Morning Question?

What time do you all like to go out in the morning? I always like to go out bout a 45 mins to 30 min before shooting time? Just wondering what everyone else does?

I walk in when I can see without a flashlight. I normally get to my stand just before legal shooting time. The last couple mornings I have had deer come to the sound of me walking in

I do about the same. I just try to get in when it’s still dark so that if a deer sees me they are not sure what I am.

I figure deer can see as good at night as I can during the day, well better actually. But, I still like to get in about 30 minutes early. I’ve had deer sniff my ladder right after I get to the top so I’m not sure it matters….

Ok I got another question then! Do you guys try to not walk through woods? Typically I like to hunt field edges with the least amount of walking through property as possible or should I be hunting in the woods in the am? What do you all do?

I’m looking forward to this answer too. I hunt in SD primarily. We hunt where there is a tree.

I usually want to be in my stand at least 30 min before it gets light. I also hunt both edges and some stands in the middle of the woods. I try to not walk through the fields to get to my stands in the morning. I will try to walk the 4-wheeler trails or go through the pastures. I feel as though if I go in earlier and bump a deer, they usually just take off and don’t sit there and blow for five minutes. I think one of the biggest things to do is if you have to use a flashlight, use one that has a red bulb. This light is much less visible and I have had deer look at me with it on and pretty much ignore it.

I too go through the woods to my stand as the deer are in the fields.

I am in the stand at least 30 mins before shooting time, usually closer to an hour. If by chance I bust a deer on the way in I like having the extra time for every thing to settle down before shooting time rolls around. The landscape here is very open and flat which leaves hunting spots pretty small in comparison to say bluff country. Blowing a doe in a 20-40 acre isolated parcel can mean minimal deer movement for a good period of time since your next block of habitat is often several hundred acres away. I don’t get as fired up about jumping a deer on the way in, when hunting the river bottoms here, as these a large travel corridors and overall deer movement is much greater than in the prevalent isolated parcels.

I approach my stands similarly in each situation, (I always select the stand for movement/pattern/time of year), but then try to minimize the amount of habitat that my wind will blow into on the walk in. Avoiding fields here is an impossibility, but then again they are all plowed under as my plots are not. I avoid walking through my plots in the morning at all costs, but in isolated properties I don’t go bombing through the woods either. Around here there is usually a thin fence line to utilize for breaking up your silhouette and movement, when you break from the fence know where the deer ‘should be’ and avoid putting that area down wind.

Not sure of your landscape, but thats how we go about it in the flat farm country. Hope some of that made sense/helps for your situation.

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I’m looking forward to this answer too. I hunt in SD primarily. We hunt where there is a tree.

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