quick scouting before a heavy rain.

[Hildebrand]

So Michigan is suppose to get hit with a heavy rain this weekend. I thought I would sit the morning and then walk and check my cameras and do a little scouting closer to some bedding areas. With the heavy rain forecasted calling for 1-2 inches of rain will they wash down the scent that I would be leaving to run through and check some areas I would't check just to check ? I know there is a area that tends to have a rub line coming out of bedding this time of year but have not gone into check. Figured this may give me a chance to go look and make a plan for next week. Thoughts? thanks

[riceg53]

So Michigan is suppose to get hit with a heavy rain this weekend. I thought I would sit the morning and then walk and check my cameras and do a little scouting closer to some bedding areas. With the heavy rain forecasted calling for 1-2 inches of rain will they wash down the scent that I would be leaving to run through and check some areas I would't check just to check ? I know there is a area that tends to have a rub line coming out of bedding this time of year but have not gone into check. Figured this may give me a chance to go look and make a plan for next week. Thoughts? thanks

I dont think the rain does anything honestly. I had this same thought pattern where I am last week and went in on a rainy day, now the buck I am targeting has only been showing up at 2-3 am when he was previously showing up around 7-7:20. Im sure he got my scent and that is why hes coming at night now, but its up to you to make the decision to go in or not!

[EllieTheChubb]

A tracker on a hunting public (I think) video said his dogs have an easier time catching scent on wet ground so there's that. I would think 2" of rain would be enough to clean things up though.

[Hildebrand]

It’s a hard decision. I know a page I seen with tracking dogs said with the amount of rain they are calling for it was going to be hard for the dog with all the rain if a hunter waiting to long.
Been really slow here and can’t figure out why. Was gonna push a little more to try and see

[briar]

I'd go for it. Better to go down swinging.

[Grizzlyadam]

Seems to be a lot of conflicting info out there on this. I have also heard the tracking dog guy say that rain can sometimes help the dog pick up on the scent trail. I certainly believe and it seems logical that if you get enough rain just to get things wet, that may very well be the case. However if you get enough rain to create run off of leaves, branches, etc, "wash" everything, I can't believe the result would be anything but scent reduced or eliminated by dilution.

For nearly a decade now I have made it a practice to check trail cams when there will be prolonged rain where it will create run off rather than just getting everything wet. This would mean a heavy rain of around at least an inch or more. I'll check them just as it is starting or mid way through the rain event. My results are enough to convince me that it is effective. Where before doing it this way the first pics I would get were pics of deer sniffing the ground in circles usually followed by the famous nose in the cam pic. The volume of pics at that cam site would noticably diminish in short order after that. Once I started to check them during significant rain events I rarely get the curious deer pics sniffing around afterwards. It's mostly just business as usual.

With that said, there are some nuances to be aware of. For example I had one cam that was on a pine tree with a thick canopy. When it rained out there was never enough rain getting through the canopy to really wash around the base of it. I was always leaving evidence of my presence that would last. There were often one and done pics of different deer that would avoid that particular spot after being there and picking up on my scent. I started wearing clean rubber boots and rubber gloves when doing card swaps in places like that and it seems to have helped. Also another big thing is the timing of such rain events. Often they would occur when I was unable to take advantage of it like if I'm at work or other obligations. So often cams will soak for several months between checks. Probably not a bad thing, but can be frustrating if I want that Intel to use anytime soon.

I have several cams that I have had for over six years running year round in the same spot where I get pics of the same deer in the area regularly without any sign of them being alerted to my presence. And they are in areas of little to no human impact. Taking it for what it's worth and draw your own conclusions but this is just my experience and thoughts on this particular issue.

[stash59]

Even just a half inch of rain should wash most scent away. Scent holds better in moist conditions, than dry. But too wet is not good either. Go in and get your info. 1-2 inches of rain should wash any of your scent away. Just make sure the air currents don't blow to where the deer may be bedding.

[Hildebrand]

Thanks for the replies. I ended up doing some camera checks and of course my best camera spot had the chip mess up and did not get any pictures. I know there are deer moving here as there are tracks and the corns knocked down good where they are eating it. The one camera is on a old path where I put a mock scrape over the summer and had a few bucks hit it at night and some doe as well.

[muddy]

Dont over think things. Hard to get the most recent intel if you dont go and actually get it. Any good hard rain is going to help clean things up after you go thru.

Errors on the cam are the worst.

[Hildebrand]

Dont over think things. Hard to get the most recent intel if you dont go and actually get it. Any good hard rain is going to help clean things up after you go thru.

Errors on the cam are the worst.

Thanks for that reply, makes sense. This year I told myself I would not over hunt this spot and keep pressure off so i was going back and forth.

And yes they do. I slid a new chip in and will see how it goes