The age old question…. how long before sunrise are you in?

[Lindseys Grandpa]

I don't walk in till I can see w/o a light . While noise may or may not indicate a human to a deer a light is a dead giveaway. I have killed deer walking in . Most of the deer I see in my stand is between 9 & 10 . 9 is when the woods seem to come alive .

 

[BeerThirty]

I try to get into my stand about 45 minutes prior to legal shooting hours. Takes me about 15 minutes to get situated (heater started, gear stowed, dry socks swapped, rifle loaded, etc...). I like to have 30 minutes of absolute stillness, just listening to things in the dark before the sun rises.

 

[huntfish]

I prefer to be settled in my stand at least 30 mins before shooting light. However, you can't kill him if you don't go in, so I've also slow walked in a daylight and have killed many that way too.

 

[jimdickson]

I’ve realized I’m loud as crap. It’s probably because I’ve had issues with dragging my feet since I was a boy..

Because of it, I’ve started trying to get in the stand 1 hour before daylight. This is what I have done for the last two seasons.

Unfortunately - since I have started doing this, I’ve had 2 encounters with big bucks where I couldn’t get a shot off. I wasn’t able to shoot because it was so dark (20-30 min before shooting light).

 

[Ace1313]

I have always been a grey light person. No reason to sit there in the dark and let your stink fill up the woods.

 

[bfriendly]

My OpSec these days requires no light in the morning and a good one after dark. I move slow too. Like the Hillbilly said, you're hunting on the way to your stand, not just while you're in it.

My first Georgia deer was killed right after I got to the bottom of my leaner stand……if you get down early you can hunt on the way out too

I have enjoyed catching up on this thread. I’m usually way late and get mad at myself every time I’m walking in and I am seeing the sky wake up. I pref to be in the tree, but seldom do I make it before then. I still sometimes see deer, even on high pressured pub land.
My main deer season is in Kentucky and we are lazy enough we seldom get there before the same usually we can see morning. Easier staying after dark there, but tough to get up early.
Here in Georgia I simply go when I can get my but up and go. Many times I am in the truck before I’m 100% positive where I’m even gonna go……gotta have backup plans hunting public. There are a few places I find myself getting there earlier than others, maybe because I know I better?

 

[Nicodemus]

Magic time for me over all the years has been between 8:30 to 9:00 AM.

 

[Blackston]

We had that problem on the Airport farm. Even had one guy "welcome" us to our own land.

Actin like i had permission has worked more for than it hasn’t for me back in the day

 

[dang]

Surprised I’m not in the norm after reading through this, but I get in really early, usually 1.5hrs before actual sunrise…shoot for being settled 1hr before legal shooting light. I walk past a lot of deer in that 2-3hrs before light that just lay there and let you pass by within 50 yards. They act much less spooky than they are closer to grey light.

 

[turkeykirk]

This. ^ That white light from your flashlight tells everything in the woods it's time to move on quietly because the idiot human is back again.

Have been going in earlier since I got my new high powered flashlight.

 

[Full Draw McGraw]

Have been going in earlier since I got my new high powered flashlight.

No officer, i wasn't spotlighting deer. I was making sure the coast was clear to walk in to my deer stand. I don't want to spook them, it's gonna be light in 6 and a half hours...

 

[Son]

I just go any time in the morning, most bucks I get are mid morning til noon.

 

[Dthigpen]

I get in the stand at least an hour before daylight. The one thing I have learned from the last couple of years from hunting hogs with thermal on a regular basis is that deer react extremely different to my disturbance in the dark than they do in the light.

 

[elfiii]

Actin like i had permission has worked more for than it hasn’t for me back in the day

In some places in south Georgia permission is an afterthought. It's all "open land" unless it's a plantation.

 

[DCHunter]

I'm with others and wait until I can see and then sneak in, hunting along the way. Seems I've spooked more going in too early. Every once in a while I will get there before sunrise, but that's more because I just like being out there and watching the woods wake up than it is hunting strategy.