Favorite times

VixChix · Post by **VixChix** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 1:21 pm

I'm not a morning person at all. I'm more likely to be heading to bed at 3 a.m. than getting up at 3 a.m.

BUT for hunting I've been known to change my ways and I always enjoy watching the sun come up and the frost begin to melt.

I love sunsets too though... my energy goes up as the day winds down. I don't mind the dark. However, I'd much rather work to recover an animal in the daylight!

lscha · Post by **lscha** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 2:06 pm

I like to sit all day. I prepare to do it. If I need to go in, I never go in between 10 am and 2 pm, especially during the rut. I see more deer at those times. Maybe it's because everyone else is moving. I usually hunt an area that catches the deer coming from the fields, going to the swamp around 8 am or 9 am. Come to think of it, of all the deer I have taken, I've never shot one at the break of dawn.

flightattendant100 · Post by **flightattendant100** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 2:30 pm

During gun season I hunt out of an elevated box stand most of the time(shooting house). I like to get to the stand early in the morning,at least an hour before legal shooting time.This lets the woods settle back down and gives me the most incredible 30-45 min. of peaceful bliss that you can imagine.There are no birds chirping,no squirrels barking, no wind blowing usually,just a super calm,quiet peace.My swivel office chair reclines and if you get it just the right distance from the back wall the window sill becomes a great headrest.I could never go back to sleep for all the excitement of what may come, but that 30-45 minutes is a truley remarkable experience. Then little by little the world comes to life and you get to see what the new day brings and has in store for you. How fortunate we all are to get to do this ,and some of us many times over the length of the season. As I have gotten older it is actually one of the reasons that I love to hunt so much and look forward to it so strongly.

TrapperBob · Post by **TrapperBob** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:26 pm

Early morning is my favorite time, but spend the better part of the day in the stand.

Last week end I was up at 0 dark thirty (0430hrs) had a quick coffee, filled the thermos and packed my lunch and a couple of granola bars for morning snack. I had a 30 minute 4 wheeler ride and 20 minute stroll to the stand.

By 0630hrs I was in the stand settled, waiting for the sun to rise. In that 30 minutes I heard a pack of wolves wake up and start howling (very eerie sound in the dark by yourself in the middle of butt f__k no where) and saw an early morning fox strut by looking for breakfast. I thought about taking the fox but knew it was still to early in the year for the fur to be worth anything.

About sun rise the rain started but still had a great day in the stand waiting for the ever elusive calf moose.

I wish every morning could be so sweet.

Good luck all for what ever you are hunting.

Bob

Mike P · Post by **Mike P** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:28 pm

The best bucks I have ever harvested have come between noon and two pm or right at the last minute of legal shooting in the evening.

For some reason I do not have as much success in the morning as I do at those two times.

Big John · Post by **Big John** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 5:34 pm

My favourite time is 4:00 pm to dark. Go out in the afternoon and come back for dark. Always get them coming about 45 min. before dark.

Phoenix_Tom · Post by **Phoenix_Tom** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:12 pm

My favourite time is just before dawn. But I see more deer pre-sunset/dusk. The best time for me to see the biggest buck of my life is 1 minute after the season is over or the last day I can possibly hunt. When that happened again last winter, I made every effort to get back out one last time, on the last day of the season, so that my season wouldn't end like that again. Wouldn't you know it, he did it again! And he's probably the great-great grandson of the buck that started this curse.

B-Logger · Post by **B-Logger** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:23 pm

It mostly depends upon which part of the season. However, I have usually had my best luck in the mornings and mid-day. By late October, I really like mid-day and if I need a break, between 1:30 and 3:00 seems best. Rut time is time to hunt all day for sure but I will hunt all day any time the deer are moving.

Golden Eagle · Post by **Golden Eagle** » Wed Sep 30, 2009 6:56 pm

Evening has always been my Favorite. I have had little Success in the Morning. But I have them patterened for Evenings the first couple of Weeks until the Prerut kicks in.

warningshot · Post by **warningshot** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 2:59 am

i love early am hunts but my primary hunting spot is an evening spot ...oh well

Cossack · Post by **Cossack** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 8:19 am

Depends on the location: Food plot, evening; bedroom corridor, morning. If the rut is on, then all rules are off, all day.

vixenmaster · Post by **vixenmaster** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 9:45 am

my hunting time is from just before dawn til 2 pm if i feel good. i seldom hunt evenings as its hard fer me to see blood trail when it gets dark. i had rather not lose a deer due to my short coming in eyesight anymore

ninepointer · Post by **ninepointer** » Thu Oct 01, 2009 10:42 am

Good thread Bugs and an interesting range of observations. My magic times for success seem to be:

-first light
-8:30 a.m. (I've shot several deer around 8:30 for some reason)
-last 45 min. of legal shoting time, particulary the last minute.

I know I should try the 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. time slot, but it is a tough one to fit into a Dad's schedule