Hey guys I've been hunting for about 5 years so I would still say I'm a noob but I'm still trying to learn things. I sit in the stand as much as I can so I can try to learn more. I've noticed that some of you more experienced guys only sit a few days or a couple weeks out of the year and are still very successful. So what days do you think are the best days to hunt? I haven't really figured much out on one property because the deer there don't follow any patterns. They pretty much go in where they want and bed where they want whenever they want and I don't know why. Could it be they out smart me a lot or are they just that comfortable with the area they will do whatever they feel like doing?
In my experience. Other than when the rut is in full swing and other than the prerut. Any extreme change in weather. Hot to cold and vice versa. I know moon phases can be good if you can play them right too but from my own experience i would say extreme temperature change or the first calm day after a storm. But.....im a dummy. So dont listen to me lol
What would a extreme temperature change be? I heard that that when it's about 15°f cooler than average for that time of year it would be a good time to be in the stand and any colder they wouldn't move as much until the next day.
Hunt days that end in Y... People kill rly big deer in every situation you can come up with.. cold, hot, new moon, full moon, snow, rain, dry, windy, calm, you name it. I hunt every day I can and wish I could hunt the ones I cant. Im no master at killin big bucks but I do know you cant kill them from the couch! lol
I've killed deer when it's windy,when it's dead calm, when it's raining,when it's hot, when it's cold, the day after a full moon, the day after no moon, day after a storm, day before a storm, in the morning, during lunch, and in the evening. You'll kill deer if you're in the stand!
According to Charlie A. of deer and deer hunting magazine nov 4th to nov 6th will be the primo days to be on stand this season
Yeah.. I mentioned conditions but missed times. I noticed last year deer being killed and seen in the live from the stand thread at all times.. sometimes I would see someone kill one in the middle of the day or times I wasnt in the stand and I was like DANG.. I SHOULD BE IN THE TREE! lol
Complicated answer...when I was young and single and had all the time in the world I would sit in a stand every chance I got every day...now that I am older and have wife and kids...I am limited by work and family obligations...so I start paying more attention to the best times to go...I've been more successful in the past 5 years than my entire 20 year hunting career. I am no longer just sitting there waiting for deer...I am hunting them. In early October I only hunt evenings and only for a big buck and only when I know one is patterned in daylight to a certain food source...if I do hunt the October lull it is only if I know I have a particular stand of Oaks that are dropping and only if I have the absolutely right wind for a stand. I try to hunt as little as possible to keep the pressure down on my farm in October...Now when Halloween rolls around then things start picking up...I will start to hunt some mornings now if things are right. I have morning stands that I can catch the deer coming back from their nighttime bedding and feeding areas. I have enough stands that I can find a stand to hunt for any given wind...I start looking at barometric pressure, temperature, and moon over and under times. If pressure is rising and temperature is dropping I'm in there...if the moon is going to be peaked over at daylight hours I am in there. Any opportunity the first 2 weeks of November I am in there. November 4-16th I will try a few full day sits...I've seen too many instances of big bucks walking around mid day...most everybody else is headed back to the truck by 10:00AM and then the bucks get off their beds cruise around til 2:00PM and then go bed until evening again.
Everyday is a good day to hunt. But generally the first week or two of November or like everyone else said temp changes.
I hunt stickly weekends until the rut. I try not to burn myself out early season but I do like to get out atleast once every weekend to either get a morning or afternoon hunt. Once I hit mid-October that's when I spend the whole weekend at our cabin where i'm hunting Friday evening through sunday morning and then come home to watch my football. Once November 1st hits I'm usually taking vacation days and living in a tree as much as I can. My dad always said, Nov. 1st through Nov. 15th are prime time.
As others have said, I've killed deer in all sorts of weather - the snowy days, the windy days, the calm blue bird days, the dark dreary overcast days. I like to hunt every chance I get. I've been bow hunting for almost 17 years now I believe, and the one thing I learned in just the past few years from being on this site is hunting the afternoon during the early season and after the rut. I was a typical get up early and go hunt the morning kind of person. Not hunting the afternoon, or settling to harvest a deer you see in the morning, could mean you are likely missing out on some good bucks.
Your best chance at a buck is during the rut, plain and simple. Yes, you can get them early season on a regular pattern when crops are involved, but many hunters (me included) don't have crops in their area and kind of have to rely on the rut to put the odds more in our favor. I hunt the last week of Oct and the first week of Nov, that pretty much covers the bulk of rutting activity in my hunting area. I do ALL DAY SITS for these two weeks. If you have the time and the patience to do dark to dark hunts you will witness things that will make you a believer in all day sits! They will move at any time of the day. Be in your tree stand on Halloween!
Charlie A has no special powers or crystal ball. The research is less than impressive for me. The 4th to the 6th has been the absolute best time to be in the woods for me and nearly everyone else since hunting began. Unless the daytime temps get unseasonably hot those days, you better be in a tree.
hunt whenever you can and try to learn something from every hunt. start a hunt journal track wx moon etc. the full moon I tend to hunt harder in the afternoon. any time I get it the woods is a bonus
