Texas Hunting Forum

how long

Posted By: michael rice

how long - 10/03/10 03:49 AM

i like to get in my blind at 5:30 am get out at 9:00 then back in at 4:00 pm till 7:00 am i doing it right?

Posted By: h20thief

Re: how long - 10/03/10 11:29 AM

I've hunted that schedule for years and have had pretty good luck. I have stayed all day in a blind as well and didnt see much more than the times you describe. I tend to believe it's more luck that skill on my part.

Posted By: Jake Spoon

Re: how long - 10/03/10 12:11 PM

That schedule is standard procedure, but just keep in mind that you can't kill a good buck watching college football back at camp, although some would make that sacrifice regardless.

The last 3 bucks I killed, were shot outside of those times you mentioned, but the weather on those days were the main reason I decided to sit all day.

I like to sit all day when it is real cold, and misting rain, or freezing rain even. The colder it is, and couple that with some dreary winter weather, I have had more success on days like that. Just bundle up, pack a sandwich or two, etc... Try to make it as comfortable as possible. It's obviously easier in a nice box blind too. JMO

Posted By: Texas Dan

Re: how long - 10/03/10 06:12 PM

If you stay in your stand an hour or two longer in the morning, there's a chance all those hunters who usually leave at 9am will bump something your way.

And a strong ditto to the benefits of staying all day, especially when the rut is on. All the activity of hunters headed back and forth just increases deer movement all the more.

Posted By: stxranchman

Re: how long - 10/03/10 07:16 PM

Originally Posted By: michael rice
i like to get in my blind at 5:30 am get out at 9:00 then back in at 4:00 pm till 7:00 am i doing it right?

If the deer are on this same schedule then you will ok....but like others have said it depends on the weather and I also think the moon phase....I have seen deer around mid-day this last fews days up and feeding.

Posted By: jim1961

Re: how long - 10/03/10 08:31 PM

That is about what I do, I may go earlier in the afternoon

Posted By: Cody Malone

Re: how long - 10/03/10 10:43 PM

45min-1hr before sunrise, sit till movement stops
3hrs before drk

Posted By: LandPirate

Re: how long - 10/04/10 01:42 AM

I generally get in the stand just as a sliver of light begins to break the eastern horizon. I get out about 30 min to 1 hr. after I've seen the last deer movement. I've sat until nearly noon some days.

In the afternoon I'll generally get in the stand around 3-3:30. Unless there's a change in weather. If it's been raining all day and then stops at some point during the day then I'll head to the stand right away. Generally see lots of movement when rain stops.

Posted By: ILUVBIGBUCKS

Re: how long - 10/05/10 01:46 PM

I get to the stand about 1 hour before sunup and usually stay until around 8:30-9:00. Get back in about 3:30 or 4:00 and stay to dark. If I have deer out in the evening, I'll sit until it is pitch dark before getting out of the stand.

Jake Spoon has the right idea. If it is in or near the rut, I'll sit a lot longer and sometimes all day if the weather is good and cold. If it is damp, even better!.

If I have the ranch or part of it to myself, I will sometimes 'stand hop' throughout the day. I'll sit in one for 2-3 hours, sneak into another and do the same, and so on. This seems to work very well as a lot of times there will be a 'hot' doe in a certain area and give you a chance to see different bucks either running her or on her trail. I can remember several times where the 1st and sometimes the 2nd stands I went to were not very productive yet when I got to the next one I saw a bunch of different bucks hot on a doe or scent trailing behind her. Give it a try, it works. Just don't ride a loud 4 wheeler up to the stand and then crawl in. SNEAK IN!

Posted By: T4PL

Re: how long - 10/05/10 07:02 PM

Those times are pretty standard but try staying out a little longer in the morning. College gameday doesn't start until 10am.

Posted By: rifleman

Re: how long - 10/05/10 07:59 PM

I;ve been getting to the stand just as it is getting light enough to see. We are set up where we can get into stands w/o deer noticing anything is going on (or atleast I do). My wife is usually in her stand 20 minutes before I am....(imagine that). Early in season last year I was seeing a lot of deer between 7:30-9:30....as season progressed and the weather got colder, the time crept up to 7:45ish-11. Not a whole lot of action for us in the evenings except for right at dark, but mornings are usually nonstop action.

Posted By: BillingtonRanchTaxidermy

Re: how long - 10/05/10 08:01 PM

I agree on the longer hours for the morning. Shot a nice buck around 10 AM one year and last year I got me a really pretty bobcat right at 11:30AM just as I was getting ready to leave. The moon phases and weather also play a big part in when the animals move.

Posted By: BOBO the Clown

Re: how long - 10/05/10 08:05 PM

TX out the stand by 10 back in at 2-3

northern Oklahoma 90 percent of the time all day

Posted By: rifleman

Re: how long - 10/05/10 08:11 PM

sit tight in cold weather, or if it is misting rain or foggy as heck. They'll get up and move if they are there...eventually.




Posted By: J.R.

Re: how long - 10/05/10 08:18 PM

I take a paperback & sit all day during the rut or during cruddy, cold weather. The two biggest bucks ever killed on our place were killed between 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. during the rut.

Posted By: KennyLee

Re: how long - 10/05/10 08:37 PM

I usually get in about 45 minutes before first light, sit until 9-10am depending on activity, get something to eat, get back in by 11am, stay until 2pm, then get back in at 3pm. During prime weather conditions, I might stay all day and never get out. Depends on the blind.

At one of my places, I don't have blinds, just tripods. Pretty much the same schedule as above, though I tend to go get in a pop-up during the middle of the day.

I don't get many hunting days anymore, so I typically make the most usage out of what I do get. They also usually come one day at a time, so it's leaving FW at 4:30am, driving out, hunting all day, then driving back that night.

In the last 5 years, I've shot a majority of my bucks between 10am and 2pm. In fact, I can only remember one at any other hour and that was at first light when there was no moon. That said, the last few bucks I've shot were the result of stalking, not sitting. I've also passed alot of bucks during evening hunts just because I was tired and didn't want to deal with cleaning them after a long day and a relatively long drive still ahead of me.

A bit off topic, but it seems like every time I start crawling out of my stand I see a deer in the distance once I'm about half-way down. Timing is everything I guess.

Posted By: rifleman

Re: how long - 10/05/10 09:01 PM

I do that...Last season I was on a streak of being 5 for 5 on seeing deer when I decided to take a leak when the action had died down.

Posted By: redseal

Re: how long - 10/05/10 09:52 PM

cloudy cold day i stay till 11 go back eat lunch and then go back at 1 or 2 always get there an hour before shootin light have my feeder set to go off right before good shootin light so it wakes me up if i fall asleep normal days is till 9:30 then back at 3

Posted By: Texas Dan

Re: how long - 10/05/10 10:17 PM

For morning hunts, I usually try to be in my stand an hour before sunrise, which equates to about 30 minutes before first light. I've heard others say they want to be in their stands even earlier or an hour before first light.

Posted By: jcoutdoors

Re: how long - 10/05/10 11:08 PM

Get set up at least 30 minutes before shooting light and try to sit it out to a minimum of 9:00am. I usually keep convincing myself that just 15 more minutes might get me that buck and will play that game until 10am in most cases. Its easier to sit 15 minutes 4 times in a row rather than sit another full hour. LOL
I agree that you should sit tight until at least 1 hour after your last deer sighting.
For the evening I like to have at least 2 1/2 hours of hunting, most movement will be in the last hour unless unseasonably cool.
When hunting in Kansas I almost always hunt until 10 am and try to get back in the stand by 3 pm. I prefer to be setup for the evening by 2pm.

Posted By: bigbuck1

Re: how long - 10/05/10 11:27 PM

A lot of the time I pack a lunch and stay all day. Always stay until 10:30 and back at 3:00. But if the rut is going on it's all day for me.

Posted By: Troutfisch

Re: how long - 10/06/10 12:35 AM

I hunt by a similar schedule, but when the weather is cool and the deer activity is high (the rut for example) I will occasionally sit on stand all day - assuming I packed a lunch and brought some reading material.

Posted By: Ray Ray

Re: how long - 10/07/10 12:21 AM

Guess it depends on the deer movement on your lease, on my lease in east texas we see the deer move all day. I can't tell you the number of times that some guys on the lease head in at 9:30 from thier highline stands with one or two die hards sitting til noon or all day. Those die hards have ended up taking some very nice does and bucks at midday. Last year on youth weekend we had one of the kids take a 165lb 11 point shortly after 11 am and PBJ; what a hunt.

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