Time to hit the woods

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Carpdaddy
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Time to hit the woods

#1 Post by Carpdaddy »

Well; not hunting season yet but time to start dreaming and preparing. Saw a question on another site and was wondering about it here. When you hunt mornings how early do you hit the woods? I use to always want to be in a tree about 30 minutes before first light to let things settle down before first light. These last few years I have changed my mind and began to enter the woods just as daylight breaks. I usually still need a flashlight at first but want to be able to turn it off before getting far into my hunting area and being able to see enough to quietly get too my stand. My thinking is that I disturb more tromping in with a light flashing to announce my presence. What's your thoughts on time to hit the woods??

Crazynate
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#2 Post by Crazynate »

I hunt a lot of staging areas early in the season. Typically stands where I am close to a food source like acorns. that combined with the fact I hunt pressured whitetails on state land makes me get out there super super early. It's why nobody will hunt with me lol. I am usually set up and ready an hour before first light. I know it's over kill to some guys but I've hunted pressured whitetails on state land a ton and this is one thing I fee that gives me an advantage. When I hunt my in laws farm I get set up 30 minutes before. The deer there are a lot more tolerable to noise and lights because of the farm noise. when the rut kicks off my plans change though. If we had a hard frost I'll wait an hour after sun up to get in my stand. I don't think deer like moving in heavy frost. But most of the time I am set up real early. Especially if I am using my climber which is a lot.
Goodnight Chesty Wherever You Are.

Captainkirk
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#3 Post by Captainkirk »

All depends on where I hunt. Last few years it's been PHL, which I prefer to walk in after noon and sit 'til end of legal shooting light.
Aim small, miss small!

Carpdaddy
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#4 Post by Carpdaddy »

I do take some trips with guys I have hunted with for many years and when with them it's kinda like Nate, bad early! But when I get to choose I wait longer.

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eidsvolling
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#5 Post by eidsvolling »

I do a lot of deer driving while I'm standing still. Well, I wait for deer to be driven toward me by the people who don't get into the woods until dawn or later. :D So count me among the early risers.

This year will be my first in a treestand. I'll be in it right around o'dark thirty.

Much easier on the sleep pattern to do this sort of thing in the fall than at the end of turkey season in the last week of May ...

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Shadowhntr
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#6 Post by Shadowhntr »

In general, I like to be on stand and settled in, 30-45 minutes before any noticeable hint of light when I do morning hunt. However much depends on the particular situational set up. I have spots that I need to be on stand 1 to 1 1/2 hours before daylight just to keep from being busted by either bedding deer or traveling deer.. Other spots, I wouldn't go in there in the morning period,,, even on a bet! Those are strictly evening hunts.

For me, it also depends a lot on pressure from people, weather, and moon phases. Human pressure changes everything...so the following is based off minimal pressure....
If cold fronts are pushing through at 1p.m. and/or its a full/new moon phase, (in particularly with the pre rut/rut being "on")..... you can bet your sweet cornbread I'm gonna hold off and go in to hunt later, around 10a.m. and sit til 3 or 4pm.....if I don't see much I've been known to sit until dark, but just as likely to head home.

Ive always enjoyed evening hunting better then morning, simply because Its easier to get in and set up physically. Ive seen a lot of deer of the morning as well as evening though.

But .....if it's right, do not discount the benefits of getting on stand later morning and centering the hunt around the mid day time frame. It's all about timing.
Whatever the case, I virtually always play my "best hands" (stands), only when timing is utterly right with breeding, winds, and when the Moon and Sun are pulling the "bulge" across my area. If you dont know what I mean, do yourself a favour and do a bit of astronomical study of the effect the Moons (and Suns) gravity has on the Earth. Those peak times that are so often scoffed at, are an indicator of the oblonging that takes place when the Moon and Suns gravitational pull when in line, distorts the Earths shape into and forms a bulge around the gravitational center of axis between sun and moon. As the Earths rotation continually moves, it causes the center of that gravitational axis "pull" (bulge) to move across the face of the Earth. It can most easily be seen in tide changes in our oceans. The bulges also form on land, and its referred to as "Land Tide". But what of those peak times?...That's where forecasted peak lunar/solunar times come in....its when that bulge ( land tide) is predicted to move through your area. Since that effect is greatest with full and new moons, you can bet I'm riding out that bulge in a tree stand or blind no matter the time of day until its passed. (Or on the end of a fishing line in summer!)

A bit off topic I know, but it is somewhat related in my mind as a timing factor, and a phenomenon not many outdoors folk consider or use to their advantage. By the way the best morning and evening hunts are typically in and around the quarter moons....you guessed it...thats when the bulge passes through during those phases.

So, as you can see....there are a number of things dictating to me as to when I hunt. I'll admit freely however that at times I just wanna go hunt, even if the cards are stacked against me and I know it.
The element of surprise can never be replaced by persistence.

Carpdaddy
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#7 Post by Carpdaddy »

I got to go with that last sentence Jason; sometimes I just got to go and really don't care about my odds. I'm not familiar with moon phases, really never looked into it although I have seen it discussed different times.

Jose
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Re: Time to hit the woods

#8 Post by Jose »

Everything Jason said! Depends on the property, stand location, food sources, moon, pressure, and time of rut. But as Tony said, sometimes I just need to get out.... :mrgreen:

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