Taking deer in the middle of the day (questions about this)

[fishnfur]

Yup, same old mantra - I can pick it apart but all I see is salal, stumps, logs that look like deer, grass, etc.  I'm always amazed when there is suddenly a deer standing where I just thoroughly glassed a minute before. 

Not to go too far off topic, but I can't imagine your cuts last any longer than these.  It seems like at 4 years, they just start to hold deer, and by six years, you can hardly see into them anymore.  By seven years, it is time to find a new place to glass.

Back on topic - do you find that the bucks you see at midday, late in the season are working their way through the cut, perhaps scent checking thermals for does in heat, or are they typically already with the does, following their every move?

[deerhunter_98520]

I've seen both.....the cut could be empty and one could be cruising through looking or following a hot doe...usually the bigger more mature bucks will not be very far from the does when it's close to breeding time....and don't forget about laying scent trails yourself...get some blacktail estruss and lay a scent trail down through the cut you want to glass and watch it through the next day....you could get bucks cruising through at night run across the trail and stick around through the next day looking for her...your pretty spot on about the cuts....I got lucky with my area and by the time the first cut was grown they had already cut another 1/4 mile down the road growing for a couple years then they cut the timber next to my old spot so I got real lucky and have hunted this area for over 15 years...it's about a mile stretch of road....seems to me also the cold cloudy nights are when I see more deer in the first hour of light and when it's a half moon or more with clear skies I see more deer mid day because they feed all night long

[JDHasty]

My favorite and most productive time to hunt is just before dark, but I see a lot of deer during mid day.  Morning is probably my least productive, unless you count those I see before legal shooting time. 

Heck, I wouldn't know what to do with myself \if I were not up until past midnight gutting and skinning deer. 

[deerhunter_98520]

Last time I did that we had 2 deer down in a nasty hole....it was pissin down rain and was not a very fun night...I had to work at 5 am the next day I let my dad's co worker shoot a spike we have watched for the last few hours because I didn't want to pack him out from where he was and guess what...after he shot that a big fork horn decided to pop it's head out of the brush in the same spot and I couldn't resist   

[Turner89]

Nice post deerhunter_98520.  I've always been amazed at how many deer you see per day.  I think your location, having less population in general, helps sustain high deer numbers.  I can't imagine you could come to GMU 530 and see more than just 3  - 5 does per day in a cut - and that would be a stellar day for me.  Good on you for having the patience for hunting with your eyes in the glass all day.  No way I can do that.  Perhaps if I was seeing 15 - 20 deer per day it would be easier.

It took me a long time to get the patience to do it but it has paid off big time...granted we do have alot of downtimes and can be hard with my kids along but we make it work...my spot is about grown up...maybe one year left unfortunately...I've already started venturing out looking for a new honey hole...it took me a long time to find this place and not looking forward to leaving it...and to be honest there's alot of people out here but most don't know how to hunt it...by that I mean have the patience to pick apart the cut or reprod patch that your glassing....try the grid pattern and look for bits and pieces of the deer instead of the whole deer and you'll see more 

I basically Hunt the same way you do.   I'll sit and glass a spot all day long. My first mission is just finding 1 doe. Once I do that , I just keep an eye on her.  I love it when a doe whips her head around at attention   giving up the location of a buck either getting up out his bed, or comming into the cut.
 Another reason I like to stay put all day, at least early in the season,  is that I know I'm the only person that's been there all day.

[JDHasty]

Nice post deerhunter_98520.  I've always been amazed at how many deer you see per day.  I think your location, having less population in general, helps sustain high deer numbers.  I can't imagine you could come to GMU 530 and see more than just 3  - 5 does per day in a cut - and that would be a stellar day for me.  Good on you for having the patience for hunting with your eyes in the glass all day.  No way I can do that.  Perhaps if I was seeing 15 - 20 deer per day it would be easier.

It took me a long time to get the patience to do it but it has paid off big time...granted we do have alot of downtimes and can be hard with my kids along but we make it work...my spot is about grown up...maybe one year left unfortunately...I've already started venturing out looking for a new honey hole...it took me a long time to find this place and not looking forward to leaving it...and to be honest there's alot of people out here but most don't know how to hunt it...by that I mean have the patience to pick apart the cut or reprod patch that your glassing....try the grid pattern and look for bits and pieces of the deer instead of the whole deer and you'll see more 

I basically Hunt the same way you do.   I'll sit and glass a spot all day long. My first mission is just finding 1 doe. Once I do that , I just keep an eye on her.  I love it when a doe whips her head around at attention   giving up the location of a buck either getting up out his bed, or comming into the cut.
 Another reason I like to stay put all day, at least early in the season,  is that I know I'm the only person that's been there all day.

Had that exact thing happen this last Saturday.  Pretty nice buck and he came into 20 yards, but I let him walk.  He is probably a four and a half year old and will be a dandy next year if he makes it through this season.  Mature bucks rarely enter a clear area until after does and youngsters have been there first. 

[WaltAlpine]

I was at about 6500 feet of elevation two days ago in the Pasayten and a 3x3 was wandering the clearings on a South face at about 10:30 AM.
Not exactly midday, but not early either.