Waking up at 2 am to drive 2 hrs and sit a WMA. Is it a waste of time to hunt mornings? Is it mainly early season it’s not great or all season?

think you answered your own question. i'm old and not mad at anything so a bed would be for me

It's never a waste of time to be outdoors in the woods. You can sleep when you're dead.

Hunt... You can catch up on sleep later

We see deer equally morning and evening. I'd much rather quarter one after the morning hunt than in the evening when it screws up happy hour.

Every big deer I’ve ever killed was on a morning hunt. I’ve gotten up at 2am and drove 3+ hours multiple times to get a morning sit in.

I’m a vote yes all day.

Hands down - the best time to hunt is whenever you can.

I've seen better rut action during the cool, cold mornings.

Sometimes I see deer in the mornings and none in the evening. Sometimes it is the other way around, and sometimes I see deer both am and pm. But now that I think about BubRay's comment, I think every big deer that I have killed has been a morning hunt excepts for one. Many were shot after 10 am. Don't sit from 7am to 9 and call it quits. Hunt from daylight until lunch.

What are you talking about? Maybe I’m the odd man out, but I see more deer in the mornings, hands down. Even in early season. Maybe I’m just prone to hunting bedding areas.

I hunt whenever I can. No better way to increase your chances than to just be out there. I always hunt from daylight till dark if I can, but if I had to chose I would definitely pick mornings. Much much prefer mornings. It’s partly due to the pending finality of each evening hunt as opposed to being always optimist that the morning hunt is always about to get good. Also, the best way to sneak into an evening setup is to already be there from the morning.

I have killed a lot of deer, elk and bear in the first 20 min of daylight. Just sayin...

The morning grind can be a drag but there are other benefits I think one should consider.

- Tracking a deer is WAY better in daylight.
- Getting home at 10 PM with a load of crap to deal with is not my favorite.
- To me, Deer seem more skittish and simply just have less time to hang around in the evening, probably just want to eat and crash (like me..)
- ** The Taco place is open in the AM...
- If you want Only deer there is usually less hog activity in the AM.
- If you setup prior to sunup you have cover of darkness for approach.
- On a good day you can bag, skin, quarter, hang/ice your deer And even boil out the head that same day.

With all that being said I have taken WAY more deer and Hogs in the evening because I just go whenever I feel like it.
I'm an opportunist and hunt mainly for meat but lately we've hunted more mornings and it seems to be paying off. Good Luck!

I totaled up all my trophy kills and believe it or not they were split pretty evenly down the middle Morning/Evening.

To maximize your drive time though, I would try and hunt both morning and evening.

I’ve probably killed more deer in the evenings, but like some above, a preponderance of my trophies are morning.

I have probably killed more deer in the mornings and most of my larger bucks have been in the mornings up through mid day. Killed lots of does in the evenings though.

Hunt all you can, seasons are short.

For evening hunts, the action is like good cinema. The longer you sit, the better it gets.

For morning hunts, the opposite is generally true.

Should have been more thoughtful as you are hunting WMA.

Mornings/Evening is probably not the issue but No it's Never a waste of time and morning allows more time.

I assume you are unfamiliar with this unit, so you need intel on what's going on out there and if you don't have it takes time afield..
Find "Sign", corridors, scrapes, rubs, bedding areas, producing trees (acorns), Anything to start with to familiarize yourself w the area.

Acorns are dropping now, the rut is kicking off here, find a corridor "highway" and setup on it anytime, be patient and realize WMA deer are not deer lease deer.

Also, early season has always been easier for me, not better just easier. Best of Luck!

Sitting at home is a waste of time. Sleep when you get old.

Do what you have to do to be there for the morning hunt. Is there a way to do this differently? Show up earlier and sleep in your vehicle, close motel? How far is your hike in from where you park to where you plan to be for sun up? I've hunted a similar situation a few years ago. Let's figure this out.

I love a crisp cool morning as the sun comes up and you can start to see the animals. I will set on the porch for that, even if I am not hunting.
It is a toss up on when I see more deer, but morning hunting just gives better opportunity to get things done and get home.
It really sucks when an animal wasn't hit good, and you are two hours into looking for some guys deer with flashlights.

I Love morning hunts . But also wake up for work at 4:00 am . Have shot more deer in the morning hunts . But 2 of my best deer were all day sits during rut and they were around 2:00 pm. Bucks travel a lot at early rut and are relentless on pushing doe during peak rut.

My hunting days are pretty limited. So I get to the stand as early as I can and hunt all day. No time spent hunting is a waste.

Alan, what is the difference between "WMA deer and deer lease deer"?

Always easier to see animals in the field than looking at a pillow, but have taken a nap in the field a time or two.