mrl0004

I have noticed a steady enough trend that I am almost through hunting in the early morning. I never see deer on morning hunts, even when it's cold. On the hunts from mid-afternoon to dark, I have seen the most deer. In fact, every deer I ever shot was right before dark.

I know that in the morning they are heading to bed down or are out moving to keep warm if it's cold. Maybe it's due to the screwy weather here in Alabama that past couple of year, where it's warmer than it should be coupled with good acorn crops that keep them in the woods. Just curious if anyone has noticed a trend.

salukipv1

I think in can vary during the time of year when you hunt...

but I've seen deer all day long, morning, night, I prob see more in the evening, but then again I'm not often times in my stand an hour before 1st light which I think matters quite a bit, ie you get in your afternoon stand at noon....an hour before dark deer have no clue you are there....etc... imagine getting into your morning stand 4 hrs before 1st light? so maybe this matters...

if you are walking in at dawn... it's no surprise you don't see morning deer.

my dad has only shot deer before noon I believe...
bow, gun, all over 140" btw... and an 183"

just a coincidence I believe, unless you're doing something majorly wrong...

rlpsystems

there all over the place at dusk around here. Even knowing that, I'm still heading out in a few....... just in case..........

scribe

Depends mostly on the food source. If it is an agricultural rof ield-type food source, I see most in the afternoon. If it is a woodland food source, I usualoly see most in the mornings. That means it will vary greatly depending on which stand I hunt. This year, I [I]saw[I] the most in the afternoons. However, I killed the most in the mornings, But it was actually about even, 3/4.

Sfury

I typically hunt the hardwood forests. With the minimal amount of pressure those deer typically get, I see them all day long.

They move around as they want to. Mornings and evenings are still the biggest movement times, but you can see deer all day long if you are patient and quiet.

Then again, if you are not in the right place for feeding that day, you could also see nothing. Hunting in the fall last year was tough because we had a massive acorn crop that did not draw the deer to any one location. They could go to any oak ridge and feed.

It made patterning the deer this year rough. Between the bumper acorn crop and the downed trees from the big wind storms, the movement was just different enough to not get a clear picture of the overall movement.

ModernPrimitive

Generally, while I'm driving down the road...
A few years back I read an article somewhere extolling the virtues of identifying your hunting turf as either a morning or evening spot. The author largely based this on food sources/availability as well as cover& prevailing winds. As I paid attention in the field to the author's premise it actually did seem that of the two farms I was hunting in the same small valley, one was an a.m. & one a p.m. spot. One grew corn & hay, the other hay only; exposure was different also.
Now, I've always preferred the p.m. watch as I can hunt my way in, move more quietly while taking fewer branches to the eye and, honestly, sleep later. However, barring a storm, my "backyard" turf, 30 acres or so behind me, usually sees heavy deer movement in the a.m. while afternoons are dry.

MZS

From my day cam early in the season, I saw deer all morning till 10:30AM, NONE from 11AM to 3 hours before dark, and then most deer from 2 hours before dark til dark.

Lately, I see the most deer when we have hamburgers or spaghetti. There are NO deer to be seen anywhere around here during day hours in this late season time.

Cleburne

Don't get to hunt mornings much but when I do I see very little deer. I hunt evenings mainly and see more around 16:00 to 17:00 than any other time.

mrl0004

It took me a minute, but I got it!

DeppedyDogg

Depends on their pattern. Simple but therein lies it's perfection: In the AM, deer (mostly) move from feeding to bed. If you're hunting this route, you will see more deer. Likewise (most) deer will take water on their way to a bedding site unless the pattern is such that the water is more convenient (closer to cover) on the PM route.

If you are hunting a route from bed to feed, this would be a (mostly) PM endeavor.

Conversely, if you hunt an evening route in the AM or a morning route in the PM, you will see less deer.

It's up to you to know the difference.

Hamburgers threw me off but Venisonburgers would have given it away!