Getting to your stand before dawn
 

How many of you try to get to your stand before dawn?

How many of you carry a flashlight?

OFTK

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get in the woods before dawn almost everytime i hunt. If i dont i always feel like Im wasting my time, which may not be true and yes i do you a light but its a light that is built into my hat.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get there about 30 minutes before light. I carry a small light and only use it a little bit. I think by getting in the stand too early I may just be putting more scent in the area than I need. I have been thinking of trying to get to my stand just after first light so I can see deer better and not bump them as much. My area is not easy to get to and this way I could take my time and not get busted as much.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I always get to my hunting spot before the sun get up. I carry a flashlight and normally don’t use it especially if it’s clear out and we have a good blanket of snow on the ground. That snow makes all the difference in the world for getting around in the dark with a clear moon.;)

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

sometimes before first lite. other times. [opening of gun]30 mins to an hour before. other times i wait till it just starts breaking lite before i leave the house. then during the chase fase i dont even go until 830 or so.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Always before first light and I use Cats Eyes for a light walking to and climbing up into my stand. This light is the best thing I have come across for a light source! It clips under the brim of you hat and wherever you look there is the light, hands free! Cheap too!

http://www.mackspw.com/item.asp?im=L...Eyes_Cap_Light

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I'm usually settled in 15-20 minutes before first light. I carry a mini mag-lite and use it as little as possible.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I am there at 5am

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

i do and i do again........but i dont use the light if i dont have too...

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I usually get to my stand 30 minutes or so before daylight. I usea little led head lamp. It's so light weight I almost forget it's there.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get there about 30 minutes before sun up. Nothing like watching the woods come alive at dawn.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I always get in abour 30 minutes to an hour early unless there is a steady rain. Then I'm usually not sitting anyway. i will leave the cabin when I can just see in the woods without a flashlight, and then stillhunt until I am too soaked and miserable.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Same for me.....I love the woods!

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I try to get in before dawn , but I don't sweat it if I don't . Once on stand I have all day to watch for deer . I use a headlamp going in if it's dark , and I keep noise minimal even though I know every deer for hundreds of yards can hear me anyway . They settle down and forget me eventually .

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I love the mornings! I get in there a half hour before sun up and as stated by many before. . . "Watch the woods come alive!" That is the best thing about hunting. Everyone says "How could you kill something?" I tell them. . . 90% of it for me is seeing things that most people dont take time out to see. I love watching every thing around me move as if nothing is there unless they have a nose that can pick me off.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I want to be on stand WELL BEFORE first light. I always use a light, no matter what. It is a rule on our property that everyone has to use a light when it's even slightly dark. No accidents, thanks. I bought a bunch of these very bright LED lights for everyone and extras - they're all kept out in the barn where we all gear up. With these, there's no mistaking any one of us for a deer. They are VERY bright and can be seen VERY far away.

We also use them while blood trailing at night. We leave them along the blood trail to illustate the blood path and indicate last blood found (last blood found is set to flashing light).

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Yep, 30 minutes before first light and use a little one LED headlamp. Keeps my hands free to carry my bow and my GPS.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I have a major spaz problem with getting into the stand. I always like to get out at least a 1/2 hour before first light. I also love to watch the woods come alive and listen to the noises. As far as a light, I'm on private and its 200 acres with just my brother and I and we are opposite ends, so danger isn't a factor and I always clear my trail meticulously for noise and any walking hazards so I use the light minimally.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

You gotta get in long before first light. I get in my spot at least 40 minutes prior to the very first light. I use the moon when I have one and a small red LED light when I have no moon.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I always get to my stand before sunrise. I use a mini mag light for safety reasons.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Thanks for your input. It helped, and just for my two cents, I like to see the sun rise, so I try and get in there about 45 min. before dawn so that the deer have time to forget about me.:D

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Generally I like to be in my stand about a 1/2 hour before light. One stand location I had, I jumped deer on my way in every time and would see nothing all day. Finally after going in as early as 04:00 and still jumping deer, I said screw it and went in at 08:00. I shot a very nice buck at 08:45.
Things that make you go hmmm.:)

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

usually i get to my stand about 30 min before the sun rises and watch the woods wake i don't us any light because there is a lane from my uncle's house to the vicinity of my treestand and that way there are less things to spook deer but usually i don't hunt to many mornings during bow season usually i just crawl into my stand about 1&1/2 before the deer will begin to move for the evening and am set

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I think we're all saying the same thing. Being in the woods while it is still dark and waiting for the woods to come alive is one of the special, very special, treats of being a hunter. Also, since the deer season seems to take sooo long arriving every year, I like to be in the woods as long and as much as possible. I mean, ya can't do this in Feb! (At least I can't)...

For those folks that say they get to their stand 30 minutes before the sun rises are actually gettin there at legal shooting hours. Where I hunt, the hunting day begins 30 min before sunrise...It is very light at that time.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get to my stand about thirty minutes befor sunrise and just enjoy the cool air. but the main reason I get there before dark is because I want to wait for the deer not show up and scare them away and then wait for them to show up again.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

If sunrise is at 6:00, I'm in my stand by 5:00. I carry a flashlight, but only use it for emergencies.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I am the same way. I like to be in my stand 30 minutes before legal shooting light. I use a red light that mounts on my head to see. They say the red light isn't as offensive to deer as say a regular whit light flashlight.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I carry 2 flashjlights. Goin gto my stand is very scary when only armed with a bow. I must be prayed up. I hunt at the Green Swamp in central Florida. Poisoness snakes and gators are common. There have been sightings of panthers as well. The terrain can be very wet in Sept. My stand is 3/4 of a mile in the swamp. It's a WMA so I have no other choice. My spot is hot though with hog hair still stuck in thier scratchig tree. ;)Oh I am always one of the first at the gate at 5:00Am
Chuck

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I try and make it at least 1 hr before daylight, and a head lamp w/red LED light is my personal choice.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

In the stand, settled and quiet at least 15 min. before legal shooting time.

Light: bow season, no lights until I get to the stand.I need it for a second or two to get a couple of pins in place. Gun season, light on, panning from side to side, whistling dixie. Ain't been shot yet, and don't plan on it. If any of those idiots think a deer is panning a maglite and whistling, then I guess it's just my time.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

legal shooting time is about 630am in my neck of the woods...I try to get in an hour or so earlier...this gives the area time to get quiet....deer move in the dark too. carry a flashlight and wear plenty of orange....some folk like to shoot before its time.........

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get to my stand in the dark Usually about 30 min before first light and 45-1hr before sunrise. Where I hunt I need a light. But I keep it cupped and only shine a fraction of it on the ground. It is a 20 minute walk through heavey brush, trees and briars.
It is truly a great experience to sit on your stand and watch the woods come alive around you with movement and sound. It is almost worth the violent shivering and frostbite!
okcmco

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

yeah i get there at about 30 minutes before the sun comes up and carry a little flash light on me to guide the way a little..

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

30 minutes before dawn, use a mini mag light.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I am always sittingin my stand at least 20 minutes before any sign of light on the Easter horizon. Earlier if its warm. I use a very small light as little as possible while walking.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Ialways get there 1 to 2 hours before dark,not onlyt to get the jump on deer,but to get to my stand before other hunters.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Thirty to forty five minutes before day light unless it is a particularly thick area,then I will go in at grey light so I don't make a terrible racket tripping all over myself.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Am usually on stand 1-1 1/2 hours before daylight, I think it does not spook as much game, and it usually beats everyone else into the woods.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

I get to my stand approx. 30 min before light. I carry a streamlight stylus for light.

RE: Getting to your stand before dawn
 

Same here