While not only bowhunting, but deer hunting in general... how long do you hunt in the morning, evening, or do you even leave the stand? Im just curious to see how hardcore you guys are. I try to hunt 8 hours a day.. about 4.5 in the morning, and about 3.5 hours in the evening. Im not hardcore, lol I like to go back to camp and get something to eat between hunts!
I'm all over the board. I like to hunt at least a 3 hour minimum. During the rut, and good weather conditions I might junt all day. I don't care to hunt in the rain. I get to hunt a bunch, so as long as I'm having fun I hunt.
depends on the season and when I am having activity on the camera.... However in the rut i have killed deer at high NOON
Generally, I hunt mornings until late October then will sit all day weather permitting. It's an hour and twenty minute drive to the land I hunt so 1 trip a day is all I take. If I want to hunt evening I sit all day. During the rut, I sit all day every sit. I may get down and move stands but I stay all day. I have a pocket USB charger to keep my phone charged and myself entertained. If it's snowing I'm sittig all day as well, freezing rain and anything forecast to be heavier than a drizzle for a prolonged time will get me out of the stand. Other than that it's whether I want to hunt the evening or not. I'd say 65% of my sits are all day in stand. I'll climb down and sleep at the base of a tree if need be, did that once and awoke to 2 coyotes walking by at about 5 yds. I sleep light now.
From the last week of Oct to the first week of Nov, any days I hunt are all day sits. On a regular (non rut) evening hunt I'll sit from 3:00PM-7PM. The only mornings I do are usually during the rut.
i hunt like 5 am get in 11 am get out and then 2pm come in and 730 get out but then again these are completely suburban deer i have a blind 6 feet off the road where theres a wall of bushes im hunting those deer you see on the side of the road feeding trying to get em on there way there..
Bow hunting in mass i usually will try to hunt 3 hours in am and 3 hours in pm, Gotta get some work in during the day. When rifle hunting in maine usually in the woods from 5 am to 4ish every day for a week. Sometimes by the end of the week it feels like a job if i'm not seeing anything but when i look back on it a couple weeks later i would do anything to get back in the woods. Thats just my opinion.....
I always struggle in the morning, so I let deer movement set the length. I usually hunt two hours then tell myself one hour after the last deer sighting. Could be a three hour sit or six, evenings are easier for me because you always have the best time ahead of you, its all mental tricks for me.
I like 3 hour sits in the evening, and 2 hour sits in the morning. If its not to warm ill sit from 11-2ish. During hunting season I will sit 4 times a day at camp. I get out of the stand and head back to camp grab a snack and a drink and head back out.
It really depends on sign and stuff. Over hunting and spending too much time In a woods won't help a persons chances. Problem there Is I and I'm sure allot of others don't have enough different area's to hunt on thus the area we hunt on gets more pressure then we'd like.
Like most it depends on the time of year. I like to be in no later than a half hour before legal time and in the early part (first few weeks in Oct) I'll go until 9:30 or 10. In the evenings I'll go out about 4 and hunt until close. However, during rut, pre rut and post, I'll hunt all day. The larget but I've ever seen / shot was at 12:19 on a drizzly Nov 17th.
If I am hunting by myself or if I get to decide the hunting time with my buddy, I sit all day from an hour before shooting time until an hour after shooting time. I believe that if you aren't hunting, you probably won't tag a deer. I take a couple apples, enough water and some dip. Thats all I need for 14 hours.
From Oct 1 to around October 20 or so, I typically sit 4 hours in the AM and 3 hours in the PM. From Oct. 20 on, if everything is shaping up as it should and I'm starting to see bucks on their feet more, I'll sit all day. Guaranteed from Oct 31 on I will be in the tree from daylight till dark. Basically, the moment I start seeing rut activity in the shape of seeking or see more rubs and scrapes pop up, I'm all daying it.
How many of you have actually shot a deer between say 10 am and 2 pm? Sometimes I need to get up and walk around if I'm not having any activity. I love to stalk on the ground and it's a great way to find a new spot for a stand.
I would say during early season I sit for 3.5 hours in the morning and about 4 in the evening. I normally like to get down and walk back to the shack for a bite to eat and some college football - stretch my legs a little bit maybe even a quick nap. During rut is a different story. I try to sit all day every time in stand. Like everyone else has said below, grab some granola, apples, water, handheld Yahtzee, sack of Redman, and hang out. If I put in the work to hang the stands, cut shooting lanes, check the cameras, and shoot my bow non-stop before season and I only sit for couple hours during rut.....I need my head examined.
