Sunset shooting

[Bigfoot 327]

On the first day I am always in my stand way before daylight. I love to watch the woods wake up and would not dream of sleeping in. One year a coyote came through at 6:05 AM and due to a clear sky and a slight snow I had no trouble making the shot (legal on coyote, but would have been illegal on deer). This would been about an hour before legal start time. I had also on occasion watched bucks approaching through open hardwoods and had to hold my fire until the legal start time. I'm not talking a minute or two, once it was 20 minutes. Never had a slammer come by early, so I haven't been tempted. In fact all of my big bucks have been taken near lunch time.

[Five Seasons]

2 hours ago, Bigfoot 327 said:

On the first day I am always in my stand way before daylight. I love to watch the woods wake up and would not dream of sleeping in. One year a coyote came through at 6:05 AM and due to a clear sky and a slight snow I had no trouble making the shot (legal on coyote, but would have been illegal on deer). This would been about an hour before legal start time. I had also on occasion watched bucks approaching through open hardwoods and had to hold my fire until the legal start time. I'm not talking a minute or two, once it was 20 minutes. Never had a slammer come by early, so I haven't been tempted. In fact all of my big bucks have been taken near lunch time.

what's funny is that we get angry "live from the stand" posts every year bitching about these shots. While I know they're not all deer, your point is that we shouldn't just assume it's a poacher. 

fwiw, i don't categorize 20 minutes before sunrise poaching. But an hour? yes. haha

[nodeerhere]

Nobody mentioned the moon! You can see ur pin so much longer! 

[The_Real_TCIII]

1 hour ago, nodeerhere said:

Nobody mentioned the moon! You can see ur pin so much longer! 

add a dusting of snow and brother, youve got a 24 hour hunting day!

[Pygmy]

In Alaska there are no  shooting hour restrictions....At  one second after midnight on opening day, it is legal to shoot a moose..

However, it IS illegal to shoot big game with an artificial light....

 

SO if you want to go moose hunting in the middle of the night with GRIZZLY bears roaming around, have at it...Just don't shoot them over a light...

[wildcat junkie]

9 hours ago, gfdeputy2 said:

NH we have the 1/2 hour before & after. Early season I could hunt close to the 1/2 hour mark but late season seems not much of a gradual darkening I hunt maybe 10 Min after. When hunting NY I start/stop at sunrise Sunset I use the 1/2 hour to walk in or out

I can't think of a single state that doesn't allow 1/2 hour before/after sunrise/sunset.

 

I'm not saying there aren't others like NY but none comes to mind.

[wildcat junkie]

9 hours ago, Pygmy said:

Well, maybe just once,when I told a girl " I  promise I won't c.....Errr….Never mind......

I always told them that I would "let them know". Sometimes they got upset with the way I "let them know".

Seems you just can't please them no matter what you do.

Edited October 24, 2018 by wildcat junkie

[Nomad]

9 minutes ago, wildcat junkie said:

I can't think of a single state that doesn't allow 1/2 hour before/after sunrise/sunset.

 

I'm not saying there aren't others like NY but none comes to mind.

Last year when this came up, I Googled neighboring states, known deer hunting states in the Mid West, West and so on.

I read the regs of 30 states , everyone was minus and plus one half hour .

I stopped after 30 , not finding one other with hours like ours .

Edited October 24, 2018 by Stay at home Nomad

[nodeerhere]

10 minutes ago, Pygmy said:

In Alaska there are no  shooting hour restrictions....At  one second after midnight on opening day, it is legal to shoot a moose..

However, it IS illegal to shoot big game with an artificial light....

 

SO if you want to go moose hunting in the middle of the night with GRIZZLY bears roaming around, have at it...Just don't shoot them over a light...

Sign me up! I think both animals are amazing 

[nodeerhere]

Just listen to the first and last shots of opening day of gun season. Nobody shoots before or after sunset! 

[wildcat junkie]

9 hours ago, Steve D said:

My concern especially during bow season is how much light is available to track a hit deer not whether or not I can see the deer to shoot. Tracking can be difficult in good light and adding darkness to it just makes it more difficult.

 

A Coleman lantern with a good reflector makes blood trailing after dark much easier. If I have a blood trail to follow as it gets dark, I go to the house to get wifey and the Coleman lantern. Something about the lantern light makes the red color of blood pop out.

Wifey can spot blood a lot better than I can, day or night.

[Pygmy]

6 minutes ago, nodeerhere said:

Sign me up! I think both animals are amazing 

No problem.....You pay my way and I'll set us up with a good hunt..!!

Just keep in mind you will have to pack all the meat...I'll do the cooking and happily butcher and bag the moose, as long as you carry it back to camp, or wherever the boat or airplane can get to it..

[nodeerhere]

Should would be an awesome experience 

[Pygmy]

It is, my friend....I have done 5 DIY hunts in Alaska.....Only age and a fixed income keeps me from doing another one...

[Pygmy]

3 minutes ago, nodeerhere said:

Should would be an awesome experience 

Trust me, my friend, it is....I have done 5 DIY hunts in Alaska... Only age and a fixed income keeps me from doing another one..

[cdbing]

Are there statistics for accidental shootings etc in states where it is legal to hunt 30 mins after sunset. NYDEC seems to base the regs on safety at least according to the DEC folks I spoke to some time ago.

My guess is no hunting after sunset is feel good reg. that adresses a non-issue from a safety standpoint and that statistics from states with more generous shooting times would suggest that hunting in those states is not more dangerous than in NY (for humans or non-game species). But that's just my guess, with no stats whatsoever to back that up. Flame-on.

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[Daveboone]

I am in my stand well before sun up, but generally closely hold to legal hours (so much easier when you don't see anything!)

In the evening, I have to admit that if there was snow on the ground, I had been known forget to check the clock......

I usually am bagging it at legal closing. I freq. have a walk through dark woods, and although I am not concerned with finding my way, I worry about other hunters who may not be watching the clock OR identifying the target in low light.

[wildcat junkie]

1 hour ago, cdbing said:

Are there statistics for accidental shootings etc in states where it is legal to hunt 30 mins after sunset. NYDEC seems to base the regs on safety at least according to the DEC folks I spoke to some time ago.

My guess is no hunting after sunset is feel good reg. that adresses a non-issue from a safety standpoint and that statistics from states with more generous shooting times would suggest that hunting in those states is not more dangerous than in NY (for humans or non-game species). But that's just my guess, with no stats whatsoever to back that up. Flame-on.

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I would be willing to bet that most of those states have some sort of mandatory Blaze Orange requirements.

[cdbing]

Is mandatory blaze orange for firearms a bad thing? How about extended hours for archery only, if wearing blaze while firearm hunting is too much to ask?

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[Reb]

Personally I do not shoot out of hours,I hunt all woods and usually about 20m before legal sunset it's dark enough I cant see good enough to make what I consider a ethical shot.  

[nodeerhere]

10 minutes ago, cdbing said:

Is mandatory blaze orange for firearms a bad thing? How about extended hours for archery only, if wearing blaze while firearm hunting is too much to ask?

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Blaze orange isn't mandatory if ur not on public land! But we can't shoot a 1/2 hour after sunset? New York is the best

[wolc123]

I do my best to check sunrise and sunset times for the areas I hunt, and abide by the rules.   Turkey season almost thru me a curve ball this year.  Had a turkey appeared 1/2 hour before sunrise on Southern zone opening day this fall, I probably would have shot.   Fortunately, no turkey showed up that day and my first shot was not until a half hour after sunrise, at a grey squirrel.  I did notice that I could clearly see the colors in the fields one half hour before sunrise.  The clover turned green from grey at precisely that time.    In the regs book, the spring season shows legal hours as 1/2 hour before sunrise, until noon.   In very small print, on the fall regs page, legal hours are shown as "sunrise till sunset".   Not having enough meat for a meal, I was very thankful for the times change the next day, when I carefully checked the regs and saw that I was allowed to kill a turkey that afternoon at 4:00 pm.      

[Jdubs]

Honestly, if I'm out hunting, I'm out hunting and not checking the time on my cell every 5 minutes.  Never took a shot outside of legal times, but can't say with 100% certainty that it will never happen.  Maybe 10/15 minutes off is possible, but not 30-60 minutes.  There you have it.  The guys knowingly jacking deer know who they are. 

[The_Real_TCIII]

7:40, time to nock an arrow


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[wildcat junkie]

11 hours ago, cdbing said:

Is mandatory blaze orange for firearms a bad thing? How about extended hours for archery only, if wearing blaze while firearm hunting is too much to ask?

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Never said it was. In fact I posted a thread here a few years back about accepting a mandatory BO requirement in exchange for extended hunting hours.

There was quite a backlash over that.

Edited October 25, 2018 by wildcat junkie