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

[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