How long before dawn?

[Brian S]

### How long are you in your deer stand/ spot before dawn? You know how long do you spend praying for the sun to come out and warm you up. You can usually see about ###a half hour, forty five minutes before sunrise so I try to get there at least a half hour before that. A little earlier on the opener and a little later in the following days. Deer seem to move allot at this time so how long before you can see do you have to be there.Or is it better to be on the move while they are .Whats your pre-dawn strategy.
Brian S

[gizz]

Hi Brian,
I like to be in my stand about 45 minutes before legal shooting hours. Gives the woods some time to settle down a bit and for me to relax a bit. I tend to spend most, if not all, of the day in my stand so you gotta give yourself time to get situated with the "pee" jug, pack bag, adjust the seat a little, etc.
I don't like to moving at all at daylight -- unless of course I'm going to retrieve the harvest!!

[feathermax]

My goal is to be at the stand 1 hour before legal hunting. Its no problem in september, but come november and sub zero temps i still do it, but am a little less enthusiastic.

[db 183]

I am usually out to my spot about an hour before sunrise. Sometimes an hour and a half. Last year I got turned around in the dark and when the sun came up I was about a hundred yards from where I wanted to be. I was lost for a few minutes until I got my bearing about me.

[BigDog]

I always try to be settled into a spot about 30 minutes before shoot time. But then again, you never know. One year, I overslept. Once I woke up, I threw my stuff on and started hustling to the spot I had planned to use. Shoot time arrived when I was only about half way. So, I eventually just grumbled and found a deer trail to sit on.
About 5 minutes after I sat down, a doe came along the trail. A doe with horns on her butt. There was a buck following her and checking her out. She moved aside and I dropped the buck in his tracks.
So, you never know what is best.

[MNHNTR]

I like to be in any hunt area at least 45 minutes before first light. ###Give my eyes a chance to adjust and pick out land marks etc. ###get in the groove !

[springdrl]

I like to use the US Naval Observatory website to decide when I should leave camp to be in my stand at the right time. ###It not only lists both sunrise and sunset for any place on the globe but also lunar data as well. ###I use the time given as the start of civil twilight as my reference since it is appears pretty much the same as the start of legal shooting time. ###The lunar data can be used to determine when the moon is directly overhead or underfoot which many believe is the time at which game and fish are most active.

[KsBowhunter]

45 minutes to an hour before 1st light.

[Speckmisser]

Depending on where I am, I try to be where I want to sit by at least an hour before shooting light. ###That often means hiking out of camp two hours before. ###Of course, that often means I oversleep and end up just making it.

Like Big Dog's story, I overslept til 0900 one morning. ###Cursing myself, I rushed into the canyon. ###I'm walking double-time up the trail when I see a deer cutting across the open meadow about 500 yards away. ###He disappears and I keep walking. ###Suddenly, he comes strolling out of the brush and into the open about 250 yards away and uphill. ###And I'm caught flatfooted on an old farm road, no cover, nothing to use for a rest, and out of breath from rushing. ###

Four shots later the deer is standing there wondering what the hell all that noise is. ###The fifth shot chipped rocks just over his back and he started to move. ###I about killed myself trying to get more rounds out, and the movement let him know where I was. ###Bottom line, no deer. ###Bad, bad, bad shooting...all because I overslept and got in a rush. ###

Lessons learned? ###Treat every walk in deer country like a stalk. ###Keep to cover, and stop where you will have a shooting rest. ###Even better, I bought a folding bipod for future incidents. ###