Do you prefer morning or evening hunts?

I hunt the lake and access by boat. Prefer morning to mid afternoon. Tracking dragging, loading in boat,across lake and loading in truck by lonesome in the dark just kinda gives me the : oh Hell no,s. I do fish till dark when I get back across. Crappie really hit good off dock in cool weather.

I have been a morning person for years now. I love to watch the world come alive from a deer stand.

robertyb said:

I have been a morning person for years now. I love to watch the world come alive from a deer stand.

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Agreed, I always seem to see deer between 9:30 and 11:00. At lake. Used to hunt on eleven point river and saw deer right at first light. Always in school when it comes to deer.

I like 'em both. Really like seeing the world wake up. Better luck with deer sightings this year in the evenings though.

I used to enjoy evening hunts, I knew when to quit, dark. In my youth, I lacked discipline to stay in the tree til the morning hunt time had completed. I have grown patient in my old age.
Mornings are the most suspenseful. In the evening, I think I need to be within 100yards of a deer on bed when I go up.
So mornings for me.

I always allow the deer to dictate when I hunt an area. I have one area that sees deer only in the morning and another that sees a majority of the deer in the evening. In the past I remember a few areas that saw deer movement and numbers the same, both morning and evening. I watch the deer and hunt accordingly.
Ideally I would prefer morning as I have plenty of light after the fact but thats not always an option.

I prefer evenings as I like to sleep in not to mention getting to the stand is easier in the light. The deer however prefer the morning where I hunt and are less wary imo. Morning hunts also give you all day to recover in the light and field dress/drag etc. Sleeping in will have to wait for the off season for me.

Mornings by far! Hate stumbling around in the dark,,or in a hurry to find blood before it is dark. If there is snow cover not so bad. I'd have NEVER found my buck this year in the dark. So little blood. And,,overnight leaving is a Coyote problem. Also I have neighbors and traffic and after a quiet night deer seem more at ease. I may sit a few evenings, but primarily Mornings have been the best.

Afternoons are better where I hunt. If I go in the morning I get busted every time. I have a better chance getting them moving to feed just before dark.

I like evening hunts. I see more deer and it works better for me. But I have took deer on a morning hunt as well. I just see more activity in the PM hours where I hunt.


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Morning hunts are my preference.

I'm torn now. I personally prefer the morning. As Robert said, I love watching the woods come alive, hearing sounds of deer moving and hoping they are still around when it gets light enough. I also much prefer tracking and the rest of the post shot stuff in daylight. On the downside, I often have a stiff lower back in the morning which makes cocking harder. My night vision has gone to crap, and I can't find my stands in the dark without an embarrassing number of bright eyes (that I used to laugh at.). Afternoon/evening hunts, getting to and in the stand are a piece of cake. Most of the post shot stuff is harder. Also getting caught in the stand right at quitting time, and having to wait until I think the deer have gone is less than ideal. Guess I don't mind the sunset shot as much if the deer drops in sight. Nice when that happens.

I let deer movement dictate hunting times. That said overall I prefer mornings to evenings. Looking for blood/sign after dark quite frankly sucks. I hunt primarily private ground at a club. I usually am on the 'deer tracking team'. Over the years I have grown weary to tracking deer in the dark. Hunting is supposed to be fun. Crawling around on your hands and knees in a briar thicket with a dying flashlight looking for blood is NOT fun.

I'm not a morning person and hate everything about morning hunts, right up until legal shooting light. Love the actual hunting part of morning hunts! Not needing a flashlight is very cool as is not worrying about loosing a blood trail in the dark.

The ground we hunt now just isn't too great in the morning. Evenings & mid day hunts are almost always better than mornings.

The last place I hunted before this one, was just the opposite. Almost every deer we took off that place was in the morning.

And I really don't know why some places are better in AM or PM. You just have to put in the time and see.

I will add, that in about 30 years of hunting deer, I've killed many nice bucks - but not a single one on a morning hunt in December! And not for a lack of trying.

December bucks are tired and laying up. Best time for them is mid afternoon on. Last week of Dec should be a little morning movement again as some of the young of the year does might be starting in estrous.

Depends on time of year and weather conditions. But late season I don't spend much time hitting it in the mornings. Once the rutting activity is over and the sole hunting focus is food source I rarely venture out until early afternoon. Early season I'll hunt either morning or evening & rut hunts can be productive at any time of day so I'll hunt when I can regardless of time. Unfortunately this year just finding time to hunt has been the biggest hurdle to getting out.

I love morning hunts and I usually getting settled in my stand at least an hour before legal light. It's hard to beat stargazing with a clear sky. I've seen everything from meteorites, numerous satellites, and the International Space Station. One meteorite was so large it seemed to light up the sky. Ever hear a fox looking for romance when it's pitch dark? Talk about an eerie sound, it will make your hair rise. Then to be surrounded by deer in the pitch dark will get your adrenaline going........Yep, mornings are my favorite..

I like mornings. That way if I get a deer, I have all day to take care of it. To me, it’s also nice watching the world wake up!