Getting in the woods too early?

[Harrys]

So, it looks like I have been doing this right since 1969. I was taught to be in the woods around 9am by a friend growing up and he was a first nation Iroquois. My buds in the (Free State) I say this biting my lip, said I was getting in the woods too late.

Now, according to a 10-year study of 274 bucks, doe, and fawn, in Pennsylvania using GPS collars, most deer spend the early hours after dawn in their cozy beds. They do not move greatly until 10 AM. The peak movement for bucks was between 12 noon and 1PM. The deer then rested in the afternoon and were on the move again from 4PM to dusk.

Most buck have a one square mile "territory" (expanded to 5 during the rut) Rain had little effects on doe movement while it did restrict the movements of buck somewhat. The study showed that deer move more on a windy day and were unaffected by moon phases.

Conclusion....Sleep in, enjoy breakfast and coffee, and get out and into the woods after the 6AM and 7AM crowd. And to think I would be sitting an hour before shooting time in the DARK....

This being said I have shot most deer around 9AM and 11AM in the morning, but there is some suggestion that deer are being "trained" by hunter movement.

Thoughts?

 

[Pale Ryder]

Maybe the deer are moving between 9 & 11 because of the late risers driving them. I’m in the group of be in your stand an hour before shooting time.

 

[E.Shell]

I too have friends that don't go into the woods early and do just fine.

I love to watch the woods come alive in the morning. Hunting to me is also an appreciation of the woods and of wildlife other than the target species. Not only that, but I have killed a slew of whitetails and enough have been at first light that I don't like to miss it.

A lot of timing is where you are. Bedding or feeding areas and travel lanes get used at differing times of day/night. I've been on stand well before light in bedding areas and have had deer come in and bed down around me while it was still too dark to see. There are feeding areas where it makes no sense to get on stand before about 2 hours before dark, like the oak ridges in the western counties of MD or grassy power line cuts.

I have also chastised my hunting buddies for leaving the stand for lunch and have seen a lot of deer at midday, with my own theory being that hunters moving to/from stands at midday push deer. I have watched deer several times detect an incoming hunter, get up and move off at a 45-90 degree angle to his approach, make a 200 yard circle around behind him, following almost in his exact footsteps, then go lay right back down exactly where they were after he passes. Had I been gun hunting, those hunters would have filled my tag and watching those deer changed the way I still-hunt.

For me, I like to be out early and try to stay on stand all day. If I have confidence in my spot, it's not hard to be patient. If I'm hunting someplace I have not thoroughly scouted and am not sure I'm in the right spot, it gets incredibly hard to stay put.

 

[gwchem]

I've seen movement at any hour of the day. Killed 6 of my last 8 deer between 10 am and 3 pm. But they're definitely moving around before 8 am and the last hour before sunset.

 

[rgramjet]

There are several in my hunt club that don't head out into the woods until 9ish. I like to hear and see the woods wake up. The more time in the woods, the greater your odds.

My 14 year old son shot a bruiser buck a few years back. He and buddy were riding back for lunch on the atv when he spotted the buck trotting down a hill. They stopped the atv, opened the loud plastic gun scabbard, chambered a round and shot without the deer noticing or altering his gait. We were already back at the cabin and heard the shot.
Right place at the right time.

 

[outrider58]

So much generality there. It mostly depends on time of year and quarry. Bucks or does. Early season, pre rut/rut, post rut. You can really narrow those generalities down if you know your prey. Nothing is "always true" when it comes to nature. Every area is different, depending upon stresses, both human and natural. I like to plan day by day.

 

[Doctor_M]

If I had a nickel for every deer I heard before sunrise, I'd be a wealthy man indeed.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

I am not great at rising early, especially when it is super cold. Also, my stand has actually shown deer right around it on the cam. I still don't have my one hunting property nailed down due to lapses in years between hunts there. But in the 3 different ares I have cams, they show many nocturnal deer or deer that move around in different times throughout the day. I have been in stand in mid afternoon and had 3-4 doe pass by me in Bow season, but then in firearm season, nothing. Still, in the same stand, I have spotted a buck moving in some thick stuff but not a good enough view to shoot him. It was mostly a moving antler sighting.

You guys are making me itchy to get out there, even though it is getting into the HOT summer months here.
If I do get out in winter, I get out somewhere between 6;30 -7:30 AM, and will either go to a 3-4 acre patch of woods overlooking an L shaped field, or directly to my stand in a different woods at the short bottom of that L shaped field.

In my one Harford county farm, I have had deer come in equally opposite places.
Once again, one of my challenges is timing. I would usually hit this one late afternoon after work starting in bow season. I still remember how one chance to shoot my arrow, was a marginal chance passed up. The deer exited the brush and meandered into the field but were too far for a bow shot. They moved slowly and got within maybe 30 yards of me but by then it had gotten too dark to shoot. I remained still in my spot, a good 30 minutes later in order to not spook them for future days I would try.

In gun season there, I have shot from a hill above this area, and also from the woods at the opposite end of this field. Got one good deer at about 100 yards with muzzle loader from that wooded spot.

Like I said, you guys are making me want to go deer spotting NOW.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

So much generality there. It mostly depends on time of year and quarry. Bucks or does. Early season, pre rut/rut, post rut. You can really narrow those generalities down if you know your prey. Nothing is "always true" when it comes to nature. Every area is different, depending upon stresses, both human and natural. I like to plan day by day.

I hear ya there, Mr Clown.

I used to say I knew my friend's Harford county farm well enough, that I could almost predict the deer showing up. In the evening, first I would hear the geese fly over, then I would see a fox. NEXT the deer would begin to appear.

I still remember sitting at the edge of where the field is lined by some woods on all sides. This one fox came up within 40-50 feet of me sitting on the ground.

 

[Afrikeber]

According to my deer cams they are active all hours of the day and night and it appears their activity is based on time of year and location.

I do like getting in and settled at sunrise stay in my stand until 11 or so go eat relax a little and come back at 3pm until sunset.

As mentioned here I get a lot of peaceful time and really enjoy Gods gift of nature sitting in my stand. I’m not at all upset if no harvest and I thank God for another day.

 

[chilipeppermaniac]

According to my deer cams they are active all hours of the day and night and it appears their activity is based on time of year and location.

I do like getting in and settled at sunrise stay in my stand until 11 or so go eat relax a little and come back at 3pm until sunset.

As mentioned here I get a lot of peaceful time and really enjoy Gods gift of nature sitting in my stand. I’m not at all upset if no harvest and I thank God for another day.

Afrike, my deer play jokes on me.

Once a friend took me hunting on the Eastern Shore. He said we would meet back at mid day where he stopped the car and dropped me off. I saw no deer all morning, but when I got to the drop off spot, there were hoof prints in his tire tracks.

On one of my Carroll County farms, I exited the woods at lunch time, only to find a deer standing on the opposite side of my car, Needless to say I could not shoot at it from my vantage point. She must have smelled me because she made a bee-line for the woods faster than I possibly could get in position to take her.

 

[Doco Overboard]

I hardly ever go very early anymore except when sika deer hunting.
I have however had some good luck near mid day and killed a few like that.
But when I do go it’s usually early before light and I just sit it out in the woods till then. To about noon.
Best time to go early I think is after a change in weather, lots of pressure is happening nearby during first light opportunity or when you notice late night activity halts around 2-3 am.
Bought every 6 hours I’d say.
In high pressure areas you need to look for the escape corridor’s and trails leading to feeding areas for the evening.

 

[jef955]

I was on my in to some public land one day, about 1:00 in the afternoon, and I notice this older guy looking like he's about to have a heart attack about 50 yards down the road. I was about to ask him, you ok bud - and just as I get closer and see just around the bend why, a big a** 9 pointer on the ground he had dragged out by himself, from the far end of the property ! He said he was going to head out and grab lunch, was picking up his stuff, and this monster just walked right in front of him right about high noon... Yep, I too am not an early riser, but after seeing what he dragged out, I'm not ashamed to admit it any more !

 

[outrider58]

I too have friends that don't go into the woods early and do just fine.

I love to watch the woods come alive in the morning. Hunting to me is also an appreciation of the woods and of wildlife other than the target species. Not only that, but I have killed a slew of whitetails and enough have been at first light that I don't like to miss it.

A lot of timing is where you are. Bedding or feeding areas and travel lanes get used at differing times of day/night. I've been on stand well before light in bedding areas and have had deer come in and bed down around me while it was still too dark to see. There are feeding areas where it makes no sense to get on stand before about 2 hours before dark, like the oak ridges in the western counties of MD or grassy power line cuts.

I have also chastised my hunting buddies for leaving the stand for lunch and have seen a lot of deer at midday, with my own theory being that hunters moving to/from stands at midday push deer. I have watched deer several times detect an incoming hunter, get up and move off at a 45-90 degree angle to his approach, make a 200 yard circle around behind him, following almost in his exact footsteps, then go lay right back down exactly where they were after he passes. Had I been gun hunting, those hunters would have filled my tag and watching those deer changed the way I still-hunt.

For me, I like to be out early and try to stay on stand all day. If I have confidence in my spot, it's not hard to be patient. If I'm hunting someplace I have not thoroughly scouted and am not sure I'm in the right spot, it gets incredibly hard to stay put.

I agree with much of what you say here Ed.

A few tweaks, I don't like hunting inside beding areas, preferring to hunt just outside of them on the down wind sides. Also, when we think of hunting trails, I've observed over the years that bucks, unless they are on a hot doe's trail, will walk across known doe trails in the hope of picking up a hot doe's spoor. Look for those trails. They aren't easy to see, but you'll find, bucks will use them every year.

Great post Ed.

ETA: I would add, if you are the type who likes to put your face to the wind and stalk deer, the best time to hunt that style is when the deer are on their feet. It's much easier to move on deer while they are moving because it's harder for deer to pick you off if they too are moving.

 

[gtodave]

I believe that the AM bedding thing is true when it's really cold out. I've seen SO many mornings with no movement at all until about 10am when it's under 25 degrees. But for early season or warmer days, and especially the rut, early movement is big. Also true in more urban areas...deer are going to move before the people do.

 

[MDHunter]

Took me a couple years to figure out that the area I hunt is a corridor that the deer like to travel through, but they don't typically stick right there. Had enough dry early mornings and late evenings with no activity to determine that they just weren't typically in my hunting area at those times.

So I changed my routine to still-hunt into my area, starting just as it got light (which would get me to my hunting area in 45 to 90 minutes depending on the activity that I heard/saw). Would then sit in a small depression or still-hunt, depending on what I felt like. I like to stay out most of the day and bring my lunch, and leave the woods about an hour before dark.

Shot my biggest buck ever with a bow right at 12:000 noon, and the next biggest was shot at 11 am. Mostly just enjoyed being in the woods all day and seeing what was there.

 

[remrug]

The area you hunt has a lot to do with the timing of peak deer movement also. I hunt a small woods that borders a cornfield with a stream at the bottom that is next to a road. There is no other water source anywhere close. The deer move through the woods very early,I hear them moving through in the dark almost every time I hunt there. My theory is the deer want to drink water while its still dark to avoid being seen from the road.

If I go to my stand at least an hour before daylight,I rarely bump deer. If I try any later, it happens all the time. Forget trying to hunt there in the eve ,you will bump the almost every time.

Its a tough place to hunt, but its the only private property I have permission to hunt

 

[gtodave]

The area you hunt has a lot to do with the timing of peak deer movement also. I hunt a small woods that borders a cornfield with a stream at the bottom that is next to a road. There is no other water source anywhere close. The deer move through the woods very early,I hear them moving through in the dark almost every time I hunt there. My theory is the deer want to drink water while its still dark to avoid being seen from the road.

If I go to my stand at least an hour before daylight,I rarely bump deer. If I try any later, it happens all the time. Forget trying to hunt there in the eve ,you will bump the almost every time.

Its a tough place to hunt, but its the only private property I have permission to hunt

I had a place that was 11 acres of woods surrounded by fields. You couldn't get near the woods in the daylight without jumping a bunch of bedded deer. You HAD to hunt that place in the morning (or all day). All the deer were in the fields all night, and at daybreak they'd go in to the woods for cover. Great place to hunt...miss that place. If you tried going in there at 9am you'd be hosed.

 

[GuitarmanNick]

Not able to hunt these days because of health issues, but in the old days during deer season I would be in the woods at least an hour before daylight, and stayed in my ground blind until dusk. The only time I left early was after shooting a buck.
Being properly prepared with everything needed to keep warm, dry, hydrated, and energized took a lot of planning, but rewarded me with a nice buck most years.
Sometimes, other hunters coming into the woods after daylight would push deer and result in an early morning harvest for me.
Most of my bucks were taken before 11:00 A.M.
Weather plays a big role in deer movement. Some days they move a lot, some days they don't.
Know the area, and hunt accordingly. Private land is nothing like public land when it comes to hunting.

 

[Uncle Duke]

Lunch time is hammer time. The more hunters moving, the merrier.