Morning or Afternoon-Evening

[hoytman62]

Like to hear from all you hunters whether you think Whitetail Deer hunting is better in the mornings or afternoon-evening times. I'm hearing different opinions. Thanks!

[Ravin R10 man]

Answer to question is;

YES! YES! YES!

Depends on what time of year.and what deer are doing..such as the rut ..sit ALL day....., going to or from feeding/bedding area,thats morning or evening depending on weather you can intercept them between the two? Game cams have taken out much guess work these days

anytime of day can be good..I've had bucks walk by after a morning hunt I just bailed out on..come back for eve hunt, check my card on cam... guess what?..shoulda sat a bit longer......cams don't lie..even,.mid day or mid afternoon, or an eve I thought would be no good, have been some of the best hunts I ever had....they were just on their feet for whatever reason

you cant shoot 'em if you aint out there..like Pat said..cant choot'em sittin in da house!

Edited November 3, 2014 by Mathews XT Man

[jfrawley]

I agree with the above. Just like everything else it just depends. Some people hunt the mornings, take a nap, and go back out for the dusk hunt. Others will sit all day or go in a bit late to make sure they are on stand for noon and 1 o clock and they swear by it. For me, early archery season has been better in the mornings because it's coming off the cool night but the deer movement will also pick up right at dark. During the rut I would suggest being on stand whenever it seems good. Who knows when that big buck will get on his feet to run a hot doe near by. Once I start my late season Doe hunting (second week of December), I'll hunt almost all afternoons. The deer move better and I don't have to freeze right at sun up. I will also rely on cameras to let me know if a certain deer I am targeting is on his feet during certain times. Also another thing that is over looked is the moon phase. I constantly check that to see what they should be doing and it generally gives a picture of what's going on.

[RangerClay]

Early season I prefer the mornings because it's cooler and the deer are moving. Once the temps reach 50-60's in the afternoon, deer movement stops.

During the rut, sit all day if you can.

Late season I like dusk. The deer have been chased for 2 months now. They have learned to hunker down all day unless pushed. They get up at dusk to move to feed. Hopefully I can catch one before dark.

[dogdoc]

just never know. However, I see more evening activity on my food plots. Did an all day hunt Wednesday. Sat in the stand for 13 hours. Only saw one deer in the morning. Had 9 deer in the evening--only 8 left. All my buddies right now are seeing more evening activity.

[wtnhunt]

Yeah depends. lol My bowhunting luck has been really crummy and i will admit i have no place giving advice about bowhunting.

Seems mornings i bump deer on the way in. Afternoons my bow stands are subject to me getting stuck. Last night a perfect example, waited 30 minutes after legal shooting light was over had something i could not see munching acorns behind me i thought was finally gone. Deer chasing all over the field in front of me took off down out of sight. Thought the coast was finally clear and stepped on the stick ladder and there evidently were more than one right behind me as one blew and several took off.

That said i typically see more deer in the afternoons.

[MUDRUNNER]

Historically, I see & shoot more deer in the mornings. I think a lot of it has to do with the topography of the farm i hunt. We don't have any row crops to hunt. It's all timber & creek bottom with some small food plots. I checked my trail camera yesterday that had been out for two weeks, & I had 2 night time pictures & no afternoon of mid day pictures. All of the other pictures were between 5 & 10 a.m.

[Rhino]

Like others have said, it depends on what the property is like where you're hunting. It also depends if your wanting to hunt for any deer or mature bucks. Mature bucks are a different critter.

The property I hunt in MO is about a 50/50 split between timber and crop fields. In MO when I'm hunting prior to the rut kicking in I prefer the evenings for hunting mature bucks. I prefer mornings hunting for does in the early season mainly so I can get them out in the daylight. With that said though...we have some stands we will not hunt at all until the rut starts kicking in. When rutting activity starts cranking up, I like any time of the day provided it's not unusually warm. I do have a preference for the morning hours then though but I know that's the time it can happen any time of the day. I believe deer have a comfort level in temperature with their winter coats and once the temperature is above that, they are more apt the bed down. When the rut is over, I prefer afternoons.

Where I hunt in MS it's mainly timber with some food plots...no crop fields. I prefer mornings because it's cooler during the early season. During the rut...my preference is the same as MO. After the rut is over, I prefer afternoons in MS too.

[Cybertech_hound819]

If your hunting with me stay home been hunting sence sept 15 and have only seen 1 deer. Haven't gotten a picture in over a month. It's getting old I've have 10 all day sits with nothing to show for it. But most of my deer have come from the pm hunt

[fly]

I try to hunt according to my trail cams but don't always use them in some areas I hunt. Evenings are easier because you get to walk in during daylight, but I prefer mornings because if I shoot one I can track and hopefully recover in the daylight. In September to mid-October I hunt more evenings. In late October to mid-December I hunt more mornings. In late December - January I go back to evenings. I will add that mid-day is a great time to hunt big bucks during November.

Hey Cybertech, I feel your pain. Last year my first 14 hunts I didn't even see a deer. This year in the same area deer numbers are up. EHD was bad in my area so I layed off the does and I even took out a coyote. Haven't shot a doe in my primary hunting area this year, but I may take one in December if I continue to see good numbers. In my area the numbers go up considerably in the late season.

[archerjg]

It really depends on the area, the pressure on the deer and the feed available. At my farm, my parents farm, and my grandparents farm it is all evening hunting as you don't see much in the mornings. Evening hunting in any of these places is phenomenal especially for does and a few reclusive bucks. A friends farm 30 minutes to the north of us it's morning hunting that you see the deer not the evening. Not much difference in the crops, but the cover is less at the farm that we see deer in the morning. It really just depends on where you are and what kind of habitat you have.

Archerjg

[archerjg]

It really depends on the area, the pressure on the deer and the feed available. At my farm, my parents farm, and my grandparents farm it is all evening hunting as you don't see much in the mornings. Evening hunting in any of these places is phenomenal especially for does and a few reclusive bucks. A friends farm 30 minutes to the north of us it's morning hunting that you see the deer not the evening. Not much difference in the crops, but the cover is less at the farm that we see deer in the morning. It really just depends on where you are and what kind of habitat you have.

Archerjg

[Ravin R10 man]

...anytime of day can be good, depends on many factors

This gun season, I was out every afternoon, and for most a.m. sits except Thanksgiving day, I was chefs helper...never saw a buck until 3 pm second Sat .His mistake..never know when you will get lucky

Edited December 8, 2014 by Mathews XT Man