From Quora:

Question for YouAugust 5

What is the best time to get in your deer stand?

Greg Thomas requested your answer.

What is the best time to get in your deer stand?

Here is my response:

It is going to depend on several factors. For starters, don’t think of it in terms of when you get in the stand, but rather when are you going to be settled in and ready to hunt.

One of the big factors you have to figure in how much sweating you’re going to do getting there. I set off about an hour before legal hunting. It takes me 15 minutes or so to get to my stand and another 15 minutes to settle in. I take my outer layer ( bibs and parka) out in a duffle bag and put them on after I’m in the stand. That reduces the amount of sweating I’m going to do. I hoist the duffle up and crawl into my warm duds. That leaves me about a half-hour to just sit there and let the last bit of sweat evaporate off the top of my head.

Back when I was still using a climbing stand, I figured in an extra hour at minimum. Schlepping the stand in, getting it hooked to the tree, and ascending was one thing, but now I was a sweaty mess. That sweat needed to be dealt with, otherwise, several things were going to happen. One, if the sweat stayed trapped in my clothing, it was going to make me cold and I was going to shiver. Two, sweat means scent and the deer were going to smell me if I didn’t do something about it. Again, putting my outer layers in a bag was a key step. Letting that sweat dissipate was essential, and that can’t be done without time.

The other issue is noise. A big guy like me, trundling through the woods makes quite a disturbance, and then there is all the clanging and banging of getting into the stand. If a climbing stand is involved, that is even noisier. It is a good idea to get all that hoo-haw finished early so it is just a faded memory in the deer’s mind at sun-up. I’ve spooked deer on the way in, only to have them show up at the stand two hours later.

Where I hunt, it is like WWIII on the Opener. Everyone in the neighborhood mounts up on their ATVs and rolls out to their stands about 15 minutes before legal hunting. I have been out on my stand a good half-hour ahead of them. What I hear is all the deer being pushed ahead of them, running onto the relatively quiet property next door where I’m situated. By then the cloud of my scent has been driven off by the air currents, and I’m all zipped up and starting to feel good and toasty.

When do I usually get a shot at deer? In the morning, there is a window in the first half hour of legal hunting which has produced a surprising number of big bucks, but the major about of activity I have seen has been after the first hour. There is a second window in mid-morning when the Orange Army fires up their ATVs and rides in for a cup of coffee. Again, they chase deer onto the property.

I usually wait until 1100 to come out. By then the shooting has died down. I used to try and sit all day, but 11–15 is usually devoid of action around my place. I am too old to do an all-day sit anymore, and I’m Patriarch of our camp. I’ve got duties to perform.

In the afternoon, I try and get out as soon after lunch as possible. Sundown is at 1730. I’m usually posted by 1500. Most of the shots I have taken have been in the last hour of legal hunting.

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