What time do you head to into the woods on opening day sunrise in ohio west is 727 and 718 in the east just curious as to how long do you think it takes for the woods to settle down
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What time do you head to into the woods on opening day sunrise in ohio west is 727 and 718 in the east just curious as to how long do you think it takes for the woods to settle down
I like to be settled in the stand at least 1/2 hour before legal shooting light.
I agree I'm happy with at least 1/2 hour before the sun thinks about coming up. As far as how long it takes the woods to settle back down, kinda depends on how much noise and scent you layed down going into your stand. If you can slip in quietly and pretty much undetected it won't take long at all but if your stepping on sticks, crunching leaves, etc then it will obviously take a little longer.
The one area I hunt in is kind of like a persons yard. On his property the stand that is furthrest away is maybe only 60 yards into the woods which makes slipping in and out pretty easy.
For me it depends on when I expect to see deer and how long I plan to sit. The earliest I have seed deer on my cams at my opening day stand is about 7:30, but most days they come it after 8. I plan on sitting as long as I can stand it, so on Sat I will probably try to hit the trail to my stand about 6:30 or so. I can be up and settled into by tree by about 6:45. If I was only hunting a half day or if I thought I would have deer in early, I would be hitting the woods about 6 am.
I try to shoot for 1/2 to get to my stand but many times i have just finished setting up as legal shooting light rolled in and have had deer on top of me. So anymore I try to get there as early as possible knowing that I may very well barely make it in before legal shooting light. Early in the season it is easy to be setup 1/2 early after day light savings time it becomes much more difficult for me. One think I know is that I do not want to be setting up after legal shooting hours if I can avoid it.
I like to be in my tree no later than an hour before sunrise.
2 yrs back I was in my stand in the pitch black of the morning and listened for over 10 minutes as a deer came up the hill and walked right in front of me, maybe 20yrds out. I couldn't see a thing, but it knew something was wrong. I could tell it was doing the head bob snort and pawing the ground, but eventually it just walked off... or at least that's what it all sounded like.
Therefore I try to be in the stand for a minimum of 1/2hr before legal shooting hours... 45-60 min is better.