Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

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BassBoysLLP
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby BassBoysLLP » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:21 am

mheichelbech wrote:I have seen it postulated that bucks are often resting the first couple hours of daylight after chasing all night, then back up around the 9 to 10 am timeframe. Not sure how anyone could know this. I would think maybe it had more to do with so many hunters exiting the woods between 9 and 10 which gets the does moving which gets the bucks chasing....just a guess though.

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Ive definitely seen this late morning activity. I also see a fair number of bucks in the early AM that are late to bed or with a doe on the way to bedding. That is why I hunt dark to dark.

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johndeere506
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:28 am

Im going to try really hard to extend my hunting more into the mid day hours, but only when my location is good for movement. I wont give up a morning rut hunt for mid day, but would do it if I had the time. Ive had success at 10-11 and about 2:30-3, without hunting super thick spots. Id say in the right thick spot near bedding, I would definatly have confidence mid day, during early november anyway. I would agree on no field edges mid day. Ive seen some good cruising in open woods, but on the edge near the swamp and thick. I think you need to error thicker during this time.
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johndeere506
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:35 am

mheichelbech wrote:I have seen it postulated that bucks are often resting the first couple hours of daylight after chasing all night, then back up around the 9 to 10 am timeframe. Not sure how anyone could know this. I would think maybe it had more to do with so many hunters exiting the woods between 9 and 10 which gets the does moving which gets the bucks chasing....just a guess though.

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I hunt a very pressured AREA here in MI mixed AG land, private land during rut. However, the pressure is high in the area, but the property I hunt is not. It has a good size area (maybe 100 acres) with nobody walking in or out all day. Only on the surrounding properties. Ive seen the does walk past me to bedding, normally about 830am, and within 1 hr a good buck will walk by down wind of them, right past me. Ive never seen this before the doe family went past me to bed. He must be close enough to know, or just knows the time they go back to bed. If Im hunting the right wind/weather for this rut stand you just wait, so I could see mid day working, these bucks are just impatient and dont seem to wait that long...but maybe Im missing the bigger ones by going in.
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johndeere506
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:38 am

hunter10 wrote:Now, midday bucks arent going to show up on a short field edge, wide open woods etc. over the years ive seen the best movement in thick creek bottoms, near bedding areas and funnels


I agree, Ive seen a few good ones on edges, but thicker like you suggest is probably the key, and near (doe) bedding.
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headgear
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby headgear » Tue Jun 23, 2015 1:53 am

I've done it on a few occasions, sometimes when there is a full moon, I see almost zero activity the first two hours of daylight during full moons. I will sleep in a little but still head out at first light, basically taking my time and usually packed for an all day sit.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Jun 23, 2015 2:44 am

Yea I started hunting more mid-day during the cruising phase of the rut just a few years ago when it became easier to find the time to hunt mid-day than an early morning sit and yes I think in that time period I would rather have 3 hours at mid-day to hunt than 3 hours in the morning! It just seems the real slobs get on their feet 11AM -2PM when the rut is at its peak.

Interestingly I have to admit I have not killed a single buck 11Am to 2PM (talking bowhunting - I have plenty gun hunting with a variety of tactics) but have had a high percentage of good encounters and several royal screwups by me. I would chalk not killing one with a bow up to me just not closing the deal.

I have noticed mid-mornings in the cruising phase of the rut tend to be pretty dead, around 9-10 AM plus or minus, so that's often a pretty good time to be slipping into your stand.

It takes a leap of faith to try like others have said but try a mid-day rut hunt or two and the first big buck you see will probably turn you into a believer.

One limiting factor is you have to be careful hunting where bucks cruise through doe bedding areas like that because obviously the does will probably be bedded down already mid morning. That is one instance where you may need to get in early anyway.

Its actually not just during the rut either. I have noticed deer like to move at mid-day sometimes, I think its a natural time for them to get up, stretch, maybe do a little browsing, and go to water like Stan said. Its not always as consistent as morning & evening movement but I see a fair number of deer out and about around noon and have a fair number of trail cam pics in that time period too (when they are relatively close to bedding). Deer do NOT just sit in their beds all day, they move around a bit.
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DaveT1963
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Jun 23, 2015 5:53 am

I agree with arrow bender - when the rut is clicking I am going to be out there - usually all day. I may move if winds turn but I am usually prepared to spend the entire day at any stand. I also agree with morning hunting - most of my best bucks were killed in the early morning hours..... I cannot even imagine not hunting early morning during the rut.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby Kraftd » Tue Jun 23, 2015 7:30 am

I'll go in later during the week when I'm hunting closer to home and have things to get done, but otherwise during the rut, I'm trying to sit all day or as much as I can, given other commitments. Might be better cruising times, for big deer, but that time of year, anything can happen. A hot doe gets bumped by a coyote or someone else and pushes through and all heck can break loose anytime, from my experience. If I am going to move spots, I'll usually do it between 9-10 or around 2 ish though.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby Bucky » Tue Jun 23, 2015 8:05 am

I like walking in during grey light so I can see when going deep in timber during bow season... gun I get in early.

The last 2 rut bucks I shot were late morning and mid afternoon. I have seen plenty of biggns midday to know it is worth it... especially in the hills. I agree with AB though... unless it is miserable out, I'm likely going dark to dark anyway from Nov 5-11th
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby Ridgerunner7 » Thu Jun 25, 2015 1:12 am

I would never sleep in to hunt the midday but I do believe midday is one of the best if not the best time to smack a good one during the rut IF you're in the right location. I've killed more than half of my big bucks during the rut between 10-3. I like the mornings during the rut too much to skip. If I was on a bender of 2 straight weeks I wouldn't hesitate to get a little extra rest so I can stay sharp in stand but I'd rather take it in the afternoon honestly then miss a morning rut sit.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby stash59 » Thu Jun 25, 2015 2:08 am

Gotta agree with Arrowbender and Bassboys from Halloween on to the end of November Try not to miss any chance to be in a good spot all day. Even though I don't have the kills to prove it. Most of my embarrassing big buck misses occurred between 9 am and 3 pm during this pre-rut, rut time frame. These all occurred on all day sits. In what I called buck corridors based on rub and scrape sign. Not always a funnel. In what I consider semi-wilderness areas. Low deer densities with low hunter impact. I believe because there were fewer does to breed the bucks had to spend more time on their feet to find a hot one.

It is tough to do this day in and day out for a month. But during that sweet spot of Nov. 1st - Nov 12th or so. Be in a GOOD spot all day.

That is unless you've already filled out early bed hunting.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby hunter10 » Thu Jun 25, 2015 7:38 am

Someone mentioned on here that deer pattern hunts and thats very true. Below is a very simple picture of a hunt a bunch of years ago where i missed a mature deer. It was my 4th ever midday hunt and honestly, the first few times i felt like i was wasting time. I was set-up in the woods without knowing 2 others were already setup. The Blue X is a bedding point, the 2 red X are where other hunters stands are and I was setup on the point with the black X. the purple arrow is how the wind blew that day. Now back then I had no knowledge of buck bedding or targeting that small area but I knew to setup near thick areas. In this case the bedding point was a swamp.

Long story short, about 930 am i saw the hunters leaving the woods. without them knowing, their wind was blowing in a bad way and even at times with wind swirl mine was bad as well. Not 20 mins after the 2 hunters left the deer must of either noticed the reduced amount of human scent lingering, heard them in the woods or heard their vehicles take off down the dirt road so he then felt safe to get up and move. Unfortunately for him, he did not know i was still in the woods. He walked down the blue line right past me at 30 yds to a couple crab apple trees and i sent an arrow over his back but it taught me that

1. deer pattern hunters
2. deer hold tight even when they know danger is near (wind direction in this case)
3. deer move midday because they know its safe

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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby dkoy85 » Fri Jun 26, 2015 1:27 am

Mature bucks just might pattern hunters and move after the woods have cleared, but I believe the bucks move on a natural pattern this time of day during the rut. For me nothing beats midday... period. Whether it be on heavily hunted public land or heavily managed(lightly hunted) private property in Iowa. 9 times out of 10 the bucks are by themselves cruising- which is the reason I love midday as IMO a cruising buck is the most susceptible to being killed because they aren't either chasing erratically or tending a doe and are much easier to manipulate. I've seen the oldest and biggest bucks moving this time of day through doe bedding.

The biggest thing I've noticed (on private land), and saw first hand more than once is the big bucks sitting and waiting, in the thick a little in the timber, for what I can only assume is doe walking back to their beds and checking them out. One example was in Ohio on private land. On this particular property I liked to walk in at gray light to make sure the fields have cleared. Walking in I jumped my number one target buck, which was a 5yo+. He was bedded along a very heavily used doe trail 50 yards inside the timber. Later that morning(11am) he came through my stand site between doe bedding and winded me. He had his nose to the ground and walked very deliberately parallel on the edge of doe bedding(which I was set up 20 yards down wind of, and he came 40 yards down wind :? ).

One can say that it's probably the hunting pressure that gets these bucks moving midday, but I am certain it is much more or a natural occurrence. When you are one of two people hunting 400+ acres in southern Iowa, and sitting all day and consistently having some of the best action of my hunting career midday it is pretty convincing to the nature at which bucks move (a little dramatic of an example, but I've enjoyed great action here in SE PA).

To answer this posts question, during the rut, if I had to choose morning or midday, I'd choose midday.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby Stanley » Fri Jun 26, 2015 2:14 am

A couple of things to point out. In the early morning the doe beds are empty. The does that are not in heat, still bed and feed as they always do. :think: I believe this is why the early morning may not be as good as midday. The breeder bucks are not going to be where the does are not. :think: If the does are out feeding at night in the dark that is where the breeder bucks will be.

Bucks during the rut do not take time off. They are active all day and all night. This is what makes the rut so good, the bucks are on their feet not on their bellies. It is fairly easy to ascertain bucks travel at night in the dark away from bedding during the rut. This is why the roadsides are littered with dead bucks during the rut. :think:

I remember I was at a seminar about Big Buck hunting in the late 70s. Roger Rothhaar was the speaker. The one thing I remember from that seminar was Roger stating "he never goes into the woods in the dark AM". At the time I thought he was full of it. It's just so hard to break tradition and not be in the stand in the dark. I didn't follow Rogers advice until many years later. I then realized that guy Roger wasn't just blowing smoke. :think:
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Anyone sleep in to hunt midday?

Unread postby tim » Fri Jun 26, 2015 4:58 am

I also like going in gray light.my personal land I'm forced to walk through open fields to get to the woods and if I go when still dark I'm busting deer out of the edges as they are still hanging around.usually as it starts breaking light those deer move off.no later though cause I will see good movemnt not long after I'm in stand then it does taper off between 830-930 is one of my most favorite times in the bluffs.this is after clocks are set back.before the clocks change I would say 930-1030.then I like to st all day wether I stay in the stand I'm in or adjust to a better midday/evening stand.

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