Being Patriarch of camp, I maintain the log. Based on 20+ seasons of data:
Morning hunts are significantly more productive than afternoon hunts.
A preponderance of bucks are taken in the morning.
Doe dominate the afternoon hunts.
All of the biggest bucks have been taken before 0900 in the morning. The biggest was taken before 0700.
That's what the raw number say. However, there is a lot more going on. For instance, if somebody bags a deer in the morning, he's likely to take the afternoon off. After that, given that KY only allows one buck per year, he's likely to hunt his remaining doe tags in the afternoon, when it's warmer.
Another dynamic is that we generally like to use the hunting venues that are in the woods in the morning. This is for two reasons. First off, our deer tend to come out into open pastures more in the afternoon than the morning. Secondly, if we're going to drag a deer out of a ravine, it's better to hunt that venue in the AM, when we have all day to drag it out. Additionally, a deer taken in the afternoon needs to be dealt with quickly in order to get it to the processor before they close. It saves a lot of time if you can just run the truck up to the carcass and throw it in.
My personal tastes are that I like watching the sun come up. I also like walking out in broad daylight.
