Best Time To Enter A Treestand 

I like to get in my tree stand at least two days before I plan on hunting.

Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. Im a 60yr young woman who just started hunting 3 seasons ago. Shot my first buck on my own 45 acre property with a rifle. I started hunting using a crossbow last year. I did not get a deer last year despite my effort...however..not wasted as I learned alot about deer behavior. I dont hunt from an elevated stand...im no good with heights..im also trying to improve my property for whitetails..again..thank you for sharing you expertise..

I use to do the hour before light and learned the hard way. Now I enter after I can see a good 100 150yds. I hunt acorns and them deer will already be there before first light and I found going in later and creeping in slowly to make sure they are not there already and it has changed the game for me.

I went into a bedding area one time at 2 am just to see what would happen. I figured deer would be feeding elsewhere, but to my amazement i could hear deer blowing from every direction. And they wouldn't let up, they would blow and blow until I left

Elephants 😂just on time! Great you/we can laugh and be silly 👍

Thank you for the thoughtful video. I prefer morning hunts, so I tend to look for morning stands that I can access without spooking deer. Often, that means forgoing the early season and just hunting the last two weeks in October and first two weeks in November. For me, it is long enough to scratch the hunting itch and fill my tag. Thanks again for the great content.

Excellent information Jeff. Thank you and God-bless always.

Great video. I have a stand that is impossible to get into in the mornings due to the route and amount of hiking I’d have to do to get in but man is it awesome to see them emerge from the thicket for evening feeding. I’ve been sending videos to the guys we hunt with in hopes they’ll watch your content and learn some things. Would not only benefit my hunts but theirs as well. Thanks again Jeff and team!

100% of the time I enter my stand when it's time to go hunting.

Great video Jeff! Access can be so tough sometimes! Hopefully we get great weather for Camp Kicking Bear June 11th!!!

"Access where the deer are not". You said it all right there with that statement. Of course every parcel of land is different, public land you have to be careful not to trespass. Sometimes this requires you to take a much more indirect route to where you wish to set up. Good video!

In those big Ag areas I would say 9/10 times that grey light (Right on time) period is the way to go! Been doing this the last few years and have had tons of success getting in undetected.

I'm 51 years old, and have hunted or been around hunting my whole life. I watch people invest in, and spend so much time on strategies and gimics for deer hunting. I tried blinds and stands early on with varying success. But I have the best luck just walking into the woods and hanging out. I almost always find some. At most I may do a walk around, in advance of deer season, looking for game trails and signs of deer. I get a general idea of the space I am hunting in...and that seems to be enough. I live in rural east Texas, and deer are generally plentiful here. I find that deer are generally used to some human smells, because they are curious animals, and they often go into areas where people are. I've seen them hanging out behind the Sonic, in the nearest little town. Further out here in the woods, where we are...the deer are obviously less trusting. I hunt on my cousins 125 acres about 90 min north of me. I just take-off into the woods, start walking until I see a deer, and shoot it. I use a Marlin 30-30, because it's a good brush gun. But I've never put any rocket surgery or brain science into it...at all. And I have pretty good luck.

I like to have a trail cam help me scout, and patern the deer, then I adjust. Last year with the right weather and wind I went in at 7am. Thinking the buck would come around 9am, he was in at 8:30 am...lol so 🤷he wasn't my target buck, but it was 3rd sit and he was a really nice one, so 👍 😉

Very helpful video, Jeff! Appreciate it!

I wash my clothes once or twice a season and I use scent killer spray on my clothes b4 heading out. I use cover scents and wind detection everytime I go out hunting. A few of my favorites are fresh earth, pine, coon urine (works well as a drag scent), deer scat (I usually step in it and get it all over my boots, but my buddy told me he rubs it on his hands and face 🤢). My hunting pack got doe urine spilled in it one year and they seemed to hone in on it and bust me. It's hard to fool a deers nose but cover scents seem to help. But as mentioned, you have to enter when the deer aren't there. Good info Jeff!

Hey Jeff taking the cap off your marker kind of sounds like that squeaky door hinge. That deer make. I'm sure you heard it before.

The buck i'm after this year is at the food mostly at 5:30am but sometimes midnight and even 3am. There is almost never a time that a deer isn't hanging around the food source. I have great access that doesn't mess with the bedding. I want to hunt mornings but you just never know if the buck is going to be there or other deer. I've been killing my bucks either on opening day or couple days after so i'm doing something right. What sucks about early season is it can be nearly 100 degrees outside and the deer are still in velvet. Also deer ticks

I read the same article,about sleeping in woods ,some blinds are big enough to sleep in.could wook.

A lot of great information.. thanks for sharing this brother!

You more or less said the same thing I was thinking first min lol. We normally just go when it's just light enough to see a few hundred yards. Seems our land has bigger issue with sound but then we are on the property enough year round that our scent is nothing new to them.

Best time to enter tree stand: Morning - after I've eaten breakfast Evening - after I get off work

Great info!

I shot biggest buck I've ever had an opportunity (21" wide 16ptr 171") on Nov 13th 2019 at 12:17pm. Was the coldest day during hunting season was -8° and figured I'd try a mid-day hunt.

love your videos. Im hunting property with a nice creek the deer will likely cross to enter it. Should i still bother with installing a watering hole within 100 yds of the creek?

I normally get in some of my stands 45 minutes early. Before daylight because I hunt public land because some people go to there stands 10 to 15 minutes before daylight and have big head lights on there head. Hoping they push the deer to me. I have had success getting in early.

hi ,great job explaining your knowledge ,i have 4 acres backed up against 200 or so acres [public land] and its getting harder to get deer to come my way ,the land closer to mine has water , forage and bedding ,and i'm not trudging around back there,cameras i have aren't showing anyone else is either ...l'm at a loss for what to do as a 63 year old bow hunter.i can only drag em home so far

I like to parachute into my tree house at midnight

👍🏼Great info... Ty 🦌🏹

I had morning stands I had to go in after daylight cause deer would always be milling around between my access .

I don't want to be stepped on by an early morning elephant cruising around!😂

Great video bud ... I need to get you down to my land here in ohio we do food plots and so on .. if you seen my property idk how to enter it unseen or smelled the only way is to come in by the river on a Jon boat

Just in time or JIT is the big inventory management paradigm that was so successful. “Was”

Majority of the deer i see are from 830am to 1030 am. Then 4pm to dusk

You all are nuts lol have fun be careful. Great videos

I’m putting my first plots in this year. (1.5 acres) . I’m pretty sure it’s WAY too small for the amount of cover we have. Can I risk straight brassica to maximize tons? Or is it best to mix in a sweetener?

Didn't see anything this morning but at 2:30 pm got an eight point.

Can you discuss how to identify bedding areas? I’ve been hunting since the 80’s and I’ve never really seen a pattern of where they bed? I’m in NH woods where there’s no real funnel areas where I hunt.

Jeff, can I spray quincloric and atrazine on my switch grass to control weeds this summer? If so, what is the amount per acre?

If you are accessing in the morning away from food and you are getting in the backside of bedding but have to cross an open hayfield is it better to go in the pitch dark?

Have you had any issues with having a Tactacam 6 ft up in a tree? I'm about to put some out this weekend

Am I an oddball here using trail cameras to determine my hunting times? Entrance time for my acreage varies greatly throughout the season.

I’ve been trying to find your switchgrass video from Saturday. For the life of me I can’t find it on you tube. What was the title of that video?

Last I heard deer don't have a alarm clock or a work schedule so just about anytime you can get a deer. As all hunters know there are days you see nothing but then there times you sit down look up and there the deer stands

Thanks Jeff! I was wondering if I can plant switchgrass in June? Or just, how late can I plant it?

Hey Jeff, what do you think of Evercalm?

Do you think it’s better to hunt a large field 150 yards diameter or dirt roads that go in between thickets?

Bill Winke did it. Shot a monster. Spent the season and many overnight hunts to get him. Now that’s dedication.

Do you recomend sprays that dull deer sense of smell?

Who all remembers watching TK and Mike

Jeff when bucks spook on you sometimes... do they snort ?? or they don't snort to alert other deer ??

Would I be able to send you a photo of my land for some advice on em trance and departure?

Hour before daylight. And back in before 2 before evening hunt.

I have an issue of deer being around my little 4 acre plot all the time. Makes it hard to really pick a good time to access a stand anywhere especially being right next to the road. Any thoughts?

Hey bud I’m having trouble!!! When i enter the woods at 4:30 2 hrs before daylight I’m pushing the deer out of my sight it seems camera is showing them every morning except when Im there I’m covering my scent boots spraying dead down wind everywhere i sit there and nothing same in the evenings soon as I leave they show on camera this is getting frustrating!!!

When you set up on the back side of bedding, how far behind do you place a stand? I've always been worried to get too close (30ish yards) bc I'm concerned about bucks getting downwind of me scent checking the bedding before going in.

I’ve had three trail camera videos where a deer sniffed my camera and then ran off. I think they noticed the light and sniffed to investigate

Yup. I'ma hire you I need help on the land I hunt I've never hunted a place this hard to hunt I'ma see what you can do with it lmao

Merch!

How do i get ahold of you to look at a 30ac property in michigan

Jeff, what setting do you use for northwoods HD screening for the 2750 earthway spreader?

What rack is that for holding your bow on your bike?

Just on tine* 🤠

Do you fertilize/lime before you plant the buckwheat or before you plant your plot seed? Referring to your No till process

This is a question for anybody reading this. We have 6 acres up north on a lake with a powerline that went through where they took out all the trees. There are two different deer trails that go through that section. How do people feel about hunting on their own small acreage land? Do you prefer venturing out somewhere else versus hunting only a block from your cabin? I’ll be bow hunting and actually hunting for the first time. Thx

Ho2w close to your stand do you ride your Ebike?

We’re hunting 5 acres and seeing deer every day. Hard to get to the stand without spooking them though. Wish I could find a way around that but on 5 acres it’s a little hard to be undetected. There’s one doe that always smells us and spooks. I wanted to leave her til next year but I think she has to go.

Hey Jeff, For me (hunting a small 20 acre parcel, high pressure SW PA) i have very defined morning and evening stands (because of watching your videos). Since the area is small I'd rather not touch my morning stands until the pre rut (had amazing hunts last year doing this). Maybe I could take a chance on a morning stand on a cooler early october morning, but it seems too risky. Thoughts?

Best time to enter a tree stand is when you aren’t drunk.

Scent rolling like our ancestors would also be effective.

😁 watch out for the elephants

I agree with everything except at 8:30...don't rush...take a deep breath! no need to create panic and anxiety when you are about to put your life in danger. Be safe #1. Kill deer #2

Did you ever find a great location to hunt, lots of sign from multiple years but the surrounding area made it almost impossible to get in, and then the prevalent winds made it even worse...lol I am trying to work on this problem now. 😅 those deer sure know great places to hide...

I really thought he meant someone was hunting in Africa when he said elephants

I prefer to get in my stand at least 5 minutes before they come by

U don't need to be there two hours before!!! Freezing your butt off. Go in right before first light

I like to tic-tok for 15 mins before I start climbing

Just watch out for the treacherous elephants.

The best time is anytime I am not working. Thank God I don't hunt for a living. It's an escape for me and I cannot afford to pay a camera man.

First!!

I hoot like an owl to get him out of the field

Before the other hunters show up... hopefully they'll go somewhere else.

There are no special times. I have shot deer at every hour never been anything the same. 7am 9 am 11am 2pm 6pm I have seen them out to 100 yards in all hours. It's called luck.