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

[pope]

I got my first deer last year at about 11 a.m. during late buck. The previous year, if I had been alert, I would have taken a bigger buck from the same stand, same time. Thinking back on all of the great advice and hunting accounts I've read on Hunt-WA, I seem to remember several hunters who have had mid-day success with deer. If you have had such luck, while many folks were eating lunch back at the truck, please recount your harvest, to the best of your memory. What was your set-up? What time of year? Were you in a stand near bedding areas? Still hunting alder flats? Do you recall any details regarding the weather and/or moon phase?

I'm mostly interested in lower elevation blacktail hunting, but whatever your experiences and regardless of the deer you hunt, I'd like to hear from you.

Thanks!

[Jonathan_S]

Here is what you need to know. Deer feed every 4-5 hrs period. A big feeding period is right before first lite. So 4-5 hours after that, deer are going to get up from bed and stretch and have a few bites.

Now during late hunts in the rut, bucks aren't feeding as much as they are cruising for does or running rub lines etc.

Whitetail seem to get up around 1000-1200 ish and feed lightly, maybe transition to s different bedding area. Muleys that I have watched get up midday seem to bed back down in the same spot.

I have killed around 20 deer and it's an even split between morning midday and night.

[Firedogg]

 On a nice cold November morning up in Winston Creek above the Green River I was sitting in a large old tangle of roots from when the area had been originally logged. It got me about 10' up so I look up the slope into the jack firs. During the earlier elk season moving through the area I found myself kicking does out left and right as I moved through and took note of the spot and could see the roots from the middle. Well I sat most of the morning watching several does moving in and out amongst the jacks. They would take a few steps and disappear only to reappear several yards away in the small openings. About 11 one such doe turned out to have a nice 3x3 following her with his nose to het butt. She stopped behind a tree which left him hanging out in a small opening with his tongue going crazy and moving from side to side to try to entice the lady for some lovin'. Well, he stopped moving for a moment and I let the 220 yard shot loose and only saw him either flip or jump in the air. Looked at my watch and it was just before 11:30. Sat for a bit, hung TP in the top of the tree closest to that root ball so I could figure out where I was in the jack firs. Took it nice and slow, take a step, look around the fir, take a step and repeat. Went so slow it took over an hour to get to the little opening I thought was the one (honestly all openings in the jack firs look the same) and just stood looking for any sign of a hit. Nothing there, took another step or two and looked. Holy crap, he was standing there looking right at me about 20 feet away. I could see where I hit him high in the back in front of the rear quarters, his legs were locked. One to the head and he was down, just after 1pm. Nice fat neck in full rut. First shot hit the spine and obliterated about 4" of it leaving bone chips on the tree next to him, causing him to flip around enough that from my stand I could not see him.
 During the late hunt I will be out from dark until dark if I don"t have one. During the regular season I very seldom go in during the day. I have had more deer run into me by guys heading back for breakfast or lunch than I can count.
  They are moving all the time or will get pushed by other hunters moving.

[Bantams]

All pictures were taken during Modern Season, middle of the day.  I've taken 3 of my bucks in late morning (sadly none of these guys above!)  For about a week during the Modern Season every year, we suddenly have bucks strolling all over our farm.  These are island deer, so a little different, but they're still sneaky enough to not get shot - or maybe I should carry my gun versus the camera

[fishnfur]

Pope, it's clear to me after drooling over that last post, that we're definitely hunting in the wrong spots.

Where you going with this anyways?  Very suspicious behavior indeed!

[fish vacuum]

I've shot more midday blacktails than I can write about here. All modern season. A couple were late season but mostly October. They've been on beds in clearcuts, on beds in timber, wandering in timber, strolling through clearcuts. And I don't know what some of them were doing before they just appeared out of nowhere, standing there looking at me.
Thinking about it now, the only trend I can come up with is that I don't think I've got one that was up wandering midday when the weather was nice.

[RudyP]

All pictures were taken during Modern Season, middle of the day.  I've taken 3 of my bucks in late morning (sadly none of these guys above!)  For about a week during the Modern Season every year, we suddenly have bucks strolling all over our farm.  These are island deer, so a little different, but they're still sneaky enough to not get shot - or maybe I should carry my gun versus the camera

I'd like to hunt in your farm! 😬


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Boss .300 winmag]

Bantams that last pic of yours is a dandy blackie. 

[HunterofWA]

"I'm mostly interested in lower elevation blacktail hunting, but whatever your experiences and regardless of the deer you hunt, I'd like to hear from you."

From my experience I have seen almost all day activity from Black-tails if your in the right spot, usually right on a bedding area or on cloudy days during the early season. It mainly depends on the time of year, for instance, if it has been hot for the past week or so, then when a cloudy day suddenly pops up out of the blue, the deer begin moving around more. It also depends on when the rut is, and the hunting pressure and quality and quantity of the food sources in the area. If there isn't as much food or if it's real cold out then daylight activity will increase most likely.

[fishnfur]

Hunter success rates, broken out by time of day the harvest occurred show something like 50% of whitetail bucks are taken between 10 am and 3 pm (I'll let you check the numbers).  This is a very large number considering the majority of whitetail hunters only hunt the first few and last few hours of light, and spend the middle of the day eating resting, etc.  It doesn't take a lot of thinking to understand that if relatively few hunters take 50% of the harvest during the middle of the day, there must be a lot of bucks up moving around in the middle of the day.

One of the members here, suggested in a post last year, that midday movement was commonplace during the rut, and was the result of bucks out running themselves ragged all night then bedding at dawn for a few hours rest.  Come midday, they're getting up and going out looking for more action.  This explanation makes absolute sense to me.

Just for fun, here's a excerpt from a post, I believe it was one of those special RadSav midnight magic posts, that gives excellent insight into a BT's life in the fall.  It has some tie-ins to this conversation: 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
It's almost impossible to pick a plant or a condition where all the answers fall in line with blacktail deer.  I think that is why so many have difficulty killing good blacktails every year.  More than any other animal I have hunted blacktails are weather specific.  Benchleg bucks are a little different, but true blacktails change habits as fast as the Western Washington weather in October - literally.  Blacktail vegetation changes very little from early archery season and the late buck hunt.  Berries come and go, young salal leaves come and go, but their browse changes very little.  And unlike muledeer and eastern whitetail, blacktail have A LOT of choices when it comes to browse and cover.

If you pay close attention to successful blacktail hunters you will notice each hunter seems to take bucks in roughly the same vegetation at roughly the same time of year and during roughly the same weather conditions.  Some guys always have deer in dry weather and sunny days, the next guy seems to kill his buck every year in a complete downpour in heavy timber while the next guy seems to always have thick necked bucks in the Christmas trees with frost on the ground.  Seldom do you see a successful blacktail hunter finding success in all vegetation and during all weather variations.  Once we see success we often get tunnel vision and only seek out bucks in that type of bush or terrain narrowing our window for success.  While seasons dictate this to a degree it is mostly weather related.  There are consistencies in regards to breaks in terraine in all weather conditions, but I find vegetation variations and knowing which ones when are key to success in all seasons.

Take the early velvet season in the first few weeks of archery season.  These hot weather soft horned bucks like being close to light limbed leafy cover and often feed in more open areas.  They feed in the relative open and escape the heat in the shade not far from their feed routes.  Low berry bushes not too far from some acceptable water or cooling source are good bets. If rain comes they abandon the leafy stuff and often just stand in the open until the rain passes.  Sometimes if heavy timber is close they stand under heavy canopy with full vision of open spaces.

Later when the rain comes more frequent and their horns get hard they seldom venture into the clearcuts during daylight.  They hang tighter to the evergreens and bed on breaks and edges where vision is good.  A lot of my best archery bucks were taken at this time of year during this mild rain / drizzly days.  Every single one taken in the tall timber within 45 yards of a middle age clearcut edge and usually bedded in fir needles 30 to 40 yards above a vegetation or elevation break.  If days get warm the deeper these bucks go into the timber.  The more it rains the closer they get to the clearings.  Often times venturing into these clearings before night fall when rains are heavy.  North facing slopes are good producers this time of year if weather and rains are warm.

As the weather cools, the rut approaches and the rains get heavier these bucks start to become restless.  They no longer will stay close to their archery season feed zones.  They will no longer sleep all day in the fir needles.  I like to call this time of year and weather as the Tall Timber Wandering.  They are not in a rush to get anywhere as they are during the rut, but they are too restless to simply bed in the damp dirt.  This time of year I like big timber, heavy canopy, low light, scattered browse and vine maples where breaks in the canopy let in more light.  I also notice the bucks starting to migrate from benches and breaks to more level ground in anticipation of the upcoming rut. 

The pressures of hunting season have started taking their toll as well.  Less and less does their timber wandering pass close by open clear cuts.  Now if close to more open spaces it's more often Christmas trees instead of low slash and berries.  Mornings are colder but afternoon can still warm enough for clear changes in thermal wind direction.  One of my favorite things to do this time of year is throw on the pack, the rain gear and my best pair of mucky bottom boots.  I'll find an area big enough for a half days hunt.  Starting from a road beneath I still hunt, zig zagging my way up and over as thermals are headed down and zig zagging my way down as thermals rise.  Once at the truck I have a hot cup of soup and drive to an area I can hunt dropping in from the top.  I zigzag my way down and over as the thermals are coming up and I zigzag my way back to the truck once the thermals are working down.  I rarely ever step foot in the Christmas trees or alders at this time of year.  This is some of the more enjoyable blacktail hunting as you are on high alert at all times with very little waste in the day.

[cooltimber]

great article!

[fishnfur]

Correction:  I endeavor to never let the facts get in the way of my thoughts.      Here's one of the actual discussions and correct data regarding P&Y class whitetail harvest numbers.  I've seen similar discussions regarding harvest numbers for BT, but the source eludes me.

http://wiredtohunt.com/2011/03/10/hard-proof-for-hunting-the-midday-shift/

More on midday movement: http://www.gameandfishmag.com/hunting/hunting_whitetail-deer-hunting_ra_1108_08/

and:  http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/tactics/rut/hunt-midday-bucks-now/

As we all know, BT deer are not WT deer.  The fact that they share so many similarities and there is so little research/writings on BT habits and hunting that I've come to the point that I just accept that many articles regarding WTs have direct application to hunting Blackies.  You can make your own decisions for yourselves.

[pope]

All pictures were taken during Modern Season, middle of the day.  I've taken 3 of my bucks in late morning (sadly none of these guys above!)  For about a week during the Modern Season every year, we suddenly have bucks strolling all over our farm.  These are island deer, so a little different, but they're still sneaky enough to not get shot - or maybe I should carry my gun versus the camera

Thanks for sharing. You have more blacktails on your lot than NW Trek!

[pope]

Pope, it's clear to me after drooling over that last post, that we're definitely hunting in the wrong spots.

Where you going with this anyways?  Very suspicious behavior indeed!

No, my spot is not THAT good. Holy cow! Where I'm going with this I don't know, just trying to develop strategies that improve my odds throughout the long deer season.

[fishnfur]

I was hoping you'd figured out some magic rule or quadratic equation for stand placement. 

Whole lotta tight lips around here these days.   

[finnman]

Of the nearly 30 bucks my wife and I have taken, 3 were shot midday, 1 right at dusk, and all of the rest during the morning before 10 am.
This includes general season, rut hunts, mule deer, blacktail and whitetail.

and by the way I hate blacktail!!! 

[Spuddieselwwu]

The last 3 dear I've shot - all between 11am - 3pm. 

Blacktail (modern/general), Whitetail (late rut), Whitetail (late rut)

[jackmaster]

Of the nearly 30 bucks my wife and I have taken, 3 were shot midday, 1 right at dusk, and all of the rest during the morning before 10 am.
This includes general season, rut hunts, mule deer, blacktail and whitetail.

and by the way I hate blacktail!!! 

:yike:nuts

[JimmyHoffa]

I was hoping you'd figured out some magic rule or quadratic equation for stand placement. 

Whole lotta tight lips around here these days.   

yesterday all was quiet until some clouds and drizzle moved in.  Then started seeing deer--nine does and one spike.  Earlier in the week didn't see much during the day. 
Over the years I have seen a flurry of blacktail movement during mid-day, in that 11-1 slot, usually headed uphill in a draw, but it's like they use the less steep draws to head up and then cut down the steeper ridge to head back down.    Maybe we can get some professor Rad insight.

[pd]

Whole lotta tight lips around here these days.   

Just like the boys at the agency, I am quietly monitoring this thread. 

 

[deerhunter_98520]

I've been hunting coastal blacktail my whole life and only coastal blacktail until I ventured to Idaho for whitetail for the first time last year and I'll tell you that every big blacktail except for one of mine has been between 11-1pm...granted I have taken lots of bucks during first light and a few at last light. Here's my thought from 20 years experience hunting them. When these bucks start cruising for does throw out any pattern you have on the bucks you have watched, it's pretty much worthless now. You need to pattern the does, if it's a bright moon the does will feed all night so the bucks will chase all night and you may have an opportunity at first light but most likely will be bedded within the first half hour. The key on these days is mid day like stated before..the bucks won't get up to feed much but the does will and they will bring the bucks...this is why I love the last 5 days or so of modern season...best time if you ask me. The spot I hunt I average anywhere from seeing 10-30 does a day and not alot of bucks during the summer months but they will be there come fall. I also hunt clear cuts with lots of cover in and around it, timber, reprod, and taller vegetation in the cut for them to feel secure and able to bed/hide in it....if you have/find a spot like this then sit all day and glass glass glass...it may get boring glassing the same spots over and over but these particular areas the deer like there could be deer bedded when you glass it and 10 min later they decide to get up and feed and there everywhere. Always be on alert and try not to move around and skyline yourself. Sit below so you don't stick out...my biggest buck to day was at 11am...me and my dad were down 100yds off a landing at the "glassing stump" we were there so much we had seats carved out in the ground to make it comfortable. Well we glassed this spot since first light and it was a cold morning and decided to go up for some hot coffee and my dad walked over to the edge of the landing to Glass a small ridge running the opposite way of where we glassed and there was a nice buck standing there, he went to shoot it and his scope was fogged ( make sure and have scope covers  ) and he told me to shoot it so I did. I had no idea how big it was just that it looked nice. We went up to it and it was a very respectable 4x4 and my biggest to date. Another time I went to help a fellow member drag out his daughters 5pt blacktail she shot in mid day but already had it out by the time I got there and on my way back I decided to check out another spot to see a spike chasing a doe. I went to shoot the spike to get meat in the freezer and they jumped over the ridge so I ran up to the truck and drove up to the top of the hill to get the spike and he was gone but I heard something running and look over and there's a big buck running down the ridge looking for the doe and I shot this one...so don't go in at lunch and let someone else shoot the buck your after...bring lunch with you and hope this helps you out...good luck this year 

Here's the 2 bucks

[Seabass]

In the last 15 years I have never hunted a day outside of late November to the middle of December when the late archery season closes. So my sampling is skewed a bit. Unless something weird happens, I arrive in my stand prior to light and stay in it until after dark. I don't log my kills but everybody remembers there biggest kills. Most of them have happened mid day. Last year I killed the biggest buck to date right at the last moment of light BUT.... I had already shot over his back at 11:00 am that day and should have killed him then.

I don't live near any black tail and I have never hunted them.

[ghosthunter]

We record all our harvests ,time, date, day weather on the walls of our cook shack. Since 1989

[Bantams]

Sorry for the tease! 
If it's any consolation, the photos were all taken different years:
2008 (pre-hunting days)
2008
2015
2011 (on my Dad's wall)
2012 (saw this guy about four years in a row - that's a 1x4.  He stood at least a foot taller than any other buck I've seen.)
2014 (had in my scope at one point and then he just vanished...)

[Boss .300 winmag]

Sorry for the tease! 
If it's any consolation, the photos were all taken different years:
2008 (pre-hunting days)
2008
2015
2011 (on my Dad's wall)
2012 (saw this guy about four years in a row - that's a 1x4.  He stood at least a foot taller than any other buck I've seen.)
2014 (had in my scope at one point and then he just vanished...)

WHAT PHOTOS?

[Blacktail Sniper]

Sorry for the tease! 
If it's any consolation, the photos were all taken different years:
2008 (pre-hunting days)
2008
2015
2011 (on my Dad's wall)
2012 (saw this guy about four years in a row - that's a 1x4.  He stood at least a foot taller than any other buck I've seen.)
2014 (had in my scope at one point and then he just vanished...)

WHAT PHOTOS?

Refer back to her earlier post, post #3 above....

[Seabass]

We record all our harvests ,time, date, day weather on the walls of our cook shack. Since 1989

And.........?

[HunterofWA]

 

We record all our harvests ,time, date, day weather on the walls of our cook shack. Since 1989

And.........?

  

[fishnfur]

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.

 

[deerhunter_98520]

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 

[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.