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What time did you kill him?

wizard said:
This past season all were taken in the morning.
9/20/20 - 6:45am 180 lb 8pt
9/26/20 - 7:15am 182 lb 8pt
11/24/20 - 8:00am 165 lb 8pt
All taken w/.308 out of a climber.
Looking forward to saddle hunting this season so I can get into the bedding areas with my bow.
Click to expand...
Holy cow! You took all those in the future? Lol.
 
It all depends on the location of where you are hunting. Feed to bed I’ve shot them at first legal light until 0900. Bedding areas 0900 to 1600 and bed to feed funnels 1600 to last light depending on how close I could get to the bedding area without alerting deer.
 
Pretty close to even split between morning and evening. I have not killed a mature buck mid day. I have seen several during that time period but havent had a shot opportunity on any of them.
 
Little tangent from the OP. For the folks harvesting in the morning... are you the type that are all set up an hour before light? Or are you walking in during grey light?
 
Earliest 645, latest brink of legal time. Many in between but majority before noon. Red, grey light as I prefer light stealth in the AM
 
I am a morning guy and have killed many good bucks in the morning but i have also killed some at last light.I think it just depends when the deer are on their feet even in the rut.Does up and feeding Big boys are up and looking.Early in the year I see more good bucks in the evening
 
All my biggest encounters were between 11 and 1130 though this year I shot my biggest following a doe out of a cornfield at 830
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Shot a 126 inch buck at 9:45 am, Nov 14 2016
Shot a 7- point at 10:30am on Dec 17 2018
Shot a 130 inch buck at 12:45 pm on Nov 26 2019
 
I've taken my best bucks on evening hunts. The biggest was in mid Oct. I love morning hunts, and I've seen great bucks in the morning, but always seem to connect that last hour of the day. I've seen deer mid day, but because of our herd dynamics, and deer densities, I don't see a lot of "classic" rut activity, especially mid day.
 
The first week of November for both P&Y bucks one at 4:45 PM and the second one at 1:50 pm.
 
My 2 biggest
First was about 2:20 in the afternoon on Oct. 27th 2006 5 12/ year old
Second was about 20 mins after shooting light. The morning of Oct. 28th 2008 4 1/2 years old
Both bucks I was in my stand about 35 minutes
I have seen more big bucks between Oct 15th and Nov 1st than any other time frame!
No preference between mornings or afternoons for me!
 
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I've taken 4 bucks in the past 4 years here in Arkansas. All with a bow on public land.

09/22/16 - Approx. 2:00 pm - buck was on hit feet eating acorns.
10/29/17 - Approx. 4:00 pm - buck was cruising before dark scent checking a bedding area I was hunting.
10/30/18 - Approx. 1:00 pm - It just quit raining and I saw him stand up out of his bed. He came straight to me after I grunted at him.
11/27/19 - Approx. 2:00 pm - He was on his feet scent checking the downwind side of the bedding area I was hunting.
 
2019: 6 pt, estimated 4.5+, 11/15, 3:30 PM
2018: 9 pt, estimated 4.5+, 11/10, 12:00 PM
2016: 8 pt, estimated 2.5, 11/1, 6:30 PM
2015: 8 pt, estimated 3.5, 10/22, 11 AM
2014: didn't kill one with a bow.
2013: 7 pt, estimated 2.5, 10/23, 5 PM
2012: half rack 6 pt, 11/7, 4 PM
2011 and 2010 blanked
2009: 9 pt, estimated 4+, 11/15, 5 PM
2008: 6 pt, estimated 3.5, 11/2, 8 AM

That's about as far back as I can remember. During the rut it can happen anytime but 10-1 is my favorite time for big buck sightings although I don't keep actual data to support that. I think the largest buck I ever encountered was 2014 around Nov 10 right at sunrise and I botched the shot. I had an encounter last year with a shooter again barely legal shooting light.
 
I also have killed them at all times of the day. If I could average it out however, and due to most of the locations I hunt or choose to hunt, I would say early to midmorning followed closely by mid morning through to about 1pm. My biggest was at 1pm, my second biggest buck I ever shot (and didn't recover) was at high noon. These were all in early November. For whatever reason, evening hunting has not been the greatest for me personally although I have taken some. Antlerless deer at all times but since deer are primarily crepuscular travelers, I would say most of my kills were at or near the cusps of the day.
 
I havent shot a buck before 8 A.M. I have 4 between 8 and 11 in the morning and 3 in the evening those were all within 1hr of end of shooting light.
 
I have killed at all times of the day, my best bucks all over 160"s were killed in the morning and before 10 am. I have killed a few other 4.5 year olds at mid day and a few more the last 1/2 hour of light. Most were killed the first two weeks of Nov. and in Kansas, Ohio and NY. I live in NY anjd have killed most of my bucks there, 100 plus in 43 years of bow hunting. I believe no matter where you hunt the best time to kill a big random buck is from first light to 10 am and during the chase phase of the rut. Early season late afternoon is the best time and I rarely hunt any mornings before the end of Oct unless I have an entry that stays away from field edges and stays away from transition areas. Observation is the key early on, there is no Oct. lull, deer just are in the middel of transitioning to different food sources and gearing up for the rut ahead so people tend to lose track of them. My best buck in the afternoon was a 4.5 year old deer in Kansas who responded to my rattling and I was lucky as I had live bait out in front when 2 two does also curious about my rattling appeared. Its funny I hate mornings the more I get older but looking back over a lot of years that is when i have killed 80% of my decent bucks. I should also say I forgot about more deer than I have killed in the last 20 years as I have had several years where I have killed as many as 8 or more bucks in a single year. I myself believe I have killed only 4 truly big bucks antler wise but a ton that were 3.5 or older. Here in NY where I hunt we are lucky a 3.5 year old will go 100-110"s. Shawn
 
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In 2016 on Nov 12th in Kansas at 8:15 in the morning I sat overlooking an 800 acre cut Milo field on the edge of an awesome creek crossing. I saw no less than 12 bucks with 3 being well over B&C minimum and several more well over P&Y as there was 3 hot does out feeding in that Milo. I was trying to shoot a giant 10 pt that was on one of the does, he was easily over 180"s gross but I could not stop him when I look below me and at 12 yards stands a giant non-typical, no choice to be made I shot the big NT and over the next half hour watched more big bucks at one time than I have ever seen all put together in my life. That day convinced me that mornings during the rut in the mid-west there is no better time or place to be!! Shawn
 
I shot mine at 6:40am this year, but most of the trail cam activity on that camera during November and December was between 11:00am and 5:00pm. It really fought me off-guard.


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Killed my biggest deer this year. Nov 1, on an evening hunt over a fresh scrape. Had been in the general area on several hunts, but I moved about 100 yds to a fresher scrape and he came straight to it at about 4:30 PM.


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