How Early??

[Gardner Swamp]

on average How long are you sitting in your stand waiting for first light?

[dreaming bucks]

This is a subject I want to get better at.... usually I was only there about 15 minutes before shooting hrs, but I want to bump that up to atleast an hour before... I just have to get my out of bed is all.

[Sam Ubl]

No less than a half-hour before she peaks in the East, but in most cases an hour. There have been times when I showed 2 hours early. . . Now that is a LONG wait!!

[James]

About an hour. I've shot a couple bucks at first light and heard them coming well before opening hours.

[Indianahunter]

I am always on stand at least an hour before daylight. However since Dan, I have done more evening hunting this past year then morning because it made sense to me especially since how every good buck I have ever taken outside of the rut was in the last hour of the evening.

[lungbuster]

Try to be in my tree about 20 mins. - 1/2 hours before first light, takes me about 10 mins. to set everything up in the dark and be ready to hunt.

[tim]

i guess it depends how long or how far away i have to walk to access my stand without being detected. what the weather is like etc... if i can get into my stand easily without detection i probably wont get there as early. but for instance in the bluffs where my land is it can be hard getting to stands in mornings and most of the time not worth bumping deer out of the fields unless i bump them on purpose and access the opposite bluff and climb it to catch deer coming out of the opposite fileds. evenings are a safer bet in bluff country when you only have access from the top. and the fields are on top . but i have gotten to stands as early as 1 hour 45 min before light , i no longer do this. if im bumping deer than i hunt them in evenings. and find somewhere i can access without bumping them. usually a completely different farm. but if its rut hunting no more than 30 minutes before light.

[Spysar]

Usually I get there about 15 min before light.

[Beauford]

Between a hour and hour and half. Early season most of the time you hear the deer walk by you in the dark, you also can get lucky and see them sometimes before they bed. One year for gun hunting I was at the base of my tree at 04:00. If you have to hang your stand ect. you need extra time in some cases.

[Zap]

I get there when I can.
Better than stayin home or workin......

marty

[dan]

An hour usually... But sometimes during rut I have gone out after daylight to catch the mid-morning cruisers.

[Boo]

Depending on the situation, I usually try to be in my tree 1/2 hour to 45 minutes before first light.

[WiBowhuntress]

On average I would say 40 minutes before shooting time. I like to move slowly to my stand and try to be quiet as possible when I'm setting up. The later in the morning I go in, the more rushed I feel and the more noise I seem to make.

[Swampthing]

When i was younger hunting with my dad I would always try to get to my tree 1/2 hour b4 first light.And my dad would always say I,m walking in the dark for nothing .What about all those deer you walk by and can,t shoot because it,s still dark. He would.nt take a step away from the truck until he could shoot.But is till try to get out there a 1/2 hour or 1 hour b4. But never have had much luck in the first light.

[Hill Hunter]

I'm usually getting settled and ready about the time I can barely make out a deer moving, but would like to be settled 30 min prior to first light. Just not a morning person. May start skipping the first few hours during rut, so I can last through the noon hour into the early afternoon, but depends on what movement I'm seeing. If I skip the first few hours though, I always wonder what I didnt see go by the stand...