1 hr before first light....Min of 45 minutes...Green Light on always going in or out after dark ~~ Nothing like watching the morning unfold.
I'm rarely in the stand during bow season more than 15 minutes before shooting light. Over the years, I have learned that not going in early is a safer move than trying to get on stand during the dark. I hunt mostly late moving deer (80% of sightings are 8-10AM) and have only seen a handful of deer in my career at first light. I do hunt another farm that warrants going in early for a couple spots and when I hunt those, I'm on stand 30 minutes before legal light. When it comes to gun hunting, I generally still hunt in during the mornings. I don't trust people and I could really care less if I shoot something (most times) so I'm not in "super hunter" mode. I just lay back and let it all work itself out...
I thought the same thing Jesse.. I always got in the stand about 15 min before because i didn't see deer until 9:00-10:30 anyway... So that's what I did for the longest time.. Rarely if ever did I see a deer right at daylight or a little after...
Then I started hunting up with JD.. He would drop me off and then drive to his stand on a dif property. Coincidentally I was in the stand sometimes an hour or more before daylight. And I saw deer right at daylight, before daylight, and all the way through 10:30+... Later in the season I started driving to the place myself and getting in the stand about 30 min before daylight... Back to not seeing deer till 8:30+.. hmmmmm.. It was enough to convince me that I should be in my stand an hour before daylight... So I started about there. And wala.. Started seeing more deer at daylight.. Granted there are a ton of deer up there. But still.. When i would get to my standard 15-30 min before i didn't see deer at daylight at all... If i was in an hour before i always saw deer right at the crack of legal time. Enough to make me say I'll always be in a stand an hour before light now.