I have always been a guy that gets into a morning stand 1/2 hour before shooting light so things can settle down. I know I make a little more noise doing this but I feel like I am not hurried when I leave early. This weekend, I would like to try a new spot but I know it is very thick and do not know where the trail is 100% so I am thinking about leaving the truck right at the crack of daylight so I can get in without making a lot of noise. Would you go early and hope for the best or go late and be able to find your tree?
My choice is to go in with just enough light to be sneaky and not use a flash.
CHuckC
If you don't know the way and it's tough to get in, go as quietly (stalking) first light. 1/2 hour before is still late going in before light. One hour before is better.
Is two even better ?
ChuckC
If I'm hunting a food source in the morning I get in an hour before legal shooting time. If it's a travel route I get in a little later.
I also use my trail cams to help me out with this.
Stumbling around in the dark does more harm than good. If you can't sneak in silently, wait for pink light.
one hour ahead is best. I always say I don't plan to shoot the ones there who are there in the dark. I want to shoot the ones there at 1st light. Yes I will bump deer in the dark But I never bump deer at first lilght
If I know right where I'm going and im expecting action or its a hot spot I go in around A half hour early. Being at my stand site.
If it's a new spot and I only been there once or something I go in just as I can see Around barley with no light. It much easier to see The land for what it is and pic the right tree. Idk how many times I have gone in fresh and picked a poor spot or tree because I didn't know where to set up. If I would have waited till I could have seen better I would have picked right spot.
Now this is getting to the area not the walk in. So you have to time it. Idk how far you have to walk as I hunt public land.
Another thing is we almost never see deer right off the bat in the morning. It's alwYs a little later. Only time I have deer right at day break is the rut and rifle season because guys are bumping them walking in.
I think you should go in early still. The problem is you aren't using the right flashlight. Get a new lithium battery light that has a very low setting on it. You can see that noisy stick and avoid it and the low setting isn't bright enough to ruin your night vision.
Check this thread out.
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=131998;p=1
What time you go in should be determined by where the deer are pre-dawn. I normally walk in just as it is getting light. I make less noise and don't have to be shining a light everywhere. I rarely bump a deer as most of my deer are still out in corn and soybean fields off my property feeding. In my younger days I was one of those who would climb into a stand one hour before sunrise. Not necessary where I now hunt.
Depends on the circumstances. Behind my house if I bump them in the dark I won't see anything that morning so I go in at first light hunting all the way. If I see something I have an opportunity to put a stalk on them. There are disadvantages to that as well. In daylight a deer bedded uphill can see me come in and bolt. But I've tried it both ways here and found first light is the better option.
Everywhere else I go in before light. I use a red or green light and it doesn't disturb the deer. I've walked up on deer in the dark using them, and a skunk once as well. :scared:
I've done it both ways for a lot of years, well, not so much in the past 20, and haven't found it makes a difference, but I definitely spook fewer deer going in at first light. I hunt big woods and usually my stands are quite far in so I can start walking in the dark, but it's gray light by the time I'm a couple hundred yards from my stand.
Keep shooting hours in mind, too. For example, in my state, they're one-half hour before sunrise to one-half hour after sunset. If you're sitting in your stand with a strung bow before or after those times, you're hunting illegally.
On public land, I try to get ahead of the crowd. A half hour before sunrise has always worked for me. However, the older I get, the tougher its gets to get out of bed on cold, windy days. Good luck and be safe. :campfire:
I'm a 1/2 hour early person as well, sometimes a little earlier depends on the stand.
I walk in, in the dark, and on evening stand I walk out in the dark. I do comply with the 1/2 hr rules here in WI.
I normally get to my spot a half hour to an hour before sun up. I don't ever see deer at sun up it is usually much later but I enjoy watching the woods come alive when the sun rises.
My stands are all on private property and set up permanent. I go to the stand in the morning 1hr before actual sunrise time, which is about 30 minutes before first light.
Bisch
I use a light, and I don't think it affects the hunting. I try to get to my stand about 1 hour before first light.
I am an early guy, as well.
I hunt when I can. I will go in before light if possible but if i can only get to the woods after it starts getting light out, I still go.
I have seen deer both ways. If you are unfamiliar with where you are heading, I would wait for a little light. You can track up an area pretty good laying scent down looking for the perfect spot. Everything seems to look different in the dark.
I used to always want to be at my site before first light. I walk in at first light more often now. To really take advantage of walking in while dark you need to arrive early.
I have found at least an hour before first light a minimum for me or its not worth it. This year hunting on the ground its been mostly walking in with just enough light to see.
If I feel like I am on to something special I would want to be there extra early.
Well, I guess I am just different. I hunt the ground, sometimes in a ghillie, some times in flannel and bibs. I used to be the hour before first light guy. However, over the years I realized I was spooking deer at times even going in that early. Also, I was seeing good shooter deer between 8 and 9 am the most often, and then again from about 10:30 to 12:00.
So now I go in after I have good shooting light - stalk to where my ambush site is and sit for about 2 hours. If I do not see anything, I then stalk to my next hide location - and repeat. I have had the best luck doing this - seeing the most deer.
Bob.
I agree with ChuckC...go in at first light wihtout a flashlight and stillhunt your way in...who knows you just might get a shot while stillhunting your way in...its quite possible as long as you play the wind right. Good Luck and let us know how you make out.
Although I love to be set up before sunrise, if I dont know the area I would head out a lil later and and get a better feel for the lay of the land.
Once I went in early to a new spot and ended up hanging like a scarecrow in a patch of green briars. Just sayin.
1-2 hrs early for me. May spook some but they come back.
I try for a hour before sunrise. Sometimes earlier depending on how far of a ealk I have. I usually use a red or green light to walk in.
I plan on getting to the tree about the time I feel good to shoot an arrow at a deer. I like some light to walk in to stay quiet, and I'm not interested in busting out the pre-dawn doe movement, I'm more interested in shooting the bucks that cruise through a hour later. I don't use a flashlight going into or leaving a stand (private ground, public different story). But I'm finding I must not be "hard core" enough....the guys hunting around my area seem to be in 2 hours before daylight and sit all day...I'm not that committed I guess, going in at shooting light, sitting 2-3 hours in the morning, then 2-3 in the afternoon...I just go hunting, have fun, and shoot a good buck or two about every year.... :)
I hunt a lot of public land so I go in at least two hours before daylight and set up on escape routes near bedding areas in heavy cover. I do this to get ahead of other hunters, to keep my locations hidden, and to catch deer that are bumped by hunters that are a little careless in their approach and entry route they take.
I make it a point to have a well thought out approach and exit to my stands and do a lot of prep work in ealry summer so I can sneak in pretty quiet. I once cut a trail with a machette for 3/4 of a mile through the thickest weeds and cattails I have ever seen just so I could approach my stand form a dry creek bed from the opposite side that most hunters enter these woods.
I seldom bust deer back in these areas ..... I believe they are closer to the wheat fields at this time in the morning. This is heavily hunted public land and the deer know the game all to well. It is one of the reasons I started hunting more from the ground and in a ghillie - I found that a large population of the deer avoided areas with trees and were seldom pressured in the huge weedfields, Plum thickets and briar patches I now like to hunt.
I'd rather be an hour early than a minute late
This year it seems like the earlier the better, in the past there were times it seemed like still hunting in at 9am when bucks were in the searching phase was the best.
This year, they seem to be on the prowl at first light.
Good Luck!!!
QuoteOriginally posted by Bisch:
My stands are all on private property and set up permanent. I go to the stand in the morning 1hr before actual sunrise time, which is about 30 minutes before first light.
Bisch
X2
I always move in the dark and I always use a flashlight. The flash light does not bother any animals. If they can see the light they can see you. Plus its a safety thing on heavily hunted public land here in Michigan. Deer don't walk around with headlamps on so hopefully nobody shoots me when I'm going/coming to the stand if I walk by a hunter.
QuoteOriginally posted by ChuckC:
My choice is to go in with just enough light to be sneaky and not use a flash.
CHuckC
I second that motion! Especially while hunting doe haunts during the rut, I never go in before light unless I'm fairly certain I won't spook an animal.Where I hunt which is usually on or near my land. During the pre rut or rut all too often the deer are there before light. For me going in early is way more detrimental than beneficial.All depends on the hunting situation though as to your choice.