I noticed in Buckeyes thread that a majority of the nice 4.5yr olds that all you guys are getting seem to be in the PM! I personally have never killed a 4.5yr old to my knowledge, but seem to see the majority of my better hunting in the morning! I have always enjoyed hunting more in the AM and tend to hunt mornings more then I do evenings because of several reasons...BUT I am thinking that most of you work a 7-3(morning shift) job. Do you think this is part of the reason that the majority of your success is in the PM..?? I know there are alot more variables to killing these mature bucks, but am just curious as to if this is a big factor?
like you said many factors can be involved in how someone gets a deer. i believe that sometimes even without our knowledge a deer is pushed for one reason or another and we get him... thinking he was on a hot doe, going to food, or whatever we think. another thing to consider is that i'm guessing that some of the "pm" kills were actually midday vs the last hour or so, if it matters. i cannot say i've seen ALOT of mature bucks but i've seen my share, but between bow and gun hunting, i really couldn't say that am or pm hunting is better. i've seen good bucks at both am/pm and at midday. best bet is to hunt all day long
Work hours are definatley a factor for me. Simply put, I can hunt everyday of the season after work, while I can't in the a.m. I actually think some of my best hunting during Nov would be in the a.m. which I cant hunt, its dark when I leave to work. On the other hand during Sept, Oct and Dec ... I do feel big bucks move for feeding purposes a little more in the evening daylight than in the morning daylight..not to mention its a little less difficult to get set up on a buck leaving his core area in the evening than to try to intercept him heading back to it at the crack of dawn in the a.m. heck a lot of older bucks here are back in their beds before daylight.... making it real tough not to blow an am hunt outside of the rut... during the rut.. I feel A.M.s are great and I wish I could hunt them more, but my teaching schedule wont allow it, 'cept for weekends.
I would say hunters spend way more time in the afternoons hunting than they do the evening, hence more older bucks seen and killed in the PM. But another factor to consider is that in the morning most older bucks that I have seen are moving like a bat out of hell to get back to bed while in the PM they seem a little more relaxed as they stage and feed before nightfall. So a bucks mindframe is a little different in the morning versus the evening from what I have seen, one is looking to get back to their bedroom(AM) while the other(PM) is looking to feed or mate. That could play into the equation in terms of how "easy" they are to kill in the AM verse the PM.
My experience tells me that evening hunts are generally more productive during the pre- and post- rut. For me, this is from Sept thru Oct., then from Dec thru Jan. Mornings are equally as productive as evenings during the rut.... Nov. I suppose that this can vary from one area to another, but I think that unless the bucks have a reason to be on their feet in the morning ( like chasing does during the rut), they're easier to hunt in the evenings when they are on their way to feed.
I think you might have a point on the fact that most guys get way more evening hunts in than morning hunts. It's true in my case. I literally get 8 to 10 AM hunts to my 32-35 PM hunts in our 6 week early season. I also think that there are way more PM stands than AM stands. It's real tricky to hunt AM's without tipping off a buck to you presence vs a PM hunt.
