Morning or afternoon?

[Bill]

not for seeing deer but, for killing deer.

I'm looking at 12 head mounts. I only took 4 of them but they all came from the farm. Out of 12 only 1 was a morning kill. Granted my brother and I hate getting up early so, often we aren't there to kill them. But our land lays such that getting to stands calls for crossing fields. We don't like crossing fields with deer in them in the dark.

Just curious about everyone else's experience with this.

 

[bueller]

For mature bucks mornings have always been better for us. When we have seen them in the afternoon it's usually earlier like around 2 or 3, not last light.

 

[yoderjac]

I tend to be an evening hunter for deer. Some of this is probably driven by arthritis and the associated slow start. As you say, accessing stands is also an issue in many circumstances. There is something about deer hunting that I simply enjoy more in the evening. I'm not sure what it is, but it must be something. I'm excited to get up bright and early to hunt spring gobbler and love the mornings at that time of year in spite of the arthritis.

As far as wall-hanger uses goes, it probably depends on the hunting locations one chooses. My camera data does not show a strong morning or evening trend for shooter bucks and it runs 24/7/365. In most years, shooter buck availability during shooting hours is primarily rut driven on the up side and hunting pressure driven on the minus side.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Someday isle]

I've not killed a bunch of what you'd call big deer but when I was recounting most of the deer I've killed to the boys this year it's really just about a 50/50 split. I always like evening though because the longer I sit the closer it's getting to prime time. In the mornings it seems the longer I sit the further away prime time gets. Interestingly though, the nicest deer I ever shot came in the middle of the afternoon trailing a hot doe.

Great post idea!

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I use to only hunt prime times, 2 hours after sunrise, 2 hours before sunset. With big deer in the mornings. Now, I tend to sit longer, and noticed most of the bigger bucks come from 11-2, so mid day. Usually with his nose on the ground following a doe.

 

[wklman]

By far and away mornings. Most every big deer I've shot came in the morning. Always have the problem of them coming out too late when I hunt the afternoon/evenings.

 

[H20fwler]

I'm about 50/50 on seeing/shooting them in mornings or evenings.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Evening for hunting

Morning for the joy of feeling the woods "come alive" at daybreak

bill

 

[JackTerp]

We have owned our land in SW PA for 15 years now. We have kept fairly good records of who has hunted and what has been harvested each year. There have been 61 bucks killed over that time span. We also know of 8 that were poached on our land but they were all taken at night. Of the 61, 32 were taken between 1200 and 1600 hours. Of the top ten deer taken, 8 were killed in that same time frame. We used to attribute this to deer being moved by hunters leaving the woods for lunch and then returning an hour or so later. When we started keeping track of that activity we found that it really did not matter. Most of the bucks were taken during the rut and most of us hunt the entire day at that time.

 

[MN Slick]

My last 2 mature ones came in the evening but the previous 5 came during the morning. Access and how much bedding cover you have and transition between it and feed has a lot to do with it.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I see way more deer in the evening. I think I am just not doing a good job of figuring out what the deer are doing or where they are traveling in the AM.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

My 3 biggest bucks were taken between 8:30 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. Two of them were trailing does, and the other was trotting along with his nose on the ground or in the air. I assume he was on the trail of a hot one. The majority of my other bucks were taken in the morning, with probably 6 or 8 taken in the evening with a bow. Also had 2 noteworthy evening misses on nice bucks in bow season due to limbs deflecting my shots. :mad::(

 

[Greta&Gus]

September and October, evening. November, morning. December back to evening again.

 

[Bill]

September and October, evening. November, morning. December back to evening again.

That's interesting. I also wouldn't dream of a morning hunt outside of November.

 

[gwm]

About a 50/50 split for me in the month of November. I say that as I don't hunt mornings until the last weekend of Oct and don't hunt mornings for the December late season.

 

[swat1018]

Of my 4 MO bucks, 3 morning, 1 evening. All from Nov 5 - Nov 12.

 

[Bszweda]

My property in Missouri I found evenings the first week of September to be great. However that seemed to change to Mornings during November. I personally like shooting them in the morning just so I can gut them in the light.

 

[Peeps]

In November it's been mornings into early afternoon. But that is going to change today as I lay prone in some wet grass watching over a secluded cut corn field as I type this.

 

[Booner21]

10 bucks on the wall, 7 am kills 3 evening all November.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[Native Hunter]

I would say 50/50 for me. I think for morning hunts, the stand really has to be right in order to keep from spooking them. That's where the stand between bedding and feeding with a good entrance really pays off.