To hunt... Or not to hunt (early season mornings)

Hey guys, I was wanting to get some exprience based opinions. As I am so anxiously awaiting opening day, I have been reading lots and lots of hunting articles. I have come across several that have suggested to not hunt the mornings during the early season if you are after a big buck.

The reasoning they give is that you may bump the mature bucks on the way to your stand because they are still feeding at that time. They suggest to only hunt the afternoons during early October when it is still warm.

What do you all think? I know that I'm going to have a hard time staying in camp on opening morning.

Hogwash! There are a lot of big bucks killed early in the morning and in the middle of the day. So if you wait to go hunting until afternoon you would miss any possibility of shooting a big buck in the morning and you may bump a big deer during the midday. IMO if you want the best possible chance of shooting a big buck you need to be in your stand before daylight and leave after dark.

i would try and find an entrance to your stand that doesnt go threw the food source in the area... then jus head out early and take your ever loving sweet time to get to your stand.... im not gonna skip morning hunting personally... because that would b the morning the brute walked by at 20 yards... but do make sure u are slow n quite on the way to the stand

I'd def. hunt the morning.

It's cooler and the animals will move more.

FYI I put very little stock in what the print in field and stream and outdoor life.

I read an article yesterday in OL that stated the rut in south Texas was from late jan-early feb. they missed it by a month

That's so they can go in and shoot your buck

My thing is, hunt when you can and often as you can. You can't see a deer if you are still in camp, or wherever you may be.

x2

This is a complicated question. There are definitely some set ups that are harder to get into before daylight without bumping deer - the most obvious is food plots or other feeding areas (areas heavy in acorn mast). Those set ups are ones that I definitely would hesitate to go into in the early AM. For those, a better AM position would be the travel routes from the food source back to the bedding areas.

If you are hunting timed feeders (with a typical 7am feeding) then I would not hesitate to get into position well before they go off - like maybe 5:30am for a 7am "feeding time".

You may indeed bump some deer staging for the feeding, but even if you do more will come in after you have already gotten to your tree stand or ground blind.

Rifle hunters don't have to worry about this. I can remember when I did alot of rifle hunting I could walk up to my elevated box blind, see deer at the feeder, climb up into the blind, and proceed to hunt. You don't have that luxury when bow hunting. That's what makes it fun!

I disagree. Here is one I killed last year early season in the morning. I think as long as you use common sense in getting to and from your stand you will be good.

-john

I do. Can't kill them in camp. I try to go to the lease enough and be around my set ups enough that they know about human activity.

Get in early and let things calm down....they will be back. I have better luck in the mornings than afternoons most the time in early season since its usually a lower temp

I get into my bow setups 30 min before daylight and and 25-30 min before the evening feed

We have a lot of deer and your odds of spooking one walking in are high.

One way to fix it is have a vehicle drop you off each time. I like to walk and if I spook a deer, so be it. A lot of times the deer I spook comes back anyway

Reading articles can often be misleading depending on the area you hunt may by completely different than where the author is referring to. I absolutely recommend hunting mornings if you have evidence from your game cams that a shooter is a regular to the area. Regarding spooking deer on the way into your setup can always be a problem. But what I make sure and do is find the other side in which the deer enter from to approach my setup. But sometimes this is not possible from the layout of the land. I had the same issue on my best set too last opening day. The deer literally entered shooting range 10 yards from my stand. So what i made sure to do is rake out all the tall grass away from the tree and the trail leading up to the stand so i prevent making a bunch of noise. It may not seem like it but it makes a huge difference on the wickedly quiet october mornings. Last year I had a bruiser on camera and took all the precautions to be as careful and quiet getting in to my set and ending up having the hunt of my life and harvested the beast that scored 161. Im new to this site but love it! So ready for opening morning. Good luck to you!

Hogwash! Agreed.

regardless if u aint in the stand that morning you aint shootn a buck that morning..... jus depends on what you want as an outcome imo

Nice deer

Thanks.

-john

If you ain't out hunting you ain't hunting....

Either way I won’t be hunting this week end; I was diagnosed with Pneumonia yesterday and the doc is trying to keep me out of the hospital. I have stay in bed until Monday. Yuck!

Good Luck to all of you hunting this week end.

Bob <><

Hope you get better soon Bob

Nice buck Hoghunter

I wouldn't miss the morning hunt. As was said before, plan the best route to your stand, get there early and enjoy the hunt.

Get well soon Bob!

Watching the world come to life is the best part.

I missed opening day three times. Back injury, shoulder injury and heart attack. Sucked on all three. Hope you get better soon Bob but I will think about you while in the stand.

In your case it’s better to listen to your doctor.
Get well soon buddy!!! And best of luck to you once you’re able to get back into the woods!!!

Thanks guys; Ya'll have fun, I've hunted a lot in my younger days. I was going to the lake house and recover but my wife told me I wouldn't be sitting still (and she's right), so I guess I'll just be doing a little picking and grinning this week end. Music is my other love.

In all but a few places I think the OP read some hogwash. Those places would be setups on large fields with defined bedding cover where the deer would likely be in the fields and not a good way to get between them and the bedding cover without spooking them. For almost all hunting though I think that is just crazy. Plus I prefer to take my deer in the mornings. Blood trails are easier to follow in daylight and processing is easier in the day as well.

More important IMO is to pay attention to the wind and not hunt a setup if it is wrong, go in early and enjoy the world waking up, and enjoy the hunt.

Stay in get well so you can get out and enjoy the hunting. A little picking and grinning can ease the delay to the start of season. Prayers up for a speedy recovery.