The Best Hours to Deer Hunt

The best time to hunt deer is when they are on the move.

Few people can hunt all day, every day during the deer season. Even if they could, many would rather hunt during specific time periods when they stand the best chance of seeing and killing a deer. There are several hours during the day that generally provide the best deer-hunting opportunities.

Hour Around Sunrise

Deer generally feed at night in agricultural and other types of fields or open areas. In the hour around dawn, they start making their way into wooded areas, where they feed a little bit more before bedding down. As a result, hunters who get situated at least an hour before the sun comes up stand a good chance of seeing a deer that is going about its regular routine. Some states allow hunters to shoot 30 minutes before sunrise, and some allow them to shoot at sunrise. Check the regulations, but make sure you are in the stand or blind early enough to watch the sun come up.

Hour Around Sunset

Most states allow hunters to shoot until 30 minutes after sunset. That coincides with one of the periods of highest deer activity. As the sun begins to set, deer get up from their beds and begin to move around, preparing to go and feed once the sun goes down. They may wander around the woods for a while and browse, but by 30 minutes after sunset, they often will be into the fields and open areas where they feed during the night. As a result, the edges of fields in which deer feed are good places to hunt during this final hour of the hunting day.

10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

The late morning -- between about 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. -- does not necessarily coincide with a period of high deer movement. But there often is a lot of hunter movement during these hours, and hunters walking through the woods is one of the best ways to get deer moving and, potentially, walking by your stand. Many hunters get to the woods first thing in the morning, and by 10 a.m. are ready to stretch their legs or go in for lunch.

2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

The same hunters who left the woods at 10 a.m. often will be back for the afternoon hunt. If you can beat them back into the woods and be sitting in your stand by 2 p.m. or so, you very well may see a deer that has been spooked by all the new activity.

References

• Missouri Conservationist: Deer Hunting Basics
• Bowhunting.net: Deer Movement Basics and Beyond