Dec 13, 2014 5 min read

The rains in Spain might fall mainly on the plain and April showers might bring May flowers, but I have been saying rain, rain go away. And still the raindrops keep falling on my head.

I just don’t remember it happening so regularly in deer season in a long time. Lucky is the landowner who hunted from a roughly constructed shelter. I do know a few, and for the first time in my life I suffered the pangs of jealousy.

My head was wet, my clothes were wet and, worse, my gun was wet. This was not for a single day but each day. Deer hunting was sort of like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.

For most of the 12 days of buck season, visibility was limited and this old man strained to count points on deer passing by at 200 to 300 yards. There I sat with a .265 Magnum prepared for long range when I couldn’t see well beyond the 100-yard mark.

I had prepared for this spot all summer and fall only to have Mother Nature shoot a hole in my plans. I considered going back to my 30-30, and it would have done the job. But I didn’t.

Remember, I was planning to be a sniper. Like many others caught in the same nasty weather, I wasn’t singing in the rain.

I haven’t seen any results yet but surely the harvest was down. At least here in Southwestern Pennsylvania. I don’t know what the weather was like in the Poconos and don’t care. I only know it was bad here at home.

I can take cold and snow, I prefer 70 degrees and balmy, but do detest deer hunting in the rain.

In years gone by, you would find me sitting with a raincoat protecting my rifle scope combo. This usually was a one rainy day hunt. This season, I think it rained almost every day and I have to give my Model 70 special attention.

It’s my choice, I know, but I carried the old Winchester Westerner .264 every day, and I hunted every day except one when I had to take a break. Luckily those old Winchesters have a good bluing job.

There are some things that can be done in rainy weather. Lens caps are a help and covering the muzzle with saran wrap and a rubber band keeps the bore dry. But there is no doubt that the rifle needs special care after the rainy day hunt.

If I were a betting man, I would wager there is more than one rifle out there still in the case just happily rusting away. It’s really not hard to wipe the whole rifle with an oily rag. Don’t forget the bore. It, like the outer parts, is metal. Metal includes stainless steel and will rust.

When the cleaning is done, leave a light film of oil in the bore to protect it until the next time it is needed.

There is another cause of rust on firearms. Changing the temperature on the surface of the metal part of the rifle will create condensation and leave it as wet as any rainstorm can.

Avoid taking the rifle from cold to warm any more than necessary. The change not only is hard on the rifle but it is awfully hard on the scope. What is really needed is to warm the outfit slowly. I do this by always taking the rifle hunting in a case. When the hunt is finished the case and gun will both be cold. The firearm is then placed in an environment that is the same temperature and then the case is zipped shut.

My theory is the inside of the case will warm slowly as will the gun. Note that I said this is a theory but when done this way, I haven’t had any trouble. Never come home and go in the house and get a warm case to use. It’s obvious why.

A few things to remember when wiping the rifle with an oily rag is to not allow the rag to touch the lens of the scope. It’s all but impossible to remove.

Lens caps can prevent that from happening. When cleaning don’t forget the little things because they also will rust. More than one pristine outfit has rusty screws holding the scope in place.

Swivels are another thing that need to be wiped, and never store the rifle with a sopping wet sling attached. Most of this after season work is brought about by a single day’s rain during the season.

While there is little that will keep me from going hunting during the all-too-short deer season, I can’t help but think this one, maybe one time, I should of stayed in and watched Butch and Sundance.

At least then I would have been dry and they could have been singing in the rain.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.