How long do you stay on the stand?

[Kevin]

How many of you are all-day hunters?

I'll admit I'm a pretty typical morning/evening hunter. I'll sit until about 10 and go out late afternoon and sit until dark. Sometimes I"ll sit a little longer in the morning if the moon phase calls for it.

But, God knows how many bucks I've missed seeing over the years during the middle of the day. I just can't make myself sit that long though. Kudos to all of you who can pack a lunch and make yourself sit still for 12 hours, but I just can't do it.

Some of the biggest bucks I know of have been "high-noon" bucks. One from my family .... My grandpa killed a 22-inch 12 point when he was a teenager at 1:00 in the afternoon. It was a particularly hot Thanksgiving Day and all the old men where inside getting fat on turkey, telling him he was wasting his time going out at mid-day. Two hours later he drove up with his monster.

[TheHuntinHog]

There is no rhyme or reason to my sitting on a deer stand other than the weather and the activity.  I don't have a set time for when I get on or when I get off.  I will say that I hunt more morning than evenings, but I've been known to sit all day, sit until noon, get on at noon and sit til dark, etc.  It all depends on what I think the deer are doing.  If I'm hunting a scrape and see the buck first thing in the morning and don't want him, I get down and go find another one.  If I haven't seen him by noon, I sit for the rest of the day if I'm seeing activity and the weather is ideal. 

My point in all of this is if you want to kill a deer, you have to be on the stand.  But there are times when it really doesn't matter if you sit on the stand all day; you probably just aren't going to see much activity that day, so rest up. 

[PETAH8R]

I used to be a morning and evening guy. Sit until 9:30 or 10 in the AM and get back in at 3 or so and sit until dark. Now if i'm hunting a new area I give it a couple days of very long hours, trying for all day but sometimes get down to stretch the legs and get back up. Where I have been hunting in SE arkansas I have been hunting 4-6 days a week since bow season started and have yet to see a deer before 8:30. I killed a decent 8 point saturday at 11am. I have only seen 3 deer the last hour of daylight. I have seen 5 different bucks, three of which I would have shot (killed one of them so far), and tons of does between 10 and 2. Hunting a bottom full of water oaks and willow oaks next to a young pine stand.

[ArkansasSloughboy]

I pretty much only all day hunt the first few days of gun season. Other than that I get in the stand at random times and sit a few hours. The majority of the bucks I've killed have been between 10 AM and 2 PM so I can't stand to hang around camp at noon. Sitting on the stand all day for a couple days has been the death of a few small bucks. If I sit on the stand sun up to sun down and don't see anything my standards start to go down. If I do it again the next day... look out five pointers. So far this season the majority of the movement I've been seeing is around 9 AM.

[SBE2]

hunt until i feel like i sat long enough. Could be a few hours or all day. Depends on which stand too, if i am in a box stand, might as well pack a lunch because it could be a while.

[PETAH8R]

I second the standards going down after an uneventful sit. Does catch hell if they are the first thing I see after 6 hours or so...

[buckaroo]

I sit as long as my body lets me Tuesday when it rained i got in stand at 10:00 a.m got off at 7:00 p.m had high hopes they would move after that rain moved out never seen a deer all day  Monday i sat from 6:00 a.m. untill 11:00a.m. and 3:00p.m. untill dark 3  small does , Sunday i sat from 6:00 a.m. untill 12:15 p.m. seen 7 deer 1 was a monster 10 point i just could not get around on and i was not going to take a bad shot i hope at another chance at him. Saturday  i sat from 6:00a.m. untill12:05 p.m. seen 3  a 14 inch 8 point but he was young so i let him go and 2 does shot at 1 of them with a clean miss still wonder what happened there it was nice hunting in the morning but the afternoons were brutal man it was hot the highlight of our weekend was 1 of our members killed a nice bear he had a white diamond shape mark on his chest about 300 lbs crazy thing, it was about 3;00 p.m. and about 90 degrees. 

[Kevin]

Buckaroo, curious as to what time did you see that monster 10 point? Also wouldn't mind seeing some pics of that bear if you ever get any.

[buckaroo]

Kevin i seen big boy at 9:00 a.m. on the money i will try to get my girl help me post a picture of the bear i am not the most computer  savy person around.

[blindset61]

Down here in White Cty the hunting has been tough.  I got put off my most reliable hunt area due to fire danger and had to make a quick jump to hunting a couple areas that are almost like public ground.  The landowners let whoever asks hunt there.  With this hot weather I've been hunting in the AM and a few times in the PM.  Shot a 7 point last Sat morning with a muzzleloader.  Not a big rack, but a large bodied deer.  I shot the deer while slipping, kinda like squirrel hunting.  The two areas I'm hunting get a lot of pressure, and if your going to kill a deer, it's either early-with an arrow or muzzleloader-or during the rut-they catch on to things quick.  There were two other deer with the buck I shot-that I didn't see until after the shot-one had a rack, as he ran up the slope at an angle and past pretty close to me when leaving the area.

I'm hoping for rain this weekend.  I'm ready to get back to my more familiar stomping grounds.

For the stand-depends on too many variables.  Climber, box, milk crate, weather, deer, etc.  I'm sure don't sit there all day-might if I had a good box stand with a good book and lots of good ground.!

[DeerWoods26]

That's my main deal, comfort. i getr to hurting if i sit too long and just want to get up and move around. sometimes i give a walk through and sometimes i just head back to the truck. guess i need to roll my own recliner out, build a box stand and probably could sit all day that way. love being out there if i could stay comfy.

[mtnscapes2004]

You might try going out later in the morning, maybe climb up your tree around 8:30 instead of pre-sunrise. I took the largest buck I have ever taken during gun season 2 years ago at approx. 1:00 in the afternoon on Nov. 21st. It was a 13 point I never would have even guessed would have been moving at that time of the day. He was taking his time slowly walking thru the woods. If you cannot sit from pre-sunrise, try going out a little later, especially during gun season. Those big bucks are not stupid. That is why they have the racks they have. After all the shooting stops around 10:30 in the morning, they start thinking about moving around.....................Good Luck!

[ArkansasSloughboy]

Yesterday the most activity occured at 12:00. I got in the stand at 11:30 and immediately saw 3 does. Then at 12:10 I had a 10" spike pass within 1 yard of my stand. Only horns I've seen so far this season.