Here’s some advice if you’re planning to go hunting soon: wear heavy boots because it’s going to be wet.

With the pheasant season underway and the firearm deer season set to open in a few weeks, hunters will have to deal with the affects of the wet fall.

While the wet weather is keeping farmers out of the fields, it is keeping more animals in the fields. This causes challenges for hunters, who often look to spot animals as they seek water because animals are less active during wet weather and tend to stay in one place longer. One of those places happens to be corn fields.

With the fall harvest delayed because of wet conditions, a high percentage of the crops are in the field. This creates a refuge for game, especially deer.

“The wildlife is in the crops, especially cornfields,” said Bob Riege, a retired teacher who writes about hunting for various newspapers and magazines.

Many hunters may want to hunt deer in the corn when firearm deer hunting season opens Nov. 7, but this is a serious safety concern because of limited visibility in the corn.

The DNR recommends hunters take precautions when hunting in fields, like determining firing zones and when each hunter will shoot. Hunters should know the location of each person in their party, and hunters should assume a movement or a sound is another hunter until they unquestionably prove it’s a deer.

“The excitement of the hunt can quickly cloud a hunter’s judgment and perception,” said Mike Hammer, the DNR enforcement division’s education program coordinator. “The hunter momentarily forgets about surroundings — even hunting partners. Many times a victim and shooter know one another, since they’re hunting together.”

Riege said most hunters should avoid the corn and hunt along the fields where they can observe an animal passing to or from the field. Hunters should shoot away from the fields, but he cautioned hunters to be sure of their surroundings so they know where the bullet will go if they miss.

“If you are going to hunt in standing corn, you need to have somebody that is going to describe who are the blockers, who are the shooters, and who are the pushers,” Riege said.

Hunting in corn can be a good strategy for experienced hunters, especially bow hunters. The hunters typically intersect the corn rows looking up and down the rows so they can sneak up on a deer, which Riege said can be a good strategy on a breezy day because the wind masks a hunter’s scents and sounds.

At the same time, Riege said it’s a very time consuming strategy, and hunters should be careful not to damage crops.

Some farmers may be willing to allow hunters in their fields because deer often feed on the corn and damage the crops. However, Riege said hunters always need permission from landowners to hunt on private land, even fields.

Once farmers can continue harvesting the crops, the safety concerns will shift to cars. The harvest stirs up the deer in the fields causing the animals to be more active, which could lead to a higher number of traffic accidents.

“There’s a lot of deer-vehicle things at harvest time, but now with it being delayed and also with the deer going into rut, the farmers being in the fields and also the hunters being in the fields, you’re going to see more and more of that particular of thing,” Riege said. “That’s a safety issue as well because now you’ve got other aspects pushing these deer out onto the roadways. It’s going impact the motorists and not so much the people hunting.”

The late harvest hasn’t affected pheasants as much as deer because the pheasants don’t nest in the corn. The pheasant season opened Nov. 10 and goes through Jan. 3. Riege said pheasants can be found on the edges of fields roosting in ditches where there’s ample habitat and cover from predators like coyotes and hawks.

However, Riege said the population of pheasants has declined in the area because of lack of habitat. When there’s less suitable habitat, Riege said the weather can have a greater affect, especially in the winter.

“It’s declined considerably simply because there has been a lack of good habitat for winter cover,” he said.

At the same time, recent winters have been mild, which has created an increase the wild turkey and deer populations.

Even with the wet conditions, Riege is enjoying the hunting season, and he’s looking forward to the opening of the deer hunting season: “I live for the fall,” he said.

He suggested that hunters should prepare before going hunting. For example, hunters should work throughout the year to train their dogs, and they should take their gun to a shooting range before the season to be familiar with the weight action of the gun.

“If preparation is all year round, the actual event is a culmination of what you’ve been doing in the spring, summer and fall,” he said.

Key Dates:

Deer season — archery: Sept. 19 – Dec. 31

Small game (rabbits, squirrels): Sept. 19 – Feb. 29, 2010

Pheasant season: Oct. 10 – Jan. 3, 2010

Gray and red fox season: Oct. 24 – March 15, 2010

Badger, opossum and raccoon season: Oct. 24 – March 15, 2010

Firearm deer hunting opener: Nov. 7

Deer season — muzzle loader: Nov. 28 – Dec. 13