Start times for a morning stalk? What works for you?

[springbok787]

For years I have semi religiously got up early enough to get me on site ready to get stalking just before first shooting light. So of my ground is 1-2 hours from home so I just suck it up and go to bed early. I am mainly shooting roe and fallow in central/southwest England and found generally this works for me. I do this because my old man who taught me to stalk when I was a kid said this was the thing to do and I have never bothered to think hard on the subject. Obviously it’s the traditional thinking linked with the peak activity hours for deer (dawn and dusk) it seems to work and I know it is the traditional strategy. Also avoids other people etc as well.

Today though driving around the country I have seen a total of 10+ small groups of roe standing around in the open visible from the roads/motorways in the middle of the day.

So my question is “are there people out there who just ignore the hour before sunrise rule that I work to and just wing it? And does this regularly work for them?”

I am sure that everyone has shot the odd deer at a strange time, but for me I go hour before sunrise to about an hour or so after then I just assume they are to bed.

Thoughts? Your answers may dictate what time the alarm gets set for tomorrow .

 

[riflerob]

It all depends on how safe they feel - if they're regularly being disturbed by walkers, or being stalked, then their behaviour is a lot more crepuscular. Minimal disturbance they're active whenever it's light

 

[Kjf]

I've shot deer at ALL times of day , I spend from dawn till dusk in the forest( weather dependant)

My records show that most of my roe have been shot from 10am to 1pm ( no public acces to grounds though)

Fallow n muntjac , dawn n dusk from high seats

Weather / time of year depending on the area / type of ground you shoot will concur the outcome

You gotta be in it to win it , and know your ground and movement routes

Here's no rule of thumb , unless your on the ground everyday as your job , but as recreational stalkers
that's why we do it
Kjf

 

[sh1kar]

If it’s a cold night go later. Unlike wildfowling stalking is a gentleman’s sport. Deer dislike wind and cold. If it’s v frosty they will be late out. Looking for shelter from wind and sunshine. Winter short days out all times. Full moon late again as fed overnight
Summer. Much more crepuscular
S

 

[Kjf]

If it’s a cold night go later. Unlike wildfowling stalking is a gentleman’s sport. Deer dislike wind and cold. If it’s v frosty they will be late out. Looking for shelter from wind and sunshine. Winter short days out all times. Full moon late again as fed overnight
Summer. Much more crepuscular
S

Bang on

Think about where you as a human would like to be on the day and be comfortable doing what you do

Kjf

 

[Chill 123]

Hi Sprinbok I agree I like to be at the gate to the wood just as its breaking light , hopefully catching deer as they move back towards there day resting area . I how found as long as the deer are not constantly disturbed. by walkers or stalkers they will feed during the day. This also depends what time of year it and the availability of food .

Chill

 

[TundB]

I always prefer making an early start in stalking at dawn if i know the area well which also reduces the risk of bumping into other people.

 

[Mungo]

Very site and context dependent.

Some places and some times of year, no point at all even trying to find a deer more than half an hour either side of dark.

Other places, any time of day.

I have access to one wonderful farm where I finally realised their peak activity is 11-3 across most of the year. Utterly civilised.

 

[User00025]

Just my thoughts but most of my Spring and Summer morning Roe have been shot about an hour after sunrise or afternoon/evening in rut. My Roe does between 10am and 2 pm.
Fallow which are my main cull, any time of day on fields, an hour after dawn and an hour before dark on woodland edges.

 

[slider]

I was always a first light person, even in the middle of summer but have started to get a bit later and I have come to the conclusion its pot luck.

The only thing is to get out before the walkers - I have one bit of forest next to the town where there can be people just about any time of day (or night) but the other is slightly further away and is usually clear until about 8:00.

 

[muddy42]

dawn and dusk for me all year round. I find the roe tend to simply hunker down during the day. I think an often overlooked factor is a full moon - I think this allows deer to feed all night so they will have gone back to rest early and you don't see anything the next day. Just a theory and hard to test because I don't tend to track moonrise etc and if there was midnight cloud

 

[Rafter]

I'm a big believer in the 10 o'clock deer.
Bush hunting in NZ, the early part of the day is too dark to see much, and as I tend to bush hunt in winter, too damn cold. The deer tend to lay up after feeding during the night, and around mid morning they move to keep in the warm part of the bush- that's when you'll run into them.
In spring and summer they tend to be easier to shoot out on the tops, so first and last thing in the day works better. Autumn is pheasants, and by then the freezer should be full anyway.

 

[TomDeer]

I have come to the conclusion its pot luck.

+1 for what Slider say!

They seem to do what they want, when they want.

 

[Stalker62]

It is my experience that the deer departed just before you arrived and returned just after you left.

 

[wytonpjs]

I've shot deer at ALL times of day , I spend from dawn till dusk in the forest( weather dependant)

My records show that most of my roe have been shot from 10am to 1pm ( no public acces to grounds though)

Fallow n muntjac , dawn n dusk from high seats

Weather / time of year depending on the area / type of ground you shoot will concur the outcome

You gotta be in it to win it , and know your ground and movement routes

Here's no rule of thumb , unless your on the ground everyday as your job , but as recreational stalkers
that's why we do it
Kjf

Same here for roe. I now tend to avoid very early starts for FL outings if I can as provided the deer are not being disturbed they will tend to get up around lunchtime to resume feeding having couched up after their early morning feed. I tend to find Mounties at any time of the day but fallow, sadly still typically at FL or LL. all those years of lost beauty sleep

 

[wytonpjs]

dawn and dusk for me all year round. I find the roe tend to simply hunker down during the day. I think an often overlooked factor is a full moon - I think this allows deer to feed all night so they will have gone back to rest early and you don't see anything the next day. Just a theory and hard to test because I don't tend to track moonrise etc and if there was midnight cloud

Agree completely - I now avoid full moons if I possibly can as I’ve found exactly the same!

 

[Tim.243]

Winter time then I will do a few early mornings just, but much prefer the late afternoon stalk as I can get on with my day stuff (work) There are only so many deer I can eat, give away or shove in the freezer, muntjac are idea as big old red or fallow is 10 times the meat of a muntjac...

 

[Mungo]

This time of year you also have the awful trade-off: do you get up for dawn and face getting out of bed at 03:00, or do you do an evening stalk, and face lardering well past midnight (and then some)?

 

[tom308w]

dont do summer mornings now prefer pm stalk

 

[BSAvale]

Doesn’t seem to matter what time I go to my little piece of ground, the fallow seem to know and go and stand over the boundary! My preference is mornings though as then if successful recovering in daylight and lardering at a sensible time of day.