How long do you sit in your stand

[RobC]

seems the as the season progresses my duration in the stand lessons before I'm on the ground or heading in. during bow I'll sit till 1130 go in for lunch and back in my stand by 1. now I'm lucky to sit still till 930. anyone give up on the stand all together?

[tughillhunter]

i only sit till 930 10, then from 3 till dark. i havent given up, but i am losing interest for some reason this year.

[WNYBuckHunter]

Depends on the weather and other things. If its going to get warm out, Ill sit till it warms up, then do some still hunting or something like that. If its nice and cold, I just might sit all day.

[BizCT]

Why the hell would you leave the woods entirely if your going to come back anyway?

There is a 0% of you getting a deer while your driving home, eating at home, driving back to the woods, etc.

I usually sit in my spot on the ground 45 min. before light enough to see (not sunrise) till 9 or 10am, then still hunt very slowly (walk 2 steps, stop & look/listen) till lunch time, eat my pack lunch, continue still hunting till around 2pm, then sit in a spot on the ground 2pm-dark.

[SteveMcD]

Unless it's pouring rain. I am in the woods, usually on stand from dawn to dusk. I hunt all day.

[tughillhunter]

Why the hell would you leave the woods entirely if your going to come back anyway?

There is a 0% of you getting a deer while your driving home, eating at home, driving back to the woods, etc.

I usually sit in my spot on the ground 45 min. before light enough to see (not sunrise) till 9 or 10am, then still hunt very slowly (walk 2 steps, stop & look/listen) till lunch time, eat my pack lunch, continue still hunting till around 2pm, then sit in a spot on the ground 2pm-dark.

either have to pick junior up from the sitter, or i will go to other spots.

[G-Man]

I only hunt for an hour or so in the morning and maybe 2 in the evening.. i get my deer and a lot less scent blows around all day. never coud sit all day nor wouldi want to that sounds like work and i hunt to get away from work!!!

[biggamefish]

No less than 3 hours at a rip. I try to sit till 11 in the am and be back on at 130 if at all possable. I stand all day most of the time only switching stand locations inbetween.

[Geno C]

if im hunting the day i sit all day, if i hunt the morn ill sit about an hour before sunrise till whenever i can. i dont mind long hauls

[Fantail]

i only sit till 930 10, then from 3 till dark. i havent given up, but i am losing interest for some reason this year.

I was feeling a bit burnt out myself, even closed up camp a week early. Maybe it's the warmish temps, maybe from processing a few other deer then mine. But I'm thinking by the time SZ Muzz gets here I'll feel the itch again.

[growalot]

4-5 hours in the a.m. and then 2-3 in the pm...I have chores to do...some times I switch it up and hunt mid day....bow season are all day hunting times for me...but I prefer bow over gun season...and this season just bites with no snow on the ground....no need for them to be up and moving ...unless a second rut has them going....which I think the chasing I saw last night indicates is starting....think a bunch of youngins may get bred

Edited December 6, 2011 by growalot

[RobC]

the guys that are sitting all day long in the woods how often are you going out? A day or two a week? I am 5 minutes away from where I hunt and usually get laid of this time of the year so I am hunting 5-7 days a week. Sitting all day long is really not an option for me lol. The misses would have my stuff packed and tell me to live in the woods at that point.

[Deerthug]

I don't get to go up very often as I live 2.5 hrs away. Depending on the weather, when I do go I plan on sitting all day. I even pack a "sangwitchie" as my Italian mother in law says and some other snacks. Unless of course I fill my tags early in the morning like I did with my 6pt last year. I'm going up early this Saturday and hoping to get into my stand by 9 - 10AM and planning on sitting all day.

[WNYBuckHunter]

It all depends on how much vacation I have. My family knows that I try to spend as much time as I can in the woods, so they try to work around it as much as possible. This year, when I was on my longest stretch of vacation, I had 3 days that I was out all day out of 9 total days to hunt. It would have been more if the weather was better. This weekend I have 3 days to hunt, and will be in the woods for the entire day at least 2 of them.

[Doc]

During gun season, opening Saturday and the first Sunday I am in my stand prior to sunrise and I come out some time late in the afternoon depending on hunter pressure. For me that is amazing stamina. This opening day was cut short by a kill within a couple of hours after sunrise.

After the first two weekend days, each day is a still-hunting day because the deer have been driven into their super-security mode and have no intentions of moving in the daylight. Lately when the first weekend is over, hunter pressure drops to zero or very near it and there is no way that a deer is coming to me. So I get into the mode of "I go to the deer" (still-hunting). That often becomes my most productive means of hunting.

Bow season it is a case of two or more hours in the morning and two or more hours at the end of the day. I have never been an all-day stander. I'm not into pain, anguish and paralyzing boredom. Hunting is not my career, and I try to give it the priority that I think it deserves by hunting the 4 hottest hours of the day. Lol... there's no apology in that statement, it's just the way I approach what is supposed to be recreation. I suspect that I have never really missed any opportunities during those mid-day hours because I am sure that the snoring would drive any approaching deer away before it ever got to me.

[Lever action]

Opening day of gun I'm on stand an hr before daylight and I'll sit all day.I'll sit all day on following days if I feel there's enough hunting pressure that keeps deer moving otherwise I'll sit a few hrs in the morning and then again in the afternoon.I only hunt our own property so I rarely still hunt for fear of moving deer off our property onto our neighbors.

During bow season I've never sat all day on stand, just mornings and late afternoon.

[Jennifer]

It really depends on the weather, and if there are other guys hunting around me. When I suspect the weather is good for natural deer movement (key word is suspect, here! Only guessing on my part) I will sit from sunrise to set-- I have a lot of patience and if nothing else I love watching the squirrels and am a bird watcher so I'm not terribly bored.

If there are other guys hunting around, or the neighboring properties, I will also sit all day if I know about it.

When the weather suggests that deer are not moving / laying down all day... and later in the season when I know they've been pressured, I will sometimes sit for a bit in the morning then still hunt until the last hour or two.

I've been out I think 13 days this season so far? This year's active natural deer movements on the property I hunt (all does and buttons sadly so far) have been at first light, then again from 11:30ish-noon. I haven't seen a single hair in the afternoons all season long.

[RichZ7]

I tried to mix it up this year. Some morning sits, some afternoon sits. This is the first year my son got to bow hunt so I didn't want to overwhelm him with all day sits. I have done it in the past and I never seemed to mind being up in the stand all day long. But I have to admit this year has been a bust for me personally. I've had a lot less deer activity this year where I hunt compared to prior years so sitting all day and not seeing any action can take its toll I guess. Does anyone try to do a late morning say like 10-10:30 AM to early afternoon about 2PM sit? I hear alot of times you'd be surprised by some of the larger dominant bucks that move during that time frame because they pattern hunters who do the early morning and late afternoon hunts. I have tried a few times during that time frame but personally have not seen a big difference in seeing more or larger bucks in past years.

Edited December 9, 2011 by RichZ7

[the blur]

I stay in 1 location for 2-3 hours, and get real bored, real fast. I'll walk to another location, sit on a rock for 2 more hours, then move again. I get fidgety, and bored. Last weekend I slept for 2 hours against a tree, got sun burn.

I don't know how the tree stand guys do it all day long.

[Doc]

I would imagine that those guys who sit all day long are in some exceptional spots where there is some frequent action. I think there would have to be a pretty realistic expectation of action that allows one to sit there all day. Let's hope so anyway, otherwise I really worry for those people ..... lol.

[Deerthug]

I would imagine that those guys who sit all day long are in some exceptional spots where there is some frequent action. I think there would have to be a pretty realistic expectation of action that allows one to sit there all day. Let's hope so anyway, otherwise I really worry for those people ..... lol.

A lot of us i'm sure don't get to go out as often as we would like due to family and work obligations. That's the main reason that when I do hunt I sit most of the day. I hunt in an area that is not really pressured - private land 130+ acres. So there is always some action going on especially when the corn is harvested.

[fasteddie]

I usually sit from 6 -11 am . Go get something to eat and drink and go back a couple hours later . The 2 spots I have are both swampy so you really can't walk around too much . On the north end of my SIL's property her north overgrown field and woods are under water . I usually get beck into the stand around 1:30 and stay until dark . It's a 100 mile round trip drive so I have to put my time in ...............

[phade]

I don't sit as long as I used to since my back injury/surgery. I can usually force 2-3 all day sits over the course of the year. I used to do about 6-7 during bow and opening weekend of gun. The back-to-back all days are where it gets hard for my back...mentally I don't have an issue with it.

Now..I'm usually out at 10-11 and in about 2.5-3 hours before dark.

[virgil]

i usually get antsy around 9am or so. but, i've noticed that a lot of guys on this site mention that they have the majority of their sightings in late morning to midday. so, my plan has been to sit longer this year. late in bow, i saw a few deer around 9:30- no shot. opening day of gun, i was planning to stay in the woods all day. i fought the urge to get up and move just after 9am- then killed a 4pt at 9:30. i'm heading up again for ML season late next week and will stay in the woods all day, weather permitting.

[Fletch]

I am not an all day sit guy. My ass, back, knees would not forgive me!

It all depends on season, temps, movement and other things like work or family.

I hunt a lot of days. During the week I will get out before work and or after so my sits are limited in time. On weekends I will sit 2, 3, 4 hours in the am depending on chance for movement. Then take a break and still hunt, or do a drive, or sit a different spot. Then hit a final spot for the last 2 or 3 hours. Or I may have errands to do or just hang and bs with the boys in the middle of the day. I want to enjoy myself I think all dayers would burn me out. Unless you hit those couple days when the bucks are chasing all over. Then I sit as much as possible but still need a break. I did not even see a buck chasing this year!