RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

Thanks for the input Greg! I was hoping you'd reply as I figured your results would be similar to the authors.

My strategy for next year is going to hunt fewer mornings in sept and oct, focusing on does whenIgo in themorningand hunt the evenings for the bucks. November I will hunt all day as usual andDecember will be strictly evenings for me.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I have a journal too (30yrs) -- 4 of my top 5 bucks were arrowed in the morning. Given thatI generally hunt more in the afternoon than the morning,mornings are far more likely to be productive for me.

While I have no doubts that I have spooked mature bucksin the pre-dawn, I also know that I havespooked some shooters in the evening, not good in either case... I think generally that thebowhunters in my neck of the woods are far more likely to be out there in the afternoon than the morning - do not think that the mature deer do not pick up on the pattern - so it may pay to be a contrarian and hunt the mornings and of course, thenoon hours.

-fsh

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I for one totally agree with the authors. I believe that hunting mornings in early fall can be (and usually are for me) detrimental to the success of an entire hunting season. I consider myself a "low profile" hunter. Basically I try to hunt as much as possible without the whitetail knowing I am hunting them at all. However, I will hunt mornings in the early season following a good (good) cold front.

But I do understand that whitetail can be killed in the mornings at anytime during the season. I just believe, through many past encounters, that mature whitetails get to their beds well before sun up on most mornings. And I also understand that with a limited season why another hunter would want to get out as much as possible. I have been guilty of this myself on many occasions.:)

But during the pre-rut, rut, and parts of the post-rut all bets are off. And it is during this time of year I too, see more mature bucks while hunting the mornings. Of course all of these statements still greatly depend on the weather.:D

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

My strategy evolved to this, for the last 5 years. Before that, I hunted a lot of mornings and started seeing less deer. I hunt relatively small areas and have to be careful that I don't over hunt it, so I go in only at the most opertune times.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I have seen three 150 class deer in the mornings in the last three years. But all three times it was an awful blowing day and i was sneaking around in my ASAT 3-D suit. All three were bedded down. Last year i saw a 190 class double drop tine monster in the morning bedded in a field with a doe but that was the peak breeding period.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

Didnt see any bucks in the morning. All were from 12:00 to 5:30. The one buck I got a shot at was on Dec 22 ant 12:30. He came out with about 20 does. I grunted and he came running in grunting all the way to me. Here I had just shot a doe and it was laying dead in the field about 15 yards from my stand. He saw that and got real nervous, I shot and the arrow went right over his back. Then he was mad. He started snorting and grunting before he trotted off. All I can say is that this buck was acting like is was Nov 20 or something.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

Great observation in the readings. Personally, I have only seen a few mature bucks in the morning hours, and many of those i can just say i saw there body, and assume they were big boys, the light was still too low. I enjoy evening hunts much more, I feel like I see more action then, but none the less, a day in the woods is a day in the woods, and I enjoy the morning time also.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I think it is more about they do not like moving around in their winter coats when it is warm, but be there when that north wind starts an the temps start to fall. I like to be onan area around some acorn trees where some does have been feeding next to a 5 or 6 year old cutover. The bucks get out of thebeds an start coming out of the wood work looking for the does under those trees. ( I miss itjust talking about it, oh well just about 7 1/2 months to go).

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I have had good luck taking mature bucks in the morning. My best time is between 8:00 and 9:00. I have seen more mature bucks at that time than any other where I hunt in IL. Mornings have always been better for me than evenings. May be it is because the deer like to use the woods I hunt in as a bedding area, and I do not disturb it by walking around during the season. They don't seem to have a specific area they use, they bed in many locations throughout the woods. I may be catching them moving from bed to another.

RE: Hunting in the mornings?
 

I've always seen more deer in the eve. I killed my buck in the morningat first light but it was Nov 26. I hunt more evenings.