Anyone hunt mid day?
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: RangerJ
18-Nov-17
Does anyone hunt mid day during the rut?
From: Fulldraw1972
18-Nov-17
I did some this year. I seen 2 different whitetail bucks and a Muley buck chasing does between 1 and 2. We also spotted a whitetail in a standing corn field. From high ground he was pretty easy to see when standing.
I didn’t have any deer come by my stand however a couple friends did. One particular friend had a really good buck come by at 2:30 in the afternoon.
From: drycreek
18-Nov-17
Just on the colder days. I saw some deer moving around noon, but mostly our temps have been too warm to be chasing tail with a fur coat on. I normally hunt until ten or eleven anyway.
From: Bou'bound
18-Nov-17
Yes some do Nothing to lose
From: HerdManager
18-Nov-17
After Nov 1, I sit all day when I can. Have killed many deer during mid day.
The people who say deer don't move mid-day are the people who don't sit all day.
From: Hawkeye
18-Nov-17
If wind is right and I can get into a thicket .. absolutely!! Saw 13 bucks between 11-1 last year on the 13th. Granted it has also been dead at times but if I'm off and wind is right ..and peak time of year then it can be awesome.
From: Paul@thefort
18-Nov-17
The full moon was on Nov 4th this year. While I had seen good deer moment in and early am and later pm, Nov.7th I decided to be in the stand at 12 moon. An hour later, a doe shows up and behind here was a decent 4x4 trailer back at 30 yards. The doe got down wind of me and spook taking the buck with her. While it makes a long day in the tree stand, sometime it will pay off, especially during the peak of the rut and maybe with a full moon.
From: Paul@thefort
18-Nov-17
The full moon was on Nov 4th this year. While I had seen good deer moment in and early am and later pm, Nov.7th I decided to be in the stand at 12 moon. An hour later, a doe shows up and behind here was a decent 4x4 trailer back at 30 yards. The doe got down wind of me and spook taking the buck with her. While it makes a long day in the tree stand, sometime it will pay off, especially during the peak of the rut and maybe with a full moon.
From: GF
18-Nov-17
Up in MN, second week of Nov is rifle season; our camp filled more tags in the three hours between 10 and 1 than in the first and last 1 1/2 hours of daylight combined.
JMO, if you have the opportunity to be on stand this time of year and you don’t take it, you don’t deserve a deer!
From: Bowboy
18-Nov-17
I've shot all my biggest deer during the midday timeframe.
From: mfg bowyer
18-Nov-17
I also have shot my biggest bucks between 11 AM & 2 PM.
From: Harv
18-Nov-17
I will be out every chance I get between 10-3, had many opportunities and have killed a few nice deer during those times. Still hard not to be there at daybreak though so usually it’s a long sit for me.
From: Bowfinatic
18-Nov-17
Yes have seen many mature deer moving midday during the rut. I sit as much as possible during that time. Killed my largest buck at 1:00
From: Bentshaft
18-Nov-17
All the time in November
From: Franklin
18-Nov-17
I learned very early about mid day hunts...as a carpenter I was wondering why we would see all these bucks running around the subdivisions (old farm properties) at noon during the rut. Crawl in the stand at 10 sit til dark. These spots should be in the thick stuff....stuff you can`t get into in the dark....these deep bedding areas are where the bucks will search.
From: Woods Walker
18-Nov-17
The biggest bucks I've killed have been after 10AM. During the rut if I'm hunting the whole day I stay in the woods all day. Not necessarily in the same area, but definitely in the woods. You can't kill them from the sofa or the booth at the cafe.
From: carcus
18-Nov-17
My favorite time in the stand during the rut is mid day, i get in at 9 or 10 and sit till darkness
From: TGbow
19-Nov-17
A lot of hunters miss out on deer between 10 to 2. Especially on a full moon.
From: lawdy
19-Nov-17
Midday I am working. Get out on Sundays, or after work. That's all.
From: Will tell
19-Nov-17
After November I don't go out till 9 AM and stay till about 3PM. You see a lot of Bucks moving during that time. Missed a huge Buck this year at 1PM. It was the only deer I saw that day.
From: cnelk
19-Nov-17
Ive seen the factor of the increased sightings at mid-day is that many others are leaving their stands and are bumping the deer without realizing it [This would be on public land or locations near neighboring property]
From: Woods Walker
19-Nov-17
I have too cnelk. That is VERY much a factor, especially during gun season. Very cold days are also good for this, in that many guys get too cold after a few hours on stand and will start to move.
From: buc i 313
19-Nov-17
2 x TGbow
From: Woods Walker
19-Nov-17
3X TGbow. Deer are ruminants. Ruminants feed every 6 hours or so. Obviously weather is a factor in this schedule, but shy of extreme conditions, deer feed about 4 times a day.
The 2 times that they're most visible to people is at the beginning and end of the day, which is when we see them in fields or edges, or traveling to and from such visible feeding areas. This is also where many hunters put stands.
But deer DO feed in the middle of the day and in the middle of the night also. In the middle of the night most people don't see them because they are asleep and well.....it's DARK! But many times I've been driving home at midnight-ish and see deer BEDDED in cut grain fields. They did their evening feed and because it's dark then and no one bothers them they just "stayed at the table" and waited until breakfast.
After the morning feed they head back to cover as we all know. But 6 hours later they will get up and feed again in the cover, and then bed down again. That's why I like to stay out all day if I can and especially if I can slip into the kind of cover where I think they might be.
On full, bright moon nights they may end their morning feed before most hunters get there and certainly before shooting hours as it's getting light. But on these kind of nights the mid day feed may be a tad earlier.
If you can watch cattle, they do the same type of thing, except they aren't hiding. Cows will bed right in the fields where they fed that morning and then about 6 hours later will get up and feed again at mid day.
From: Ace of Spades
19-Nov-17
I’ve had quite a bit of mid day success and seen many bucks moving mid day. If i have the time I like to sit all day during the rut.
From: Arrowhead
19-Nov-17
Yes, but it depends. Some hunts for me are over before 8 am. Sometimes I don't expect to see a deer until after 9 am. I have been known to move several times a day to get the wind right. Each move for me is a hunt. Sometimes the move itself is a hunt. One of my biggest was killed at 1 pm. On that day I was there before daybreak and sat still until the buck came by to check on the does.
From: BigOk
19-Nov-17
Did an all day hunt today, saw 3 bucks between 1- 1:30.
From: NEIAbowhunter
19-Nov-17
I usually only sit all day once or twice a season. Usually I have a lull from 11-1 where I only see a couple deer. 2 years ago I got down and when I came back at 1 I bumped the biggest deer I've ever seen in that woods. 12 pt with like 6 does about 80 yards from my stand. This year the rut is so screwed up it seems I'm not seeing the deer I usually do but on my all day sits I've had action all day. Most the does been coming through at 12:30.
From: rooster
20-Nov-17
This year I didn't go out until 9:00 am on Nov 2 Killed my buck at 10:00. Prior to that I killed my best buck at the time at 2:00 pm while doing an all day sit. I saw and photographed 5 other bucks after that.
From: Bowriter
21-Nov-17
Have killed many at midday. Most of the bucks I have killed that exceed book minimums, I have killed between 9 and 1. I say most, probably closer to 40%. Killed one yesterday at 2:30. This time of year, here in the South, on cold days, (it was 19 night before last,) I see a lot of midday movement. My yard deer did not start moving until about noon, yesterday.
From: scentman
21-Nov-17
4 of my largest bucks were taken from 10:30 am till 2:00 pm during the rut... so, yes to your question scentman
From: Charlie Rehor
21-Nov-17
In the fall Deer consume a lot of green vegetation to get vitamin K which is a coagulant to help with clotting wounds. Browsing these green plants in the woods is common. Hunt whenever you can:)
From: SBH
21-Nov-17
During the rut...absolutely. All day if you can.
From: TREESTANDWOLF
21-Nov-17
11/3-11/13 as much as possible, it tough but someone has to do it. :)
From: Bowriter
21-Nov-17
treestandwolf-why is it tough? I like it, sleep late, hunt in the sun.
From: Mr.C
21-Nov-17
best bucks in the woods are taken from 10 to 2 so ive been told record books sorta indicate that as well
From: Hunting5555
21-Nov-17
Shotgun season here in Illinois is pretty telling. Lots of shooting first light. Then lot more shooting between 8 and 10. Most likely from guys leaving their stands. Then many times you will hear several shots from 11:00 to 1:00. Then shooting picks back up between 3 to dark. That pattern has been pretty consistent whether hunting here at home or the several years we went down to the Shawnee Forest.
From: Muskrat
22-Nov-17
I charted 100s of photos a couple of seasons ago over a 3 month period from 6 different cameras at food plots or feeders and the results indicated that if I wanted to see deer at those locations I shouldn't bother being there between 10 am and 3:30 pm. There were very few sightings in that time period, and 100's from dawn until 9:30 and 4pm til dark. Moon phase and temperature appeared to have no effect. Also, the vast majority, and I mean vast, of sightings of bucks that appear to be more than 2 1/2 years old were between 9pm and 4 am (dark). Now, that being said, 3 of the biggest bucks I have seen while hunting on the property in the last 30 years were all at 12 noon!
