Wivestale? Or wisdom?

[Chickencoop96]

I used to hear this said a lot, Especially from old school hunters, but I used to hear from them that a lot of the older age class bucks would get up and move around noon when most hunters were already packing up and leaving the woods. I'm sure there's some truth to it, and it may be a situationally specific thing, but I want to know everyone else's opinion on this.

 

[nso123]

I think a lot of those deer are getting bumped by a hunter leaving the woods.

 

[Winchester]

WISDOM! Mid day is a Great time to hunt, especially from late October on.

 

[Chickencoop96]

I think a lot of those deer are getting bumped by a hunter leaving the woods.

That's kinda what I was thinking. Most of the bucks I've seen or killed have all been around 9 am for whatever reason

 

[Kevin Snook]

I've read where the majority of B&C bucks are killed between 10:00 AM and 2:00 Pm..

 

[Rem7600]

I've read where the majority of B&C bucks are killed between 10:00 AM and 2:00 Pm..

And while walking/ still hunting

 

[Griswold]

Last week of october till it closes be there all day!!

 

[quackaholic]

A deer's digestive system plays a huge part in when they move and when they dont. From what I've gathered over the years is that they have to fill their stomach every so often I order to keep the good bacteria alive that is necessary for digestion. So it depends largely on when the deer fed "heavily" last. Now they dont have to move far to get a bite. But they do move. I wonder more why it seems they are primarily night movers during the middle part of October. And weather really isn't the issue nor do I think it's hunting pressure. I see the same behavior on places that are never hunted. In August and September I can see deer feeding and it be over 90° and sunny. But you can't tell me that it's because of their winter coat coming on when it's agood 20 degrees cooler out. I wish there was a rhyme or reason to this. I know some say it's lull, while others dont believe it exists. Still some think they have strictly gone nocturnal. I say it mostly depends on your stand location. If you hunt near the bedding area, you will see midday movements. But you also stand the chance of being patterned yourself.

 

[CATCHDAWG]

That's kinda what I was thinking. Most of the bucks I've seen or killed have all been around 9 am for whatever reason

I would take a gander to say that 90% of the bucks I have killed have been between 9 and 10.

 

[quackaholic]

I would take a gander to say that 90% of the bucks I have killed have been between 9 and 10.

By 10am or just before dark for me. I say this, but when I first started deer hunting in 1983; we used to sit from an hour before daylight until we had to use a light to climb down. Did that for several years before deciding it was a waste of time unless I was close to bedroom. Then it was still a very limited experience with movement. So I appealed to my logical side and decide it just wasnt worth the discomfort that was associated with staying all day. But if I'm tucked in my permanent blind and comfy I am sit longer and go back earlier during the first 3 weeks of November.

 

[Rakkin6]

Killed this one on opening day a few years ago at 1100. Hunting over a bean field. My guess is he was bumped but you never know.

 

[Ski]

Observation bias. People see what they believe. If you believe the best time to kill a buck is between 10am & 2pm then you'll spend your season hunting that time. You'll kill a buck and that'll reaffirm 10-2 is the best time to hunt. Same with morning hunters or evening hunters.

The truth in my experience is that bucks move all day every day sporadically for different reasons. If it's September before season and nobody is in the woods, the weather is stable, and no predators running around, then he'll hole up in a core area where he'll spend the day laying down, getting up, meandering around, and laying back down. He might go through that cycle a dozen or more times during daylight. The meandering might be just a few feet or a couple hundred yards.

But bring a coyote through and he moves somewhere else. Get bumped by a human and he moves somewhere else. The wind or thermals shift and he'll move somewhere else. A doe walks by and he scents ripe apple then he'll backtrack her trail looking for the tree. If it's rut all bets are off because they do all sorts of unexpected things. If it's time for a walkabout, which happens several times per year, he might be walking all day long headed somewhere. There are just endless reasons a buck might be on his feet any given time. What matters is whether we're there to see it or not.

 

[hbg1]

Observation bias. People see what they believe. If you believe the best time to kill a buck is between 10am & 2pm then you'll spend your season hunting that time. You'll kill a buck and that'll reaffirm 10-2 is the best time to hunt. Same with morning hunters or evening hunters.

The truth in my experience is that bucks move all day every day sporadically for different reasons. If it's September before season and nobody is in the woods, the weather is stable, and no predators running around, then he'll hole up in a core area where he'll spend the day laying down, getting up, meandering around, and laying back down. He might go through that cycle a dozen or more times during daylight. The meandering might be just a few feet or a couple hundred yards.

But bring a coyote through and he moves somewhere else. Get bumped by a human and he moves somewhere else. The wind or thermals shift and he'll move somewhere else. A doe walks by and he scents ripe apple then he'll backtrack her trail looking for the tree. If it's rut all bets are off because they do all sorts of unexpected things. If it's time for a walkabout, which happens several times per year, he might be walking all day long headed somewhere. There are just endless reasons a buck might be on his feet any given time. What matters is whether we're there to see it or not.

Great reply

 

[GUNNERX2]

I'm not a deer hunter but I read sometime back that a deer will poop 13 times per 24 hours so it stands to reason that several times during daylight hours that they are up and moving about...some.

 

[MickThompson]

Nothing trumps time in tree. Never know what time of day a good one will come by. I'll say this- if you start hunting all day you will kill more midday deer than you will if you don't

 

[backyardtndeer]

Observation bias. People see what they believe. If you believe the best time to kill a buck is between 10am & 2pm then you'll spend your season hunting that time. You'll kill a buck and that'll reaffirm 10-2 is the best time to hunt. Same with morning hunters or evening hunters.

The truth in my experience is that bucks move all day every day sporadically for different reasons. If it's September before season and nobody is in the woods, the weather is stable, and no predators running around, then he'll hole up in a core area where he'll spend the day laying down, getting up, meandering around, and laying back down. He might go through that cycle a dozen or more times during daylight. The meandering might be just a few feet or a couple hundred yards.

But bring a coyote through and he moves somewhere else. Get bumped by a human and he moves somewhere else. The wind or thermals shift and he'll move somewhere else. A doe walks by and he scents ripe apple then he'll backtrack her trail looking for the tree. If it's rut all bets are off because they do all sorts of unexpected things. If it's time for a walkabout, which happens several times per year, he might be walking all day long headed somewhere. There are just endless reasons a buck might be on his feet any given time. What matters is whether we're there to see it or not.

Spot on.

Most of the mature deer I have killed have either been early, well before 9 or late in the afternoon. Rare that i sit 10-2, but I have and honestly never really had any luck. My camera data doesn't show great activity during those times here either. Have hunted both woods and fields mid day and just never saw enough good movement to make me think it's better than the times I have had my best sits.

With all that being said, the two oldest bucks killed on our farm were killed early in the afternoon, between 3 and 4. Both deer were complacent in my back field, the one I killed in 2023 came across the middle of my field, first week of November......

 

[Snake]

WISDOM! Mid day is a Great time to hunt, especially from late October on.

Yeah and especially during a full moon .

 

[Snake]

I've killed bucks from right after sunup to right at sundown . Being in the stand as long as you can trumps every tip or old timers tales . Personally I rather hunt mornings but when I had my leases in middle Tennessee I hunted all hours but as I got older and my back bothered me more I had to come out at around noon . I've tricked a few bucks by slipping in early afternoon and the last buck on my lease I killed I slipped in early one afternoon and still hunted to my permanent stand and shot him basically right under my stand . If you don't think bucks will pattern you then think again because they will .

 

[Tn_Va_Hunter]

Personally, I go when I can. I've killed them at all hours of the day. If I only have 10-2 to hunt that day then that's when I'm going. If I can sit all day I'll sit all day. It's about being in the woods I think. They have to move. The question is where and how far.

 

[hbg1]

I've killed bucks from right after sunup to right at sundown . Being in the stand as long as you can trumps every tip or old timers tales . Personally I rather hunt mornings but when I had my leases in middle Tennessee I hunted all hours but as I got older and my back bothered me more I had to come out at around noon . I've tricked a few bucks by slipping in early afternoon and the last buck on my lease I killed I slipped in early one afternoon and still hunted to my permanent stand and shot him basically right under my stand . If you don't think bucks will pattern you then think again because they will .

I think they would have a hard time patterning me because I never know where I'm going, my greatest dilemma

 

[Savage]

The drone footage studies are giving some interesting info on this…

 

[deerhunter10]

I have only killed a few deer between 10-2. Would i only set out to hunt that time..no. Will I hunt later in the mornings yes. I think it's also related to pressure and I think deer pattern hunters as well. As many cameras as I run I don't get very many midday mature deer on cameras obviously that's a small portion of what's happening. But I still don't see it much. Most of the time it's seems to happen when they are desperately looking for another doe, or they are locked with a doe and not moving much anyways. I've killed almost 50-50 mornings to afternoons. But out of those it's the last hour before dark. And the bulk of the bucks in the morning are 745 to 845.

 

[CHRIS WILSON]

Largest buck I've shot to date was up on his feet, casually moving/grazing along a hillside at 11:30 AM on a really cold, early December morning. He wasnt in a hurry, so i doubt he got bump. Maybe the cold got him up and moving. The morning started off in the single digits and still hadn't broke 20 degrees by noon. I will say that he's an outlier in my book. Most deer ive taken have been early morning or late afternoon.

 

[DoubleRidge]

During the rut I'm sitting all day when possible. While the majority of bucks killed on our farm have been in the early morning or late evening, we have killed and seen a few mid-day. We wait all year for the rut...going to hunt every minute of it I can.

 

[BSK]

GPS-Collar studies of deer being hunted show older bucks don't change their movement timing much based on hunting pressure. However, the DO change WHERE they move. Mid-day movement shifts towards very thick cover in heavily hunted areas.

 

[BSK]

I used to hear this said a lot, Especially from old school hunters, but I used to hear from them that a lot of the older age class bucks would get up and move around noon when most hunters were already packing up and leaving the woods. I'm sure there's some truth to it, and it may be a situationally specific thing, but I want to know everyone else's opinion on this.

Very much situational, and depends on location, habitat type, and hunting pressure.

We see virtually no mid-day movement from mature bucks in areas hunters prefer to hunt. Are mature bucks moving mid-day? Possibly, but they are limiting it to areas hunters don't hunt (near-zero visibility thick cover). Now middle-aged bucks (2 1/2 and 3 1/2 year-olds) do some mid-day movement, but it is still the low-point of the day for movement in huntable locations. Below are two graphs from an ongoing research project of mine. The first graph is the time of day (in one-hour increments) middle-aged bucks were captured on trail-cam October through December in common hunting locations, such as scrapes, food plots, terrain and habitat funnels, etc. The low-point of the 24-hour cycle are the hours of noon to 1 PM, and 1 PM to 2 PM. Now again, are middle-aged bucks not moving at that time? Probably they are, but NOT in common hunting areas. They are sticking to thick cover. The second graph is the same data for only mature (4 1/2+) bucks. Notice they are even more nocturnal than middle-aged bucks, and move even less at mid-day. In the 14 years of data, not one trail-cam picture has been collected of a mature buck up and moving between noon and 1 PM. Again, this doesn't mean they aren't moving, it means they aren't moving in common hunting locations at this time.

And for those who are wondering, this data is not being skewed by small datasets. This data includes over 4,000 trail-cam events (an "event" is a buck triggering the camera. Doesn't matter how long he hangs around or the number of pictures taken, it is still just one event).

Now is this data true for everywhere? Absolutely not! It is accurate for just the study area, the study area's terrain and habitat, and the study area's level of hunting pressure.

 

[tickweed]

Most of mine have been right at dark, leaving a thick bedding area, going to feed. Even during the rut.

 

[MickThompson]

It's still true that most deer move the most at daylight and sunset. That said, if you're hunting a mature buck, you aren't hunting most deer. You're hunting a very small subset of what's out there. I don't necessarily believe that they move on a vastly different schedule than all the other deer, but I do have to sift through all the other ones to find the one I'm after.