RE: East Texas deer hunting
Because the whitetail are nocturnal by nature, the increased hunting and poaching pressure, not to mention the dog and predator problems cause them to stay put or only move in thickets during the daylight hours.
As I mentioned the thickets that we have in East Texas, gives them a lots of cover to move in, in daylight hours, so not only do they stay nocturnal, when they move in daylight, they still have plenty of foraging area to move around in without being seen.
I have had a good year, we've seen quite a few deer, and I was able to get my limit! Where I hunt, between Woodville and Chester, we've seen deer just about equally between mornings and evenings. I have tried a couple of mid-day hunts this season, but it was just long hours of nothing! The deer I've seen are from daylight to 9 or 10 AM (7:30 to 8:30 AM mostly) and in the evenings from 4 PM until dark!
Your best chances of seeing deer in legal hunting hours is to find a good trail in a creek bottom where they feel safe. Or as where my stands are, old logging roads between the creek bottom forest and very thick young pine thickets! I guess the deer feel safe comming out on these old roads, but generally they don't stay out on these roads very long!