Shift to morning hunting

Willie McCutchen hunts a lot during the early season, and his favorite time is late afternoon. But that changes as the pre-rut transition period begins.

“When the transition from early season feeding behavior to the pre-rut occurs, my favorite time to hunt will switch from late afternoon to morning,” McCutchen said, “(and) not just early morning, I’ll often stay in the stand until 11 o’clock or noon. A lot of bucks will move throughout the morning. Afternoon hunting is still good, and I’ll go hunting whenever I can, but if I have a choice, I’ll take mornings at this time of the season. I think the bucks move around at night in search of does and continue that early the next morning. Bucks also begin to look for food before bedding down for the day. By staying in the stand for an extended period in the morning, I’ll see a lot more deer and have taken some really nice bucks close to mid-day.

“When I can, I’ll hunt the late afternoon as well, but my prime time is now the morning hunting.” McCutchen said.

Biologist Charles Ruth reinforces this with data he’s collected from hunters and his own personal experiences.

“After recording the specifics on thousands of deer kills, when the pre-rut transition begins, there is a shift to better success in the morning based on actual harvest information,” Ruth said. “While afternoon hunting is still productive, I think the cooler weather is one driving factor in making mornings more productive as October progresses. As the weather cools, the bucks roam at night looking for does. When day breaks, it’s really the coolest part of the day, and they’re still on the move for a while, which is a change from the early season patterns.

“Hunters who continue to hunt only afternoons are still in the game and have a chance, but as time goes and we progress though the pre-rut, more and more good deer are seen and taken in the mornings. Many of us can’t pick and choose when we hunt, we go when we can. But during this period hunting the morning certainly increases a hunters chances of seeing deer, especially big bucks.”