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Morning, what time of day have you folks had success bush stalking? Is it the usual dawn and dusk? Is mid afternoon any good? I have a spot I've been to once and bumped into a couple of yearlings crossing a ridge track around 10am. I was too busy watching my feet crossing a boggy bit of track and looked up in time to see them bolt...
Any time of day, their routine (feeding and bedded)will change based on the moon phase....yes sounds wishy washy but having used it for 10 years now there is certainly some truth to it....i have shot them at 10am, 12, 2 and 5pm in the bush.....in fact anybtime of the day.....they are where you find them...you may catch them napping so eyes peeled....if i go bush hunting for the day im not too bothered about being up at sparrows....rather a lazy start.
Hamish
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I stick to it from first thing to mid morning and then into it again from later afternoon until dark. Mid winter, I hunt all day.
What would you call later afternoon this time of year?Quote:
Originally Posted by Dama dama
I set up a game camera at my spot X on the Coast recently andI was getting photo's of animals at any given time during the day.
Hey man
I just bush hunt any time of the day as am always pretty busy with kids etc so cant always manage to get out at the "prime time" and haven't found any particular time of day better. Early morning and late evening the animals seem to be moving a bit more heading to feed areas.
During the day when finding bedded animals they will often get up and move a few meters if bumped and stop for a look, shoot quite a few this way, also if you find little side spurs etc where they bed for the day it can be really productive.
Thanks Bhess, Are you looking near the top of those spurs where they come off the ridge? Much animal movement during the day?Quote:
Originally Posted by Bhess
Same here. Usually main meal is lunch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Dama dama
Then pa nap time. :thumbsup:
As others mentioned, I've experienced the most activity morning and evening but I still enjoy hunting throughout the day. The exception being if it has recently stopped raining and the sun has come out - this seems to stimulate a bit of animal movement/activity no matter the time of day, in my experience. Last couple of bush hunts I have got onto deer shortly after it has stopped raining and they've been moving around on the warmer faces.
I also wonder if yearlings being given the boot affects things this time of year?
Goats, not deer, so maybe different, but I often get in to the bush too early to find animals and often bump in to them on the way out. Animals have to be somewhere and in the middle of the day, the bush would seem likely the logical place to be.
Im no bush hobbet but ive bumped a few switching spots or heading to camp for a nap from 10am - 2pm seems to get up and move between that time frame
Ive found them anytime of the day moving but more often late avo.
Poke down the side spurs as far as you need, they are where you find them, often in a small open patch in the thicker stuff or around the edges of the thick stuff.
If theres sign in the area you're hunting they'll be around it all takes time to get to know areas and their habits. Its only the last 3 years I have really made a big effort bush hunting now its 80% of my hunting. It suits me fine, very satisfying when it all comes together.
After doing it for a while it is seldom I don't come home with any meat
From 5pm over the next few months. As this thread attests, there are no hard and fast rules. This time of year, at least down here, the days get really long and you need to rest (well, I do anyway), and may as well do that in the middle of the day when deer are moving a lot less. Also bear in mind that a bedded deer is an alert deer...but not an impossible deer.Quote:
Originally Posted by hamishg
Also, fallow seem to be more active during the day than reds in my experience.
During daylight is the correct answer.
I've missed deer at both ends of the day,missed a few in middle of day too lol. Just before or just after big rain storm is pure gold. But as someone once told me...the deer live there 24/7 it's not like they head off on vacation each day. If you have enough light to see under bush canopy,it's a good time to be stalking around. Stinking hot summer day,find a cool gulley,freezing cold winter's day,find a warm one.
When we had many cameras up we encountered deer at all times of day and night. During hot weather early morning and late evening I would consider best but not the only time. Cooler days deer move all the time, 10 am to 2 pm showed lots of movement.
So really if your in deer country and fresh sign any time of the day you have a chance of an encounter.
In the morning and evening they seem to be out taking care of the things on their agenda. From about 10.00 - 3.00 in the middle of the day if you come across them they are mostly bedded down in areas that look too thick to go into...
I haven't shot many but they have all been between dawn and 10am or late afternoon within 1.5 hours of darkness.
The bush I usually hunt is pretty chewed out and on the edge of farmland, so for me hunting early morning or early evening when deer are moving from feeding areas to their resting areas is more productive as they’re on the move. However as it’s already been said they are always about, they don’t teleport away to another dimension during the day, they are just harder to find. I work with deer as well as hunt them and I can tell you they never truly relax, they are aware of what’s going on all the time and unlike us their noses work while they sleep, and I suspect their ears do too.
if you are hunting the same area time after time then when you find areas where they have bedded down a very careful stalk in with the wind right can be productive - but man you have to be very quiet - and many times the deer will be lying down and hard to see - and they are not stupid they will pick areas that have crap to get thru to find their nice little sit down sunny spot --what I used to do is spilt my area - I keep hunting mid day but slowly- when I was bush hunting I never stopped hunting - - intensely glass likely spots but very slowly - deer having had a sit down chewing cud for an hour or two they can get up and have a feed lunchtime -I would keep hunting likely areas - but I would have my top spot for evening last hour of light -Quote:
Originally Posted by hamishg
I'm a bad sleeper, so am too tired/lazy to get up early except during the roar.
My hunting would consist of 95% bush stalking.
No rivers, slips, clearings, tops etc
Usually start hunting around 10am after a lazy lie in and breakfast/cuppa etc.
More of the deer/pigs I have shot have been mid to late afternoon.
Around 2pm to 4pm with 3pm being a particular magic time.
Also 11am seems to be another minor magic time.
Not so many for me in the last hour as I use this time to navigate back to camp, then the last push via headlight.
I'm usually camped a couple of hours in from the nearest car park.
Certainly spook a few during this time.
Spook plenty at other times, but I have a feeling a lot of those are bedded down, while the ones I shoot are feeding or up for a bit of a stretch.
Winter, Spring and Autumn.
Don't hunt as much over December through to end of February as leaving the fawns to grow and wean off the hinds.
That and also its hot, flies, mozzies and long days.
Which species? There are some significant differences between reds and fallow for example. Howard Egan's book on fallow is a good explanation of their different habitsQuote:
Originally Posted by hamishg
Oscar is dead right what species reds are very different to fallow - fallow will feed out at midday- reds not so much -Quote:
Originally Posted by Oscar
Anytime of the day but don't look for a deer , look for an ear , a leg , antlers , THEN IDENTYFY YOR TARGET , that is the key to bush stalking
Spot something odd , identify , check , make sure .
Just don't expect to see a full deer standing broadside every time
Bush edge, scrub, or farmland hunting in the open for sure, but bush hunting as per the original question I've found no noticeable difference.Quote:
Originally Posted by Barry the hunter
Of course each individuals experience's may differ.
I have found the best time is about 15-20 mins after I decide that despite good sign, there's no bloody deer in the area and give up, stomping my way back to the track or camp. Another highly productive time seems to be just as I get tangled in some supplejack. It is almost without fail during these time periods that deer will trot out into the open, pause, and look back towards me, allowing plenty of time for a shot if I had still been in stalking mode.
The bastards are usually there, just a matter of being careful and not giving up.