Morning success stories?

[DhD]

More of the discussion around here seems to center around evenings, but with my work schedule I can only hunt 3 evenings a week, while I can hunt almost every morning. Since only hunting three days a week is definitely not an option, I had better figure out how to hunt mornings better! Looking for some more in depth success stories and strategies for morning hunts. If I had to I could push it till probably 3 pm most any day I needed to, but not everyday. Most of the public around here (southeast Nebraska) is small ag pieces, anywhere from 50-500 acres with around 200 being the norm. I have read thru all of the all time tactical threads (great way to kill time at work). They are gold, I have actually read most of them multiple times. Dove pretty deep with the search function as well. Hoping for some more of that great tactical discussion that the beast is known for. 22 days till season!! Thanks folks.

I think most of the discussion concerning evening hunting here is due to the timing of the hunt.

Most everyone is eager to get the season started and get in there and tag a buck. But morning hunting for most in the early season does more harm than good.
A buck has to be on his feet in daylight hours to kill him and more often than not, a mature buck is back to bed prior to sun up during early season. So getting tight as possible to his bed to catch his first steps prior to darkness is vital.

Now once the early season turns into pre-rut many guys will begin morning sits as well as evening. Then naturally on into the rut the am sits turn into all day sits.

A lot of hunters will also hunt rut stand sites early season, because those stand sites are what they grew up knowing where to hunt.
Throughout the season, not only does the “when to hunt” change so does the “where to hunt” change.

If morning sits is all you have available, then you have to swing the bat when you can. Not all bucks follow a script and can be caught and killed first light. Just have to find what works for you. Best of luck this season!

You said that a lot of guys sit rut stands early because that is what they know. I am curious if you could expand on this: what kind of areas would you target in early season that you would not target during rut? I realize this is kind of a broad question, hoping for just an example or two.

[tim]

I would say 90% of my kills are mornings. It all boils down to time of year, crop rotation , bedding, entry and exit , thermal switch , and just really getting to know your travel patterns on your land at certain times of the year so you know the best time to hunt them.

[Tennhunter3]

After the above story I found the beast and began to understand how bucks traveled and bedded. My first beast season was a dud.

And so began beast year 2
This was the first year I hunted the Rock.

Rock is as Road that leads to very large ancient boulders on public ground. Four wheelers are a constant thing in the area.

I hunted this area November 9th afternoon and had a buck come just to my left as it got dark i moved my lone wolf 75 yards. overlooking a creek funnel on a very steep bluff.

It had several fresh scrapes going right through the funnel and a buck bed nearby on the bluff. I hung my stand where I had seen the buck and left the area.

I came back the next morning it was a warm morning and light rain a cold front coming in. I arrived at 5am and walked to my tree climbing up at around 5.45.

Just after daylight here come a buck right through the funnel and began uphill torward his bed. I was really high up 10 feet above the bluff which was probably 25 feet up.

The buck walked the same trail I'd seen him on the previous afternoon. My muzzleloader fired and the buck ran to his bed and laid down .

In a pouring rain I walked over to the buck bed and their sat a 8 point. Naming him was easy. The Rock.

This buck I never put on the beast but was a buck I remember well.

I did shoot another buck from this stand that was bigger but never found him a month later.

Rocks been good to me killed 2 bucks in 3 sits to this day. The area is pressured hard so I rarely hunt it.

Nice buck!

Wasn't much of a story or long but it was successful.
Which is what he wanted in the thread title.

[backstraps]

More of the discussion around here seems to center around evenings, but with my work schedule I can only hunt 3 evenings a week, while I can hunt almost every morning. Since only hunting three days a week is definitely not an option, I had better figure out how to hunt mornings better! Looking for some more in depth success stories and strategies for morning hunts. If I had to I could push it till probably 3 pm most any day I needed to, but not everyday. Most of the public around here (southeast Nebraska) is small ag pieces, anywhere from 50-500 acres with around 200 being the norm. I have read thru all of the all time tactical threads (great way to kill time at work). They are gold, I have actually read most of them multiple times. Dove pretty deep with the search function as well. Hoping for some more of that great tactical discussion that the beast is known for. 22 days till season!! Thanks folks.

I think most of the discussion concerning evening hunting here is due to the timing of the hunt.

Most everyone is eager to get the season started and get in there and tag a buck. But morning hunting for most in the early season does more harm than good.
A buck has to be on his feet in daylight hours to kill him and more often than not, a mature buck is back to bed prior to sun up during early season. So getting tight as possible to his bed to catch his first steps prior to darkness is vital.

Now once the early season turns into pre-rut many guys will begin morning sits as well as evening. Then naturally on into the rut the am sits turn into all day sits.

A lot of hunters will also hunt rut stand sites early season, because those stand sites are what they grew up knowing where to hunt.
Throughout the season, not only does the “when to hunt” change so does the “where to hunt” change.

If morning sits is all you have available, then you have to swing the bat when you can. Not all bucks follow a script and can be caught and killed first light. Just have to find what works for you. Best of luck this season!

You said that a lot of guys sit rut stands early because that is what they know. I am curious if you could expand on this: what kind of areas would you target in early season that you would not target during rut? I realize this is kind of a broad question, hoping for just an example or two.

I think of it like this...early season a buck’s travel route in daylight is limited and specific. To catch him on his feet during daylight will mostly consist of travel to and from bedding and food/water.

So early season I want to guess where he will be going when he gets up during last light and moves. I try to set up close to his bed as possible in hopes he exits towards my guess. Often times a well used buck bed will have an exit trail, that may lead to a clue as to where he is going.

Food sources can draw a shooter out in daylight hours, especially during early season when acorns begin falling. Food sources like acorns (around me) are mostly on hilltops. These can be several hundred yards from bedding. Setting up in between suspected bedding and acorns early season can be hot! These are the types of stand sites that rut hunting setups are different from.


During the rut, we know a buck can be anywhere! Anywhere doe scent or a hot doe will take him. So having a better chance at a buck during the rut, means narrowing the woods down. Those tight pinch points directing travel through an area. Cruising lanes, top of deep cuts, parallel trails, etc

These sites are what I meant by many hunt these rut spots all season long, hoping to catch a buck on his feet during daylight. I mean “it can” happen but id bet when it happens they’re close to an early season bed and not even know it.

I have to change my set ups according to whats going on during the time frame I'm hunting throughout the season.

[DhD]

After the above story I found the beast and began to understand how bucks traveled and bedded. My first beast season was a dud.

And so began beast year 2
This was the first year I hunted the Rock.

Rock is as Road that leads to very large ancient boulders on public ground. Four wheelers are a constant thing in the area.

I hunted this area November 9th afternoon and had a buck come just to my left as it got dark i moved my lone wolf 75 yards. overlooking a creek funnel on a very steep bluff.

It had several fresh scrapes going right through the funnel and a buck bed nearby on the bluff. I hung my stand where I had seen the buck and left the area.

I came back the next morning it was a warm morning and light rain a cold front coming in. I arrived at 5am and walked to my tree climbing up at around 5.45.

Just after daylight here come a buck right through the funnel and began uphill torward his bed. I was really high up 10 feet above the bluff which was probably 25 feet up.

The buck walked the same trail I'd seen him on the previous afternoon. My muzzleloader fired and the buck ran to his bed and laid down .

In a pouring rain I walked over to the buck bed and their sat a 8 point. Naming him was easy. The Rock.

This buck I never put on the beast but was a buck I remember well.

I did shoot another buck from this stand that was bigger but never found him a month later.

Rocks been good to me killed 2 bucks in 3 sits to this day. The area is pressured hard so I rarely hunt it.

Nice buck!

Wasn't much of a story or long but it was successful.
Which is what he wanted in the thread title.

It's helpful, I'm trying to build confidence in morning set ups. Thank you!

[SplitG2]

I used to be the same way several years ago. I liked mornings but I was an evening hunter. It was just overall an easier hunt but eventually I came around to mornings. Everyone is gonna have their keys to success for morning hunts but my key is early, early and early.

Anytime I’m morning hunting, no matter what time of the year, typically I’m in a tree no later than 90 minutes before daylight, earlier if I can. I do this for several reasons. I love to just sit and listen to the woods in the pitch black, you can hear a lot of sounds you otherwise don’t hear or rarely hear in daylight. I love to watch the woods come alive as light begins to brighten. The biggest thing tho is because I like to make my entry when I “think” they are most likely to still be out feeding and nowhere near their bed just yet and I can slip in the back door and just wait. I love mornings now and prefer them over evenings late October to mid December.

[Ahawk116]

I’ve killed most of my target bucks in the mornings due to my availability as well.

Almost all of them in the month of October, so this strategy works during that time frame down south. It’s probably earlier out in your neck of the woods.

What I do is scout all off season to find specific bedding areas. After I find all that I can I then narrow the morning hunts down to the ones that are close (within 100 yards) to oak ridges. In the month of October is when the majority of our acorns drop. Scarlett, and northern red oaks the earliest (late sept), white oaks slightly later, water, and willow oaks are the latest (on into December).

Knowing that info helps me time my hunts because the disadvantage of the mornings in my eyes is simply that it’s is very difficult to scout your way in, so you are in a sense going in blind.

Ideally I’ll sit high on a leeward ridge above bedding and they’ll work up towards me. You can sit below, but the gig is up as soon as the thermals switch, and most of my bucks have been killed between 10-1130.

It worked twice last year.

October 12th we had a west wind and a cold front. I was in a red oak next to a white oak that had just started dropping acorns at the very top of the ridge. It was the only one dropping in the area. About 945 the buck I was after stood up out of his bed about 115 yards down the ridge from me and worked his way up to me for a shot. I hit a branch I did not see and missed about a foot over his back.

Two weeks later on October 22nd I was at the top of a ridge where a whole bunch of acorns were dropping. (Different property) The side of the ridge is really high stem count and has a bunch of beds. About 1025 in the morning a couple of my target bucks got In a fight below me, and the loser of the two ran by me at 1047 in the morning and I shot him at 7 yards.

I can’t post pics on here, but that’s how I hunt mornings from sept 30th-early November.

[brkissl82]

I would love to hear some more morning tactics for big bucks. I hear Cody (I know hes the bad guy) talking about how most of his success is early October mornings. I would love to hunt more mornings but they always seem less productive. Almost like I'm ruining a spot by going there in the am