Anybody here sit all day on their deer stands? I often hunt on public land for deer that see a lot of pressure. Some guys say deer get out of their beds and move around at midday. I've tried it a couple of times and never saw any deer. Personally, I'm wondering if sticking around all day risks having your scent blow all over the place for hours. Then again, leaving the woods and returning in the afternoon probably creates a bit of disturbance. What do you think?

to be honest, I just don't have it in me to sit all day anymore. I did some in my early years but no more. i just try and hunt smarter and it works.

Strictly depends on the area, the pressure, and the time pf year

I've sat all day and seen deer all day. I've sat all day and not seen any deet. I've sat all day and seen deer only in the morming, in the evening or at midday.

My Florida archery season takes place in the Panhandle well before the rut, so I can't count on bucks running around all day. Mornings and evenings seem to be most productive for me.

Ours in Texas is well before the rut as well.

Usually… During the rut, I am prepared to and never need to.

Sitting out all day long outside of rut, though… They CAN move all day long, but seems like the Solunar tables are pretty reliable. But it does make sense to be there in time and in position to see the animals pushed by the guys who show up running late.

I haven’t done it in a long time due to time restraints but I used to sit all day during the rut if I had the time. Too many times have I gotten out of my stand or attempted to only to bump a good buck. I lowered my bow one time and turned to climb down only to see a good buck standing at about 15 yards.

When I was much younger. I worked 10 to 6 night shift. During the rut I would hunt all day then get 2 hrs sleep pound my self with coffee especially if a cold front was coming thru.

If it is during the rut I try to hunt all day. If it is not rut then I usually hunt until 11:00. I have some stands that during the rut prime time is from about 9:30-2:00.

Bear season in Pa., back when it was only three days......

I can hunt all day no problem, sit all day no thanks.

If hunting bucks during the rut, I will sit all day and have done many times. I have killed most of my mature bucks between 10:30 and 12:30.. during the same weeks, I did have opportunities early and late as well, but not nearly as much. Of course I have sat and seen nothing as well.. that is the pot luck of deer hunting! BigJim

I really enjoy it in November but I Gotta have my heart right and my accounts paid. And a couple PB&J's.

I hunt from daylight until I get tired (usually 11AM) sometimes a little later.I don't hunt evenings very often (1 time per season) because I don't like tracking, taking care of a deer in the dark. I start the process over every morning.

I never sit all day for deer but sit all day in a blind for antelope in 100+ degrees . I have plenty of snacks, water, my Bible and a crossword puzzle book. One thing you can be sure of...If you go out you might not see anything,,,If you don't go out , guaranteed you won't see anything !!!! Des

Yes, during the rut.

Depends on where I am hunting. Where I hunt we don’t have big trophy bucks so I can kill the same deer in the mornings or evenings when the percentages to kill deer go up. Your area may be different

During the rut yes especially if I’m hunting on the edge of a bedding area. That’s what has at least worked for me. You’d be surprised how many deer you see up on their feet if you don’t hunt mid day. I shot this buck on November 15th around 11:30. I had a doctors appointment and then went out after so I missed the early morning hunt but glad I did!

Its tough to do. Especially as I get older. Hard to focus and stay comfortable. Never the less, I've done it. Still do a few times a year. This year one of my bucks was taken at 1p. Just sayin. If you are not there.........you don't know what walked by.

I can't seem to sit still as long as I used to. I'll stay until I get fidgity. I figure if I can't sit still, I'll do more harm than good out there. I'm doing well if I can sit 4-5 hours.

I'm in Alabama and like Fiddler our rut is so late deer movement is limited a bit to morning and evening. I see more deer in the evening and late morning where I hunt. It's very subjective to your area and fun to figure out. It does seem Northern areas like I've hunted in Iowa and Illinois where the rut is so predictable it's wise to sit all day and hunters do but in the deep south I don't hear of that very often.

I have, not so much anymore. As I seldom use a stand now. I have probably killed a third of my deer between ten and two.

I’ve done it a several times. Usually only during the rut. I have rarely seen deer in the 10-2 period everyone talks about though.

I sat from dark to dark in a tree stand just one time...and that was about 30 years ago.

Never again. It was torture.

Times two of blue bird said

I start all day sits the last week of October and then continue until I fill my tag. There are days when I can’t due to other commitments but when my schedule allows I try to be in a stand.

Not a lot of deer where I'm hunting in the big woods of NW Wisconsin, and not much hunting pressure on the public land that I hunt. During the rut, I sit dark til dark. I actually see most of the bigger bucks between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

55 years of hunting and killing deer, and never once have done a sit like that. Never once felt the need.

Yes sir during the rut

Oct no. Nov yes because of the rut. Dec yes because the gun guys walk around. Jan yes because when its cold they feed mid day.

never have 5 hours was enough for me

I have in very heavily hunted areas and the deer do move more during the middle of the day but I don't very often around where I live. Scent is always a problem but if it's heavily hunted the other hunters scent is blowing around anyway.

In the rut for sure or at least till noon on public land. The average Joe walks out around 10 and stirs the deer to relocate. With that said after 50 years I think close to 90% of my deer are within 15 minutes of 8:30

I don’t have much time to hunt so when I do I hunt every minute I can.

The nicest buck I have ever seen while hunting showed up opening day at 12:45. Unfortunately he was 152 yards away and didn’t come any closer. I have had more nice bucks on my trail camera from 11:00am to 2:00 pm than any other time of day or night

Bjrogg

PS I was watching him from 152 yards away when the trail camera took this picture

One thing for sure. Bucks are somewhere all day long. I just play the percentages.

Like to sit morning, walk out to eat and move around a while, then back in for the evening, that is more enjoyable to me, but I get in at least a half hour before sunrise, most deer sitings were in the am, not that it wouldn't be better to stay, all day, but it's about enjoying it for me, everyone is different

I have sat all day in the same spot a handful of times. Everytime it was straight torture and i swore id never do it again.

I have a rule..if i want to get down more than i want a deer...im getting down. Generally i reach that point at about 3 hours give or take. I never regret it once my feet hit the ground.

"When I was young, I used to stand in my treestand until my feet got sore, then I'd sit down. Now, I sit in my treestand until my ass gets sore, then I stand up." Gene Wensel 2004 "LOL"

LOL Nemo!!

Depends where you are. Here I shoot most of my bucks mid day, so you bet.

I've done it. It sucks. Never again. I don't like to sit in a treestand at all anymore. I'd rather stillhunt.

Got the answer for all you that can't sit all day. SADDLES

But its a money pit so be warned.

Barry W. In this video I saw, he says he has 400 tree stands on this property he shares with his neighbour. He checks weather patterns every day, and works out a stand strategy.

I'm thinking sitting in the same place all day is like standing on the same rock, casting all day. Not to say it won't work... Though last I heard there weren't any million deer runs up any deer trails.

My hunting time is limited so I usually hunt all day, this last LTR I had squadrons of javelina in front of me almost every hour all day long. Got several shots, but most were arrows in the dirt with all those eyes and noses working. Even at 8-10 yards bow is not faster than critter reflexes.

It’s true it’s very dependent on the area and the pressure. To me it’s nonsense though that some busy area has all the deer run out at lunchtime while guys eat. That doesn’t even make sense. Timing also true. The rut could be a time it’d play off or before or after a giant storm dependent on so many variables. But what if the timing was right (say the rut) and an oppressive heat wave hit? Would it be smart to be out there mid day? Prob not. This is all part of hunting. Learning to hunt. Nothing is all the time or everytime. We hedge our bets by concentrating in times of good chances of movement. As a rule deer are crepuscular. Most active dawn n dusk. A few things can change that. Learn when that’s gonna happen and adjust when need be.

The way I hunt antelope you have to go in in the dark and come out after dark so I'm sitting ALL daylight. For white tails I'll usually sit 5-7 days in Nov all day. See deer any time of the day.

Byron Ferguson’s book Become the Arrow has an interesting chapter on this, it’s short and may not be applicable to your area you live in. But it’s worth reading and experimenting none the less.

During the rut I've done it but not any more. If cold enough, I'll hunt from dawn until 1:30pm with good success. Then buck activity shuts down from 1:30-4pm, then picks back up from 4:30 till dark, at least where I hunt.

Yes during the rut.

Depends on the area I guess. I am in my stand a half an hour before you can see. In the area I hunt I see deer right around 7:30 a.m. on their way up the mountain. It's like clock work. I have sat many times until dark and have only seen a few doe moving around in that 10 to 2 time period. I have tried the top of the mountain all day but have never encountered a nice buck in those mid hours. That is during bow season and before the rut starts here in Pa. The last two weeks of the bow season here in Pa you may see a buck any time of the day and when rifle season starts another hunter can bump a deer all day so those are the weeks that I hunt all day. I try not to Burn myself out early in bow season so at that time I sit for a few hours in the morning or evening.

400 treestands? LOL. uh huh

Pics Shawn or it didnt happen as they say. LOL

I just cant stay in stand for more than a few hours . If i sat all day, im afraid something would have to happen. I can pee from a tree stand easily, cant see me pooping from one though.

I've spent all day in a tree quite a few times and not just during the rut.

I love to hunt and sometimes it just feels good to spend the whole day doing it. Plus, I know for a fact that I can't kill a deer if I'm not in the woods.

Typing about doing something isn't the same as doing it in my opinion. YMMV.

Very occasionally I stand in one spot on the ground for hours, even dan to dusk once every two or three years, if I am afer a particular big buck Ive recently seen in the area. Other than that, I am a still hunter and rarely sit or stand...esp rare to be in a tree. Just my way...

I doubt there is a direct correlation between time spent in the woods and ability, at least that's something I have noticed. Most folks I know have to work for a living and can't spend all day in the woods, much less in one spot, except for maybe one day a week. They still seem to be very successful hunting when they can, either mornings or evenings, but rarely both. In Pennsylvania, we don't have the luxury of hunting deer on Sundays, except on rare occasions, so that let's only one full day for working folk.

It wasn't until I developed the patience and discipline to sit in a tree from dark to dark that I was able to start stillhunting successfully. It makes sitting all day in a tree seem easy!

Bowhunting from the ground (stalking or in a blind) never prevented a kill, and a treestand never guaranteed one. Bowhunting smart, hard, and being in the woods as much as possible will make success come your way more often. Preparation and time spent in the woods will give someone more opportunities. Yes, for a working man it is tough. I've been there. I worked jobs my whole life I have never even been on unemployment. Sometimes I had to switch shifts with guys, comp (take time off instead of the money) my holidays, use my vacation time, work a bunch of overtime and comp it in the non-archery season months so I could use my comp time during archery season. Had to do some serious juggling sometimes with my job and family stuff. Thank GOD I married a wonderful woman who put up with my bowhunting addiction.

Hunt Government land mostly, and majority of hunters come in early, leave for lunch then return about 4 pm. The deer have adapted to this pattern and mid day is a very fruitful time to be on stand.

i think its good if you can do it,, I dont have the patience to do it,, and respect those that can,,

I have been hunting primarily in East Texas the last few years on private farms. I wanted to clarify it's a bit different than public land, but in East Texas... Not much different. Unfortunately there is a whole lot of poaching that goes on both private and public. Our deer are incredibly educated and pressured. My BEST sits happen when they are in need of something be it better groceries or water mid afternoon. I'm not a "buck hunter" so if that is what you are after my information is for not, but I have killed many deer at or round 3pm. One of my great uncles would not leave camp to go out until everyone else had returned. he slept late, ate breakfast, and then went out. He killed his fair share. He always said the deer know when the masses are in the woods, and when folks leave.

-Bones

Great post and Nemo, love that painting as well!

Nemo, AMEN and great pic.

I did in my younger years as well. Only once last year but most of the action that day was early afternoon. I've killed a lot of my best Bucks between 11:00 - 1:00.

I've done it many times but only if I know I'm on a hot spot.

All day sits have more to do with my schedule, and if I have the time or not.

Do I sit all day? Absolutely anytime I can.

Is morning and evening more productive on average?..yea. But you never know, you might climb down and quit at 9:30 in the morning...but had you been on stand, you may have arrowed that buck that walked past at 1:00.

I sat all morning in the rain and sleet, and saw nothing zilch, not even a squirrel. That season was like that, I sat a number of days all day without seeing a deer, and by the end of the season, I'll admit, it was getting tougher to stay on stand..But I forced myself to stay.....I killed him right before noon. Hrs upon hrs on stand...and in minutes it's over.

Not the first time.

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