Time Change for Deer Hunting

by: Steve Layton & Gary Finch, Finch Enterprises
Don't forget to watch Gary Finch Outdoors each Sunday morning at 6AM on WTVY - Channel 4 or visit www.garyfinchoutdoors.com

Now that deer season is in full swing, hunters are settling into areas where scouting has directed their efforts. The locations of food sources, bedding areas, and major travel trails have all been notated and logged into our hunting strategies. We carry maps drawn on restaurant napkins and may have shared our plans with others by scratching them in the dirt. The questions of “where” to hunt have been narrowed down to some select locations. The missing elements now revolve around the “when” questions.

Game trail cameras are great inventions because they document the game that is actually traveling through the area. However, viewing images of your buck’s picture on a game camera can also be frustrating. That frustration becomes even more apparent when you realize that your camera’s time stamp reveals that the majority of the deer movements have been between 11:30 p.m. and 4:00 a.m. I’m fairly certain that state wildlife officers won’t be very tolerant of anyone attempting to hunt during those hours.  

There have been plenty of us who have sat on deer stands through the season’s heat, rain, and cold until discouragement and fatigue finally took us off the stand and out of the game. Typically, the day after we abandon the stand is when another hunter takes the buck we knew was there. It’s a story that is repeated many times each season. I have been both the winner and the loser of the “timing game” as it pertains to deer hunting and that is part of hunting.

Hardcore hunters may have to take into account that while they may have successfully patterned their buck’s movements, he may have also patterned their schedules. From the earliest hint of human scent in the woods, to the first crack of a rifle shot, deer quickly begin to re-shape their habits from what they were doing back during the summer months. It stands to reason that, if the majority of human pressure continues to be experienced early in the morning and late in the afternoon, these deer will quickly adapt to avoid contact. Going nocturnal is part of the adaptation, but so is the restructuring of their daylight activity.

There have been many instances where I’ve seen complete herds of deer moving after I’m driving away from my morning hunts at the 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. hour. A similar situation has presented itself when I’ve approached a green field in the blazing heat of the afternoon sun only to find a large buck staring back at me at 2:30 p.m. and he is completely surrounded by alert does. There are plenty of hunters who have experienced these conditions and they have asked the same question, “How long have these deer been standing here?”

The Fish and Game Activity tables are a great way to map out your hunt schedules. I know plenty of fishermen who live by them and there are hunters who journal every day in the field. Their accounts of game activity and successful hunting help them determine when they will put the extra time in. I’m not quite that scientific or fastidious about documenting my hunting conditions but I think all hunters are extremely conscious about the importance that moon phase and the length of days plays into deer hunting.

If deer are willing to shift their schedules and adapt to pressure, hunters have to investigate those mid-day hours and follow suit. Two can play this game and it entails looking at re-scheduling your daily hunt. Instead of breaking up the day into the standard morning and afternoon routine, try a three-way split. Morning, mid-day, and afternoon hunts can be scheduled with small breaks between each session. The re-shuffling of time keeps us in the woods longer and breaks up the draining effects of long sits.  

I’ve taken to maintaining my tree stand hunting in the mornings and afternoons while ground hunting during the mid-day period. I discovered this quite by accident, after extending one of my morning stand hunts into a mid-day stalk. I was surprised to spot an eight-point working a scrape at 11:45 a.m. He wasn’t sneaking around in thick cover or working the edge of a bedding area. It was a hot day, and by all accounts, this buck should have been bedded down hours ago. Instead, he presented a wide open shot while aggressively pawing up the ground in the middle of an active logging road. He paused just long enough to hook and thrash a low-hanging oak limb. By twelve noon, I saw to it that he was being driven back to camp.

Plan for the day, but plan for success. If you have already done the leg work of scouting the land and are confident that a worthy buck is in the area, then the only obstacles are time and opportunity. Pack a lunch, and a snack or two, and stay the day. Take some back-stretching breaks during the day or climb down from the stand and hunt comfortably on the ground. This will allow you to feel more rested and alert for climbing back up for the waning hours for an afternoon hunt.

When it comes time to get serious about deer hunting, a time change may be the best approach.