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Morning or Afternoon-Evening

Hoytman62

Junior Member
Like to hear from all you hunters whether you think Whitetail Deer hunting is better in the mornings or afternoon-evening times. I'm hearing different opinions. Thanks!
 

teej89

Senior Member
2,288
48
NE PA
COme november, ever second of sunlight!

Depends where you're hunting, I personally love evening hunts cuz I can typically slip in w/o kicking anything up and as time goes on in the hunt the deer hunting is just going to keep getting better and better.
 

ajupsman

*Supporting Member*
811
70
New Hampshire
I prefer evenings most times of the year. However, Halloween thru November I like mornings best. Especially cold mornings. Deer seem to be on the move more during daylight hours in the morning than the afternoon. Get in early and sit tight for as long as you can. An added benefit to morning hunts is if you connect it's much easier to follow a blood trail in the day than at night.
 

CritterGitterToo

Junior Member
375
58
Central Ohio
As a general rule I find it easier to sneak in for afternoon hunts, but I've had some really good morning hunts. Over the past few years I've tried to carefully identify spots with easy access and minimal intrusion as good morning spots.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
I think ive been skunked on about 9 out of 10 morning hunts. I learn slow, so I still try it every now and then but I seem to see more deer in the evenings around here.
 

bluedog

Junior Member
Reading this thread got me to thinking about if my successful hunts have been more in the morning or the evening. Now I know most of you are bowhunters primarily and I gun hunt only, but I've never shot (nor do I want to) a deer off of a deer drive. I can think of one or two deer that I am pretty sure got "pushed" to me inadvertently but all the rest appeared to be moving naturally.

This year I shot my 11th deer. Of those 11, 6 were shot in the morning and 5 were shot in the evening. Of the 6 successful morning hunts, only one deer was shot prior to 9am. The other 5 were shot between 9am and 11:45am. One of the deer I shot at 9am was inadvertently pushed to me by my husband who had to leave the woods early. He never saw the deer but when it walked in front of me, the deer was coming from over where my husband had been sitting. All the others had at least the appearance of moving naturally through the woods. All of my morning sets were well within the woods themselves (as opposed to at the edge of a crop field).

Of the 5 that were shot in the evening, two were shot a couple hours before the end of the shooting time. One was in a group of 9 that I'm pretty sure were pushed over to my farm. The other was in a group of five that came into the field naturally to feed. The other three were all shot much closer to the end of shooting time (the last 30 minutes). All five sets were on the edge of crop fields waiting for deer to come out into the field to feed at night.

For some reason, I always think I am more successful in the evening but I guess that is not really the case. I think maybe it is because I always see more deer in the evening as they come into the fields to feed. They aren't always close enough to shoot though.

Anyone else keep stats like this? I have a friend that has been hunting turkeys for 40 years and hunts multiple states. I don't even remember how many turkeys he has shot, but he has statistics for date and time of day on every turkey. It was fascinating to look it his numbers.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I've killed 20 or so deer with a bow since 2000 and all but 4-5 were killed in the afternoon. All 3 bucks on the way were afternoon kills. I'd definitely prefer evening hunts as far as my success is concerned.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,061
223
Ohio
It all depends on time of year and the area that you're hunting IMO. But for me, I prefer morning hunts. Most of my deer kills have happened on morning hunts. However, "morning" hunts often turn into 10 am - 1 pm deer kills during the rut.
 

Dannmann801

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,640
191
Springboro
I think it's a matter of location and deer patterns. Since I started hunting 6 years ago every deer I have taken has been a morning deer. But I've missed a lot of shots in the evening lmao . The thing I hate about evening sits is waiting and waiting for that last half hour, not knowing if something will happen.

I'm thinking maybe subconsciously I miss on purpose so I don't have to mess with it in the dark.:smiley_crocodile:
 

Dannmann801

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,640
191
Springboro
I typed that whole post on my phone. Not a big deal to you young people, but quite an accomplishment for an older guy.
I like the auto population feature. Now back to the regularly scheduled programming.

I vote morning.
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
I've taken way over 50 deer in the last 48 yrs. I will say over 75% were morning kills. However the 2 biggest bucks I took were right at dark kills. Hmmm