If you are a stand hunter for deer, how early are you in that stand?
- Thread starter John Y Cannuck
- Start date
Most of the big deer that I have taken were pretty near at the crack of noon.
I time myself so that I'll be at my stand and settled in 15 min. to 1/2 hr. before shooting light. If possible, I rake and clean up the trails before my hunt so I'm walking quietly on earth not twigs or leaves. I move slowly because I'm bundled up against the cold and I don't want to work up a sweat. A good thing is to wear layered clothing that all zips or buttons up. That way, you can leave the clothes open to breathe if you start getting too warm, and then just start zippering up as you begin to cool down. One thing that I rarely see mentioned is stepping in deer droppings. It serves two purposes. If you're moving through an area, be it to scout or to get to a specific locale, you can tell what's fresh from what you've stepped in. Also, you scent your boots and if you've walked through different gender droppings, you leave a scent trail that makes deer curious. I've had deer follow in my footsteps nose down because they seem to be trying to understand why the combined scents.
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
Whenever I get there...
I've seen both ###es of deer moving at every time of day over the years, many times before and after I thought I was in the stand early or late enough. Point being? Public land deer aren't on a normal schedule so it's best to go whenever you can. Sometimes you're there a half day before a deer strolls by and other times you'll climb the stand and turn around to see a deer sitting there.
That said, still hunting is far more exciting and you see 5x more deer. I use my climber maybe 5-6 times a year.
I've seen both ###es of deer moving at every time of day over the years, many times before and after I thought I was in the stand early or late enough. Point being? Public land deer aren't on a normal schedule so it's best to go whenever you can. Sometimes you're there a half day before a deer strolls by and other times you'll climb the stand and turn around to see a deer sitting there.
That said, still hunting is far more exciting and you see 5x more deer. I use my climber maybe 5-6 times a year.
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
The biggest lesson I have tried to drill into new hunters heads is that you can't see deer, if you're sitting in camp. That's not quite true, and I have shot a deer from the camp door, but it is the message that counts. Get out in the bush, and stay there, it's the biggest 'trick' to hunting.
I know guys who go out when the stars are out, but pack it in come 10am. Yes, deer are less mobile in general at that time of day. But then, those same guys have bumped me deer on their way out.
No, deer don't like to move in wind, but dogs change that, as do other hunters moving about. Best results in wind though are spot and stalk for me. Take advantage of the wind, don't hide inside, walk quietly, and the wind will cover your noise. Walk in or near cover, in to the wind, and watch for bedded deer. They may have their heads up like a periscope watching for you.
That said, gale force winds are not safe, be reasonable.
Cold is a big enemy in the stand, and boredom can be, if you don't know what to watch for in the natural world to entertain you.
There are tricks to staying warm, ask on this forum. One trick is to loosen your boots when in the stand. You want them so loose they almost fall off. That increases circulation, and lets there be more insulating air space around your feet.
I know guys who go out when the stars are out, but pack it in come 10am. Yes, deer are less mobile in general at that time of day. But then, those same guys have bumped me deer on their way out.
No, deer don't like to move in wind, but dogs change that, as do other hunters moving about. Best results in wind though are spot and stalk for me. Take advantage of the wind, don't hide inside, walk quietly, and the wind will cover your noise. Walk in or near cover, in to the wind, and watch for bedded deer. They may have their heads up like a periscope watching for you.
That said, gale force winds are not safe, be reasonable.
Cold is a big enemy in the stand, and boredom can be, if you don't know what to watch for in the natural world to entertain you.
There are tricks to staying warm, ask on this forum. One trick is to loosen your boots when in the stand. You want them so loose they almost fall off. That increases circulation, and lets there be more insulating air space around your feet.
My stand is a 5 min walk from buddies house at the back of his property. I leave the house about 10 min before legal time.
Get to the stand, climb in and wait.
More often than not we are seeing deer at 9:30-10:00 am. It's always different.
One year, I wasn't there 5 min and a shot 2 of the 3 deer I saw.
One year I was sick and coughed for 10 min when I got there, so I poured a coffee to settle my throat down and sure enough here comes a buck to shoot...set the coffee down and pick up the T3
Once I just finished having a whiz about 10 am (too much coffee) and turn around and here is a buck 50 yds from the stand....
This year I watched 3 does 50 yds from the stand on opening day, suddenly some shots rang out about 200 yds or so away and these 3 does didn't even blink. They just stood there eating and eventually trotted away.
You never know what is going to happen next
Get to the stand, climb in and wait.
More often than not we are seeing deer at 9:30-10:00 am. It's always different.
One year, I wasn't there 5 min and a shot 2 of the 3 deer I saw.
One year I was sick and coughed for 10 min when I got there, so I poured a coffee to settle my throat down and sure enough here comes a buck to shoot...set the coffee down and pick up the T3
Once I just finished having a whiz about 10 am (too much coffee) and turn around and here is a buck 50 yds from the stand....
This year I watched 3 does 50 yds from the stand on opening day, suddenly some shots rang out about 200 yds or so away and these 3 does didn't even blink. They just stood there eating and eventually trotted away.
You never know what is going to happen next
I'm there 120 - 90 mins before bang time.. I bring a blanket, get warm and sleep until 15 mins before I'm allowed to shoot.. this way I'm not making any sounds on the way in when the deer are moving. MANY times I've heard deer in the area 60 mins before the hunt starts..
Must suck having to haul a gun case out to your stand...
That is the best part of hunting in the USA - firearms only need to be unloaded (not encased) before and after legal shooting times
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
Gun socks are wonderful items that take up very little space, and the knitted type, they work wonders as a scarf!
Lol.... Never had to go that route.... But we do what we have to don't we?.....
Have had great experiences with gun socks creeping in on waterfowl and bad ones on scoped rifles as they leave lint everywhere.....
I will say one thing, that idea of the "magic hour" is very overrated.....
Ideally a morning stand have an easy access that will allow an invisible entrance and egress. A little rise in the terrain, and a "kill area" that is down in a dip go a long ways. Add a open "throw away side" down wind that you walk through and you can get to your stand easily while deer are there. Just remember to quit playing your accordion for the last hundred yards or so. Everyone's hunting situation is different, but when you have to sit at -30 every minute becomes an eternity, and showing up an hour early might mean that you have to quit an hour earlier.
We get a little more hunting time then...
Our legal shooting time is 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset
Chuckbuster
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
This has been my experience as well. I get to the stand in the morning...no rush to be there by the crack of dawn, and I am usually there around 7:30 or 8:00 am, sometimes later. We stopped worrying about the early morning after we realized that we were shooting deer between 9 am and 3 pm. The buck I shot this year was taken at 9 am, and I had been on stand for 30 minutes that morning.
