{"id":314,"date":"2017-10-31T06:43:38","date_gmt":"2017-10-31T06:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tma65.com\/blog\/?p=314"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:37:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:37:54","slug":"best-times-for-deer-hunting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Times for Deer Hunting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\"><div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p><span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Best_Times_for_Deer_Hunting\" >Best Times for Deer Hunting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Morning_Best_Times_for_Deer_Hunting\" >Morning: Best Times for Deer Hunting<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Mornings_After_a_Full_Moon\" >Mornings After a Full Moon<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Evening\" >Evening<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Fronts\" >Fronts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/best-times-for-deer-hunting\/#Cold\" >Cold<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div><h2 style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Best_Times_for_Deer_Hunting\"><\/span>Best Times for Deer Hunting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Best Times for Deer <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/binoculars-for-turkey-hunting\/\" title=\"Binoculars for Turkey Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"751\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hunting<\/a>. The northern half of the U.S. is quickly cooling down while the word on weather in the south is humid. Climate aside, the most important thing the two halves of the country share is <a title=\"How to Maximize Deer Hunting Season\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/how-to-maximize-deer-hunting-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deer season<\/a>. Sometimes it\u2019s pure accident that we roll into work late and forget weekend chores due to long naps.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">As the season progresses, the best times for <a title=\"Deer Hunting Techniques for the Post Rut\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/deer-hunting-techniques-for-the-post-rut\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deer hunting<\/a> will change with the weather and moon phases. We\u2019ll likely still find ourselves sitting in the stand at first and last light, the way we\u2019ve always done. Or maybe this <a title=\"Elk Roam West Virginia for First Time in 141 Years\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/elk-roam-west-virginia-for-first-time-in-141-years\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">year we\u2019ll save up a little vacation time<\/a> and instead hunt approaching fronts that come through on Wednesday afternoon. \u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Morning_Best_Times_for_Deer_Hunting\"><\/span>Morning: Best Times for Deer Hunting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Deer patterns are different everywhere. On one property they may stick to the woods in the morning and greenfields in the evening. Vice versa elsewhere. Once you\u2019ve figured this out, get as close to food sources as possible in the early hours. Like humans, deer want to breakfast after a night\u2019s sleep.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Mornings_After_a_Full_Moon\"><\/span>Mornings After a Full Moon<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">We see deer in the morning because they are moved by light. It\u2019s time to feed. That is to say, unless the previous night was a full moon, in which case you\u2019re only going to catch them going back to bed right at dawn and that\u2019s an awfully small window. Sleep in when the moon is full. Deer will typically get back up to feed closer to noon.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Evening\"><\/span>Evening<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Time of the \u201cgentleman hunter.\u201d He who sleeps in, cooks a big breakfast for the diehards returning to camp at midmorning, watches a little college football then saunters out to an easily accessible, comfortable <a title=\"Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/shooting-22lr-rifle-in-a-whole-new-way\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shooting<\/a> house. Don\u2019t blow a gasket when he kills the biggest bucks year after year. The universe is favorable to these laid-back types.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-315\" src=\"https:\/\/tma65.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/inner63-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption><em>Sometimes, it&#8217;s best to wait to hit the stand until the evening as bucks begin feeding as darkness approaches.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Deer are again up on their feet and feeding in the evening. If it\u2019s the rut, <a title=\"hunting\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/category\/hunting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunt<\/a> where does congregate. Bucks don\u2019t really think about food during the chase but does do. Position yourself either in a food plot or in between a bedding area and food plot.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Fronts\"><\/span>Fronts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Hunters watch the weather religiously. There\u2019s nothing to support this claim, but the likelihood that the most used <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/tag\/app\/\">app<\/a> on any <a title=\"30mm vs 1 Inch Rifle Scope\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/30mm-vs-1-inch-rifle-scope\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunter\u2019s<\/a> smartphone is the Weather Channel is pretty good. Coworkers rely on us for the forecast.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">If you find yourself sitting in the office on a Monday and notice a downward temperature swing on Wednesday, get sick immediately. Deer will move while it\u2019s cold, but there will be no better time to sit stand than while the front is entering the area. Get on one of your best food plots, wind dependent, and sit as long as possible.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Cold\"><\/span>Cold<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Once the cold has set in, deer will stay on a pretty normal <a title=\"The Summer Patterns of Whitetail Bucks\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/the-summer-patterns-of-whitetail-bucks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pattern not unlike how they moved throughout the summer<\/a>. During the summer, there\u2019s no pressure so they do as they please. By applying cold, the herd will be forced to feed more frequently. As the rut nears, these are times when the all-day sit should at least come up for consideration. Pack a sandwich or two and a good book. Of course don\u2019t be disappointed when your friend the \u201cGH\u201d sends that maddening text asking you to come help him drag out yet another wall hanger. \u00a0<\/p><figure id=\"attachment_3259\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3259\" style=\"width: 720px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3259\" title=\"Best Times for Deer Hunting\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4.png\" alt=\"Best Times for Deer Hunting\" width=\"720\" height=\"177\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4.png 1858w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-300x74.png 300w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-1024x252.png 1024w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-768x189.png 768w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-1536x378.png 1536w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-600x148.png 600w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/10\/Banner-Ideas-4-150x37.png 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3259\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Best Times for Deer <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/why-turkey-hunting-with-binoculars-works-for-me\/\">Hunting<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Best Times for Deer Hunting | TRACT design and engineer performance-grade optics without the added retail costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2258,2259],"tags":[2422,2423,2424,2425,2458,2797],"class_list":["post-314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hunting","category-hunting-rifle-scope","tag-best-hunting-binoculars-canada","tag-best-hunting-rangefinder","tag-best-hunting-scope","tag-best-hunting-scopes","tag-best-times-for-deer-hunting","tag-hunting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=314"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11511,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/314\/revisions\/11511"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}