Mornings or Afternoons?

[fasteddie]

I have to drive at least 50 miles one way to hunt so I hunt mornings , take a break around noon and maybe change stands then hunt the afternoon and drive home . The following day I may just hunt the afternoon .

[OnHoPr]

Afternoons mostly during the whole season, a few morning hunts on the weekends, and during the rut along with certain weather conditions and moon phases, midday will come into play.

[asav2013]

Dont pay so much attention to moon phases , weather conditions play the biggest role in a deers movement by far, studies have show with tracking collars moon phases have made no difference , it may seem as they do but its because every one assumes its a good or bad moon to hunt , so they don't or change their rutine specifically to the moon phase and can hurt your sightings significantly

[covert]

I prefer afternoons because that's when I typically see more deer because of where my stands are, plus I get cold and antsy sitting for more than 2-3 hours.  If I get on stand before daylight I'm asleep by 9 so I figure I might just as well sleep in my bed!  Working evenings/nights for over 15 years gets you pretty used to getting up later.

[gjs4]

What does your scouting tell you? when is the moon overhead or underfoot? Where are your hunting spots along the animals travel circuit? Can you enter and exit that spot? 

 

Very few situations warrant an October morning sit without tons of homework unless you like to see less deer in the woods with each venture out

[OnHoPr]

Dont pay so much attention to moon phases , weather conditions play the biggest role in a deers movement by far, studies have show with tracking collars moon phases have made no difference , it may seem as they do but its because every one assumes its a good or bad moon to hunt , so they don't or change their rutine specifically to the moon phase and can hurt your sightings significantly

 

Well, IMHO that is what I have notice in the areas where I hunt, hard hunted public land. On bright moons I will see less deer in the evening compared to dull moons where the deer seem to move more after the sun goes down but still light and until you can't see your pins well enough. It also depends on where the studies were made. They could have been made in one of those fenced college or game commission study compounds and not on public hunting ground. I will agree with you that weather and actual fall time lines as for example the rut has more to do with sightings. Also, day and night duration has more to do with certain activities regardless of the weather.

[Fletch]

I hunt both mornings and evenings. I probably hurt my chances of scoring an old mature buck a little by overhunting some stands a bit. But I have limited spots and would rather be in the woods than sitting home. I hunt when I can so before work or after I am going if I can.

 

I will try to hunt some public spots early to not pressure the land out back the first couple weeks but sometimes I can not help myself. I seem to do alright!

[Two Track]

Growing up, I had gotten my deer in the morning only - that was the only time we would see them, except after dark feeding.

 

Since in NY, see most of of the deer in the morning.  I have only seen one deer in the afternoon (except in non-hunting areas), but it was in a field across the road from where I was set up.  Once it s past shooting time I will see a couple deer moving around.  Mind you, this has been in gun season only.

 

The exception is the three I saw sitting in someone's front yard in town around 1:00,  just as the season started - who gave them the DEC regs?

 

If I am 15-20 mins from home I break for lunch and go home and go out later in the afternoon.

If I go hunting further, I am out for the day.  Set up in the morning until 11:30 then check the area for recent sign while headback  to truck to eat lunch.  Sometimes will stay there, or will move to another spot for the afternoon.

 

I have also broken my day into three, deer early morning, 11-1:30 pheasant hunt, then set up for deer the rest of the afternoon (of course I am not hunting pheasant in the same area I deer hunt in).

[josephmrtn]

2/3 of my deer have been eve... then again ive only shot 3 deer lol

[PWGUNNY]

I always prefer mornings, bow or rifle.  I only hunt mornings with the bow.  I don't want to be in a position of having to track a deer in the dark.  I'm bowhunting on public state land about an hour drive from my home.

[bowslinger]

most my deer bin mornings but i hunt both morings and after noons some times all day

[blackradio]

I tend to see a lot more action in the mornings, but I have a hard time getting up so I hunt afternoons probably more than twice the amount as morning. I still see more in the mornings though.

 

[Mike H]

i  prefer mornings, early in the season. i'm lucky enough to have freinds and family that allow me to hunt a hill by myself. only time i afternoon hunt is watching the fields

[apoallo]

Morning for me. The cold cool air rises and the deer are less likely to smell you . The warmer pm hours the air falls making your scent more smell able to the deer

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[phade]

Morning for me. The cold cool air rises and the deer are less likely to smell you . The warmer pm hours the air falls making your scent more smell able to the deer

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What do you do before the sun rises? Do you not get to your stand before daybreak? Thermals drag down until the sun crests the horizon. Food for thought.

[apoallo]

What do you do before the sun rises? Do you not get to your stand before daybreak? Thermals drag down until the sun crests the horizon. Food for thought.

I understand what you are saying .. I get in m,y spot 1 1/2 to 2 hours before the sun rises. Where I hunt the deer are no where around that areas. they are out in the fields and come back my way on their way to the bedding areas. Yes my thermals are not rising before sun up but once the sun does some up thermals do go up. Personally Id rather spent 2 hours max with the thermals falling in the Am and 4 hours with thermals rising rather then 5 hours in the afternoon with all thermals falling.....

[Zag]

Both of my 8pts came on morning hunts but I view morning and evening equal.

[WELLSY]

Wow I just realized this conversation is still going! Great debate.

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[apoallo]

out of all my deer not much but around 8 Two were taken in the afternoon. I was lucky to get them because they spotted me before I even heard them. I was able to spot and shoot them just before they ran off.. the rest of the deer have been in the AM hours and they usually walk right by me. I hunt from the ground  Just my personal experience Im sure its not the same for others

[gjs4]

This is exactly why NY hunters struggle as much as they do and our herd is so stressed..

 

What are the deer telling you? Not some jackwagon with a keyboard but the deer- you know- the brown things you are hunting....??????

 

If you have a mature buck lined up for an october morning you're way ahead of most because you found good entry and exit to his bedroom and youre hoping for some sort of angelican light to illuminate the area through the canopy above... UNLESS you have done the research (scouting; not asking questions on a forum) you'd be way better off staying out the woods in the morning until the end of october....then again maybe some like pressured herds and shooting anything in range....

 

Then again if you stated you based this off moon phase for the first few days of season and scouting I'd be impressed

[cdmckane]

I figure in bowhunting, it's all about being out there.

Gun hunting too!  You can't shoot them if you're sitting on the couch!

[UpStateRedNeck]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing as buckboy.  With limited time off I'm going to adjust to doing afternoons.  Some of this has to do with an article I read in the August F&S, which made good sense to me, and I have never tried this particular style of hunting before.  Plus it will keep the wife happier.

[blackradio]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing as buckboy.  With limited time off I'm going to adjust to doing afternoons.  Some of this has to do with an article I read in the August F&S, which made good sense to me, and I have never tried this particular style of hunting before.  Plus it will keep the wife happier.

link to article?

[UpStateRedNeck]

link to article?

I don't think it's online, but it's page 46 of the September issue.  My land isn't public, but it's right next to 5000 acres of public land so it might as well be for how the deer behave.

[TeeBugg]

I will hunt all day if schedule allows. I prefer morning hunts but 10-2 has been good to me. Evening hunts are just as good