This was a tough one. I voted for morning, but I am comforted and rejoice in the realization that I hunt both morning and evening!

I like morning because I like finding my way through the woods in the dark. I like the sense of excitement I feel when I reflect on what may happen when the light grows. I like to listen to the sounds of the woods, perhaps two owls calling back and forth to each other, and to see the brilliant stars overhead, including Orion the hunter. I like having plenty of energy to cope with hauling my deer out, getting it checked in, and getting it back home with the rest of the day in front of me.

I like the evening because I actually have slightly more luck deer hunting in the evenings than the mornings (3:2 of evening kills versus morning kills over my 5 years of deer hunting). It isn't as cold in the evenings. I enjoy the realization that a good evening meal, a warm home, and a comfortable bed wait for me on my return.

My least favorite time of the hunt is immediately upon parking my truck at the hunting grounds in the morning and I have to venture out from the warm comfortable environment of the truck into the harsh, cold, darkness. This discomfort lasts until I pull on my warm clothes in the back of the Suburban (balaclava head covering, warm parka). By the time I have loaded my cartridges into my rifle and am closing the back of the truck, however, my discomfort has passed, I'm snug and warm in my parka, and I'm getting into it.