how early to be in bush

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i normally get as far as truck/ atv /sled takes me in the dark and then try to walk into my spots during legal shooting. but have been wondering about showing up earlier like an hour before legal and trying to call/use scents or flashlight to look for eyes.

anyone try such tactics on deer/moose, keep in mind these are legal where i hunt?
 
I like to get into my stand at least an hour before legal light. I tend to travel without a light (infantry gave me LOTS of practice doing that at night), going quiet. I usually go out earlier on Friday (I am off at noon) and do a little trail maintenance to ensure are no leaves or other debris on the trail for the next day.
 
I like to load my gun when I leave the bike, so it should just be light enough to see. I've shot more between 8 & 9 from my stands.

It does see like they arrive a fair bit after sunrise in my area as well, then very random movement throughout the day, then close to sundown again.

Seems like there is no need to be there much before 8.a.m.

Get there too early and you get bored before the animals move and want to leave.

That being said I have seen and harvested animals during mid-day naps in the bush.
 
I guess it depends on where you hunt. In my area there is a lot of activity during the day, so my experience has been to get in before daybreak, and go in quietly. Don't leave till legal light ends. I hate stumbling around in the dark, so last year I figured go in just at legal light, and get out just as it ends. I did see some animals, but ended up busting them for the most part. This year I started going in before light and walked in quietly, and staying out a little later. I've already seen more game in the last 3 weekends than I did all last season. I also noticed any noise near sunrise or sunset and I might as well pack up and go home.
 
way too much cover for critters here endless cedar swamps and tag alder bushes . day hunt is worthless outside of rut. i hunt bedding areas in the am and after supper
 
Im usually in my stand or blind a half hour before legal light for all game.

Out by 9 am and back at'er at 4:30 pm till legal light ends. Kinda boring but it seems to work.:D
 
1/2-1 hour before light. Nothing cooler than sitting in the bush perfectly quietly in pitch black, blacker than you've ever experienced before. Your sense of sound becomes so much stronger than you're accustomed to. :cool: And when the sun baaaarely peaks, every little critter in the bush starts chirping/squaking/rustling around...very cool experience.
 
i say early Sept :p




im one of those that like to watch world come alive with light, there is something mesmerising about seeing woods in black and white, and it only lasts few minutes it seems
 
Deer are usually in crop fields, meadows or cutlines in the early morning and evening feeding. I generally park my truck a half mile or further from where I will be hunting and wait only 10 to 15 minutes in the dark at the entrance to the field. Since binculars gather more light than the naked eye, I intensely scan the field for deer movement or a dark silhoutte of the deer. During these times it is easy to see deer in the fields, meadows or cutlines when there is snow on the ground.
As a trophy whitetail hunter I must be patient to make sure that it is legal light and that the buck is wearing a least 160 B&C headgear, otherwise he walks. More times than not there is deer spotted but usually they are small bucks.
I guess it all depends on your hunting method and terrian you are hunting. When I do hunt a cutline or deer trail in the bush I will be there one hour before shooting time just incase I spook something, and that one hour may give them time to settle down and come back to feed.
Good luck!!!
 
Always make it a point to be at the stand 1/2 hour before legal shooting, enough time to settle down, take in the surroundings and enjoy the forest come alive.
 
Always make it a point to be at the stand 1/2 hour before legal shooting, enough time to settle down, take in the surroundings and enjoy the forest come alive.

Same. Spring turkey has only been an option here for a few years now. Amazing the difference between a "deer morning" and a "turkey morning".
 
i am up and out of camp when i wake up. if im up at 4am im gone at 4:15. if its 7am well toobad. evening i go out when im board of chopping firewood or cooking and come back when its dark.

NOTE: this in not advice. this it what i do. so far iv got a spring bear and seen about 8 deer hang in my camp (not shooting any of the deer.***
 
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