Of all the years of hunting, 25, I have hunted the edges of morning and evening with a rifle, occasionally hunting a long morning. Now with a recurve I am thinking that I need to be hunting the midday too? Are bigger bucks traveling at midday? Are the beasts nocturnal mostly....
Do I hunt the midday always or just after a new moon, or weather that keeps 'em bedded down all night?
What do you guys do? What have you guys experienced? THANKS!
-HPF
If you do hunt mid day, make sure you get close to bedding areas. If you hunt a field edge mid day, you won't see much. The deer usually get up and mill around a little bit mid day, but they don't usually stray far from their beds unless of course you are near the rut.
Mid-day rut can be great here in KS. There are about ten days a year where I will hunt all day if I can. The biggest buck I saw this year was at 11:45A; and that is pretty typical. The week of the peak I hunt the does/doe core areas. Bucks will be cruising the thick stuff down wind or quartering into their hip. Funnels are always good, but particularly the week before and after the peak estrous.
Those are my observations. . .
Just prior to the rut peak to just after - I'm in the stand for the duration of the day - I have a tendency to see the biggest of the big in that period from 10 - 1.
My 23 cents worth......
+1 to what was said above. During peak rut I'll hunt all day close to the doe beds. Your looking for cruising bucks that can't wait until afternoon to get up and check for an estrous doe. Other than rut though, I won't hunt all day, just am/pm.
I would suggest you find a trail leading to the thickest nastiest place in your woods. Go in first thing in the morning and sit all day. I use to hunt morning and evenings with good luck but this year I started sitting all day and wow I have had more deer in range (1-30yd)this year than ever before! but to answer your question yes I saw most of the big bucks around mid day!
During the rut, a big buck will be up and about chasing does. If they didn't, we would hardly ever see them. I start spending a lot more time in the woods when the rut comes on, all day if I can stand it. If I can't stay in one place, then I move to another stand or ground blind. I never killed one while in on the couch so I try to stay out as much as possible. I have killed a few nice ones at times that were a lot closer to mid day than the usual morning and evening hunts. Any time in the woods improves our chances but fighting the bordom if you aren't seeing anything can be tough at times.
My biggest buck I shot at around 11:30 am. I was seeing him every day just to far away. It was easy to put 11 hours into being outside all day when you know one is there in your area.
Good luck!
I've seen the biggest bucks midday....
Have to agree with the others that I find some of the best hunting mid day during the rut.
Haven't really given other times (early season/late season) a fair shake to be able to comment.
In my hunting area the bedding and feeding areas are almost one in the same. Might be a few hundred yards apart. That's close. During mid day still hunts I'll skirt the heaviest cover and use the wind (that changes on me :eek: alot) to my advantage.
See, to me anytime is a good time to be in the woods. Don't think the deer read the same books we do. ;) Best Of Luck!
... mike ...
QuoteOriginally posted by hayslope:
Just prior to the rut peak to just after - I'm in the stand for the duration of the day - I have a tendency to see the biggest of the big in that period from 10 - 1.
My 23 cents worth......
If deer are heavily pressured during the morning and evening for short periods of time, say during gun seasons, they will move during midday. They will only do this for short periods of time though. If they are pressured heavy enough to change their patterns for long they'll leave the area all together.
on nov. 14th of this year my wife killed her first deer a very nice public land 8 pointer(it was with my 7mm-08) but it was at 10:15am and it was looking for the doe he thought was there! we packed in before daylight and set up for a all day hunt...
I alway stay as long as I can close to bedding areas durning rut and that is when I have killed my biggest bucks. My wife checked our camera's yesterday and said she had 3 different 8 points on one camera all between 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM on different days.
Keith
During the rut - yes - as folks have said. I would even take it a step further. If you only have a limited time to hunt during the rut, I would choose mid day about other times.
I've shot all of my biggest bucks between 11 and 1. And usually see a nicer one right after the shot.
Ok. 11,000 acres to hunt basically with my hunting buddy. We have some serious ground to cover now that we both are archers. Big big bucks spotted last weekend. We drove into a bedding area adjecent to a pecan orchard. Two bucks got up, jumped the fence nearby, and trotted off. They literally were the biggest deer I've witnessed personally...2 monsters. Now to get set up on them.....they were in the thickest of the thick stuff.
Ive seen so many deer from 10-2 when most people go into eat or take a break. I usally pack a lunch and sit for the day. You owe it to your self to give it a try you wont be sorry.
Can't get them if your not out there. I would say at this time of the year you can't tell when they will move and feed, if it's cold they will get up and move more often.
From my experience. Mid day hunts are best during the peak of the rut / lock down phase. When my buck sightings start slowing down around the middle of November, I adjust my hunts to cover more mid day hours.
i got a nice buck at 10 in the morning responded to ratteling, the younger bucks seemed to come in around late afternoon... just some things i noticed this season.
best time to hunt is.... the whole day if you can. i've seen big bucks at all times of the day. that being said, when pre-rut and the rut are going on, mid day activity increases. deer eat 4-5 times a day, twice during the night, at dawn and dusk, and once mid-day. alot of their feeding patterns change when rutting activity starts. when it's not the rut, even if deer are more nocturnal they still feed at least once during the day, and the dawn and dusk feeding times move an hour or so earlier and later, so it's hard to see them or get a shot at them. so all this being said, mid-day hunting can always be good. best bet though is to do what i started this post with..... hunt all day
most of the time i don't because i like to come in and eat, shower, take a nap, play with the dog or whatever. but when the ruts starting i'm out there alot more often and longer hunts :)