My son who is elementary school is bugging me to check him out of school on opening day to take him hunting. While I love his enthusiasm, I told him we could go Friday after school instead if the weather isn't 100 degrees.

When I started really getting into hunting in my 20's I am pretty sure I always hunted on the first day, mainly bc I had to hunt public land and knew those spots would get lots of pressure as the season progressed.

Now that we have a lease I don't have the same sense of urgency, but maybe when I check cameras next month we might go. I pretty much always take him as watching him shoot a deer is far more exciting than when I shoot one alone.

Do you guys hunt opening day still or wait a few weeks and pick a day when the weather is cooler.

Yes definitely and I recommend taking him with you.

Yeah buddy. Especially, public land hunts. On my own place; opening day, then just 3 days a week to not scent the area up. But, that’s with a bow. Rifle; not so much an issue.

Opening day is always on Saturday.

Here in Oklahoma just across the border our opening day is always October 1st, so what is why my son wants to ditch school.

Assuming you are speaking of deer season opening day. YES for gun season and my Dad always let me leave school early on Friday to get to camp and settled in for Saturday opening day and often stay out of school on Monday. As I got older in grade school mom would right a note and I would take to principal office to get absence and had to ask for homework in advance. Although school requirement have changed nowadays, I still highly recommend it and especially with his interest and suggest teaching the responsibility lesson of still getting school work done. Lots of teachable life lessons between father and son on hunts and camp.

this year TX Archery opens on my anniversary and it's so dang hot, so I might delay my opening....

Tuesday Oct 1 I know where I'd be with my boy. Cherish it while you can.

TX squirrel season always opened Oct 1 (before I got into archery) and was always in the woods opening day. Heck I hunted a lot in ARK and opening day of any season schools were just closed as hunting holiday (granted that's been 40 years ago)

I never go down until the 3rd weekend. If I had a son of that age and no other complications, I would take him out of school and be prepared for opening day.

Depends. If no one else will be on your spots, waiting a day or 2 won't hurt. If not, and if you're set on getting your son a buck you've patterned, well then I'd get out there.

Always opening gun season. And I always hunted opening bow season back when I bow hunted. My shoulder don't allow me to bow hunt any more.
Maybe one day I will get a crossbow .

I’ll pull my kids to hunt any time.

I usually make opening day of bow season. Maybe just make a few quick sits but I try to be out there.

Rifle, depends on the year. I usually make it up at least Saturday afternoon and hunt a few times.

I used to hunt in south Texas exclusively and there was no real benefit to being there opening weekend other than to shoot culls

Yes with kids. No if no kids. I like banging horns and going on walkabouts so I don’t really start until 2 week in Nov.

Definitely there opening day...would take my son or grandson out of school if need be.

Hell Yeah! I wouldn't miss it for the world. Even though at 62 I'm not quite as nimble as I once was, I will be there for rifle and bow season openers.

If his grades are good, and he is a well behaved kid, Skipping school for opening day is a just reward.

Archery yes

I think I have missed one opening day in the past 61 years ... that one time I was in CO on a Elk/MD hunt, made it home late Sat. and went out Sunday ... so never missed an opening weekend totally.

Always and I always took the kids. Now I take the grandkids.

The only time I’ve missed opening day,bow or gun,was 1992.I had just started a new job as a supervisor for a construction company and I told my boss I was going to be sick for the next couple of days and he told me no I was not because I was filling in for him so he could go hunting,it seems he also didn’t miss opening day. Bummer

I’ll occasionally hunt opening day of archery, but it’s generally too hot to enjoy it. Every opening day of muzzleloader season finds me in a deer stand. Rifle season I usually hunt opening day.

Opening day for sure with a rifle OR bow. I meant; AFTER opening day, I reduce my time in the field to avoid scenting it up.

Get them while they are still calm-er. After pressure is applied; they are more skittish and can mess up your shot or stalk. They will observe everything.

after opening day, I hunt as much as my schedule (and wife) will possibly allow. Our place near Fairfield is MLD and hunt late Sept. thru Feb. It's generally pretty hot the first few weeks, but after that, almost every weekend and toss in a few additional Mon/Tues and Thur/Fri, again, depending on schedule. I am usually pretty worn out by late Jan. (as well is my wife with me being gone) and usually don't have many tags left.

Some of my most fondest memories are when my dad would take me out of school to go hunting. 100% take him if you can!

Most certainly! But for bow season I'm debating whether or not I attempt to hunt opening morning or just stick to the evening. Seeing some good deer both times of day, but in the dark I feel like I might risk busting them out and ruining my evening sit also. The sound of an engine that early and me walking into the area and all. Leaning towards just sitting in the evening opening day and seeing what happens when they're not smelling/hearing as much out of the ordinary.

Out of 35 years more or less of being on hunting leases, I think I have only missed one opening day of deer season. Because I still had friends that hunted public, some of those opening days where on public even though I had a lease. A lot of it, especially on public was about the comaraderie, though these days it seems on my current lease, I am often the only one there opening day now that we all got older. If my two current leases ever run their course and go away, I would like to get back to only more simple public hunting and base camping as I once did. That one opening day I did miss I did load up my truck and headed out late that opening day eve. But I had recently recovered from a long ordeal of flesh eating disease and was just to sick still to go on, so I turned around and came back home before I made it to the lease. But I sure tried, because I "never miss opening day".