Lots of guys head out after work to squeeze in a little time in stand. Just wondering how late you feel comfortable with getting to your stand before dark? 30 mins? 1 hour? 2 hours?

Funny you should ask . I have plenty of vacation time scheduled thru the remainder of the year but have a half day hanging out there that has to be used up. Here in NJ this week' s weather has been awesome. I plan on taking a half tomorrow to hunt the afternoon. I should be at my stand by 1PM and in active hunting mode by 1:15PM. So, I tend to get to my stand at least 2 hours before sunset and even earlier if I can sneak away.

Please don' t tell my wife I will be out hunting. As far as she knows I will be in an afternoon meeting.

With sunset currently at 6:40 I would head out if I couldn' t be in stand by 4:45. Well I would head out with just 20 min. left, but like to be in stand by 4:45.
B

If I have to hang a stand, or use my climber (which is most often the case for me), I like to have at least an hour after setting the stand before I expect to start seeing deer move. If I figure they' ll be moving at 6:00, I want to be settled in my tree by 5:00, at the latest if possible. Saying that, if I only had time to be settled a half hour early, I would quietly sneak in and setup without any worries.

peashooter

I' ll sneak out the back door if there is only 30 minutes of shooting light left. Obviously, I would rather get there before that, but if it' s still light...I still have a chance.