay out longer, and the NWTF's all-day turkey hunting game plan makes the general case for staying in the woods past nine o'clock — which applies double on a wet morning, because the sky clearing at ten often triggers a burst of activity as birds spread out to dry. If you can only hunt half a day in the rain, hunt the back half.

Changing your setup

Everything about a rain setup follows from one fact: you are hunting a bird in the open and he can see a long way.

• Set up with a view, not with cover. On a normal morning you pick a tree for concealment. On a wet morning, pick one that lets you watch 150 yards of field edge, because a silent bird will simply appear. The NWTF's guidance on picking a tree still applies for the basics — wider than your shoulders, back to cover.
• Expect silent birds. This is the single biggest rain-day mistake: a hunter who stops watching because he stopped hearing. Birds that do not gobble still come. Keep your eyes up and your gun on your knee.
• A decoy earns more in the rain. In an opening at distance, a visible hen is doing the work your calling cannot do through rainfall, and the lightest ones are a few ounces. See best hen decoys.
• A blind is worth carrying if you own one. Sitting still for three hours in rain is the hardest part, and that is where a pop-up earns its weight — see do you need a blind for turkey hunting.

Calling in the rain

Rain absorbs sound and wind scatters it, which changes both how much you call and what you call with.

Louder, and in shorter bursts. A box call is the loudest friction call most hunters own, and it is the right tool for cutting through rainfall. Give him a sequence he can locate, then stop and watch — this is not the morning for soft clucks at 200 yards.

Call less often, not more. It is tempting to call constantly because you cannot hear a response. Resist it; a silent bird that is already walking to you does not need more information. How often to call at all is worked through in how often to call turkeys.

Switch to soft calling only when he is close. Once a bird is inside 60 yards in an open field, the loud box is a liability. That is the moment for a mouth call you can run without moving your hands.

The gear that stops working

Three things fail in rain, and all three are predictable.

Chalked box calls. Water removes the chalk and the paddle slides silently. Full routine in box call chalk and care, and the short version is that chalk cannot be applied to a damp paddle.

Slate pot calls. Slate works because the stone surface is slightly rough; wet it and the striker glides. Aluminum and glass surfaces keep gripping, which is the whole argument in slate vs glass vs aluminum pot calls.

Your own patience. Wet, cold and bored is how good rain hunts end at 7:30. Rubber boots and a packable rain layer are not comfort items on this particular morning; they are the difference between staying until the sky clears and leaving before the best hour.

What to carry on a wet morning

If you expect to hunt wet springs regularly, the whole category is ranked in best waterproof turkey calls, and a mouth call in a zip bag is the cheapest genuinely weatherproof backup there is.

Safety on a wet morning

One last practical note: a creek you waded across at daylight can be a different creek at noon after an inch of rain. Plan your way out before you walk in, and tell someone where you parked.

What to wear for all of this is its own short category, and the deciding spec is not waterproofing but noise: best turkey hunting rain gear ranks three options on published fabrics, seams and weights.