Hunting in the morning.


Scbasshunter

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if you're not in your stand you can't kill anything. sometimes you end up making it in a little late. most of the time you should be in the stand and settled in once legal shooting light exists. it depends on the stand and where it's at. many times during the pre-rut around now a big buck will head back to cover sooner. then later you'll see doe groups work on through after sunrise. an exception to this is one stand i've had. it's best as a morning stand. however, the only access to it is through the field the deer are in. i wait until the deer leave the field after sunrise and then i take a short cut down the ridge to the stand. the deer worked around and through the woods feeding on acorns and eventually work by my stand, that's not far from a brushy bottom bedding area, around 9AM.

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Smha- that's my thing, do the majority of deer not move until after light? Especially when it's cold.

NO. Deer activity obviously varies depending on time of year/weather food sources, and rut stages, but in general in the mornings peak activity is usually before or at sunrise when deer for the most part are headed back to where they bed.

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I think its the type of area you hunt in. If you have a ways to walk to get to the stand then the sooner you get to it the better, to avoid spooking anything. Or if the spot you're going is short stroll and deer come from different spots, because of a small field and mixed bush adjacent form your stand. Then waiting till daybreak to head into it may work. Every hunting spot is different to the next so tactics will will alter which one. IMO

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I have a question for those of you who do go in the woods before daybreak. Do yall use a flashlight to walk through the woods??

Never. Only use a light when I'm tracking a deer in the dark. But I've been in and out of our woods my whole life. I could walk blindfolded. Point things out and miss all the wells. I even go as far as to turn off all the lights in the truck to pull in and out. Use the moon or the marker lights.

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The best thing to do is scout your hunting area, use trail cams with correct time date and moon phase stamp and pattern your deer. I also, and it's just something I do, compare movement times from my cameras to solunar calendars major and minor times.

I do believe moon phases have some influence on deer movement, and I have been paying a lot more attention to the minor and major activity according to scoutlook and the realtree game forecast. As best as I can tell the minor activity is when we see more activity here and the major activity has had very few sightings and those sightings only at times cosistent with when we would normally expect to see deer, right at daylight or right at dark.

I have a question for those of you who do go in the woods before daybreak. Do yall use a flashlight to walk through the woods??

About the only time I use a flashlight is during our youth hunt when we get to some spots where the ground is rough, did use the light there a few times during archery when it was pitch black out too. Don't want the kids to trip or twist their ankles and that is a green led light.

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On private ground I'm in my stand at daybreak - no flashlight unless my son is along.

On public ground I'm in my stand one hour before daylight - I use a flashlight. Don't want to get shot when everyone starts walking in the woods at sun-up.

This year is my sons first deer camp (public ground) not going in the woods till it's light enough to see.

I know deer move at any time during the rut, but I see a lot of deer around noon when other hunters are headed back to camp for lunch and get the deer moving.

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Hunting in the morning.

I prefer to be in the woods before dawn. Deer seem to be like fish in that they tend to move and graze during the "magic hour" - the first hour of daylight and the last hour of daylight. I also stay till true dark during evening hunts. Maybe I can't see to take a shot but I may see or hear something and learn where the big boy is coming in at. That tells you where to stage up to get him earlier sometimes.

I enjoy hearing the woods wake up at dawn. If you are in place most critters don't know you are there and you see some cool stuff during their morning routines! If you arrive after light you are wasting a good half hour of daylight waiting on your surroundings to settle back down and get comfortable with your presence.

Just my thoughts. Let scenario and weather dictate though to your personal liking. There's no wrong way to hunt - just have fun and get in the woods!

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