Morning Entry

[LampLighter]

What's on your mind when you enter the woods to go to your stand at 4 am ? What do you do about not spooking deer, or spooking the least amount ? Flashlight ? If yes, bright white or low key red or green ?

I think many more deer know we are there than we think. Morning hunts are tough to get to your stand. Personally, I slip as quiet as possible. I try to use right-of-ways, or creeks to cover ground. I use red light 90%, and on moonlit nights, I follow the water edge of creeks if that is in my area.

What I know is that the deer do not know what you are, but they know you are strange. I think this because the ones I do push in the dark, I hear them crashing away and splashing in the water, but they almost never blow at me. There are Bear in the area. I wonder if they think I am a bear ?

I am an early bird. I am usually in stand jacked up in the climber and am listening to the trucks and 4 wheeler trailers rattling on the road a mile away. At 4:30 am those noises seem like they are close, but they are not. Deer that I may have bumped might sneak by later because time had passed.

[StringJumper]

I usually go in a little later, especially if I have my stand already setup. I want to go in while it's still dark but light enough to see. I think the flashlight spooks them a little bit. My favorite time to approach a stand is when it's just light enough to walk w/o a flashlight.

It's a little different during rifle season...I don't want to be wandring around in the semi-darkness.

[LampLighter]

It's a little different during rifle season...I don't want to be wandring around in the semi-darkness.
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:eek::eek: Roger that. They were shooting in the dark this past lottery hunt.

[bugsNbows]

Great comments. I'm kind of anal about stealthiness. I avoid flashlights going in (whenever possible) or I put a red lens on it. I do try to pre-clean the trails in to my stands in advance. Heck, I've even raked leaves and snipped twigs off my approaches. One cannot be too quiet.

[Twanger]

Depends on where I'm hunting, and how used to human scent they are.

In the big-woods the thing I try to do most is NOT walk in on the trails I expect the deer to be on. This is often hard to do, because they usually have their trails in the best spots! :rolleyes:

I try to cut across their trails at right-angles to minimize the amount of scent I lay down on them, and try not to brush up against bushes or drop sweat on the ground near their trails, or upwind of them.

[dave-t.]

I walk right on the trails or creek channels. I know the deer will be using the tails too, but on the trail I just leave possible scent on the dirt, going cross country, you leave scent on every stalk of brush and limbs, as well as the ground. I know I'm planning to forfiet a trail for quiet entry, but deer do still use the trail I walk in on without issue many times.

I've seen enough deer follow scent lines I've laid down to not overly worry about scent. There are times they will smell you and react, and times they won't, and that's about all I know about it.

I prefer not to use a flashlight, and go at it like a still hunt. Very quiet and slow, stepping easy. Probably a reason why I like using the trails or creeks, easy to see in the dark.

I intend to be in the stand 30-45 minutes before shooting light, but it usually ends up more like 10-20minutes before. Sometimes even later, if I don't have my act together.

I used to be an 1+ hour before light kind of guy, but after being late a couple times getting on stand, and seeing deer while I was still getting situated and set up in the stand, I figured I wasn't missing much but the cold with that extra 30+ minutes of dark.


I know a lot of this goes against the grain of what a "good bowhunter" does, but it has been effective for me.

[TJF]

Our area is very open. I don't deal with trees for the most part so walking in the dark isn't too bad. I don't use any light at all on the walk in. Badger holes suck... trust me. Tripping over them is bad enough... stepping over one and having the badger growl at you... tends to wake you up if your still a bit drooggy. :eek:

I scout a lot so I usually know where the deer are feeding. While you will bump a deer every once in a while... I always go in against the wind to to get to my spot. I avoid where the majority of deer will come from even if it means an extra mile or two of walking to get to my spot.

Tim

[DaveHawk]

It all depends for me, I hunt the moon transit, so depending on what the deer are doing at the time. If there is the fields feeding early I will slip in to bedding areas but if their bedded before 1st light I will hunt the edges or with 20-40 yards of the edges.

But as of late I am more of a afternoon hunter.