Do any of you guys ever wait to walk into your stand until their is enough light to shoot because thier could be deer near your stand when you get there? I have this problem and I'm scared to walk to my stand before daylight because me walking and my flashlight could spook deer as I walk to my stand. Is the after daylight strategy a good one?

only if i am running late, the way i look at it is, if i scare em in the dark, i wouldnt be able to shoot one anyway, if i scare em during the day , i goofed, lol.....i basicallt know where my bright eyes are, i'll walk in the dark til i am at one, i'll shine long enough to find the next and off i go to it , in the dark.....

I walk to my stand at least 1 1/2 hrs. before daylight. I take my time walking not to over heat, if i do scare the deer, nothin I can do anyway, its dark. Plus i get in my area before others, and i always have them kick deer towards me and sometimes it maybe a shooter, and I'm out of the woods nice and early, and watching football, and a cold beer in my hands

I jumped deer no matter what i do! lol. I like to be in the stand before daylight if i can permitting that i dont forget my flashlight

I always try to arrive at my stand 1hr before sunrise.

During bow season I walk to my stand no matter what. No way can I get a shot off if deer happen to be close to my stand. During late gun season I might walk to my stand just during first light and be prepared to shoot if they are there, but I'd say in 15 years of hunting this has only occured 1-2 times. Basically, I like to be at my tree and up in my stand nice and secure by at least 30 minutes prior to legal hunting hours.

I have spooked deer walking in and had them return within a half hour like nothing happened. I like to get in the woods while it is still dark as night, sometimes it doesn't work out that way. I find that walking in the pitch dark spooks less than walking in while it is light out. They will circle you but not run away alot of times. They know that they can see better than you. How? I don't know. One trick I use is I sometimes have my hunting buds walk to my stand with me. When deer see the group move on through the woods they will circle and come right back. Deer can't count for some reason. I think it could depend on the area too. Mountain deer that don't come in contact with humans all year, seem to be more affected and will leave the area. Suburban deer deal with people all the time and will not leave, at least in my experience.

With the bow I am always in early in the dark. With a gun sometimes I have waited until light because where I hunt it was not uncommon at all to see deer near the parking area early. A lot depends on your walk to your stand. If it can be done quietly and you have chances of seeing deer, then by all means wait for light. If you are noisy and its thick with no chance of getting near something, go in the dark. Now if I was hunting public land and had to battle other hunters I would be in there quite early to get my "spot".

I'm always up in my stand an hour before legal shooting time, which would make it an hour and a half before sunrise. I hate when hunters are walking to their stand at sun up as I have had hunters scare deer off that were feeding towards my stand.[:@] But hey it's public land and to each their own.

ok well do you guys see any disadvantages to walking in right at first light if I don't have to compete with other hunters? I mean walking in slow, taking my time, in gun season, looking for deer on the way or around my stand.