Do you wait till daylight or hurry getting to a stand before sunup..?

[6phunter]

Treestands

[dewman]

I'm there about a full hour before daylight. Like the sounds of the woods waking up.

[jhjimbo]

I hunt on my place so I am not in a hurry.

[bowhunter75richard]

I'm there about a full hour before daylight. Like the sounds of the woods waking up.

I'm with you Dewman ! Watching daylight take over the darkness in the woods is a wonderful part of bowhunting. When the sun starts moving shadows thru the trees, the birds are chirpping and getting their buddies together in order to go out on the corner and watch and whistle at the girl birdies, what more could a guy with nothing more to do hope for ! When one has a small mind and low aspirations, life is wonderful and so easily managed. Now if I could just manage to get up before this all took place............!!

[Gary Devine]

6PHunter, Welcome back to Outdoor Life.
Your username was an answer to a trivia question. Brother Bowhunter Rich named you and got my trivia question correct. Plus one for coming back. :-))

I always get in my tree stand early because Bears have an unbelievable nose. I need my human scent to dissipate off the ground.
Two years ago, opening day morning of the New Jersey bear season, I heard something crash fall in the stream. A bear walked up from that direction at first light. Right underneath my tree stand. Ten feet away. Her little first year cub was right behind her. I didn't have the heart to kill the sow leaving the little guy to stave and died. It was a big sow, but why kill two bears with one rifle slug.

[PigHunter]

I'm there about a full hour before daylight. Like the sounds of the woods waking up.

Ditto, sunrise in the woods is a special time.

[PigHunter]

It really depends on how late I stayed out partying the night before...

[MattM37]

I'm not a bowhunter, but as for gun season: Some days I'm in my spot when it's still dark; some days I get to the woods at sunrise and still-hunt my way in. Depends on the day -- on Opening Day or a weekend, I know the others who use our land will be in their stands well before sunrise, so I don't want to mess up their hunts and will do the same. We all kind of have "our own" little sections of the property. Later in the season, as tags are filled and vacation days used up, I'll have the land all to myself more and more, and almost never start in before legal shooting hours begin.

[MattM37]

It really depends on how late I stayed out partying the night before...

You're a better man than I am. If I had any kind of rough night (happily a seldom thing anymore), I cannot get to the woods at all. For some reason, even if the physical issues aren't too bad, the idea of heading to the woods with a hangover ... it just doesn't work. Maybe deep down, I just feel such guilt that I don't think I deserve to be out there.

[jcarlin]

It definitely all depends. I'm another who thinks that one of the best times in the woods is watching it grow light.
But sometimes life is hectic and runs late, or as I get older, getting up at 5 regularly is easier than it used to be , but 330 is more difficult.

If I'm coming in at first light, I don't stress about it. Most of my locations are corridors anyway, so deer havent' started moving through and past at first light.

The exception is public land during the regular firearms season. Too many guys out there who get out very very early to mess up their morning by tramping by after they've been sitting tight for 90 minutes waiting for the sun to come up.

[PigHunter]

It really depends on how late I stayed out partying the night before...

I understand. But usually I don't have a hangover because I'm the driver and quit drinking well before getting behind the wheel. It's usually sleep deprivation that's kicking me the next day.

[Mississippi Hippie]

I'm with Dewman. I like getting situated early, and establishing background noise. it's relaxing to just sit back and watch and listen from before daylight. Don't like tracking through too close to "deer time" either. Provided you are on private land, and know your deer's pattern, I have had great success with this approach, but it's all about deer movement times. Public land is different, obviously. In CA, we didn't set out on foot until right at first light walking our scouted areas. In MS, still hunting from a stand gives you the option to get in early and wait on a known trail zone.

[Buckshott00]

Most of my blinds are more productive in the morning, so I try to ready as close to first light as possible.