I am planning for opening day which is this saturday. I have never archery hunted before. If sunrise is at 735am what time should I plan to be in the stand. I have a very easy walk and entry into my stand. When I rifle hunt i always get in the blind too early which is fine because I am in an enclosed blind. Any help would be appreciated.
i like a minimum 30 minutes of being completely settled in my stand before shooting hours in my states shooting hours is 30 minutes before sunrise, so 705. so I would want to be to my stand by before 630am so I can be up and settled before 705 often I'm earlier than that, but thats my minimum
I try to be there at least 30 minutes before shooting light. More than an hour before is a waste of time to me.
Like these guys said, the earlier the better. Things never go as planned. Deer might be in the way of the easy path you need to take. So you might have to go the long way around. You might forget your release in the car...or at your house. Or like me today, on my first self filmed hunt of the season, I forgot my headlamp. I had a mini flashlight fortunately but had to hold it between my teeth setting up this morning. I'm sure that cost me a couple minutes. The last thing you want it is to be rushed by daylight. Youll make mistakes and spook deer. And also it's not safe to rush. You'll cut corners somewhere and sometimes you might be tempted to go up without a harness or not strap in right away. Rushing can lead to bad things.
I agree u don't want to be rushed for safety reasons. Also for me it depends on weather. Early season I'll be hot when I get in stand no matter how slow I take it. So I'll give 20 min to cool off and enjoy the quiet. Then add a layer if I'll need it then 15 min of silence before shooting time. In late season I won't be as hot so 5-10 min. to cool off then put heavy coat on and sit in silence for 15 min.
I aim for at least an hour before shooting time. The more time things have to settle down and for scent to fade the better. If I'm hunting a stand where deer will be feeding early in the morning i.e. Oak flat.... Ive been in the stand and settled in 3 hours before shooting light and had deer feeding under me an hour and a half before shooting light. It's pretty cool having deer bump your ladder in the dark while munching acorns, but once it starts getting light you better be nocked and ready.
Yeah so hunt AM instead of PM, get to your stand early and sit for a couple hrs of shooting light. Then head home, cause chances are the deer will be bedded all day this early in the season unless ur sitting over a water source. Or sit all day if you have nothing better to do!
Just leave your house around midnight and sleep in the stand, ... set your alarm on vibrate to wake you up ... Just kidding "Couldn't think of a good Signature"
On my first hunt I get to the property 3 hours before sun light. You will most likely have that feeling you left something the entire time. But like mentioned before this gives you plenty of time to get ready for the woods. I dress in the field also. Because I don't want any smells from my Tahoe to taint my clean hunting cloths. I also only wear the bare minimum going into the woods and after I figure out what tree I'm climbing into and finally get in the tree I can sit there cooling off way before I have to worry about putting on my outer layers. But I second guess myself all the time on my first hunt. Just be prepared to forget something.
