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Post by dadfsr on Sept 29, 2014 7:41:44 GMT -5
I'm somewhat of an early riser so getting to the stand up to an hour before shooting light is just part of being in the woods and taking in the glory of watching Mother Nature at her best-everything waking up to a new day!
I'm especially early for spring turkey-that allows me to easily adjust positions according to where the local old toms may have decided to roost the night before. I have roosted toms the night before but have also kicked them off the tree when leaving...have also wondered if I wasn't quite as silent or invisible as I thought that evening and may have kept an old tom from coming in?
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Post by firstwd on Sept 29, 2014 16:05:51 GMT -5
Now, waterfowl is a completely different story. There have been times that I have been on the water 3 hours before legal light. Get in, move slow, keep quiet, take a nap and wake up to the whistle of incoming wings. Amazing!
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Post by shouldernuke on Sept 29, 2014 20:38:25 GMT -5
Actually I have found that If I get there around 15-30 mins prior to first shooting light I am fine and it has not effect the results as far as I can tell at all . I been doing it that way a long time . I used to get there 1-1.5 hours before the hunt and honestly it was a youth or just passed down from hunter to hunter myth thing about how to deer hunt or it was just excitement of the hunt was all . FYI I have developed my hunting mornings pattern on my property now to only starting around the Halloween and then through the first 3 weeks of Nov. Then the hunt switches back to strictly evening as it was before Halloween .My mature buck hunting success sky rocketed when I started hunting this way about 25 - 30 years ago and it changed everything in the woods for me ...Good luck this year . Biological Deer fact many hunters do not know or just forget is this -- Deer see at night in the dark almost as well as we see in daylight "why the deers eyes/pupil's are so large and reflect light back at us at night" .Thier vision is set up to see any movement and recognize it at long distances .So we are not hiding from the deer by moving in to hunt in the dark we are just hiding from ourselves or other hunters is LMAO.... Two of the best morning hunts I have ever had and took very large mature bucks on in Nov. I wlked to my stand 30 min after first shooting light and killed them both withing about 30 -45 mins after climbing up and setting down .Neither were on a doe they were simply walking through the area.. That's cool whatever works for you, but I think you're missing the point on getting to a stand early. When and if I hunt in the mornings I like to be an hour early for many reasons, none of them being using the darkness to sneak in so a deer can't see me...that's ridiculous. Can't say I've ever heard a hunter getting to a stand early so deer can't see them. I had a buddy that used that excuse of waiting until 30 minutes after first light, but later he admitted he was scared of the dark. After he seen me knock down a few 140-155 in deer at first light in November, he bought a flashlight and overcame his fear of walking in woods at darkness. I can tell you this much,I know countless hunters have also killed trophy bucks at first light. I don't always hunt the mornings, but when i do I'm in stand 1hr. before first light, so when hunters who wait until 30 minutes after first light walk in on adjoining properties the push a big buck right to me. FYI I have killed 140 and 150 bucks and a couple 170s too lol its all relative and I just don't need to be there an hour before to kill a big buck at legal shooting light 30 min before time is plenty .What ever floats your boat and I am not afraid of the dark at all .I just been hunting long enough to know what is needed in any hunting situation I am in is all.Good luck this year The few times I arrived at the stand after legal light in morning it was planned that way for one reason or another its rare that I am not on stand before legal light .Misconception is that the woods has time to settle down .Once a hunter passes through an area the scent still remains and so does anything you disturbed for several hours .
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Post by ridgerunner on Sept 30, 2014 4:53:10 GMT -5
That's cool whatever works for you, but I think you're missing the point on getting to a stand early. When and if I hunt in the mornings I like to be an hour early for many reasons, none of them being using the darkness to sneak in so a deer can't see me...that's ridiculous. Can't say I've ever heard a hunter getting to a stand early so deer can't see them. I had a buddy that used that excuse of waiting until 30 minutes after first light, but later he admitted he was scared of the dark. After he seen me knock down a few 140-155 in deer at first light in November, he bought a flashlight and overcame his fear of walking in woods at darkness. I can tell you this much,I know countless hunters have also killed trophy bucks at first light. I don't always hunt the mornings, but when i do I'm in stand 1hr. before first light, so when hunters who wait until 30 minutes after first light walk in on adjoining properties the push a big buck right to me. FYI I have killed 140 and 150 bucks and a couple 170s too lol its all relative and I just don't need to be there an hour before to kill a big buck at legal shooting light 30 min before time is plenty .What ever floats your boat and I am not afraid of the dark at all .I just been hunting long enough to know what is needed in any hunting situation I am in is all.Good luck this year The few times I arrived at the stand after legal light in morning it was planned that way for one reason or another its rare that I am not on stand before legal light .Misconception is that the woods has time to settle down .Once a hunter passes through an area the scent still remains and so does anything you disturbed for several hours . There is no magic bullet to hunting whitetails. Obviously what you're doing works for you. My hunting methods have worked for me with much success also. Deer can move at anytime. There is no cookie cutter methods to killing deer ,many hunter's and many different methods, all can be successful. I just prefer to be in the stand by daylight so when it does get legal shooting time I can shoot. If I'm at home drinking coffee at sunup I might miss that Booner sneaking through. If I'm in the stand hunting at least I know one thing...He either did come through, or he didn't come through at first light. Can't say that if I show up 30 minutes after first light ...especially hunting a bedding areas.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 5:20:47 GMT -5
"There is no magic bullet to hunting"
That pretty much sums it up!
Every tactic will work...every tactic will fail.
In the end we go with what makes the most sense for us in our individual circumstances.
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Post by Woody Williams on Sept 30, 2014 8:07:33 GMT -5
The only absolute in deer hunting is there are no absolutes ....
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Post by drs on Sept 30, 2014 8:32:54 GMT -5
The only absolute in deer hunting is there are no absolutes .... How very true!
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Post by DEERTRACKS on Sept 30, 2014 10:36:57 GMT -5
I always do my morning hunts on the high ground fringes &/or inside high ground bedding areas. I try to be on-stand 1 hr. before sun-up! I have taken many deer being in my perch before they pass thru the fringe &/or bed-down. I get pumped when I hear them come into my set-up area before sun-up. When it gets light I locate them to try to coax em in for a shot &/or just wait em out for their mid-morning movement. I really enjoy the pre-dawn sounds of buck fights, does & yearlings communicating to one another, bucks grunting, the thrashing/crashing thru the woods of bucks chasing does, & the soft footsteps, howling, & barking coyotes interacting with the deer within earshot.
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Post by firstwd on Sept 30, 2014 16:55:34 GMT -5
The only absolute in deer hunting is there are no absolutes .... Now Woody, that's not entirely true. Gravity is an absolute, and if you're elevated without a fall restraint device, it can work on you. :-)
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