Morning, Mid-day or Evening

[Mr Special]

Hey gang,

work n life has really knock down my hunting season this yr. i havent even had a whole wkend to just hunt. its usually been day or half day trips, sometimes just a few hrs here n there.

work/life seems to always get in the way of fun lol

anywho,

needless to say i havent been in the woods much and really dont have a good idea of deer movement.

so i was wondering if you could only hunt for a few hrs would you rather hunt the morning, mid-day or evening time?

Thanks and good luck everyone

[Archtek]

For the last 16 years I have kept a log of when I have shot/seen deer. For me, hands down morning. In fact, I have only shot one deer in the afternoon in those 16 years.

[leechlake]

my favorite and least productive time to hunt ironically is the evening sit and in 30 plus years of hunting have never shot one in the last hour or what I call prime time (except with my bow). Most deer I have shot is between 1-3 although I don't hunt those times as much as in the am or pm. Many where shot in the snow on the way to my stand. I basically still hunt into the area and have caught deer out eating in the thick stuff near the logging roads I walk into. Mostly smaller bucks.

It may depend on the area you hunt I'm hunting in big woods with a few clear cuts that where trees are harvested every 5 years or so.

[paceman]

For me mornings have the lead. My rough estimate would be Mornings 60%, Evenings 30% and mid-day 10%. Part of that is my hunting style. I don't sit until dark, I rareley hunt mid-day and do to life demands I simply am able to hunt mornings more than evenings.

[pikestabber]

For the last 16 years I have kept a log of when I have shot/seen deer. For me, hands down morning. In fact, I have only shot one deer in the afternoon in those 16 years.

I have shot nearly every deer in the morning, too. That said, if I shoot a deer in the morning I generally take the rest of the day off. I can only hunt weekends, and (for some unknown reason) I still take Sunday afternoons off to watch the Vikes. That right there puts mornings at a 2:1 advantage over afternoons. Plus all the years I got one in the morning and skipped the evenings. Skews the results a bunch for me.

In any case, the best time of day is whatever time of day you can get out there. You'll hear arguments every which way, but you can't shoot a deer on the couch

[O.T.C.]

I think time of year plays into it some, full moon now, etc. I would say earlier in November, mornings, the rut = anytime you are hunting cover where deer would feel safe cruising in there, be there, PM's often have does/fawns coming out first with their eyes, ears, and noses, most often the bucks hang back some before trusting those does and fawns that all is clear, the rut anything can happen. AM's you're gaining daylight if he shows the PM's you're losing daylight if he shows. I see more "deer" on Muzzy PM hunts but I've taken 3 bucks on AM muzzy hunts and none during PM hunts. Also depends now where are they feeding, how far away from their beds, and can you get between the 2 undetected, if not hunt the field, that's the tough part of AM hunts, PM hunts same dilemma can you get between the deer and the field they are using undetected as you know where they are bedded. Right now every day I have a nice buck patterned but he's bedding so close to my stand I can't hunt him if the wind is wrong or if it's calm, there's no way really with an open sight musket to get close enough so I pray for NW winds, I get in and then calming toward dark is the hope, then I reflect back that I've taken 0 PM muzzy bucks try the AM and blow them out of the field isn't a great option and I can't get around them the way and where they are feeding. Snow has been crunchy as ever also hasn't helped a thing, parachute in would be ideal.

[O.T.C.]

Here's what's weird, the field is grass is it, hardly a hotspot in December, why they haven't gone to the standing corn or beans is beyond me, likely they do and they're really just staging and browsing their way there but they according to tcam footage are back in the AM like clockwork but 4:30AM isn't quite legal light lol.

[sportfish]

I have a ? For you guys who say mornings are better , what are you hunting fields / woods / funnels ? And are you talking about muzzloader season

We mainly hunt our food plots and only evenings during muzzloader season .

We've only took a few bucks but see a lot of doe / fawn and small bucks .

[Archtek]

I hunt deep woods where 50 yards is a long shot. And it's both rifle and muzzle loader season. Five of us hunt rifle season and only 2 of the 5 of us hunt both seasons. In the 7 years I have hunted ML season, I have seen (and shot) only 2 deer, both in the morning, so I'm not sure that could be considered a trend. It's very rare to even hear a shot in the distance during ML season.

BTW, I looked again last night at my logs and roughly 2/3 of the deer I have shot were between 8 am and 9 am. I have thought about that a lot and I think it has more to do with when my buddies start getting out of their stand because they're cold/bored.

[maros91]

Well I tagged a small 8pt. this morning around 7:40. He was just wandering through the woods. I prefer mornings over evenings.