Should new and inexperienced hunters sit out the early season and wait for the rut?

[Nutterbuster]

I lean towards thinking "new and inexperienced" hunters should hunt as much as possible until they burn off some energy and get tired of spinning their wheels. But it seems your question has less to do with the experience aspect and more to do with your current life situation. Kinda different.

Haven't had kids, but have been in college full time and working 3 jobs before while being pulled by a very tight family that wasn't 100% on-board with me growing up and dating a pretty cool chick. I imagine it's similar in that you wake up early and go the bed late and still have stuff you didn't get done.

I've also worked situations where I didn't have a whole lot of vacation, which is kinda similar to your situation. If I only had a couple of days to a week to hunt, I know I'd pick peak rut to spend my vacation hours.

Peak rut increases your odds of shooting a mature buck, sure. But it really increases your odds of killing deer period. The bucks are running around disturbing the does, so they'll be on their feet as well. And sure, there's more hunter pressure, but my experience is that sudden and sharp increase in pressure increases deer activity as they struggle to adjust. So spend the all-day, brownie-point, vacation days in the woods during the rut.

If you have hunting grounds within 30 minutes of where you live or work, there's a whole nuther trick to learn. I have "snuck in" countless 1-2 hour hunts that don't get me in trouble with anybody and have netted me some extra bodies in the freezer. Getting good at quickie hunts isn't hard if you can get past the mental programming that makes you feel like you're doing something "wrong" by sitting on a bucket 200 yards away from your truck in work clothes.

 

[Gator]

From what I understand, morning sits are ineffective during the early season. The rut give you the max chance to succeed. So should I focus my effort during the rut?

Rut is always the best time to be in the woods. Big boys get up on their feet and throw caution to the wind (more so than any other time of the year) but early season being ineffective is just an old wife's tale. Deer are more predictable in the early season but are also more cautious. I don't envy you guys that can't just hunt when you want!

 

[Loopwing]

I have 2 girls 5 and 7, last season was what I consider my first real hunting season in 6 years. I would get in the woods previous seasons, but only a handful of times and that was usually decided Thursday night "you can hunt Saturday if you want". I would pack Thursdays and Friday, hunt hard all day Saturday and kill the first 2 legal things that moved. (Meat hunter here). With a newborn and others in the house, actual planning is out the window. Kids get hurt and sick at the drop of a hat. A good way to end your hunting season. Leave your wife with a sick kid because it is the rut and you passed up perfectly good days in the early season to hunt.

 

[Red Beard]

Find what works for you. In my case also, morning hunts definitely use up less wife capital. I'm quietly out the door while everyone is asleep and back in time to make everyone a late breakfast. Evening hunts throw a wrench into the dinner/bedtime routine.

Me to a T.

 

[MattMan81]

Another vote for trying to make morning hunts. As a member of the more than 3 kids club, being home for the afternoon tends to make everyone else happier. Which usually means more morning hunts. My wife has always been supportive of my hunting habits. In fact I almost gave up on it several years ago, and she pushed me back into it. (She might be regretting that choice at times as I went back in further).
Things that I found help when they are small and make momma's life easier.
Stocked fridge. Easy meals for her to feed kids. Or pre make stuff she can re heat.
Bring back lunch if you can from a morning hunt.
Go to the library and get movies for the kids to watch. Or books, or something new she can bust out to keep them busy.
Send her messages while your hunting. Tell her how great she is.
When you get back, take them to grandma and grandpas house so she can take a nap in silence. Or the park, or what ever.
Just a few things that I found she likes that made it easier for me to get out.

 

[STL]

Congrats on the new addition to the family!

I’ve found giving the wife a break goes a long way. Give her opportunity to get out of the house, make dinner and do some laundry, run errands, let her sleep in, etc.The less overwhelmed she is, the better.

I would save your hunts for higher probability days, like the first cold fronts in October and the rut. Pick your weekends carefully and think about setting something up so your wife isn’t left alone every time you hunt. Maybe a play date for the older kids, invite her mom, sister, or a friend to come over for a morning or evening, get a baby sitter so she can get out for a bit while you’re hunting too.

If your hunting spot is close enough and your job is a little flexible on taking some time off, consider hunting during the week too. One of my favorite ways to get away and hunt is hitting a cold front on a weekday during the rut. I leave early to hunt, my wife drops off the kids at daycare, everyone is take care of while I’m gone, and I pick the kids up. I’ve seen the most movement late morning to mid day during the rut so there’s also less pressure on me to be all set up at a certain time and having to bail early if I need to. There’s also less hunting pressure during the week. It’s the least disruptive I’ve found on my family routine while still giving me a decent chance at a kill.

Lastly, keep reminding her that the sooner you tag out, the sooner you’ll be home all the time! Lol

 

[Loopwing]

One thing we as MEN need to realize and live by. These are OUR kids. We are not babysitting when we are home with them. We are watching OUR kids. It is not the woman's job to watch the kids all the time and it is NOT a bonus when we are home to help with cleaning, cooking, disciplining, or just hanging out.
This is a conversation my wife and I had long before we had our first kid. Parenting is a partnership, the more time you spend with your kids now, the more it will pay off later.

This is also a reason I am a meat hunter. If I go sit in the woods all day long or weekend long and don't put meat in the freezer, then "it is time wasted not helping, raising, and being with my family"

 

[HuumanCreed]

One thing we as MEN need to realize and live by. These are OUR kids. We are not babysitting when we are home with them. We are watching OUR kids. It is not the woman's job to watch the kids all the time and it is NOT a bonus when we are home to help with cleaning, cooking, disciplining, or just hanging out.
This is a conversation my wife and I had long before we had our first kid. Parenting is a partnership, the more time you spend with your kids now, the more it will pay off later.

This is also a reason I am a meat hunter. If I go sit in the woods all day long or weekend long and don't put meat in the freezer, then "it is time wasted not helping, raising, and being with my family"

Haha, my wife tell me this all the time, we dont babysitter our own kids!

Good to know we have a bunch of good parents here. All the complaining aside, family is first. Trying to fit time in the wood around our priority does not make us lose focus of what is important.

 

[Loopwing]

AGREED, the woods and trout streams are always calling. The problem (not really) is the kids and family are much louder and rewarding.

 

[DroptineKrazy]

I posted a smart *ss answer earlier but I do have some real advice if interested. I have been married for 34 years to a woman that grew up eating deer meat 3 or 4 times a week from early October till it was all gone in February. That is one of the many reasons I married her in the first place, she has always preferred wild game to anything at the grocery store. I know I'm very lucky that way. My wife has also shot her share of deer too. Still, when hunting season rolls around, if I was planning on going hunting when she had to watch the kids I would make it as easy on her as possible by making sure all of the household chores were done before she got home from work so she could spend more quality time with the kids instead of feeling like a single mom. This included doing dishes, cleaning the house, laundry, making the bed, dusting and anything else I could think of. About the only thing I didn't do was prepare dinner because if I had to cook we would have all starved to death Just make her life easier and she should do the same for you.

 

[philsanchez76]

You know what, that's something I didnt considered. Just hunting in the morning on some days. That would definitely be less noticeable compared to all day sits.

Yes!! I stopped doing all day sits and all weekend hunting camps cuz I noticed it caused a lot more friction with the wife. I exclusively do 2-3 hour sits either morning or evening depending on what I have goin on that day. But my hunting ground is only 20 min drive so it works. Not sure how close you are to yours. I also have to sell the value of hunting a lot. I let her know exactly how many pounds of meat we take in and how much $ that saves us from having to buy organic meat. We also started using all the deer bones and undesirable cuts to feed the dogs raw diet. Dogs have seen noticeable improvement in tooth and joint health so that speaks directly to her heart! Sometimes ya just gotta help them see!

 

[HuumanCreed]

Yes!! I stopped doing all day sits and all weekend hunting camps cuz I noticed it caused a lot more friction with the wife. I exclusively do 2-3 hour sits either morning or evening depending on what I have goin on that day. But my hunting ground is only 20 min drive so it works. Not sure how close you are to yours. I also have to sell the value of hunting a lot. I let her know exactly how many pounds of meat we take in and how much $ that saves us from having to buy organic meat. We also started using all the deer bones and undesirable cuts to feed the dogs raw diet. Dogs have seen noticeable improvement in tooth and joint health so that speaks directly to her heart! Sometimes ya just gotta help them see!

Ohh...I'm intrigued. Wife love the dogs. How do you use the bones?

 

[philsanchez76]

Ohh...I'm intrigued. Wife love the dogs. How do you use the bones?

I save all the guts except stomach and intestines for the pups. I’ll throw them in the freezer as soon as I get home. hang the deer and take the quarters off. Remove the head and saw the ribs off to save. Use the sawzall to break the spine and neck up into smaller pieces and throw all this into the deep freeze. I put the 4 quarters in the fridge and let them age for a few days. Once aged I’ll debone the quarters and throw those bones in the freezer. After that once a day the pups get a big bone with some meat still attached and a small slice of liver, lung or whatever from the gut pile. They just mow right through the bones. The only think I throw away from the deer is the head (unless of course it needs to be mounted)! Using one animals life to feed another has been the single best thing for the relationship between me, my wife and hunting.

 

[Schwonkhead]

I have 2 girls 5 and 7, last season was what I consider my first real hunting season in 6 years. I would get in the woods previous seasons, but only a handful of times and that was usually decided Thursday night "you can hunt Saturday if you want". I would pack Thursdays and Friday, hunt hard all day Saturday and kill the first 2 legal things that moved. (Meat hunter here). With a newborn and others in the house, actual planning is out the window. Kids get hurt and sick at the drop of a hat. A good way to end your hunting season. Leave your wife with a sick kid because it is the rut and you passed up perfectly good days in the early season to hunt.

I can relate to this. My girls are almost 5 and 1.5. Think I've only made it out bow hunting a handful of times in the last 5 or so years. I can still get a reluctant "OK" to spend at least most of our first weekend of shotgun season in the woods, unless I get a decent buck on opening day. Last year was even harder as my wife started taking chemo pills, really sucks her energy out some days. She ended up taking the kids to her sister's house for the weekend so I could get three whole days of pounding the woods as hard as I wanted. I don't look to get out like I used to for a few more years yet when the youngest is probably 5.

 

[Schwonkhead]

AGREED, the woods and trout streams are always calling. The problem (not really) is the kids and family are much louder and rewarding.

Taking one or both kids to the stream goes a long way too.

 

[Plebe]

Find what works for you. In my case also, morning hunts definitely use up less wife capital. I'm quietly out the door while everyone is asleep and back in time to make everyone a late breakfast. Evening hunts throw a wrench into the dinner/bedtime routine.

I am very fortunate my wife is so tolerant of my hunting. She is amazing about it, but it still starts to cause friction toward the end of the rut and into rifle season.

I've found as far as general efficiency, you're on the right track focusing on the rut. If you can hunt unpressured deer and tie one to a food plot, early season can be a dang near guarantee, but a lot of us don't have access to that type of hunting or frankly prefer something a little less predictable.

If you have the flexibility also, let weather dictate when you get out and hunt the backside of cold fronts. Save the t-shirt weather for hanging out with the family.

Morning hunts can be very effective early in the season, despite what you will read otherwise. Focus on getting tight to where they bed and you may be surprised how effective October mornings can be. If nothing else it's a good way to get in and scout doe groups you'll want to hunt around in November.

Great advice from so many members, but Yinzer hits it on the head from what I've generally experienced.

I've missed some seasons, some I've had as little as a single half-day to hunt. I've also had a couple seasons where I chased deer for a full month.

If I may add to the previous advice, just enjoy getting out whenever you can...instead of as much as you can or when you planned to.

If you entrench yourself in needing to get a deer, get a buck, get a trophy in order to be "successful", or are totally fixated on your specific plan and schedule, it's much more likely that you won't have much fun. That can lead to frustrations afield and at home.

Stuff will come up and spoil your plan to hunt on that perfect day. The deer won't cooperate. This is hunting, most of the time for most hunters, except when the stars align and bingo. You've less time than many, but more time than some. Enjoy that gift and embrace that its such a challenge.

In addition to staying positive and relaxed about this year, I'll throw in mornings on Opening Day of any gun season as something you might consider if the opportunity is there. Statistically more deer are taken on those days.

 

[Weldabeast]

I sure u know but someone new and inexperienced should spend as much time in the woods as possible,hunting or not, it's the only way to learn....sure, all the vast info on the interwebs gives u a good starting point but it doesn't really teach u anything compared with personal experiences

 

[dougell]

I'm not sure why you'd think morning hunts before the rut are unproductive.It's a rare saturday morning in October that either my son or I don't at least kill a doe.

 

[PEEJAY]

Good point, not all area are equal and everyone will tackle it differently.

I'm in Maryland, we don't have a lot of pressure from what I understand. Going to focus on a public land watershed area this year due to it not requiring reservation. Previous years, I hunt on public lands that limits how many hunters are allow per day on a specific area. I felt that it would reduce running into people. But it also limited me due to the good locations being reserved real fast.

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That gets hit pretty hard if thats where i think it is... L******. either hunt RIGHT next to the road across from rich people that look like they dont hunt (bucks feel safe there and will wander over when they get love drunk) or 2 miles in. 300-400 yds in is packed with hunters early season. That spot west of the bridge...nvm

 

[Allegheny Tom]

I'm not sure why you'd think morning hunts before the rut are unproductive.It's a rare saturday morning in October that either my son or I don't at least kill a doe.

Not as productive as evenings. And early season mornings aren't not as good for bucks as evenings, especially for mature bucks.