Rebel Hog

You know it huntress!

PABowhntr

I typically hunt midday areas where there is plenty of thick cover, a good distance away from any feeding areas and typically closer to the bedding areas. Water can be somewhat important but good browse close to a thicket usually produces during the middle of the day for my area.

Yivin

Hunting the afternoon produces my bigger deer for me..I usually get out around noon. I have some thick areas and a stream that run down a draw at my spot. When its hot it seems the deer hang close to the shade and do like to get a sip of water during the afternoon before their late afternoon doe chase or afternoon/dark browsing. Biggest thing when its hot is to be sure of your wind. We tend to sweat alot more so make sure you have cover scents(but not to strong i usually rub pines needles on myself..alot of pines in Georgia..hehe) I have a couple of different stands.My ladder stands seems to work well. only up about 12 foot and your scent gets lost alot in the pines...it always pays off to scoutfor deer early when bow hunting

ranchand99

The places where there is plenty of sign,but you are not seeing activity in the morning or evenings.So there are two other times they could be there..midday or 3 am.Clearcuts,powerlines,gas lines,foodplots,railroad tracks,curves of roads..Places they think they can go in midday,but know better than to go in the morning or evening when they know hunters will be out.Later on in the season,we sleep in more often.I had shot a 6pt the week before christmas at 11:30 am.Christmas eve my friend shot his first deer a 3pt at 11:45am.Both areas were High pressured public land,and we waved to people leaving as we came in both times.They have to move sometime.They will sometimes bed close to the roads,and listen for vehicles to leave.Down here I have found out that in the late season the deer generally bed down around 1-2 hours before light.Herein the late season daylight is around 7am.Then they get up after about 6-8 hours of bedding to water,stretch,move to some sunlight to keep warm.That's why I like grassy clearcuts.The deer will move into them after the sun has melted the frost,and then they will lay in direct sunlight.Then after an hour or so,if they feel like going back to the woods they will.If not they stay alert for hunters,and slip out when they detect some.Then usually they start moving around an hour after dark.Sometimes you can catch deer moving at daylight or at dusk,but you guys know how hard that is in thick terrain after thanksgiving.Hope that helps.This is just my observation with high pressured southern deer.

ddejong

I hunt private, unpressured land and rarely see deer between 9Am and 3PM. But I don't get to hunt enough so when I go I stay out all day. Last year I switched tactics and used a stand in a ravine overlooking a stream. I saw several groups of doe moving around mid-day to get water, but no large bucks. I will definitely use the same strategy again next year ....hunt the food plots morning and evening and overlooking the water hole in the mid-day. Good luck!

StrutnBPS

For about a month now I have been noticeing a uncommon amount of deer out in fields in the mid-day.

I don't know if its b/c of the heat making them seek water and food more or what. If you can stand the heat here in the south, hunting mid-day can be very productive.

Esp during the rut. A doe is only in heat, what 36hrs? So, you think those big boys are going to care what time of day it is when they have their knose up the doe's butt waiting for her to squat?

I love going to a local refuge here in SC and just parking on the rd and watching the deer start to run out of the woods around lunch time. Hunters getting down and going home are as good as a pack of deer dogs, they will run deer right to you.

Gunwalkr

I hunt the mtn. tops here in north central PA., and I treestand hunt from sunup til sundown. I get in a tree overlooking the thickest, nastiest laural patch near the bedding areas and the other hunters make sure the deer stay in that laural. You'd be amazed how active those heavy hunted deer are around mid-day! I've killed more deer over the years during those lunch time hours than before or after.