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HUNTING TIMES

Ski said:
Depends on location but usually I prefer evenings. Deer don't have to travel much in early season to find food, so it's not often I find a spot to intersect them on their way back to bed in mornings. When I do I'll hunt mornings. Otherwise they bed so close to food that they're already up & feeding before daylight, and I spook them on my way in.
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That's been killing me with the big one I'm hunting this year. I can't say for sure it's him I've jumped both mornings I've gone, but I would bet it was at least one of the two times
 
Morning , nothing like hitting a deer just before sunset and having to track it in the dark . Used to hunt in the evenings when I hunted middle Tennessee because I was away from home so why not hunt . Rarely do I hunt in the evenings around home .
 
I prefer hunting mornings simply because it feels more like deer hunting. Watching the early gray light slowly glow-up into daylight on a frosty cold morning, anticipation high, THAT is deer hunting to me.
 
BSK said:
I prefer hunting mornings simply because it feels more like deer hunting. Watching the early gray light slowly glow-up into daylight on a frosty cold morning, anticipation high, THAT is deer hunting to me.
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I agree with you on that i love that moment were the woods come time life as the sun rises. Its like my motivational song haha.
 
Lost Lake said:
Sure!

Over the years in early bow season on our place, we've noticed much better deer movement during the cool mornings. That's the primary reason no matter where I hunt in early season without row crops. Afternoons aren't as good for us, primarily because of heat, and food sources. Our place was timbered in 2015, and almost all mature acorn bearing oaks were taken.

There is some row cropping around our place, and it's a good early season draw for the hunters on those farms during afternoons. We get deer traffic during morning hours on the way back from feeding is my guess.

Later in October, through December, they love our place at anytime of the day. We've got tons of good browse, and the most unbelievable thickets because of the growth from timbering. It's almost gotten to the point of not bow hunting it because they always run into those grown up areas after a shot, and if a blood trail is sparse, it's tough. It has to be seen to be believed as far as these thickets go.

With rifle and muzzleloader, it's high shoulder shots and anchor them right now.
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Lost Lake, that is a great description of how habitat drives daily deer patterns and hunter sightings.

Back when we first bought our place, and for quite a few years after, all we had was big oak timber. The only openings were a couple small overgrown log-loading decks and two powerline right-of-ways. In that environment, buck sightings were equal between mornings and evenings during bow season. But by early November (MZ season) buck sightings were much more concentrated in mornings. By late November (gun season), buck sightings were so exclusive to morning hunts that eventually I stopped hunting in the afternoon once gun season rolled around each year. Hunting the afternoons was just wasted effort.

But then we started altering the habitat. First came converting small sections of powerline right-of-ways and the old log loading decks into food plots. That suddenly produced more afternoon buck sightings even into gun season. Then we started cutting patches of timber scattered around the property. That too increased the afternoon sightings. Now we have some much early-stage regrowth, food plot, and big timber that over time, the two times - morning versus evenings - are about equal throughout the entire hunting season. The one last driving force is acorn crops. In a big acorn year, mornings are better, as bucks work the hardwood ridge-lines. In a poor acorn year, when deer are focused on feeding on regrowth and in food plots, evenings are better.
 
Ski said:
I'm really looking forward to thos weekend. It's the first time this season where the barometric pressure and temperature nearly meet, and it happens in the mornings. On Monday morning the wind shifts 180* with a dead lull, so that'll be triple deadly. I'll be in stand Saturday, Sunday, and Monday mornings.
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Just curious, this means this coming weekend? I've always been a believer of barometric pressure. But sounds like you took it another 3 steps lol some insight would be awesome on this
 
BSK said:
I prefer hunting mornings simply because it feels more like deer hunting. Watching the early gray light slowly glow-up into daylight on a frosty cold morning, anticipation high, THAT is deer hunting to me.
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Couldn't have said it better myself. Alot of people ask me why I hunt and I tell them nothing like seeing the woods come alive, frosty morning and the sun starts to break. Seeing your breath in the air. Never feel as close to God as in that moment. Obviously thats just my opinion.
 
gobblesandgrunts said:
Just curious, this means this coming weekend? I've always been a believer of barometric pressure. But sounds like you took it another 3 steps lol some insight would be awesome on this
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Yes this coming weekend. This was something I noticed first with trail cam data, but then once recognizing a pattern I cross referenced it with my harvest history and it was a eureka moment. I don't fully understand the extent of it or the "why", but I recognize that it happens, and believe in it enough to base my time off on it. Don't get me wrong, it's not the be all end all of pinning a buck down. It's only one more piece in a large puzzle, a little more info to help solve the riddle of buck activity.
 
gobblesandgrunts said:
Couldn't have said it better myself. Alot of people ask me why I hunt and I tell them nothing like seeing the woods come alive, frosty morning and the sun starts to break. Seeing your breath in the air. Never feel as close to God as in that moment. Obviously thats just my opinion.
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Sort of the running joke in our hunting camp, but opening morning of MZ season every year (we don't bow hunt) I always tell myself "don't let the first squirrel that jumps down into the leaves fool you." Then the first squirrel jumps down into the dry leaves and I nearly break my neck turning to look!
 
Ski said:
Yes this coming weekend. This was something I noticed first with trail cam data, but then once recognizing a pattern I cross referenced it with my harvest history and it was a eureka moment. I don't fully understand the extent of it or the "why", but I recognize that it happens, and believe in it enough to base my time off on it. Don't get me wrong, it's not the be all end all of pinning a buck down. It's only one more piece in a large puzzle, a little more info to help solve the riddle of buck activity.
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But every little bit helps. Plus I don't care who you are, you can always learn something new and use it imo
 
BSK said:
Sort of the running joke in our hunting camp, but opening morning of MZ season every year (we don't bow hunt) I always tell myself "don't let the first squirrel that jumps down into the leaves fool you." Then the first squirrel jumps down into the dry leaves and I nearly break my neck turning to look!
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Man every single time 😆 🤣
 
BSK said:
Sort of the running joke in our hunting camp, but opening morning of MZ season every year (we don't bow hunt) I always tell myself "don't let the first squirrel that jumps down into the leaves fool you." Then the first squirrel jumps down into the dry leaves and I nearly break my neck turning to look!
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But was it a mature squirrel?!
 

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