ORIGINAL: Antler Eater
If one makes the arguement that mature bucks are already in their beds by the time legal light arrives,wouldn't you also then using the same logic,say that they won't leave their bed until after legal light has left? If one believes they are educating deer by going to stand in the dark on a morning hunt, using the same logic, would not one be educating deer exiting the stand under the cover of darkness in the evening?
Over the years the records I have kept show a slight edge to morning hunts. Not altogether scientific, but there is not a small amount of data to look through.
Personally I won't quit hunting mornings in the early season. Has it hurt me in the past? If it has, I am not smart enough to know it. I feel one of the better chances a guy has to connect on a mature buck is the first week of the season when they have not seen real hunting pressure (Rememberthe Mike Rex buck out of Ohio in 2005?A morning hunt by the way.) and are still somewhat patternable.
First of all... No,I wouldn't use the same logic and think that. My personal experience and years worth of records indicate that around the 20th of Oct, the mature bucks start leaving their beds earlier in the evening, while still bedding down in the dark of morning. N. Ill area.
Second point is that I think that morning vs evening sucess is directly related to timing, what week of what month along with what stage or pattern the deer are in. Some weeks or months are better for mornings and some are better for evenings. My personal experiences tell me that evenings are best in Oct and mornings are best in Nov. As far as the overall avg. of my hunts go, I'm at 50/50 mornings vs evenings. A lot of this also depends on what deer I'm hunting.
Third point, I believe this whole heartedly.