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Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 5,492 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 5,492 Likes: 1 |
I love watching the sun come up. But I prefer afternoon and evening hunts.
Life can be rough on us dreamers.
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Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,392
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Feb 2020
Posts: 1,392 |
I have to hunt in the mornings. Can't remember the last evening hunt
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,445 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 1,445 Likes: 1 |
Morning especially when bow hunting. I like to have light when tracking a shot deer.
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,346 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 12,346 Likes: 1 |
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.
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 5,182 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 5,182 Likes: 1 |
I like to hunt the woods in the morning and fields in the afternoon. If the woods are wet, the wind is blowing or creeks are running I'll hunt the woods in the afternoon. If I can hear myself walking that's negative that I can't overcome.
Life is good live it while you can.
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 17,247 |
I prefer mornings, but don’t find them any more productive than evenings. Evenings tend to fit my schedule better, so I likely hunt evenings twice as much.
Now with even more aplomb
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,879
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 1,879 |
Morning hunts just have a different feel, the woods wake up and you get to hear critters moving about but I've had better luck hunting afternoons right before last legal hours. I prefer morning hunts though.
Last edited by Remington280; 11/09/22.
HMM-161, HMM-364 Semper Fi Brothers
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,353
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 11,353 |
For my area, I prefer evening hunts. I know where they tend to bed and where they like to move generally later in the afternoon. That said, we'll hunt both when we are out there.
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Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,922 Likes: 1
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 2,922 Likes: 1 |
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Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,636
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,636 |
Actually i'm kind of a mid day kind of hunter during the later deer season. I hunt mostly public land and kill the majority of my deer from 10-4. I firmly believe deer pattern us better than we do them.
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Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 6,460 Likes: 1
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 6,460 Likes: 1 |
Killed deer all hours of the day ... Anytime you’re outside, there’s a chance to kill a buck
Decades of voting for the lesser of two evils has gotten us just that.....
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 6,843
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 6,843 |
And conversely, if you're NOT outside, you chances diminish sharply?
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Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,361
Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,361 |
I prefer mornings and they seem to have been most productive, but evenings are still good. I don’t mind tracking in the dark, but field dressing, etc… by a flashlight sucks. I’ve never killed a deer mid-day despite regular efforts to do so years ago. Pretty much stopped trying several years ago. I will get down and hike:scout mid day though.
Don't speculate when you don't know, and don't second guess when you do.
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2 |
All times.
Killed more bucks between 11:30 & 2 though.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2 |
I prefer mornings... nothing in the world more frustrating than watching a deer and not having it come into range before the light goes at sunset. Or having a big one walk by 10 minutes before you can see your sight pins.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 18,940 Likes: 2 |
I prefer mornings, generally find them more productive. I also like having more daylight to deal with any tracking or dragging. This time of year though, anytime is a good time to be out there with all those horny buggers trolling around.
The bad part about mornings is getting out of a warm bed and driving off in the dark to your walk in the dark. When I hunt evenings I usually leave my spot before dead dark unless I’m close to my car. Tagged one on the way out a few years back that I wouldn't have seen if I’d stuck to my spot ‘til the bitter end.
Back when my hunting time was limited and I had to travel to where I hunted, I used to stick all day, though that seldom seemed to pay off. Half days are “just right” nowadays. Same. Once I can't see to shoot, I get down, even if there's still a few minutes of legal time left. No sense spooking up stuff you can't see anyway. I generally sit about 3-4 hours in the morning, go home for a few hours to eat and tak a little nap, then go back out a few hours in the afternoon until dark. Do you walk in before daylight in the AM?? My dad gets down when it is still somewhat light. Says he can't see to shoot. I tell him he can't see at 5:30 in the morning g either but he gets in his stand in the dark. I refuse to hunt the plot if he is hunting about 100 yards behind it. He is down and into the open while I can still see my pins. I stay til pitch black, no need to tip deer off to your stand and where you come and go from. Plenty of deer can be 50-100yards away and just stand there watching a person climb down and walking along.
Last edited by 10gaugemag; 11/09/22.
The last time that bear ate a lawyer he had the runs for 33 days!
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,025 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,025 Likes: 1 |
Growing up in PENN I always hunting early mornings and always enjoyed watching the sun come up in the woods. Being on your stand in the dark was kind of spooky sometimes. A raccoon climbing down a tree and jumping in the dry fall leaves sounds like a charging white rhino when your a kid
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189
Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 9,189 |
Early season, it's before dawn to midday, because I'm trying to get at a good deer that's still moving in the lower stuff. But a lot of guys hunt the lower stuff, so the deer get pushed up into the high crap, and move less in the daytime. Once the sign dries up in the lower stuff, I head up high, and will generally not worry so much about being somewhere at first shooting light, but will hunt until late afternoon. I don't evening hunt anymore. Bad experiences trying to get animals out in the dark after a full day of hunting. Can't do it anymore.
I belong on eroding granite, among the pines.
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Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 273
Campfire Member
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Campfire Member
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 273 |
I like hunting in the morning best but I've killed more deer in the evening.
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Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,381
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 4,381 |
I like evening the best. It is not the most productive at times. Early afternoon seems to be for me.
It is so much fun waiting for them to show in the last few minutes of light.
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