Best Time of Day to Hunt Deer?

[mnhunter59]

nice sjohnson. Once had a buck come in and push a dead doe around the field after I shot her with my bow. If he had been close enough I would have taken him too. I guess she was in heat when I shot her. He seemed to be trying to get her to stand up which wasn't an option at that point.

[4thIDvet]

I do not hunt. But down here in North Central Florida, Ocala Forest. Toward evening the deer line the roads eating grass, I guess, for miles.
Florida is one of the states that still allows the use of dogs to hunt deer.
Guys put tracking collars on them. Let them go in an A.O. and wait for the deer to come there way and and kill the poor things.
"Run Bambi Run. Dont look back Bambi. O.K. mom good bye, I love you."

[hcpookie]

Well it really depends on sevearl things. They do move nocturnally to feed, and will bed down by mid-morning and usually stay bedded down for most of the day. THUS morning/evening you'll find them most active. MOST active because of course you just can't predict what pressures a certain area will impose on a herd... other people in the area? Water source? etc... so you need to get the feel for an area before knowing for certain. Of course if they have a good food source like acorns, crops, etc. they may be more likely to feed at the end of the day then bed down, so you could see them more during the evening. So the real answer is "it depends"

Out in my back yard that is adjacent to the pond area, I leave corn for them and they will be out in the mid- to late-evening and all night. I've seen them out there around 3:00 AM. I've not left corn out lately and just saw some both early morning (about 6:30) and evening time. And lots of tracks in my yard! We're not early risers here, so we aren't likely to be up early enough to see them if they are around in the mornings

[4thIDvet]

Yes. I guess when they are hungry they will come out.
I just took this pict. yesterday in my yard.

[FloridaAKM]

RIGHT...............

[Winn R]

Deer don't evaporate and only condense at certain times.

When younger, sneakier, thinner, and in much better shape; I'd only hunt on the ground with a bow. I've shot alot of them bedded. Shot placement is interesting.

But I shot one yesterday for Thanksgiving, from the roof!

[zoom6zoom]

Afternoon makes sense to me... if there was a chance I was going to get shot, I'd sleep as late as possible.

[sjohnson]

Biggest rack I ever saw (didn't get a shot) was JUST at the 30 minutes before sunrise that's legal in SD. Muley with a mile wide, estimated 8x8 rack. I like early morning shots, makes for a football afternoon

[moleman]

I've shot deer at all times of the day. The only doe I've got so far this year was at about 11am, but she and two others were tunning hard like they had been kicked up by someone (headed to lunch). It seems like I've shot the most deer in the first hour of light. There seems to be a lull until about 9-noon when it picks up again then another lull until about 3pm. With all the people in the woods and after a few shots a lot of deer are no longer on the "everything as usual" plan, so what they did last week isn't always going to be what they're doing now. Good luck hunting!

[1biggun]

blacktail and muleys Im going to say 75% in early morning while on foot. the whitetails I hunt now are a whole differnt ball game. 90% guys shoot from stands at all diferant times of the day. I got my doe this year mid morning on foot with the AK pistol on a drive.

My late Grandmother would always say the deer are were you find them and she had the kills to prove it.