what time do you walk in?

[Doewhacker]

Are you joking? what so late in the morning and why so early at night?

Maybe because you cant very well still hunt in the dark, we do the same thing. Pluse we drive to our spots which requires me to wake up at 345-400am already, I aint getting up any earlier than that.

[BizCT]

Didn't know he was still hunting. But that would only explain the after shooting light arrival. Don't see why anybody would ever leave the woods before shooting hours are over at night. Even standing against a tree the last few minutes of legal hunting time is a better chance to get a deer then sitting in your car.

[nyantler]

Are you joking? what so late in the morning and why so early at night?

Not joking at all... don't need to be in the woods until I can kill a deer and don't need to stay if I can't.... why drive myself crazy and have a nice buck walk in front of me before or after shooting time and not be able to kill him... I'm not a stand hunter so there is no need to get in early... I am hunting as soon as I leave my truck until the time I return to it... and NEVER have to worry about whether it's legal shooting time or not... well, unless my watch were to stop.

[nyantler]

Didn't know he was still hunting. But that would only explain the after shooting light arrival. Don't see why anybody would ever leave the woods before shooting hours are over at night. Even standing against a tree the last few minutes of legal hunting time is a better chance to get a deer then sitting in your car.

I don't have that "got to kill a deer at all costs" attitude... when I'm done hunting, I'm done hunting... tomorrow is another day. If I'm hunting all day I will usually reach my car and be on my way with only a few minutes of legal shooting time left. I would not just stand against a tree for the last few minutes... because for me its more about the adventure... I am all about having a good "hunting" story to tell about the bucks I get... one that takes a couple pages to write down... or quite a few minutes to tell. Standing by a tree and killing a last minute deer is not a story.. its a sentence. If I was worried only about filling my tags... I could fill them all the first couple days of each season... that's just not exciting to me.

[nyantler]

Maybe because you cant very well still hunt in the dark, we do the same thing. Pluse we drive to our spots which requires me to wake up at 345-400am already, I aint getting up any earlier than that.

Yeah, as one gets older getting up that early to hunt just doesn't sound like a good idea...

[First-light]

Get in before light about 15 min to a half hour. This weekend killed me. Brought a buddy along to check out what hunting is all about. We were set up at 6:20 and had a hog of a doe and a yearling walk right by us at ten yards. It was 6:30 snow on the ground you could see them as clear as day. He asked why I didn't shoot and I explained the legal hours to him. Sunday morning we are in the same spot and hear a shot at 6:35-6:40, he looks at me and says-illegal. He is learning and loved the weekend.

[BizCT]

I'm sorry I just disagree. I understand if you have to leave the woods at 2-3pm for another obligation. But if you are going to hunt all day anyway, why give up any legal minutes. If you hunted many miles during the day and on the way out you stopped to rest against a tree and a big buck walked out, you wouldn't shoot it? Of course, you would. All I am saying is that unless you have other obligations why not spend each minute of legal shooting time that day in a spot where you can actually shoot something. That's all.

[Doc]

Just after legal shooting time and leave just before

You do a lot better than I do. When the still-hunting part of my gun season begins, I no longer can make a day of it. These old legs simply won't last that long I'm good for a maximum of 5 hours these days (usually more like 4 hrs) and then I might be wrecked for the next day .... lol. The old endurance has taken a significant hit in recent years. In fact my still hunting these days is more like a moving stand hunt. I move very slowly and periodically will sit down for 15 minutes or so just to give the legs a break. It's what I have to do to make 4 or 5 hours. Of course, the whole thing starts off with heading straight up the "killer hill" behind the house. It's one of those almost-hands and knees kinds of hills that never seems to end ..... lol. Actually, that hill killed my neighbor a bunch of years ago (heart attack 3/4 of the way up).

Opening day I am able to sit all day, but after that it is all still hunting, and that's where I run into my limits.

[Gthphtm]

Some times 8:00 am,or 9:00 am or 10:00 am.Have breakfast,feed the animals,turn on the computer an see what's new.Watch the deer coming from the neighbors property,stop and eat some grass and make there way up the hill.Then I go out.Come back and have some lunch,do some chores and go back out until 3:30 and head back in.

Don't think that I sleep late.I am up at 5:00 - 5:30 in the morning.I only hunt my property and I know where the deer are during the day.When they come and when they leave.Not worth shooting after 3:30 anyway,If it's a bad shot,that night the yotes will get it.

[tony m]

This Opening day was a clear night, no snow, I was in my stand ready to go a little after 6am.

With snow, no need for a flashlight. I use a single led, micro flashlight that I try to always keep pointed down and right in front of me.

[nyantler]

You do a lot better than I do. When the still-hunting part of my gun season begins, I no longer can make a day of it. These old legs simply won't last that long I'm good for a maximum of 5 hours these days (usually more like 4 hrs) and then I might be wrecked for the next day .... lol. The old endurance has taken a significant hit in recent years. In fact my still hunting these days is more like a moving stand hunt. I move very slowly and periodically will sit down for 15 minutes or so just to give the legs a break. It's what I have to do to make 4 or 5 hours. Of course, the whole thing starts off with heading straight up the "killer hill" behind the house. It's one of those almost-hands and knees kinds of hills that never seems to end ..... lol. Actually, that hill killed my neighbor a bunch of years ago (heart attack 3/4 of the way up).

Opening day I am able to sit all day, but after that it is all still hunting, and that's where I run into my limits.

Believe me Doc, I'm not all vim and vigor anymore after a day of hunting like I use to be either...lol Especially in the deeper snow... acting like 25 year old and feeling like one are two very different things..lol

[nyantler]

I'm sorry I just disagree. I understand if you have to leave the woods at 2-3pm for another obligation. But if you are going to hunt all day anyway, why give up any legal minutes. If you hunted many miles during the day and on the way out you stopped to rest against a tree and a big buck walked out, you wouldn't shoot it? Of course, you would. All I am saying is that unless you have other obligations why not spend each minute of legal shooting time that day in a spot where you can actually shoot something. That's all.

You don't have to agree.. every hunter has their own reason for hunting...Unlike many hunters I no longer shoot any buck that I am not actively hunting... I have walls and boxes full of big bucks... it is way more about the story than just killing any old buck for me now days.... I have let several big bucks walk because they would have just been a kill with no story... I no longer have a need to just kill a buck... that is no longer part of the challenge for me. I is all about the pursuit.

Edited December 4, 2012 by nyantler

[nyantler]

Edited December 4, 2012 by nyantler

[Dan92]

You do a lot better than I do. When the still-hunting part of my gun season begins, I no longer can make a day of it. These old legs simply won't last that long I'm good for a maximum of 5 hours these days (usually more like 4 hrs) and then I might be wrecked for the next day .... lol. The old endurance has taken a significant hit in recent years. In fact my still hunting these days is more like a moving stand hunt. I move very slowly and periodically will sit down for 15 minutes or so just to give the legs a break. It's what I have to do to make 4 or 5 hours. Of course, the whole thing starts off with heading straight up the "killer hill" behind the house. It's one of those almost-hands and knees kinds of hills that never seems to end ..... lol. Actually, that hill killed my neighbor a bunch of years ago (heart attack 3/4 of the way up).

Opening day I am able to sit all day, but after that it is all still hunting, and that's where I run into my limits.

sometimes that actually works out better.. you move slow, you move quite. sit and dont move for 15 minutes... thats how i spent the first month of bow season because i didnt scout the land

[wooly]

I have walls and boxes full of big bucks...

Must be some real special bucks to stuff them away in boxes,lol

Popcorn packing or newspaper?

[nyantler]

Must be some real special bucks to stuff them away in boxes,lol

Popcorn packing or newspaper?

LOL.. just don't have room on the wall anymore.. they're headed for camp when I get the inside of the camp finished... they are in a big open wooden box with tines sticking out all over the place... I say big but they are mostly 110 - 120 class bucks.. I guess thats big to some

Edited December 4, 2012 by nyantler

[BizCT]

Unlike many hunters I no longer shoot any buck that I am not actively hunting... I have walls and boxes full of big bucks... it is way more about the story than just killing any old buck for me now days.... I have let several big bucks walk because they would have just been a kill with no story.

Wow, impressive. You must have some trophy room and access to some phenonemal NYS hunting land.

[nyantler]

Wow, impressive. You must have some trophy room and access to some phenonemal NYS hunting land.

Not really.. just small walls that can only fit so many heads..lol.. I do lease some farm land and I hunt the adirondacks.. but nothing special.

[New York Hillbilly]

When I used to hunt public land I used to get to my stand in absolute darkness out of fear of being shot at by some ya hoo if I was walking in low light conditions. Even in the dark I would carry my flashlight, and so help me it's the truth, would be singing loud enough to hear, "do dee do dee do...don't shoot me I'm a man.....do dee do dee do....I'm not a deer....don't shoot me". LOL....how sad!

Now days I get on stand about 15 to 30 minutes before light. It's tougher for me to drag myself out of bed in the morning and I can't see any reason to stand in the dark doing nothing but get cold and listening to deer walk by that you can neither see nor shoot. And I have always HATED getting busted by a deer i the dark and having it startle me with an incredibly loud snort. About have a heart attack every time.

[Hunter1]

1/2 hr before light out at dark