Am hunt a bust??
Connecticut
Now that... Hold on its hard for me to say this.. Ok here we go.. Now that the rut is over deer patterns obviously have changed.. I keep reading and hearing the am hunt is a waste of time. If your going to get a good shot at a deer between 10-1 and then from 3 till sunset is your best chance.. As most of you know this is my first season hunting and I'm curios what you veterans of the sport have to say.. The guy who's spent more time in the woods than I have on this planet.. Just looking for some late season tips.. I have Friday and Monday off and this is going to be my last hard hit of the woods..
Shawn,
As the weather gets colder, and in particular, after the stress of the rut deer tend to move more during the warmer periods of the day. Personally, I've found this to be more frequent during the really cold months of the year so in December I continue to hunt the mornings and over the years with a good deal of success.
There are a lot of factors to consider as well; is the area you hunt one that holds deer (has suitable bedding areas) or is it more of an area of opportunistic feeding that the deer cycle through between bedding. One area I've always had better results in the morning is just such a place; the deer bed in a swamp bottom near the property overnight and then funnel through the property in the morning hitting the oaks. After breakfast they exit the property and bed in a stand of thick pines and cedars off the property. They afternoon/early evening feeding occurs in hardwoods between that morning bedding area and the evening bedding area.
Hopefully, out of this you've gotten a sense that I put a lot of scouting time in to determine what the deer are doing, especially when and where. I can't emphasize enough that your hunting success is directly proportional to the time you put in scouting to really understand how deer use a property.
Good luck the rest of the year and don't forget that early to mid-Dec you'll see a decent amount of secondary rut activity.
I've been seeing deer pretty regular in the mornings lately from the stand. Saw five yesterday morning about 7:30. Seeing lots of little bucks moving just before and just after sunset on my cams. Hunting from 10-1 in CT is a complete waste of time outside of peak rut in my opinion. There are always exceptions, but I wouldn't count on it.
Its not cold enough yet to see any "trying to stay warm" activity. Once it gets to sub zero temps, then the south facing slopes blah, blah, blah. Just focus on Acorns. First two hours, last two hours.
I hunt mornings a lot more than evenings. I love mornings. More activity IMO. Now that it's getting cold and with a second rut coming, get out there when you can. I like 26-34* to get them moving and being able to hear them walking, without totally freezing your ass off. It's also the perfect time to call IMO. Mostly doe bleats since the does are grouping up again, but it will bring in lone bucks too. Calls on a crispy day carry further. Of course snow will help too if you have it, for seeing them and for scouting good trails. I'll be out in the morning waiting to hear...CRUNCH, CRUNCH, CRUNCH.
I'm not as seasoned as some of the guys on here but with over 16 years of experience and 150+ outings a season late in the year everything is a toss up. I've shot and and killed several nice bucks late season and including January on morning hunts. Last season I missed a giant at one of my spots The second to last day of the Season on a morning hunt, this is a buck that we have been after for 5 seasons. I saw over 30 deer that morning. Sure many mornings are a bust as movement occurs at night and mid day but anytime you could be on stand increases your odds 100%.
Biggest buck I've ever shot was at 1:00 PM, but only because I had passed up several shots at him earlier in the day on previous sits.
No shortage of activity 10:00-1:00 for me.... that was late in rifle season.
2nd half of December, I've seen more at dawn-7:00 or so and 3:00 onward. Last January, it was last light when I saw the two deer that I did find.
JMO, in the 'burbs, you have to work the human traffic schedule. Especially school buses...
I am a 80 % morning hunter in January they don't like to move till after 830 Steve
One other thing on AM's... If you hunt areas that have human pressure - not just hunters, I'm talking hikers, bird watchers, etc... The AM's tend to have more activity I think. The deer just feel a bit safer closer to dark I think.
