How important is first light...?

[rocksteady]

No matter what time you are there, the critters are there too... they live there...

I have seen some amazing activity quite a bit after first light when the rut is in full swing.... Bucks will dog the does 24 hours a day... If the doe aint ready she will keep moving... If the buck is alone, he will be covering ground looking for a Tinder date... no strings attached, just a one night stand..

[russm86]

The more I hunt, the more I think first and last light is an old wives tale and there are way more variables than that. I have seen and shot more bigger bucks later in the morning to mid afternoon than first and last light. Even the last 3 weekends hunting this month I have been out from first light to last light and didn't see any bucks until 9am at the earliest. With the full moon I think deer move most of the night and then bed during the day but tend to get restless mid day and are more likely to get up and move around then.

[twoSevenO]

The more I hunt, the more I think first and last light is an old wives tale and there are way more variables than that. I have seen and shot more bigger bucks later in the morning to mid afternoon than first and last light. Even the last 3 weekends hunting this month I have been out from first light to last light and didn't see any bucks until 9am at the earliest. With the full moon I think deer move most of the night and then bed during the day but tend to get restless mid day and are more likely to get up and move around then.

X2 this has been my experience. Even in the summer alpine scouting ... sun burning down on you, they still get up mid day several times and re-bed several times. So missing first light isnt a detrimental loss as far as spotting wildlife goes.

Last light has mostly worked for me when hunting cut blocks. In my experience, the bucks tend to walk out into the open more at last light and it has worked for us pretty consistently, especially in areas that see a bit of pressure.

My father used to hunt roe bucks back in Europe and first and last light was the only time you could hunt them. The season for them was in July so if you didnt get one by 6am you basically go back to camp, nap and try again around 6pm .... not really the case with mulies.

[tyreguy]

Whitetails during rut - hunt all day as they're moving all the time as many have mentioned. We often don't leave camp until at least daylight as we often see many animals just on the drive to our spots. Shot mine last week at 12:25pm

[Rieber]

First light is my favorite. Get something early and you have daylight to deal with. I know by experience that last 1-1/2 hours of legal shooting time is really good but I really want to be in my truck traveling home at that time as my dim light vision isn't what it used to be and I'm not a fan of dealing with dressing and packing game as light turns to dark. And I'm getting scared in the dark woods/field by myself - I don't like evening hunts anymore because if something bad happens, it only gets worse as night comes.

[Bugle M In]

I will say this about elk however (I know this was a deer question).
Have taken lots of elk in the last hour of the day before dark, and quite often, it is the "last 15 minutes" that make all the difference to stick around, and not leave before dark.
(they take their time it seems to come into a call, intentionally waiting for dark it seems?)

First Light with elk can be great at "getting them started", meaning responding to your calls, but you will find it takes them a little time to get to you or vice versa, so, up till 10:30am is usually the most productive, but have taken some
between 12 and 1 pm.

I think your OP was on WT, so last light seems to also be important with them.
Just never had much going on with MD that late, maybe cause I am on my way down the mountain?

[weatherby_man]

I think you can find deer all day most days, some random ones about, but,,, I think in certain areas some deer have very specific feeding habits. For MD and in some of those places I have done better in morning just after first light til about 10-11 am. And it has seemed consistent over the years in those areas. However I have hit them mid day as well, usually busting a bedded one. I have shot more WT's when its getting towards dusk probably after 3pm. The areas I hunt for MD vs WT are fairly far apart.

So all that to say I cant say 100 % where they will be at any given moment .

[joshbazz]

And.. no WT for me..

Thanks for all the help everyone! I have been digging into this site since I started this October, and man what a resource this is. I really appreciate this site and all who contribute to it – I will pay it forwards as best I can.

I was out at 9am in my spot, which is a cutblock close to Beaver Lake resort, and probably too close with the activity during the day. I originally scouted the spot on a quiet sunday, but today there was noise from a nearby mill or lumber yard, as well as the odd truck and atv going down the FSR 100 yards from my spot. Weather was pretty mild, light snow falling, which put a smile on my face, really is beautiful out there.

When I arrived I discovered a good sized boulder by the treeline, which had tracks that went right on top, as if the buck at some time of the day would be standing like Simba/Mufasa on pride rock (disney lion king reference), so I walked up and had an 8 foot seat with sweeping views of the young trees, and a nearby hillside and treeline. I sat, glassed and called (Primos buck roar call) until the second atv roared by after a couple hours. Then left it how I found it.

Tons of tracks, I didn't find fresh sign - in my estimation, the deer are here in the dark, and move on during the day away from human activity.

I drove further down Beaver Lake and went up the net service road further away, but still not far from the main road, about half a Km in and found another young tree cut block, so I parked and went for a walk. I tried to go slow and quiet, but the crunchy snow was pretty loud - frozen snow below a few day old snow which gave each step two crunch sounds per foot. So I tried stepping odd frequencies, which I hear is supposed to sound less human and more deer-like... or so I've read.

I found a nice hill with elevations that had nice sweeping views and then discovered: a tree stand! I thought this might mean I must be on the right track if someone bothered to build a tree stand out here.

I'm not sure what the etiquette is regarding tree stands on crown land that don't belong to you, but no one was around, so I climbed it, glassed called and waited. It had wonderful sweeping views of the hillside and treelines. But aside from my buck calls it was pretty quiet, aside from a few bird noises and the odd snow falling from a tree or bush. I only had a couple hours here, as I had limited time and had to pick up my child from school for a whirlwind of activity until now...

Also, someone in the vicinity was letting off rounds, I thought maybe another hunter - but I must have heard at least 20 rounds go off in an hour, sometime 2-3 in a minute. Unless it was simply total carnage out there, perhaps someone was just having target practice...

I think time is the biggest detraction in my success, again I wasn't expecting anything, just hoping to get lucky. I didn't have the availability of time this year to scout effectively and pattern any deer or get good estimations of where they could be in daylight hours. I was only going by tracks I had found, and followed. I think the tree stand is a good indication that I might have found an area worth exploring next season, but I really wish I had pushed much further deeper into the area away from main roads, and will likely do that next year with more time and preparation. I also like the idea of hunting deeper into the wilderness, especially going for high country Mule deer, and might see if I can do that in MU2 before mid Dec... I would love to bag a deer, but I also enjoy, and see the value of just putting time in going for a hunt.

I'd like to learn more about conservation and consider hunting bear - something I would have never considered before - but I'm really drawn, obsessed really, with hunting, and seek to grow ethically into it, and would like to do my part to positively make an impact.

My main takeaways are:
Reading online, listening to podcasts, hearing stories is all-good - but nothing compares to really being out there.
I need to practice patience, and also need to make more time available.
All time put into the bush is good, even if it's not optimal - it is experience that I can learn from.
I just love being out there - feels like home!

*I just watched youtube about grunts and calls - I for sure need to up my game. I also didn't have a bleat or try to make that sound, which I'm sure would have helped - doh!

Cheers and thanks everyone... If I do make some time to do a few days in MU2, I will certainly have questions, super grateful for the help and advice from everyone!

[Steelpulse]

More important being present in an area that holds deer. Shot all mine between 10am-4pm. Focus on good areas and fresh sign and deer will be around somewhere. I think this is a mule deer thing mainly. Whitetail success can be very much based on first and last light. But anytime you can be in the bush is a good time to hunt. Don’t put to much pressure on not making these times

[Wild one]

Joshbazz

My best advice for WT is get in the bush and away from large openings and cuts. A lot of WT don’t even come out in theses areas or only do so in the dark

My best results are in thick bush where you are lucky if you’re shooting lanes reach 50yards max. Everyone always thinks I can see and shoot x distance so the try to use it to their advantage but often the WT are cruzing the bush in daylight hrs.

Odds are with you seeing lots of sign the WT were there but 50-300 yards in the trees where you could not see them