Rain and Dove

I have heard that rain is bad for dove hunting. Why is that? Is it because the dove tend to move out of the area, or because they just don't fly as much after a solid rain? I can understand that they don't need to travel to a tank, as there is more water on the ground, but they still need food.

I was thinking about going out this evening, but didn't know if it would be worth it after the rain we got last night in N. Texas.

Opinions?

Rain in itself is not bad but if a front moves with it, which it normally does in the fall, the birds move. I still have plenty of birds in my trees right now in the city and it stormed pretty darn good last night. I have done well in a little rain and ok the day after a big rain.

Go every chance you get to hunt....

someof my best hunts have been before a storm comes thru..after, not so good

I've hunted in a rain before and seen just as many dove as I did on a sunny day. However, it is not always the case.

The biggest thing with dove leaving an area after a rain is, a cold front hit, heavy rain, high winds. Dove nest are very fragile and can be knocked out of a tree very easily. They will typically move their nest to a new sit after this happens.

I have knocked the crap out of dove in a light rain, but that was typically on the front side of the weather. If the number of shots I've heard this morning is any indication, that storm moved a lot of birds out. They're barely pulling the trigger out there.

We hunted last year when that hurricane blew thru and all three of us limited out even in the crazy winds and sideways rain! lol Go for it!

It's true usually its the front with the rain that moves them out, however if you're hunting a water source then a storm will scatter the birds. The most dove I've seen was on the front edge of a cold front and mostly in the rain. It was non stop waves of dove unfortunatley i wasnt hunting i was tailgating.

Man, that's bad news for the DFW hunting.

We had very heavy rain (for about 20 minutes) and probably 50mph winds here. I saw 3 birds this AM. My friends around the county didn't do worth a poo either.

Just to put it in perspective, I've had a limit every day since the opener. Not today.

Some of that is probably due to the fact that most of the resident birds are shot up too.

I've always had good action right after a rain storm.

The dove were going crazy at the house last night right before the storm hit. This morning I saw not a one.

I was out in the rain yesterday in Katy and just before it hit, the birds went nuts. The whole field exploded with shooting. I could not reload fast enough. It lasted for about 20 minutes and then it got dark.

Day after the rain turned out alright. Didn't see the number of birds that I saw on Tuesday, but still enough....



Forgot to take the tailgate pic pre cleaning....

Shot a limit today in off and on rain showers. Hope it holds up for tomorrow too.

If you hunt tanks the birds don't need to go to them after a rain. If there's water in the ditches birds won't fly to tanks, it's that simple.

Didn't see nearly the numbers we have been seeing. Dog got some work in though.