At my house it's pretty much all the time, but mornings are better.
As for the deer, stuff starts happening during the first week of November, the beginning of the ML season next-door in VA; the peak probably about a week later. Bucks are likely to be traveling or with does any time during the month. When the orange wave hits the woods Thanksgiving week, on the public land I hunt anyway, hunter activity seems to be the motivation for deer movement. On private land things happen more naturally.
How much land does your pal have?
