Morning Hunts

[Autumnrider]

I have always tried being in my stand :45 - 1hr before daylight..
I'm thinking that I'm gonna try entering my stands after daylight this year just to do something different..and see if it makes a difference at seeing more mature deer.

What do yall prefer?

 

[MCDM]

I have heard many guys talk about how in early season they see more bucks during evening sits. I have shot 97% of all my deer in the morning. I track the deer in the areas that I hunt pretty intensly. I have a spread sheet which I go through and manually enter the date, time, temp, moon phase, wind, and barometric pressure. I also document if its does or bucks and if its a shooter buck it gets highlighted. I primarily hunt mornings where I am at because thats what my findings tell me will be most productive. This can change depending on the area for me so its location that determines the time of the hunt. When I hunt mornings I go a little crazy and will be in stand 2-2.5 hrs. before daylight. This gives me a chance to let my eyes adjust and enough time to set up and settle in. Plus I can sleep with one eye open. I always felt it was kinda like better to sleep in the tree with one eye open instead of sleeping in my bed where the deer aren' t there LOL! I do this regardless of weather. Its just my hunting style I guess.

 

[Erniepower]

I was watching the Eberhart videos the other day, and he recommends getting in the tree alot earlier than I ever have. In the range of the 2 hours you are talking about. He explains how getting there later than that can actually bump the buck you are looking for.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[MCDM]

Getting in 2 hours and sometimes more has always been the way I have done it. I later read the Eberhart books and found that is what he suggests as well. My reasoning initially was that deer are mostly nocturnal they spend more time moving in the dark then the daylight for most of their lives. If your going in when it is still dark and stays dark for a good period the deer primarily the bucks will come back thinking the threat has gone. Like I said in my previous post most guys oversleep and then haul it to the woods making alot of noise just trying to be on time. I would rather sleep then be woken by a huge buck LOL!! Getting in that early is tough though so I do understand. I work till midnight but I always make it out in the woods a couple of hours before sun-up. Its the same every year my season will start September 15th and ends for me December 31st. I work till midnight 5-6 days a week and hunt 70 plus days of the season. By the end Im grateful because now its time to rest. A week or two after that Im complaining to my wife about the season ending and start prepping for the next season LOL!!!

 

[xtacleone]

I have always tried being in my stand :45 - 1hr before daylight..
I'm thinking that I'm gonna try entering my stands after daylight this year just to do something different..and see if it makes a difference at seeing more mature deer.

What do yall prefer?

I dont mean to sound like an idiot, but are you saying that if you enter after day light, then you will sleep in your stands? I actually considered this myself that is why I am asking.

 

[MCDM]

He suggesting on going in after daylight. I was suggesting the opposite in enter 2-3 hours before daylight and if you snooze you snooze but I rarely. However, there is some evidence that I have read that suggest that deer have become conditioned to the normal hunting hours. More or less patterning hunters. Primarily most deer activity occurs two hours before light and before dark (Really its mostly during the dark most deer activity occurs but we can't hunt at night. I have read and talked too quite a few guys who say that if you stay out past when most guys are walking back to their vehicles (this applies only to morning hunts) that they see alot of deer moving because they know the threat is gone or reduced. Now I have never experienced this and my cameras do not indicate any behavior and such but it is not a far fetched concept if you think about it. Me personally I think it is property specific that this occurs and is for the indvidual to assess parcel to parcel. Deer hunting is my passion and by no means am I an expert but I literally live this lifestlye 365. Alot of information can be misleading and I think it all has some validity it just depends on where your at. All I know is you learn by exhausting all tactics and strategies and the success and failures that come with them. But back to the oringinal topic I would suggest to give it a go at least a couple times and see what happens. Who knows you might drop a 200 incher

 

[Autumnrider]

Getting in 2 hours and sometimes more has always been the way I have done it. I later read the Eberhart books and found that is what he suggests as well. My reasoning initially was that deer are mostly nocturnal they spend more time moving in the dark then the daylight for most of their lives. If your going in when it is still dark and stays dark for a good period the deer primarily the bucks will come back thinking the threat has gone. Like I said in my previous post most guys oversleep and then haul it to the woods making alot of noise just trying to be on time. I would rather sleep then be woken by a huge buck LOL!! Getting in that early is tough though so I do understand. I work till midnight but I always make it out in the woods a couple of hours before sun-up. Its the same every year my season will start September 15th and ends for me December 31st. I work till midnight 5-6 days a week and hunt 70 plus days of the season. By the end Im grateful because now its time to rest. A week or two after that Im complaining to my wife about the season ending and start prepping for the next season LOL!!!

I am the same way when the season closes.

 

[Autumnrider]

I dont mean to sound like an idiot, but are you saying that if you enter after day light, then you will sleep in your stands? I actually considered this myself that is why I am asking.

Sleep in stands if you get in the stand way early..
What I'm asking is , what are your thoughts on getting to your stand after light?

 

[Autumnrider]

He suggesting on going in after daylight. I was suggesting the opposite in enter 2-3 hours before daylight and if you snooze you snooze but I rarely. However, there is some evidence that I have read that suggest that deer have become conditioned to the normal hunting hours. More or less patterning hunters. Primarily most deer activity occurs two hours before light and before dark (Really its mostly during the dark most deer activity occurs but we can't hunt at night. I have read and talked too quite a few guys who say that if you stay out past when most guys are walking back to their vehicles (this applies only to morning hunts) that they see alot of deer moving because they know the threat is gone or reduced. Now I have never experienced this and my cameras do not indicate any behavior and such but it is not a far fetched concept if you think about it. Me personally I think it is property specific that this occurs and is for the indvidual to assess parcel to parcel. Deer hunting is my passion and by no means am I an expert but I literally live this lifestlye 365. Alot of information can be misleading and I think it all has some validity it just depends on where your at. All I know is you learn by exhausting all tactics and strategies and the success and failures that come with them. But back to the oringinal topic I would suggest to give it a go at least a couple times and see what happens. Who knows you might drop a 200 incher

I'm thinking that when hunting public land, which I have mostly all my life, or high pressure areas, the deer will move at times other folks are moving out of the woods. I have taken a 130" 8 pt because of the 9-10 o'clock folks are headed out. And another good time to be in stand is before the 2 o'clock folks head back to their stands.

 

[Autumnrider]

These deer that I'm speaking of are bumped and not conditioned to move when folks are out of the woods

 

[MCDM]

I'm thinking that when hunting public land, which I have mostly all my life, or high pressure areas, the deer will move at times other folks are moving out of the woods. I have taken a 130" 8 pt because of the 9-10 o'clock folks are headed out. And another good time to be in stand is before the 2 o'clock folks head back to their stands.

I would say it would be property specific or the day of the week. Either way it can't hurt to attempt it and see what happens. On public land guys preach going in deep to avoid hunters if your property that your hunting has alot of guys that attempt to go in far I would set-up closer to the exit. Most of the time I find areas "at least in my state" where hunters don't want to go. It usually involves swamps and marshes, wading in. Places that the deer will bed instead. Last year I hunted and area that was all briars for a couple of days. I got torn up bad but found a great area holding some giants.

 

[MCDM]

These deer that I'm speaking of are bumped and not conditioned to move when folks are out of the woods

I hunt alot of bird hunting areas. I get into the tree line for safety reasons (guys shooting into the sky) but you don't see many deer hunters however you see alot of deer moving especially mid day once the shooting stops.

 

[ricky racer]

Roger Rothhaar in his books Whitetail Magic and In Pursuit of Trophy Whitetails says he always waits until he can see to head to his stands in the morning. He doesn't go to his stands in the dark....

 

[essdub]

I have always tried being in my stand :45 - 1hr before daylight..
I'm thinking that I'm gonna try entering my stands after daylight this year just to do something different..and see if it makes a difference at seeing more mature deer.

What do yall prefer?

Last year I was on a kick where I would get into my stand two to three hours before daylight. It worked for a while, as I put arrows into two does and finally saw the BIG buck I was after and was able to get on his pattern (even though I later screwed up the only shot I got at him by not having a shell in the chamber - long story).
The thing I noticed about going in extra really early was this: I bumPed way more deer going in (including a large buck that allowed me to get within arm's reach before deciding to jump up and run, and walk within fifteen yards or so of a group of a bunch of does who didn't run - they slowly walked on down the trail away from me) . I also noticed that I got several shot opportunities right at daybreak when before, I had more shot opportunities after a couple hours. This might only be because I'm basically in my backyard (and the fifty or so surrounding acres) and the deer are accustomed to movement in the neighborhood at certain times of day when people are going to work.
But I know this,
This year I'm going one extreme or the other. Either super early like that last year, or after 9am.
It might just be me or my methods, but I've only gotten one shot at a buck in the evening on my property. But I got one mid afternoon on my friend property.

 

[Autumnrider]

I was running late and it had already gotten light enough that you could see in open timber kinda (when light is a grey blue-is tint) but could not see in the pines. It was bad dry and noisy while walking. Since i could not be quite, i just started dragging my feet and stopping ever so often ( try and sound like a possum on a half shell). I got to my spot in the pines and started up. I had got 6 ft and a deer (?) Come by directly under me but I could see it was a doe when it entered the hardwood. A split second after that, another deer (?) On the same trail come by, entered hardwoods and all I could see was horns on his right side that reached out to the tips of his ear---4.5 year old 7 pt.

Luck I suppose....

 

[DaveT1963]

I prefer to setup 1-2 hours before daylight.... but I practice this all year and walk my routes in the early off season as I am scouting before daylight. The problem with night time entry, IMHO, is people never really practice it except hunting season. Being form the military, I guess I just like the tactical aspect of sneaking in before daylight. And the truth is, ant stand that can be approached in daylight can also be approached early morning - you can sneak just as effectively - but you have to work out a system. For example, when I get close, 100 yards or so, I have a headlamp attached to my upper thigh that points 2-3 feet in front of me. It has a small hood on it I made so you really cannot see the light except right in front of me. I walk it one step at a time (all my light allows me to see clearly). Yes it takes me 30 minutes or so to cover the last 100 yards - but it is just like I would stalk in close during the daylight. By keeping the light really low and pointing it towards the ground directly in front of me I seldom spook deer..... and probably would have spooked those same deer in the daylight.

 

[essdub]

I prefer to setup 1-2 hours before daylight.... but I practice this all year and walk my routes in the early off season as I am scouting before daylight. The problem with night time entry, IMHO, is people never really practice it except hunting season. Being form the military, I guess I just like the tactical aspect of sneaking in before daylight. And the truth is, ant stand that can be approached in daylight can also be approached early morning - you can sneak just as effectively - but you have to work out a system. For example, when I get close, 100 yards or so, I have a headlamp attached to my upper thigh that points 2-3 feet in front of me. It has a small hood on it I made so you really cannot see the light except right in front of me. I walk it one step at a time (all my light allows me to see clearly). Yes it takes me 30 minutes or so to cover the last 100 yards - but it is just like I would stalk in close during the daylight. By keeping the light really low and pointing it towards the ground directly in front of me I seldom spook deer..... and probably would have spooked those same deer in the daylight.

I can move easily and quietly in dark as I also practice all year. My problem bumping deer last year, I think, was that the deer I was bumping were accustomed to people enough to stay concentrated in that certain area a couple hours before daytime when my neighbors and I are getting up and getting ready to go to work (4 am-5am).
The ones I bumped I think are the ones that come into my yard and eat my fruit/berries/garden after I go to work

 

[ricky racer]

A few years ago I shot a 140”+ buck and was invited to an awards banquet put on by Commemorative Bucks of Michigan. Everyone had their bucks on display at the event. They asked us to fill out a card and place it by your buck with location the deer was taken, weapon used, date and time of day it was taken. What struck me was it seemed like the vast majority of the bucks were taken between 10:00AM and 2:00 PM. I don’t know if possibly those bucks had been bumped by hunters leaving his their hunting spot after a morning hunt or it they were taken during their normal rut activity. I just found that interesting……

 

[DaveT1963]

I can move easily and quietly in dark as I also practice all year. My problem bumping deer last year, I think, was that the deer I was bumping were accustomed to people enough to stay concentrated in that certain area a couple hours before daytime when my neighbors and I are getting up and getting ready to go to work (4 am-5am).
The ones I bumped I think are the ones that come into my yard and eat my fruit/berries/garden after I go to work

If a deer is bedding close to his food source in early season he will be tough to get in on day or night.... for those I would wait until prerut moves him more to interest in doe rather then filling his belly. That or wait until that food source dries up and hope he doesn't move bedding to a new location with new food source. Deer that bed immediately adjacent to their food are just tough.

 

[Autumnrider]

If a deer is bedding close to his food source in early season he will be tough to get in on day or night.... for those I would wait until prerut moves him more to interest in doe rather then filling his belly. That or wait until that food source dries up and hope he doesn't move bedding to a new location with new food source. Deer that bed immediately adjacent to their food are just tough.

That's right... We hunted a WMA in Northeast Mississippi and there were 2 really nice bucks we wanted and a 3rd that would take an arrow if possible. These deer were feeding on milo and cow peas that ran all through the milo. These deer fed and bed in the milo. No way to get to them so we hunted the timber on the edges. Got to see the deer at a regular bases just never panned out.
These deer never left the milo during daylight and during the rut, no sight of them.
They don't have to move if they have everything-- water, food, cover