Still not hunting mornings?
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
I have a number of spots that I think may be good for a morning sit that I am going to try this year. I wouldn't consider them great spots but I think they are worth a shot. I don't have grand plans that these spots will produce a big buck but I am ok with getting some meat for the freezer.
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
1st October cold front mornings were really good last year. Roughly 10/7 and 10/15. Multiple trail cams showed daylight mature bucks on the 7th. Past a young 10, and was 20 yards off from getting a crack at my target buck on the 15th. 15th hunt was a river bottom oak flat between food and bedding, roughly 200 yards from bedding. The shooter came through around 9.15, wind to face, rubbing and scraping across doe trails for 75 yards.
Outside of cold fronts and opening day I dont hunt mornings until the last week of October.
Outside of cold fronts and opening day I dont hunt mornings until the last week of October.
- milkweed-militia
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
greenhorndave wrote:So it seems to me that the answer to mornings or evenings is“it depends” and to get your hinder in the stand to find out which works best for that area and that deer.
About right?
I think there's a lot of truth to that. Historically, I've seen a lot more deer movement in the mornings where I hunt than evening. But a couple of years ago, I killed a great mature buck (in the morning) that I had THREE close encounters with on evening hunts when it was 90+ degrees out. And, I don't mean right at last light either. I got really close on those evening hunts but couldn't seal the deal. If I had the mentality of "They're only moving in the morning early" like I have historically seen, I may not have even known this buck was hanging around.
I'm no deer biologist, but I would say if a deer is moving in the morning, hunt him. And if he's moving in the evening, hunt him. Seems like a foolish thing to write one or the other off completely.
- PK_
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
Wait, so we weren’t supposed to be hunting mornings?
Thanks for the memo...
Thanks for the memo...
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
- NorthStar
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
I was watching the Outdoor channel and apparently the best time to shoot a monster buck is mid day over any sort of food plot.
“The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”
Proverbs 12:27 NIV
Proverbs 12:27 NIV
- milkweed-militia
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
NorthStar wrote:I was watching the Outdoor channel and apparently the best time to shoot a monster buck is mid day over any sort of food plot.
I've heard that before too.
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
I’ve been pretty successful in the mornings in what most would consider early season.
I think this is due to the fact that we have a “trickle rut.” Research from the Savannah River site studying fawns birthdays showed breeding starting sept 22nd and ending in mid January sometime. Don’t remember the exact date there because it doesn’t apply due to the season being over at that point.
At any rate I’ve witnessed does being bred sept 30th and December 23rd so I believe the research.
I’ll hunt scrapes or acorns between buck and doe bedding in the mornings 6 of the bucks I’ve killed in the mornings Early season were between 1030-1130. My theory is in the south they will get up out of their bed travel 100 yards or so to check a scrape/grab a snack after the day winds have kicked in/thermals have switched.
I think this is due to the fact that we have a “trickle rut.” Research from the Savannah River site studying fawns birthdays showed breeding starting sept 22nd and ending in mid January sometime. Don’t remember the exact date there because it doesn’t apply due to the season being over at that point.
At any rate I’ve witnessed does being bred sept 30th and December 23rd so I believe the research.
I’ll hunt scrapes or acorns between buck and doe bedding in the mornings 6 of the bucks I’ve killed in the mornings Early season were between 1030-1130. My theory is in the south they will get up out of their bed travel 100 yards or so to check a scrape/grab a snack after the day winds have kicked in/thermals have switched.
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
The other thing I would add for the southerners that have the same problem/opportunity. If you hunt the same area make sure you take notes of when and where you see chasing. I think the different doe family groups come into estrus at wildly differing dates.
Example
I know one that’s always sept 30th time frame.
Oct 13th
Oct 22nd
Etc
History repeats itself...
Example
I know one that’s always sept 30th time frame.
Oct 13th
Oct 22nd
Etc
History repeats itself...
- Grizzlyadam
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
From my experience there's a lot of factors that influence deer daytime movement on mornings or evenings that are unique to individual areas. Things like pressure, cover, food availability, etc. I see some places where deer have very little pressure and lots of safety cover where they really take their time getting back to bed in the morning. I see other places that are the opposite. And then I see individual deer with different tendencies as far as how comfortable they feel moving outside the cover of darkness. The big thing is just getting out there and giving it a shot to see what happens rather than writing off mornings.
Mornings I find to usually be a bit more difficult to pull off because access is more tricky and the deer are using the wind differently than evenings. It seems to me that most of the time I'm trying to setup on an off wind situation because they are coming into the wind when accessing bedding areas. Opposite in the evenings where I'm usually at the advantage wind wise.
I'm right at about 50/50 on my morning vs evening kills. I have a unique situation hunting in CT where legal hours are 1/2 before sunrise until sunset. We are getting robbed of that last half an hour of the day where the majority of the action takes place so we need to focus a little more effort on morning hunts when trying to catch those older age class bucks during shooting hours.
Mornings I find to usually be a bit more difficult to pull off because access is more tricky and the deer are using the wind differently than evenings. It seems to me that most of the time I'm trying to setup on an off wind situation because they are coming into the wind when accessing bedding areas. Opposite in the evenings where I'm usually at the advantage wind wise.
I'm right at about 50/50 on my morning vs evening kills. I have a unique situation hunting in CT where legal hours are 1/2 before sunrise until sunset. We are getting robbed of that last half an hour of the day where the majority of the action takes place so we need to focus a little more effort on morning hunts when trying to catch those older age class bucks during shooting hours.
- DaveT1963
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
I'm running 55+ trail cameras right now, been running all year 100% on public land in 3 states. How many pics do you want of mature bucks visiting licking branches, minerals and water holes in the morning? Years of running trail cameras in many states has shown me a few things. But one that has been clearly debunked for me is that mature bucks are bedded in Sep/Oct by first light. A lot of mature bucks move from 0700-1100 than what's normally believed. And it's not heat related like I so often hear, because I've also got a ton of the same mature bucks on minerals in August-October from 1200-2:00 PM with triple digit temps.
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- greenhorndave
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
DaveT1963 wrote:I'm running 55+ trail cameras right now, been running all year 100% on public land in 3 states. How many pics do you want of mature bucks visiting licking branches, minerals and water holes in the morning? Years of running trail cameras in many states has shown me a few things. But one that has been clearly debunked for me is that mature bucks are bedded in Sep/Oct by first light. A lot of mature bucks move from 0700-1100 than what's normally believed. And it's not heat related like I so often hear, because I've also got a ton of the same mature bucks on minerals in August-October from 1200-2:00 PM with triple digit temps.
Trying to learn here... what terrain and other conditions are present when this happens?
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Sometimes when things get tough, weird or both, you just need to remember this...
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Sometimes when things get tough, weird or both, you just need to remember this...
https://youtu.be/d4tSE2w53ts
- DaveT1963
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
Truthfully it's been a common thread everywhere I've ran cameras from hills, swamps to mesquite flats. Mature bucks just seem to move when humans aren't present and that leads me to SPECULATE they notice our approaches far more than we want to believe. I really think most folks just aren't as adept in sneaking in during mornings more than it's bucks don't move in AM. The telemetry study I posted doesn't lie. It also doesn't show the 100% complete truth or picture. But it does show most of the mature bucks were killable during daylight and a majority showed that to be in the AM. I know I've killed most of my better bucks in funnels in the AM hours. But that doesn't keep me from hunting PM..... two of my 2019 bucks were PM kills.
Running cameras have proven one thing absolutely 100% to me...... there are no absolutes. The best time to kill a mature buck is when you are hunting and that can happen any day at any time with far too many factors influencing it. A hungry coyote can bust a deer at anytime, I've seen them all hours during the day despite them being far more of a nocturnal hunter.
Just like most folks will say deer won't use minerals after forbs/green die.... yet I have 1000s of pics of all kinds of deer hitting minerals in Dec-Feb. Not as much as summer but more than often thought.
Running cameras have proven one thing absolutely 100% to me...... there are no absolutes. The best time to kill a mature buck is when you are hunting and that can happen any day at any time with far too many factors influencing it. A hungry coyote can bust a deer at anytime, I've seen them all hours during the day despite them being far more of a nocturnal hunter.
Just like most folks will say deer won't use minerals after forbs/green die.... yet I have 1000s of pics of all kinds of deer hitting minerals in Dec-Feb. Not as much as summer but more than often thought.
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- Bonecrusher101
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
I really enjoyed this podcast and appreciated how much of an emphasis was put on big bucks using water features to survive.
Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
Great info DaveT1963, thanks for sharing. I find it to be good when there is objective data on both sides of a discussion. Helps to formulate a personal basis on what is good in one's own situation.
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Re: Still not hunting mornings?
DaveT1963 wrote:Truthfully it's been a common thread everywhere I've ran cameras from hills, swamps to mesquite flats. Mature bucks just seem to move when humans aren't present and that leads me to SPECULATE they notice our approaches far more than we want to believe. I really think most folks just aren't as adept in sneaking in during mornings more than it's bucks don't move in AM. The telemetry study I posted doesn't lie. It also doesn't show the 100% complete truth or picture. But it does show most of the mature bucks were killable during daylight and a majority showed that to be in the AM. I know I've killed most of my better bucks in funnels in the AM hours. But that doesn't keep me from hunting PM..... two of my 2019 bucks were PM kills.
Running cameras have proven one thing absolutely 100% to me...... there are no absolutes. The best time to kill a mature buck is when you are hunting and that can happen any day at any time with far too many factors influencing it. A hungry coyote can bust a deer at anytime, I've seen them all hours during the day despite them being far more of a nocturnal hunter.
Just like most folks will say deer won't use minerals after forbs/green die.... yet I have 1000s of pics of all kinds of deer hitting minerals in Dec-Feb. Not as much as summer but more than often thought.
I’ve learned a lot from your posts on SaddleHunter for the past several years and have just joined here. I agree 100% about mornings. My two biggest and most mature bucks have been taken right at first light.
We assume these bucks DONT move due to humans but Why do you think these bucks are getting up and moving in these daylight windows? And how far are they traveling from bedding to where you get them on camera?
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