One of my most memorable morning hunts was Oct 6 (early 2000's) in the U.P. where the temps dropped to 19 degrees. All the leaves froze and as the sun came up and melted the frost off the top leaves the water droplets would hit a leaf and that leaf would break off. That leaf would hit 2-3 leaves...and so on and so on. In 15 minutes the entire forest went from full of leaves to bare branches. Sounded like an absolute downpour. Didn't see a deer that day, but saw something that not many people have had the opportunity to observe
I have to agree on the morning bedding hunts. Last year I hunted a stand that is a permanent hang on stand that is primarily an evening bedding hunt, but after getting several pics of a non typical buck using this bedding and coming back into it after daylight I said I’m going in for the kill. So I went in at least an hour and half before daylight. My mistake was I walked the path he used to come into the bedding , he smelled my ground scent and had came in that morning 10 minutes before I could see my pins. He walked all around my stand I could barely make out that it was a buck. I did not want to shoot a smaller buck or risk wounding him. I had a camera he had to walk by. So after he moved off , he didn’t spook but he didn’t stick around either, I got down and checked the camera , it was my target buck. He abandoned that bedding area the rest of the season, why ? Because he then knew he was being hunted.
you said he smelled your ground scent. well over 35 years ago I put my boots in mail rabbit shit and pee I haven't seen even one deer spook from ground scent I sit in a tree stand on average 13.5 yards high that is 40 feet off the ground, I hunt on average 43 different trees a year. lone Woolf self climber at 25 feet I re just my climber as I climb and get to that height every time .I have never used a trail or cell camera ever.i can't stand seeing them every where I hunt. can't weight until every state makes them illegal. and I never use a flashlight of any culler .havent hunted with a gun sense 1987 .I hunt MA NH CT NY VT ME IL I harvested my 222 deer archery bow kill this past season ,I am 62 year's old shot my first deer with a bow in 1976 in VT that last statement you said was spot on .He knows he is being hunted .
When I go in and it's super quiet I like to walk 2 or 3 steps and pause. Takes me about 25 minutes to go 300 yards. Basically trying to mimic what a deer sounds like walking thru.
Get a turkey mouth call and do the soft clucks a hen makes. Turkeys are loud birds if deer are use to them u can practically pet them w right wind. I’ll be adding your strategy to mine for sure
I live in the mountains of Harlan Ky but when I was a kid my father would take us to a family farm out in central Ky, we always hunted morning to dark but we usually only had three days to tag a deer. Now here in the mountains of Harlan I still hunt mornings but rarely. Love yalls content!
Ive had good early season morning hunts on public going deep into a bottom or swamp but making sure im entering from the opposite side that the deer are coming from. Gotta make sure wind is good. And when your down in low ground early season the sound is very muffled with all the leaves still on. Pre scouting is crucial though
I like the mornings in late October, early November for the cold crisp air... you can actually hear and feel the woods waking up! After a rain is a beautiful thing, like walking on carpet lol!!!
Paused at 5:47. Since you want to stay away from calm mornings doesn’t it seem like you should hunt on windy mornings when they can’t hear you approaching their safe area?
The mornings being so quiet is why I'll just sneak in and set up on the ground. I'm in hardwood hills tho. And I soft click on a mouth call going in just after crack of dawn
I think Dan's specifically speaking to killing big bucks, oftentimes a target buck outside of the rutt....more times than not probably public land. Different ballgame.
And Dan's right....there's nothing better than figuring out a deer, and being right....but playing the buck lottery in the rutt is a worthy second for me haha.
Makes a lot of sense most mature bucks in heavily pressured public areas killed in the morning. Is most likely killed because he was bumped from his bed and stumbled across another hunter. Who has accidentally or got lucky enough to set up in his escape route. Good stuff thanks
Opening morning I plan to paddle in at 2am. set up a step ladder and shoot my buck in his bed, across the creek. He beds on the creek and moves up and down it . There's no trees around in the only way I can get up set up correctly is when he's not there...3 years in the making!!!
One of my most memorable morning hunts was Oct 6 (early 2000's) in the U.P. where the temps dropped to 19 degrees. All the leaves froze and as the sun came up and melted the frost off the top leaves the water droplets would hit a leaf and that leaf would break off. That leaf would hit 2-3 leaves...and so on and so on. In 15 minutes the entire forest went from full of leaves to bare branches. Sounded like an absolute downpour. Didn't see a deer that day, but saw something that not many people have had the opportunity to observe
That's awesome! I would have loved to have been there.
Early season a.m. can be great. U just have to have a big cold front come through!
I have to agree on the morning bedding hunts. Last year I hunted a stand that is a permanent hang on stand that is primarily an evening bedding hunt, but after getting several pics of a non typical buck using this bedding and coming back into it after daylight I said I’m going in for the kill. So I went in at least an hour and half before daylight. My mistake was I walked the path he used to come into the bedding , he smelled my ground scent and had came in that morning 10 minutes before I could see my pins. He walked all around my stand I could barely make out that it was a buck. I did not want to shoot a smaller buck or risk wounding him. I had a camera he had to walk by. So after he moved off , he didn’t spook but he didn’t stick around either, I got down and checked the camera , it was my target buck. He abandoned that bedding area the rest of the season, why ? Because he then knew he was being hunted.
you said he smelled your ground scent. well over 35 years ago I put my boots in mail rabbit shit and pee I haven't seen even one deer spook from ground scent I sit in a tree stand on average 13.5 yards high that is 40 feet off the ground, I hunt on average 43 different trees a year. lone Woolf self climber at 25 feet I re just my climber as I climb and get to that height every time .I have never used a trail or cell camera ever.i can't stand seeing them every where I hunt. can't weight until every state makes them illegal. and I never use a flashlight of any culler .havent hunted with a gun sense 1987 .I hunt MA NH CT NY VT ME IL I harvested my 222 deer archery bow kill this past season ,I am 62 year's old shot my first deer with a bow in 1976 in VT that last statement you said was spot on .He knows he is being hunted .
When I go in and it's super quiet I like to walk 2 or 3 steps and pause. Takes me about 25 minutes to go 300 yards. Basically trying to mimic what a deer sounds like walking thru.
Get a turkey mouth call and do the soft clucks a hen makes. Turkeys are loud birds if deer are use to them u can practically pet them w right wind. I’ll be adding your strategy to mine for sure
WOW... I NEEDED TO HEAR THIS!!!!
IM A NEW HUNTER AT 47...GREAT INTELL. THANKS FOR WHAT YOU GUYS DO AND SHARE!!!!!!
I live in the mountains of Harlan Ky but when I was a kid my father would take us to a family farm out in central Ky, we always hunted morning to dark but we usually only had three days to tag a deer. Now here in the mountains of Harlan I still hunt mornings but rarely. Love yalls content!
You do the same thing you do it in the evening you get in there before they get into their bed it’s like doing it reverse of the evening
Ive had good early season morning hunts on public going deep into a bottom or swamp but making sure im entering from the opposite side that the deer are coming from. Gotta make sure wind is good. And when your down in low ground early season the sound is very muffled with all the leaves still on. Pre scouting is crucial though
I like the mornings in late October, early November for the cold crisp air... you can actually hear and feel the woods waking up! After a rain is a beautiful thing, like walking on carpet lol!!!
Paused at 5:47. Since you want to stay away from calm mornings doesn’t it seem like you should hunt on windy mornings when they can’t hear you approaching their safe area?
The mornings being so quiet is why I'll just sneak in and set up on the ground. I'm in hardwood hills tho. And I soft click on a mouth call going in just after crack of dawn
Great info guys
I’m just like Dan I almost never hunt mornings until later in October to quite in the morning I would rather wait and hunt evenings every time
Plus I hunt flat crop land you run deer out of the fields walking in in the mornings very counterproductive and will ruin a good spot
I think Dan's specifically speaking to killing big bucks, oftentimes a target buck outside of the rutt....more times than not probably public land. Different ballgame.
Dan is the man
And Dan's right....there's nothing better than figuring out a deer, and being right....but playing the buck lottery in the rutt is a worthy second for me haha.
Dan is the GOAT
Makes a lot of sense most mature bucks in heavily pressured public areas killed in the morning. Is most likely killed because he was bumped from his bed and stumbled across another hunter. Who has accidentally or got lucky enough to set up in his escape route. Good stuff thanks
Opening morning I plan to paddle in at 2am. set up a step ladder and shoot my buck in his bed, across the creek. He beds on the creek and moves up and down it . There's no trees around in the only way I can get up set up correctly is when he's not there...3 years in the making!!!
If you can hear a guy setting up at a mile I don’t think you have poor hearing.
Idk..I disagree. If you have bucks showing up on camera early season in daylight....I'm gonna go hunt that in the daylight