Mid-day hunts now?

[mheichelbech]

Being currently unemployed I have extra time to hunt during the mid-day. Mornings and afternoons during the week are not possible 2-3 days out of the 5, due to transporting kids to school and after school activities.

I am pondering hunting from 930-2 or 3 however my concern is spooking deer that have already bedded as most of my spots are near bedding. Those that aren't, I'm not at all confident I would get any opportunities anyways. Assuming I was open to shooting a buck or doe in that time range, would it be worthwhile to still try to hunt mid-day or would it be potentially be adding pressure at low probability times? I get the whole can't kill one on the couch thing...my main concern is the risk vs reward factor of pressure versus potential for killing a deer at this time of year as I've never had free time mid-day like this.

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[cedarsavage]

I think it's situational here the midday can be good this time of year. In lower Michigan I probably wouldn't bother, idk what your area is like. What are your cameras showing? But if I could only hunt midday I'd hunt midday

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[mauser06]

Don't know where you live and the climate...


But when it's cold and/or snow on the ground I often see movement all day. Thermal cover and southern exposure..if the wind is blowing find the nook or cranny out of the wind.


I've never seen monster bucks but doe and young buck move without a care in the world it seems especially now that rifle season is over...


Also, I've seen flurries of rut activity from big and small buck clear through January.


Not sure what your weapon of choice is...if I have a gun or muzzleloader i like to still hunt and sneak around till I find them. Here after the pressure of rifle season and then cold/snow our deer often herd up a bit. Could walk for a long ways and not cut a track and round the hill and 20 deer are standing there lol. Food and cover.


I certainly wouldn't sit around... but you could be down south or somewhere that cold and pressure aren't a factor.

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[headgear]

I would do it, where I hunt late season is almost zero movement in both am and pm anyway, you need to be right on top of them to get any action. There is some activity mid day from what I can tell, not a ton but I would at least hunt it and see what happens. Find the food close to bedding and I bet you see something.

[mheichelbech]

I'm in southern Indiana near Louisville. Justnin the last week had it broken to being cold. I had planned on Bowhunting. Do have one farm with potential for muzzleloader and still hunting.

The main reason I am not real confident about it is that I live in the country where I see deer often in the fields, my yard, other people's yards, etc and I feed deer in my backyard (don't hunt these deer, observation only) and just have not seen anything in daylight lately. They are hitting my corn and bird food at night but not in the daytime at all. Previously I would see them frequently during the day but not since gun season.
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[headgear]

The key is find the right spot, I think 100% there will be mid-day activity somewhere, just have to pick the right location. In-season scouting will be critical this time of year, don't just guess at a location, know the deer are there and get as close as you can without spooking them.

[Stanley]

With the cold temps and snow the deer will yard up in a hurry. When this happens I kind of get between bed and food source. It is so hard to get into the bedding area when the deer are yarded up. Noise, snow, cold all make this tough. To me the biggest factor is weapon. Gun much easier than bow. You almost have to hunt differently with weapon choice.

[dan]

I would wait for the days you can hunt till dark and not spook or educate the bucks... Make a calculated move when the day and time are right... If you have time midday, scout, or hunt spots you would not be hunting if you don't hunt midday. Don't burn your good stuff by not staying till the deer show up... This is an awesome time to pattern big bucks, but one bad move can ruin your chances quick.