Depending on where you're hunting on any given day, one thing you might consider is what time you go to the stand. Years ago I used to go in way before first light, sit in the dark, and not see the first deer until 8:37...3 hours logged and a long way to go. I started keeping notes and found that (again...stand dependent) it often doesn't make sense to go in at o'dark thirty for an all day sit when the first several hours of the day are rarely productive for that location.
For sure! And on several different levels and reasons, too.
The 1st reason, as it is, that there's a lot of hunters that have trouble staying on stand for an eleven hour, dawn to dusk sit, let alone add another hour (sitting in the dark) to those 11 hours... it's just too much for some guys.
The 2nd reason is comfort. Temps usually drop a couple degrees just after daybreak and thermals start to flow. That's usually when I have the hardest time keeping warm. If I'd already been sitting for an hour in the dark, I may be getting pretty cold by 8 or 9 am when I see the most deer. And even if I don't get down, I may still not be at my best, or getting fidgety and possibly busted because of my squirming while trying to stay warm.
3rd reason...It's demoralizing to be busted in the stand in the dark and it is damaging to future hunts from that stand. And a demoralized hunter will have more trouble staying put. I've had stands where old does saw me and they
don't forget. Even a year later, they still look up into that tree checking for danger. Sitting in the dark for an hour is a major risk to being seen. I'd rather get winded in a stand than I would being seen and identified as a human in that stand. When they wind you, they don't always connect that tree with the danger like they do do when the actually see you.
4th reason...Residual odor effects stand quality far more than most of us realize. The longer we sit in a stand the more odor we leave behind. I'm a proponent of all day sits, but I don't care to be on stand if I can't shoot. I'm an even bigger proponent of not burning a stand out.
