What time will you be in your stand and are you sitting the whole day?

[burmjohn]

So, What time will you be in your stand on opening day (and other days)? And are you sitting the whole day on opening day?

Looks like for Bow season southern opener: Sunrise is at 7:08AM and we have about 11 hours of daylight.  So if sunrise is at 7:08, then I guess I'll be in my stand the latest by 6:30am.  But is 7:08 the time the sun just starts to creep up or?

For rifle southern, Sunrise is 6:48am...

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ill be in my stand on opening weekend (sat, sun, mon) 1 hour before sunrise until I either shoot something or it gets dark again.

After that, it depends on what the activity looks like. I have different spots I like to sit in the morning and afternoon.

[Doewhacker]

It depends, our one spot in Greene county we don't hurry because the deer don't come through until @8 so maybe 7? All other spots I try to get in a little early while it is still dark.

[steve863]

I rarely if ever sit the whole day.  Most people will get bored, cold, etc. sitting the whole day and chances of not spotting a deer even if it was in the vicinity increase when one isn't alert enough.  Some people these days pass their time by reading, playing games on their cell phones or listening to i-pods which I personally think is silly.  I have heard a whole mess of deer before I ever saw them so having my ears plugged up or my attention on some silly game would surely have made me not see those deer.  For me at least it works to get out of the woods for a while, have lunch, take a quick nap, and then be refreshed again for the afternoon hunt.  I hunt a good sized parcel of land so I can also do some still hunting if I want.  So I sometimes do this before or after my hunt sessions to help break the monotony.

[Geno C]

i will be in at least 1 hour before sun up and i will be sitting the whole day... i love to sit the whole day.

[UpStateRedNeck]

I'll probably sit one of my deep woods stands from around 5:30 AM til 1 ish, come out for a stretch and a break, then go back in from 2 to dark in a feeding area stand.

[nyslowhand]

Early season for me revolves around traffic to & from the apple orchards.

Early, about 45 min before sunrise 'til ~10AM,

Again from ~3 'til sunset.

During the October full moon, may get in stand earlier in the AM and skip the afternoon hunts.

From about Halloween on it's all day in the stand.

Of course this is all subject to change at a moments notice.

[JGaruti3]

I get out at least an hour before the sun comes up and I will stay in the stand all day.

If a house is close I like to come in for two hours during mid afternoon around 1. 

Got no problem staying out all day...

[Fantail]

Just under an hour befor sunup seems to work. All day? Probably not, unless I know it'll get cut short by a storm. Sometimes I like to do a lunchtime run, you never know. Maybe sneek out just as the rain is stopping. On occasion I get back to camp and take a nap, coffee up - hit it again.

[Doc]

Assuming that I actually get out opening day, I will be on stand about 15 to 30 minutes before legal shooting time and will likely stay around 3 or 4 hours. Then I will probably go back home for some chow and then head back out for a bit of careful scouting. Then I will get back on stand about 2 or 3 hours before quitting time.

It's not the same as opening day of gun season. That day is a little more ridgid in terms of sitting all day. That is the day when I expect other hunters to become my drivers (beaters), and opening day is when they are at their most plentiful and usefulness. Bow season opener is a whole lot more subtle, and other hunters do not play any part in my hunting (and I hope they never do .....lol). So, things are a lot more relaxed for bow season.

[biggamefish]

  I am in the woods all day I switch my stands up from morning to night.  Deer travel different in my area from morning to night.  That takes about an hour so a little stretch and lunch.

[Larry]

Early in the bow season it’s an hour before sun till 11 then back in the stand 3 till dark. After NOV. 1^st its all day except to pee and eat lunch I don’t eat in the spot I hunt and( I pee by your stand.HAHA) I will climb down if I start to fall asleep in a tree stand

[fasteddie]

Opening day I would plan on being setup 45 -60 before light . I will stay out all day between a ladderstand and possibly my hub blind . I would have to haul the blind about 400 - 500 yards downhill with a web chair so I use an old golf cart ............

[Slugger09]

I'll be in the stand an hour before sunrise, and stay in the stand the whole day.  Once in a while if nothings moving I'll head back to the cabin for lunch.  During gun season I may take a walk in the middle of the day to stretch my legs, but I try as hard as I can to stay in the stand all day.  I always have 2 big pee bottles and a lot of sandwiches and water bottles.  I usually stay in the stand until I can't see anything at night. 

[sits in trees]

i'll be in 1/2 hour before light and out by 9:30 or so and back in at about 3:00 till dark.

[fasteddie]

Two years ago I was hunting with my sons in South Bristol on property close to the lake . We agreed to meet back at the vehicles at 11 am if nothing was going on . About 11:15 I was at my S10 . I put the tailgate down and was making a sandwich . Two beautiful bucks and a doe charged out of the gully and crossed the drive into the brush on the other side . I walked up the drive a few yards to see where they had exited the gulley and they took off again . Apparently they had crossed and laid down . My oldest son was walking up the drive from the other direction with his recurve . I signaled him to let him know about the deer . He nocked an arrow and went up the drive a bit . One of the bucks was standing in an open spot . My son started to draw but didn't see the doe standing off to the side . She took off and the two bucks hauled butt . No shot .

Anyway , the deer were moving around at noon time so you never know !

[Fletch]

In the first two weeks of bow not likely I will be sitting all day. Usually just too warm and not a lot of movement. Around the last few days of Oct this picks up. Of course if it snows and starts sticking I will be out asap. It seems around here the first snow brings em out like school kids. And the of course the pre rut and rut.

So I will sit for 3 hours or so and back in for the last 3 or so.

[epanzella]

I like to be ready and sitting still while it's still dark. I stay until it's too dark to shoot. I've shot deer every hour of the day, and once nailed a dandy 9 pointer @1pm while my hunting buddy was having a sandwich on his tailgate. He heard the shot and got a case of the shuddas. The only way to guarantee you won't see a nice buck is to get out of the woods. 

[SteveB]

I stay until it's too dark to shoot.

I leave at sundown - the legal shooting end. Often still plenty of light to shoot.

[hang fyre]

the early part of bow season I only hunt morning and evening doing scouting in between.  late oct and early nov I will sit all day.  I agree with doc opening day of bow is not as critical to sit all day. Opening day of rifle I will be  in my stand from 1/2 hour before lite till dark.

[Four Season Whitetail's]

I will be 3hrs from home sitting on letchworth state park so i will sit all morning then go scout the bottom where i sit during shotgun season and back to the stand for the afternoon watch!!!!

[Landowner]

I live in Orange county. 3M. I think the deer in my area are Union. They seem to take a break around 9:15am till 9:30 and start lunch 11:50 till 12:30. So I do the same. The best times I found to hunt is after lunch. They fill up and they lounge all afternoon. I usually walk up on them they are to fat to move easy shot.

Lol...

I usually shoot my deer before 10:00 am .

Landowner.

(Stay off my land)

[First-light]

I get into the stand by 6:20 give or take a few minutes. I usually stay all day but on occasion I will come out around 10. Killed my biggest buck with the gun coming out at 9:30. I can't tell you how many times I jump deer coming back in around noon. Best to stay right there all day, pack alot of food and water. Last year My brother shot a doe in the morning and we brought my father-inlaw in on the quad, he has a hard time walking. Well after shooting the doe and gutting it and getting the quad out of the area we all headed in for breakfast and to let the area settle down. I was the first back in after 1 1/2 hours, don't you know it I come face to face with Mr. Big right where we all were standing when we decided to come out. We both surprised each other and I fumbled for the safety, the rest is history..............My neighbor tells this story of a great big buck flying through the air at midday from my property to the swamp.

Mr. big lives, he wasn't taken last year.

[Stretchhunts]

Bow opening day I will sit all day. get in about 30 mins before legal shooting light. Gun opening day I will be in 45 mins before legal shooting light. Again I will sit all day. I three times I see the most deer during opening day are at first light, Right around 9 and right around 2.  The last two I think is when the guys around me are coming out of the woods and coming back in. Seems like they always push deer to me that's why I sit all day.

[growalot]

It is usually getting light way before legal sunrise...I like going in under cover of darkness and the first day the deer will still be moving back to their bedding areas well after legal sunrise 6:45-7:45am...I go in 1 1/2 hours before light...get settled in set up and relaxed...listening for other early morning activities....buck fights...animal movements and so forth......After that first week end ...movements change...every body around has smells and grunts ...tic tic rattle...crunching through the leaf covered woods...they start coming off the feeding areas much earlier and start going into the mid day and very late afternoon routines....being a woman...I stay put until...well my bladder says different :-[ ...You guys have it easy and much more discreet...but I now have several blind enclosed tree stands