Should You Be On Stand Before Daylight And If So How Early 

I agree 100%. I get in my stand minutes before shooting light

I agree with this whole heartly ! shot my biggest bucks late morning. I always try to hang my morning stands before I want to hunt. a couple days before is great. You cant always do that if your on hot sign . thats why its so important to be quiet and it way easier to hang a stand with even a little light.

Lol yours giving away all the secrets ! 80 percent of the deer I've shot were between 10 and noon the rest were between 3pm and closing time. During the rut it can be anytime of the day but even then that 10am to noon seems to be magic. 👍

Im about tired of blowing deer up in am...seems tough very tough on big woods wich is all i hunt , its rare to get a spot on the tip of a ridge with wind blowing out over the valley

I try to get in about 20 mins before first shooting light. While our scent won't dissipate, we do make noise that they can hear for about 100 or so yards

Hunting on pressured public land, my dad always say “idc when we get there, we just gotta get there before other hunters get there” because we don’t wanna walk a mile 1/2 with all our gears just to see someone flashing their flash light at us lol then we’re gonna have to turn back or go somewhere else lol

Jason, Yesterday I stumbled on to your utility trailer comparison video when you bought a 6x10 single axel I think. This has absolutely become my favorite channel in ONE DAY!! Keep up the good work and I plan to take a few of your courses. Thanks man.

About midnight is perfectt. Dont forget a pillow!

I love getting in the woods at least an hour before sunlight just for the sake of being there in the dark and quiet. My version of meditation

Great advice. Well said!

I appreciate all the info you're willing to share and candidness!

I love watching first light happen. I get there an hr before first light

Very good advice Jason. I have been drifting season by season to your line of thinking that it's better to get to a spot during grey light and just use as much time in the spot for maximum hunting time exposure. I have been following the noon rule and say for sure it's better than getting too early and down by 10 am. Elimination of wasted hunting time is key.

I enjoy your videos. Keep em coming. Check out my first 2 videos. I hope that you like them. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Great tips.

While I appreciate all your ideas. My favorite thing about your content is your courage of conviction. keep going!

I get in the stand about an hour before daylight only cause I like to be alone in the dark listening to the woods... but I can sit in stand sun up till dark.. always have been able to

So great video and totally on point advise!!! In an area with no pressure I agree whole heartedly. I hunt heavily hunted woods and I like to get into the woods 20-25min before light purely cuz most guys get there and head in right at 1st light a bump deer as they walk in. I get in early to take a different longer route in so as to not bump those deer where most guys enter the woods. Also I hunt ME and old temps are the norm I do pack a couple extra things in but mostly for my tops so even though I maybe down to tee shirt on top I usually have heavy layers on bottom so little earlier allows for a nice long stroll so I don’t sweat. During Sept and Oct bow seasons I try to be setup right as legal hours start. I used to be early by an hour or so but truthfully it really sucks to be sitting in stand 45-1hr ahead of light and have a shooter buck walk right by you and all you can make out is his horns glistening in the moonlight. I’d rather not know he walked by early!!!

You have a lot of good tips in your videos, especially being safe in a treestand like wearing a safety harness etc..., But please, put on your seatbelt.

Good video!

Totally agree. I think where the an hour before daylight comes from is the people hunting 'trophy' deer, apposed to younger (way more palitable) deer.

Thanks for the info great video

I like hunting to my stand at first light . But I'm not using a climber or sticks . They are well established stands that produce very well

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I was thinking about this exact thing this morning in the stand waiting for daylight.

The older I get the more I start to realize that anytime in the woods is the best time. Anything can happen you just have to be in a stand

I like to bring two thermoses with me. One has chili, the other has hot water. Can keep you in the stand well past lunch time in my experience.

I completely agree. It takes at least 30 min. for the sun to come up all the way for you to be able to see good. I get in there right before first light, which is roughly 30-45 min. before u can see (depending on cloud cover) through your peep sight. Plus, who wants to be in there an hour before first light, which is 1.5 hrs. before u can see good when it's freezing!

I have always thought having to use a flash light going to your stand or once at your stand will do far for damage to the woods then going in after light enough to see. Plus you will naturally be quitter if you can see where your stepping.

Couldn’t agree more.

That makes a lot of sense

I found a great spot with persimmons on the edge of a small pond but its in public land I get in my spot at like 3 in the morning but only so I can beat the other hunters to a good spot

I just get to my stand when I get there. The only reason I need to be early at all is if other hunters are nearby, and I don't want to reduce their chances by walking around too much in broad daylight.

I'm so glad you did this video Jason, because I have to agree with you about getting in at first light as opposed to going in an hour before its light! Although I've bumped a few does going into my stand this FALL at first light, I rarely see any deer before sunrise! And most of my deer have been taken around 8 AM to 10 AM, with a couple at 11 or so. I don't do as well later, but have taken a few at dusk. Do you use that Columbia jacket as your mid layer?

I think what time to be in your stand can depend on what time you expect deer to be at that location. One consideration is how you have to approach your stand. If you have to walk thru the travel corridor where the deer are going to walk thru, you probably need to get there way earlier than when you expect them to come thru. I try to avoid crossing deer approach trails if at all possible. I have seen deer come thru easily an hour later, hit my back trail, immediately lock up, do a 180, and leave. I do think deer are less alarmed by NOISES they hear IN the dark than noises they hear DURING daylight, i. e., you can get away with more disruptive noise in the dark. Having said that, long sits in the dark may, or may not be that productive, and yes, I have shot several deer AFTER 10 a.m. especially in medium to heavy cover, open woods or fields, not so much. Keep the good tips coming.

I stopped the getting to my stand an hour before shooting time 8 years ago, there are to many people that shoot at noise.

I second the insulated bottles, most of them are good at least 12 hours hot, 24 cold.

Only time i get in and setup that early is early in our bow season when i hunt a doe staging area on public land (when they are meeting up to head to bedding), and usually by 7:30-8:00 i'm dragging out a doe. I only do that once to avoid messing up the area. And the morning staging area changes year to year, depending on which (and if) acorns are dropping, so you gotta do a couple of observation mornings to find exactly where they are.

Hey Jason, just love the videos, always learn something, have a saddle right now, did one season in it, your videos on the Beast Stand almost has me getting one. Picked up a heated vest have way thru last season, it works great, your opinion?

by the way, i love your video on the Yak Grips ! I have Beast sticks on the way and planning to use the straps that come with it, so I'm gonna be ordering the Yak Grips and sewing the cut ends just like you mentioned in your video ! Subbed your channel as well. thanks !!!

I'll admit that you do have a point with how early you get into the woods and on stand. For me as I am still new to tresstand hunting, I usually START walking into the woods an hour before daylight. I time how long it takes me to get to my spot and how long it takes me to get into the tree. With my climber, it takes me 10-12 minutes getting fulling into the tree. I take my time so I don't make mistakes. Now granted, this will be my second year hunting from my LW Hand Climber 2. I will also be using a XOP Vanish. I will have to get used to setting the sticks and the stand. I've been going up the tree when daylight breaks and I can't recall much difference in deer movement getting in early or when day breaks. Your points do offer a few things to think about.

My experience is it's all about the location.

I am 180 degrees opposite of this thinking. Seeing so much more movement here in New York before the Golden Hour. If your walking in at light, you have disturbed the area till the next day.

I agree to an extent I wouldn't go to my stand after sunrise if I could avoid it but I don't believe you need the hour or so for the woods to "settle" down. My experiences I tend to see good movement at first light then it calms down till mid morning. Especially if there are other hunters in the area leaving there stands around 10. I don't know how many I have taken that was pushed to me by another hunter leaving their stand.

I’ve thought about drinking coffee or hot coco while hunting too but they just smell so strong. Although I always try to hunt with a favorable wind I would hate to get busted by my cup of coffee

Love your videos Jason but I disagree with you 100% on this one. Especially in high pressure areas. one of the tactics I use quite a bit is to slip in far before daylight and set up on escape routes where I know the people that come in right at daylight and just after daylight will spook deer towards.

Game lands around here most of the time especially rifle season you have to get up extremely early not to let the woods calm down but to beat everyone else to where ya wanna go.

This is good reasoning, but the reason that I always want to get in the woods early is so that I don’t bump anything near my tree on the way in that would normally be close to or at least within 50 or 100 yards of my tree. Take last week for example I was walking in the woods at 3:30 PM and before I could make the first dogleg from a 1200 m walk there was a doe standing at the end of the cut trail staring right at me and she was headed towards my stand. After a five minute stare down she turned around and went back to where she came from. I did not see a single deer that evening and I think that had I walked out a half an hour earlier that deer and probably three or four other deer behind her would have traveled down that trail near my setup. The same thing goes for the morning if the deer are out eating and they don’t start walking back to bedding until around the hour before sunrise to an hour after sunrise...if there’s no one walking in the woods, you stand a better chance of having the deer be undisturbed. I’m just as guilty as everyone else of walking in the woods and being ready to go right at shooting light or 15 minutes before or after. But it kills me whenever I spook a deer, bump a deer, or hear a deer blow while walking in or setting up. My very first deer ever killed was in George Washington national forest and knowing I could never walk to my hunting spot I set up a tent and I slept there all night. When I woke up, I broke down the tent and sat on a rock on the side of a hill and killed a beautiful eight point buck No noise walking in.

So do you plan to be in your stand by grey light, or first light right in the morning?

I'm just programmed... 45min ahead of daylight..minimal

Would you know of a company that would be willing to make replacement cables for hang-on tree stand. They discontinued Gorilla stands and I don’t feel comfortable making cables myself. Thanks

The only time I try to be at my tree one hour before daylight is opening day of gun season. This is for safety more than anything. People have itchy trigger fingers on opening day.

I have hunted a 400 acre public parcel for 20 years now. It has a river, streams, swamp, CRP, and open hardwood. I always hear to hunt by bedding in the morning. Over the 20 years I have seen deer bed everywhere on the property. How do you narrow down bedding to a specific area? This morning I seen a mature 8pt and a doe bedded 10 yards off one of the main entrance trails. Thank you for all of your videos they help a lot of us out.

So situationally depended to say one way is best in any situation of deer hunting.

Keeping warm... Put a air activated body warmer under your hat.

Do you hunt private or public?

i agree...and make more noise in dark. spook deer u dont see and might get a shot. i see more deer 9-11 than 1st light

The sweatshirt your wearing has a White Eagle on it which is the national coat of arms of Poland.. are the bows Polish?? Once again great video and advice, same advice my hunting buddies have been telling me.

Let’s clear the air, if you are setting up a climber the go early but if your stand is already set then yeah slip in right before light. Obviously you don’t set up your climber at shooting time

Hot coco in the morning does a lot more than heat your body up. It’s a fantastic turd pusher.. in my opinion that isn’t the greatest idea lol

Dude. Put on your seat belt!

I was wondering about this. I'm a new hunter but I'm thinking you need a flashlight to get in your stand in the dark so it seems the light is also broadcasting where you and that you're there and you're more likely to make a more of noise because it's harder to see.

My opinion is set up trail camera and go to stand when they are not there. That's the right time to be at stand. Every state/place is not the same. Where I hunt deer bed down where ever they are at the time. No specific bedding areas. Just woods and Breyers every where. Not hunting farmland. Generic answers don't work for everywhere. Jmo

Deer move alot right at sunrise that's why you get in an hour before sunrise

Deer come back to bed at noon?

I think this makes a lot of sense, I rarely see anything at first light... 3 weeks ago I got to my stand late, right at sunrise. when I got into the stand and settling in, I looked down to see a 8 pointer looking up at me.. he hopped back into the woods before I could do anything.. So yeah, spooked him... but 10:00 am I took an 11 pointer. So, even if you bump something, there is no guarantee it is the deer you are looking for. the best deer I have gotten have been past 830am (East Texas)

Mmmm. Hot chocolate does sound good.

Have to be in stand an hour or so on public land. Let the late guys push them in

Good advice. I would wait till maybe a 1/2 hour before sunrise before setting out. This way I’d be able to hunt like like 15 min before sunrise. I would also hang worn under shirts out in the woods for a few days before I’d go out. This way my scent is already in the woods. Everything is used to it. So my fresh scent would blend in and not stand out nearly as much. My uncle Stevie would walk through a bunch of cow manure and really cake his boots with it. Then go into the woods. The deer around him were used to the cows, the smell didn’t bother him cause he was around it all day. And the cow manure was strong enough to easily cover his scent. He was sitting on a log and a deer walked up to him and was nosing his back once. I guess it didn’t recognize his outline as a human and the cow manure made the deer think he was a cow.

I appreciate your opinion on the subject, but respectfully disagree. Here are two reasons why... First, if you are hunting a buck bed or near one those bucks tend to get back to their beds early, like right at shooting light, and could be close to the bed meandering around before laying down and if you get in their too late you bump the buck off; Secondly scent does dissipate and I've seen the results of when a deer comes across your "fresh" scent (less than an hour) vs over an hour later. Deer have and will detect fresh scent, over an hour deer don't notice.

Get in early, your wrong!

I’ve killed 80% of my deer between 9 and 930

Disagree.