A magazine article several years back had info on the effect of tape vs just a tiny bit of water at the muzzle end. The water caused a large deviation on POI whereas the effect of tape was insignificant.
I have learned to always keep the muzzle taped when hunting, even in dry conditions. Given the chance I might pull off the tape, but if time is short I don't worry about it.
Several years ago while on a guided hunt, I noticed the rifle scabbard on the horse I was riding had some dirt and debris in the end and it was getting in the muzzle end of my rifle. A patch through the bore and tape on the end solved that problem.
About a month ago I had gone out to practice shooting from field positions. As I set up to shoot sitting off sticks, I lost control of the buttstock and the rifle pivoted on the sticks putting the muzzle in the dirt. That was sloppy handling on my part, but a quick trip to my cleaning station had the rifle back in service. On a hunt it could have been a disaster without a taped muzzle.