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How early to the deer woods?

andersk
Where I'm hunting is what you might call an urban woods to the southwest of Boston (two thirds of the way to Providence). It is a 500+ acre mixed wooded area with a creek down the middle and essentially housing developments or roads all around it. I've checked with the town dads, and it is legal to hunt there, go jogging or hicking and walk the dog, too.

I'm over there in the woods quite a bit just riding through on my mountain bike (and doing a little scouting at the same time) on the way to the gun club at the south end of the woods. I live at the north end of the woods. I go through about every day, and I occasionally I see others doing their thing, too.

My question is ... with all the activity in the woods during the day, is it all that important to get to my stand(s) well before legal hunting? [?] Or should I just wait until legal hunting and hunt my way in and out? [?]
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Comments

17 comments

Date Votes
  • reloader44mag
    How close is human activity to the area you will be hunting? What type of weapon will you be using. Just curious.
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  • William81
    As a rule, I have always tried to be on stand at least 1 hour before legal hunting time. Gives me time to settle in and get my stuff all ready. Then there is a good deal of time for the woods to get back to normal.
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  • LOKO383
    quote:Originally posted by William81
    As a rule, I have always tried to be on stand at least 1 hour before legal hunting time. Gives me time to settle in and get my stuff all ready. Then there is a good deal of time for the woods to get back to normal.
    exactly..don't hunt your way in..it will be dark thirty, but do hunt your way out before dark..good luck..Loko [8D]
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  • rider
    I still remember my old pappy telling me to be where I wanting to sit and wait for my buck before I could see my front sight. [:)][:)] Still good advice.
    rider
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  • guntech59
    I don't sit on a stand in the mornings, I still hunt into or crossing the winds. The only time I hunt from a stand is in the afternoons. I get better naps that way.
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  • FEENIX
    quote:Originally posted by LOKO383
    quote:Originally posted by William81
    As a rule, I have always tried to be on stand at least 1 hour before legal hunting time. Gives me time to settle in and get my stuff all ready. Then there is a good deal of time for the woods to get back to normal.
    exactly..don't hunt your way in..it will be dark thirty, but do hunt your way out before dark..good luck..Loko [8D]


    Same here except I do not hunt on a stand, I stay put in an area in the AM when they are active. I do mostly still hunt the rest of the day.
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  • tomahawk
    i hunted a spot once that was hard to get to without spooking every deer within a 1/2 mi. but as i was watchin the horns on this small wooded knoll in the middle of a cornfield, i seen my way in, a farmer was fixing a cross fence that ran 50 yrds. from the edge of this knoll. those deer ignored him, next morning i brought a hammer and fixed fence all the way to the spot closest to the knoll and acted normal like the farmer. shot the buck i was after at about 150yds[;)][:D][:D][:D]
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  • LOKO383
    quote:Originally posted by tomahawk
    i hunted a spot once that was hard to get to without spooking every deer within a 1/2 mi. but as i was watchin the horns on this small wooded knoll in the middle of a cornfield, i seen my way in, a farmer was fixing a cross fence that ran 50 yrds. from the edge of this knoll. those deer ignored him, next morning i brought a hammer and fixed fence all the way to the spot closest to the knoll and acted normal like the farmer. shot the buck i was after at about 150yds[;)][:D][:D][:D]
    Loko say u one smart injun tomahawk..[;)][:D]
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  • JamesRK
    quote:Originally posted by tomahawk
    i hunted a spot once that was hard to get to without spooking every deer within a 1/2 mi. but as i was watchin the horns on this small wooded knoll in the middle of a cornfield, i seen my way in, a farmer was fixing a cross fence that ran 50 yrds. from the edge of this knoll. those deer ignored him, next morning i brought a hammer and fixed fence all the way to the spot closest to the knoll and acted normal like the farmer. shot the buck i was after at about 150yds[;)][:D][:D][:D]

    My late brother-in-law always said he was going to take a running chainsaw hunting with him because he always saw more deer while he was cutting wood than while he was hunting. He said deer will come to a chainsaw. As far as I know he never did it though. [:D]
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  • LesWVa
    quote:with all the activity in the woods during the day, is it all that important to get to my stand(s) well before legal hunting? Or should I just wait until legal hunting and hunt my way in and out?


    Need to check your states laws.

    West Virginia you can be in a stand at any time day or night. But the laws state that you can not legally hunt(shoot) from 1/2 after sun rise in the morning until 1/2 after sun set.
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  • goldeneagle76
    I'm usually in there and set up about an hour before first light. Finding your tree in the dark is not always the funnest thing in the world though.
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  • elkoholic
    I set up 1/2 before sun up.
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  • andersk
    There are houses all around it and people sometimes walking through. I hunt with a muzzle loader. Because of the people walking around occasionally, I especially like being up on a stand. My question is ... is it worth it being in all that early in MY hunting circumstances? [?]
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  • JamesRK
    quote:Originally posted by andersk
    There are houses all around it and people sometimes walking through. I hunt with a muzzle loader. Because of the people walking around occasionally, I especially like being up on a stand. My question is ... is it worth it being in all that early in MY hunting circumstances? [?]

    Probably not. If there are deer there, all the extra traffic could actually be helpful. When the deer want to bed down during the day, the foot traffic could keep them stirred up a little bit. During the rut they are already fidgety anyway.
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  • andersk
    Our season opens a bit earlier this year ... 26th of November ... so I still won't be hunting much during the rut. Yes, I do think a little extra movement in the woods could work to my advantage. Plus the deer have no where else to go other than people's yards! And that is a possibility, too.
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  • phillip
    I personally show up at my stand around 8:30 or 9.I hunt for about 2 hours,Then take a nap.Wake up about noon and break for lunch.Hunt for a couple more hours,Then take a break and drink a few beers.Walk around my stand and "look for sign"Then I take a break.By this time Im hungry.So I go to the store,Get a couple of steaks and call it a day.[:D]
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  • andersk
    I do like to hunt in the morning, but I've just about decided that it is not worth it to go out to the stand in the dark and spook everything close by and not be able to shoot for another hour! That just seems to be a waste of opportunity. I can hunt in carefully and then maybe get a shot if I bump a deer or get him from my stand once I get there. I do a lot of reading on stand and it is just not some hot to read in the dark!

    The acorn crop is VERY abundant this year. I wonder if it would be considered baiting to gather a couple bushels so that I still have some several weeks from now when our season opens. I'd just be spreading out the banquet! [:D]
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