Favorite time of day to hunt?

[grouse]

Do you have a favorite time of day to hunt? I have never been a journal keeper but I think I see more deer in the evening. It seems to me that when the shadows start to creep over open areas deer start to move more predictably than at any other time of the day and it can be magical.

That said, morning is my favorite time of day to hunt. It is usually wet and I can be quiet and unseen as I walk to my stand (I never use a flashlight). My leakproof, well insulated coffee mug comes out when I get settled in my stand and I can sit and enjoy watching the world wake up. Crows and cardinals start calling, ducks fly by, raccoons head back to their dens and squirrels start to drive me nuts. And I might see a deer or turkey also!

Another reason I like mornings is if I hit a deer I have plenty of time to track it, if necessary. Where I hunt, shooting hours are from one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset. A deer hit in that last half hour can end up being awfully hard to find, and the risk of losing it to many factors is great.

Any time of day is a good time to hunt (I've killed deer at noon) but I enjoy mornings the most. I would love to hear your preferences.

[Carnivorous]

Afternoon hunts are the ticket for me. I have a 1.5 hour drive from my house to my stand. In order for me to slip in when it's dark I have to wak up really early. Makes for a long day. I would rather leave in the early afternoon.

[papabear1]

I also like the morning hunt, especialy in warmer weather, if you get one you have a better chance of finding it, but in colder weather I like afternoon hunts' as well, if you can't find it right away it wont spoil over night and be wasted.
But anytime in the woods hunting is a great time.

Dave

[xcaliber]

Morning, but I like to hunt until after Noon. I have seen more deer between 9&11 am than any other time slot. Yes, I keep a journal. I hunt mostly thick bedding areas

[vixenmaster]

I like the mornin's, i get up early 2am to 4am most of the time. If'en i hunt afternoons n shoot one, i had best get my girls on it right then or the Yotes will get to it quicly here. You dare not leave one all nite. You will have a skeleton waitin on you

[Carnivorous]

Afternoon hunts demand perfect shot placement. My area is loaded with coyotes as well. If I don't have a good kill shot I won't shoot.

[nchunterkw]

I like mornings for all of the same reasons stated above, but work and life generally have me hunting evenings. I have killed a lot of deer in that last hour or so of light. And I too also like tracking in the daytime better than at night. Bought the Primos bloodtrailing light after using my buddies earlier this season. If you can see red...it really does make it pop ALOT better. But still, the key is go slow and be diligent ....and be confident. Even if it's not a perfect shot, there's a good chance it's fatal and the sign will be on the ground. Trail just might be longer is all.

[flightattendant100]

Y'all are going to think I'm sappy, but I love morning hunts. I get in stand early, usually an hour anyway before legal time, and I love the quiet, and getting to se and hear the world come to life! I feel the evening hunts are sad, as the day all comes to an end.

[Patcon]

I prefer morning hunts for all the same reasons. I tend to be in the stand about 2 hours before shootable light. It's quiet, cool and damp but last year all three of the deer I killed were in the evening and tracked in the dark. Fortunately none of them went very far. Most nights it's not cold enough here for me want to leave one out all night

[papabear1]

Y'all are going to think I'm sappy, but I love morning hunts. I get in stand early, usually an hour anyway before legal time, and I love the quiet, and getting to se and hear the world come to life! I feel the evening hunts are sad, as the day all comes to an end.

More like happy, than sappy, !

Dave

[Scarecrow]

I do love having the world wake up around you and the birds and animals don't even know you are there!! I just love being in the woods!! Leaving Saturday for a 7-day hunt.....I am having a hard time focusing on work Will be in the woods when all hell breaks loose here in the States next Wednesday. If Trump wins Soros and his gang of paid hoodlums will riot in the streets!!

[amythntr]

Y'all are going to think I'm sappy, but I love morning hunts. I get in stand early, usually an hour anyway before legal time, and I love the quiet, and getting to se and hear the world come to life! I feel the evening hunts are sad, as the day all comes to an end.

.....Paul, you brought me to

Anthony

[galamb]

I do keep very detailed journals, have for over 20 years now - time/temp/wind/other notes - what I saw etc.

Better than 75% of my deer have been taken in the morning before 9 am (with first legal light being about 6:30'ish, at least through the early bow and rifle season in my area) - and most of them were "well after" sunrise with the majority having come in about the time I started thinking that getting down and getting some breakfast was a good idea.

Having said that, I'm getting kinda old and lazy and over the past half dozen years I have found it more difficult to get up early enough to get out and then into the stand before the sun comes up.

So now, my favourite time to hunt is in the evening. It does however restrict my hunting somewhat. Because of where I hunt and because I can't always get out the next morning to track/recover, there is shots that I "pass up" because I am not positive (or as positive as you can be) of a recovery. Something that I rarely worried about in the morning when you know you have all day to try and recover.

[amythntr]

....yes mornings seem to be the most productive.....however, with an hour drive to hunt...it means we usually are up around 2:30 to leave around 3:30-4:00...
....finding it harder and harder as one gets older....I do like the afternoons for all of what was mentioned above...If I leave work early and venture out for 2-3 hrs...I find I don't want to shoot something when it would probably be the best time for movement....right at last light...because I am there by myself and the thought of tracking and all that goes with it in the dark is not my favorite....

....so out of the mornings and the afternoons...morning would be the best....

.... boy this really does have me longing to retire and moving to Pennsytucky!

Anthony

[taz3]

I've seen more deer in the late afternoon to dusk. I think the worst sighting was on my first hunt with my father. We were walking side by in a densely wooded area, but we were on a path that was still lit as the sun was making its way down to the horizon. I heard a rustling to my fathers left and slowly grab his arm, being a seasoned hunter he knew right away to stop. We both stopped and 3 does were 10 yrds from us. All I could do was stare at them, we managed to sneak up them so well that they froze and my Dad was blocking their view of me. I couldn't do anything because he was also in the way of my shot and after about 10, that felt like and hour, they darted into the brush. All we could do was laugh, I've walked up on more deer then I wish to admit to lol!