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Morning hunts: climb in the dark, or wait until light?

Fgirtyman said:
I try not to use any lights going in in the dark. I hunted years ago with some hunters in Illinois that told me going in at dark that they were using a green light and it didn’t spook deer. I tried it and at least it seemed it worked. I saw lots of deer eyes and they didn’t seem to freak out or get spooked. I still think by letting your eyes acclimate to the dark you can get to your spot easier without any light much easier than you think. I like to get in a stand in the dark if I know where I’m going and feel I can do it safely. I’d rather be in an hour early than a minute late.
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My issue with not using a light is even if you can see fine, another hunter can't see you coming and signal to you that they're already there. Not so much an issue on private land, but I would not want to be on public without a light.
 
Is there any huge advantage to being up in the tree before legal shooting hour starts?


I plan to do way more afternoon/evening hunts this year. The early morning wake-up at 3am to make the hour drive and be walked in by 530 is rough. Do that two or three times in a row and I’m gassed.

I probably wouldn’t want to climb without at least gray light which would already put me in legal shooting hours. But I have no personal experience
 
I plan to do way more afternoon/evening hunts this year. The early morning wake-up at 3am to make the hour drive and be walked in by 530 is rough. Do that two or three times in a row and I’m gassed.

Wait until you get to my age!
To me being quite and undetected is much more important.
 
I was always schooled to be in well before legal shooting light. Now I adapt it to where I’m hunting. For example (learned this from this forum) on an urban hunt I did I found that the trails had a running group that started about at legal shooting light, half hour before sunrise. I would go in about when they were going by. It was also always nice to see them and get some well wishes from them!
In all honesty I’m starting to think deer move all day and the longer I’m in the tree the better regardless of what time it is. The most bucks I saw last year were in the 10-2 timeframe and I happened on more than one occasion. This isn’t to say some bucks or deer move at night or by some moon or any of that, just that I feel my success rate will increase if I worry more about hunting than what time I am hunting.
Last thing I’d add. I’m hunting public. If I get a day off but have to drop my kids off at school I’m going in the woods at 8-9 am. Not trying to disturb anyone’s hunt that started 4 hours earlier, just the way it is. I also make sure to remember that when mine starts early and someone else doesn’t.
 
mschultz373 said:
Is there any huge advantage to being up in the tree before legal shooting hour starts?


I plan to do way more afternoon/evening hunts this year. The early morning wake-up at 3am to make the hour drive and be walked in by 530 is rough. Do that two or three times in a row and I’m gassed.

I probably wouldn’t want to climb without at least gray light which would already put me in legal shooting hours. But I have no personal experience
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Whitetails are crepuscular in nature moving at the cusps of the day most often except for the rut. With that in mind you want to typically be ready to roll right at dawn in anticipation of that general movement pattern. With that being said, generally, if you’ve planned your access properly and can be quiet and haven’t filtered your wind toward where the deer are likely coming from, you can get away with it. Early and late season if it happens and something starts blowing out your goose is probably cooked for that sit. During the rut, just stay there. More will likely come through if you’re in a good location.
 
Wait until light, hands down. 3 reasons…

1. No one is going to come in on top of you usually.

2. Less chance of spooking deer in the area.

3. I don’t like to get up early.


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bluguitar89 said:
Lots of great responses here, thank you!

Related question, though I think I know my answer I'd love to hear what y'all have to say. When climbing in the dark, what part of your signature are you most worried about: light, or noise?

As in, if you are halfway up a tree and find your gear clanging a bit, would you rather keep clanging or would it be worth it to you to turn on a light if it means you'll reduce or eliminate the noise?
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Noise, I generally climb without a light on but if I run into something that confuses me I'll sacrifice the dark to make sure I'm not doing something stupid. For me its more important to be safe than sorry.

I was going to post this earlier in the thread but have been pretty distracted the last few days and for the record I'm not suggesting anyone do this unless/until they're really comfortable with their climbing method. A few years ago I was out making the Timber Hitch Platform video and I set up my camera and videotaped myself doing a completely blindfolded climb starting at the base of the tree with my gear as packed just to see if I could do it. Now I've climbed a lot of trees and have my method down pretty pat and I didn't have any issues other than I initially looped my tether around the tree in the wrong direction while standing on the ground, a mistake I caught and fixed before I started climbing. I went right up by feel and watching the video you'd think I could see but I promise you I had no vision. The moves are simple and I can do it by muscle memory/feel now. I took me no longer than if I hadn't been blindfolded.

I will admit though I picked a pretty straight limbless tree. There's always the possibility you find a branch stub or something partway up that can get you . . . :oops:

Reminder to be careful climbing in the dark

Just thought I'd post a pic from this morning. I was one sticking up a tree in the dark and bumped into a triangular wedge left over from a broken off branch that I didn't see in the dark. There was a sharp triangular wedge about 2-3 inches long protruding from a knob in the tree that caught...
saddlehunter.com
 
It be a regional thing but I've had encounters with alligators while wading thru water going in to hunt, I jumped up 3 bears (2 real small and 1 much bigger), step right next to cotton mouths, aggressive momma pigs, aggressive daddy pigs.....I like my headlamp hahaha

Hearing hogs sharpening their cutters in the dark is scary....or at least to me it is
 
Weldabeast said:
It be a regional thing but I've had encounters with alligators while wading thru water going in to hunt, I jumped up 3 bears (2 real small and 1 much bigger), step right next to cotton mouths, aggressive momma pigs, aggressive daddy pigs.....I like my headlamp hahaha

Hearing hogs sharpening their cutters in the dark is scary....or at least to me it is
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How’s a Weldabeast scared of a little pig? Ive spent a lot of time in gator country, and it’s hard walking in the dark with no light when you may not be the Alpha Predator.


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shmelton said:
How’s a Weldabeast scared of a little pig? Ive spent a lot of time in gator country, and it’s hard walking in the dark with no light when you may not be the Alpha Predator.


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During our bow season here you are not allowed to carry any firearms with you….. so walking in early with bear all around can be a little unnerving.
 
i find myself doing a lot of afternoon and then morning hunts from the same set. only taking out the bottom step. access can be well planned in the daylight of the afternoon hunt
 
woodsdog2 said:
During our bow season here you are not allowed to carry any firearms with you….. so walking in early with bear all around can be a little unnerving.
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What state is that? In MN we can carry a pistol while bow hunting, but the COs might give you a hard time if you're trying to claim a scoped Encore in .30 Herrett is a CCW pistol. I usually carry a J-frame. For dogs and tweakers.

ETA: in MN we can carry a pistol while bow hunting if in possession of a valid CCW permit. kind of an important detail to
leave out, my bad.
 
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