Late season mid-day hunting?

[bad faulkner]

ORIGINAL: SoIll Dawg

Is it worth being in the stand during the morning/early afternoon in the late season?  Not near as much pressure to get the deer running in the mid-day.

I have always operated under the idea that the deer really start to move later in the afternoon when the sun is about as warm as it is going to get and then into the evening hours.  Truth or fallacy on my part?  What about first light?  Do the cold temps keep the deer bedded until warmer air moves them?

IMO, in late season deer move at dawn and dusk regardless of the moon phase or barometric pressure. But, if you get a favorable moon and a high pressure system??? IMO, the deer are going to get up and feed every two hours in the late season. I'm a public land hunter predominantly. Deer that don't have feeders and food plots to go to will move quite a bit in mid-morning, mid-day, etc.

Guys, the late season is no time to hang it up.

[Randy3003]

I prefer to skip the real early morning hunts as usually the movement of deer seems to be minimal, however late in the season I have found deer in decent numbers between 10:30 say and about an hour before dusk, any later and movement seems to diminish greatly.  Just how the deer here seam to prefer.  I like to hunt closer to the food supply than to their beds this time of year also, as they just seem to hold up a little bit before entering the fields.

[KYdeer88]

I love the late season in KY. The December muzzleloader season is one of my favorite times to be out. Find what they're eating and you will be on the deer. Last year in our part of Eastern KY we had a bad mast crop in the fall so by the late season the deer were hitting the fields and food plots at different times during the day. When they weren't in the fields or picking on brose they were sprawled out on the southern facing slopes where the sun was good and warm. It has been my experience that late season deer are generally more relaxed and feed off and on during the day when temps are cold. BUT if you get a warm snap those deer are going to shut down. I know I wouldn't want to be out tromping around on a warm day in a heavy winter coat. When it's cold they are going to want to eat, but when it's warm they are going to get too hot so they won't move as much.

[scottflesher]

I know alot of hunters who have shot mature deer in the middle of the day. I think it's best to hunt early morning and dusk, but if you can hang in most of the day then you're likely to see more deer. I'm not sure if you'd blame it on hunters bumping deer when they're headed back to camp for lunch or the fact that deer have a tendency to eat every 4-5 hours.
Stay near a food source or staging area and you'll have a good chance at seeing them all day long. One things for sure, you can't shoot them from your couch, so stay in the woods if at all possible.

[motorbreaker]

To me, January, When we get our 2 or 3 weeks of winter, Snow
on top of snow,and cold, Is the number 2 time of the year to catch
a mature buck off his guard. Jan 6th last year I shot my second so.
Ohio P&Y. The first was late Jan. 2009. Two good snows a few days
apart is a rescipe for susess. Save some sick days for snow.
Being in the woods when there is snow is reward enough for me.
Being laid off From Christmas till Febuary aint bad eighter. Jake

[scottflesher]

Jake,
Where at in Ohio?

[motorbreaker]

Southern Highland county Near Tranquilty wildlife area.

[reemaada]

That means morning, mid-day, afternoon and midnight with 1 to 2 feedings occurring somewhere in between.

[yogi44]

We shall never achieve harmony with land, any more than we shall achieve absolute justice or liberty for people. In these higher aspirations, the important thing is not to achieve but to strive.
Aldo Leopold

[retiredsailor]

I don't have any trail cameras so I can't cite that as a source; however, I generally hunt all day long (pre-dawn until last light), and most days I see deer at all hours. I love the first 2 or 3 hours of daylight - I believe that the deer movement during those early morning hours are usually them returning from fields and pastures where they feed in my area, or perhaps bed down during the very early hours of the day - prior to sunlight. In the evening, just before dusk, I can expect to see deer moving, usually toward their primary feeding areas.
However, the middle of the day is my golden period. From around 11:00 until 1:00 or so is when I see the majority of deer, and during that period I have especially seen more buck activity then during the other hours.
Nothing scientific about my observations here, just based on my time and experience in the deer woods. Of course, as others here have already point out, weather (temperature, wind, snow, rain, etc.) play a significant role, as well as how heavily the property has been hunted prior to the latter part of the season. As long as I have tags to fill, I try to hunt the entire season. On a more melancholic note, there is nothing that makes me feel as if I'm losing something of real value as when the sun starts to set on the final day of the hunting season. At that moment I start thinking about and planning for next season. Bet some of you have felt that a time or two.