Minimum time to stay in a blind\\treestand?

[frank4570]

Hi all.
What do you think is the minimum amount of time to stay put and still be useful? I know there are a lot of different factors and such. But I'm just looking for opinions.
I know the goal should be to show up before sunrise and stay motionless until after sunset. That isnt what I do.
I've been shooting bows for a long time and hunting deer for a long time. But next year is going to be my first year of  hunting deer with a bow. Rifle season ended yesterday,today I start to get ready for next year bow season.
I have some old injuries that make it difficult to stay put for more than 2 hours. So I am figuring and looking at all of my options, IF my 2 hour(or so) limit is something that must change.
Thanks!

[ChuckC]

There will be lots of replies to this.

My view is, if your homework indicates very little activity till  an hour before the end of day, being there five hours before may not be necessary.  If you can sneak into the stand five minutes before the deer come thru, that is enough.

In my swamp, although anything CAN happen, generally, a buck is gonna come thru from 1 to 1.5 hours before the end of shooting time, while a doe will be closer to 1/2 hour before, maybe even closer.

I am USUALLY there a few hours early, but I sneak in and hunt from the ground.  Really, do I need to be there that long if getting in front of a deer is all I am after ? Probably not.

[59Alaskan]

I have had many deer (dozens perhaps) come in bow range while I am getting settled or minutes after.  If you have ability to time them you really don't have to be there hours before, but it never hurts and the woods are a good place to just sit....

[LB_hntr]

Remember this is supposed to be about having fun. Hunting is about enjoying yourself. Sit as long as you can when you can. If that is 2 hours great, 4 hours better, 20 mins better than 10 mins!
Also don't limit your self to the " normal hunting time thought process". The whole hour at first light and hour at dusk idea is crazy. I see deer all hours of the day all times of the year. So if you can plan a day of hunting where you sit for an hour  from 8-9am. Take a break and hunt 11-1 then another break and hunt 4-6 you would have tremendous odds of being in the right place at the right time.  If you can only hunt from 11-1 that day it's as good if not better than any other time. Don't be affraid to break away from the normal mentality and remember to have fun and enjoy yourself

[McDave]

I'm too fidgety to hold still in a stand for very long, so if I'm going to have any luck in a stand, one of two things has to happen: either a deer has to come along in the first couple of hours, or I have to fall asleep and wake up when he's in range.  I've been lucky enough to have both things happen to me, but I wouldn't claim to be as successful as someone who can sit there like a statue all day.

[Shadowhnter]

Wow there are so many variants that come in to play here that can change with changing patterns, making no set time amount the right answer. For instance In times of slow deer movement, why would you want to be in a stand all day if the deer were only moving in low light near both ends of the day? Yet, why would you leave a stand early, in a well traveled buck travel corridor smack dab in the most prime portion of pre rut or rut? I realize you have limitations, but my point is there is no right answer, except being there when the deer are there as well.Timing either by design, or luck, is the trick. Ive many times barely got up in the stand and pulled my bow up only to nock an arrow and shoot a few minutes later. Other times I have waited on stand from dark to dark, and never had a deer close enough to shoot with a rifle let alone a bow. Timing, and a bit of luck have to meet.Just do what you can do, and quit worrying about it friend.

[Sam McMichael]

I only hunt mornings as a general rule, I try to get in the stand by about 6:45 and stay until about 10:30, if I can hold out that long. When I was young, I would often stay till nearly midday. Now, I just get fidgety long before then.

Deer hunting is funny, as you know. Sometimes while walking into the woods in hard dark, I run deer out my stand area, only to see others come in before I can get the bow ready. Other times, after not seeing anything, they roll in while I'mm getting out of the stand. I stay in the stand as long as I can hold out, but my aged butt is just not as tough as it once was.

[BAK]

Seldom ever sit more than 2 1//2 hours, either morning or night.

[dnovo]

I don't want my hunting to feel like work so I sit for as long as I feel like it. Generally I do stay 3-4 hours but if I get antsy I'll get down and look around. Evening hunts I do stay til dark but the only deer I had a shot at this year I only had 1 hour and 15 minutes to hunt. I know I won't normally see anything til the last hour most of the season. So sit when you can and enjoy it

[Bowwild]

I've followed the same protocol for most of the 46 years I've bowhunted whitetails from tree stands.

I hunt 80% mornings (I don't have to move through feeding areas to access my stands).

If I can't be in the stand at 20-45 minutes before shooting light, I don't go.

Depending upon where I'm sitting and my scouting I'll stay 2-3 hours after sunrise.

It is extremely rare for me to spook deer (that I know of) going in or coming out.  Oddly, the times when I have most often bumped deer are going to evening stands. I generally head in about 3 hours before legal shooting light ends. If I have only an hour to hunt, I don't go.  It bugs me very much to bump deer. I'd rather my wife snapped at me (for good reason) than hear a doe blow!

While I don't doubt the value, I have never hunted from sunrise to sundown without leaving the stand for at least 2 hours.  I know I've missed some opportunity by not hunting, generally from 10am-2PM, but I'm recreating not working.

My greatest fault in bowhunting is overhunting favorite stands. Hoping to move around more in 2017.

Minimum time to stay in a blind or tree stand, 5 minutes.

[McDave]

Originally posted by pavan:
Minimum time to stay in a blind or tree stand, 5 minutes.

Did you forget to take your bow?

[fisherick]

I like to be 1 hour before sunrise in tree stand and stay 3-4 hours. In afternoons I tend to be on stand 2-3 hours. Add an hour or so if in ground blind. I have done some all day hunts in a blind, but get too cramped up.

[Leroy Hunter]

I was given a trail camera as a birthday gift several years ago.  The one thing I noticed where I hunt is that 90% of the deer movement was occurred the first hour of legal shooting light and the last hour of legal shooting light.  This is during the hunting season.  I have my camera out usually from June through December, I will see more activity spread out during summer months but as days become shorter the movement appears to become compressed.  That said my minimum time is two hours.

[ChuckC]

McD   it was the right 5 minutes....

CHuckC

I say do what you can and keep it fun. If 2hrs is all you can sit, then so be it. I've killed lots of critters with less than 2hrs on stand.

Bisch

[stagetek]

About 2 1/2-3 1/2 hrs. morning and evening. Longer, maybe even all day during the rut.

[Trenton G.]

As soon as I get out of school, I rush home and get out in the woods, which if I hurry will usually give me 2-2 1/2 hours. On weekends, I usually sit a bit longer, as well as on morning sits. I've never really gotten bored since there is always something to entertain me. The only time I've cut my sits short is because of really heavy rain.

McDave, when I was using a climber, five minutes, that is how long it took me to drop my back quiver to the ground twice.

[Michael Arnette]

If you can only stay put for two hours then I would focus on afternoon hunts. When hunting I try to get to my spot at least two hours ahead of last legal shooting light and tend to do pretty good.
On morning hunts I try to stay out until 10-ish at least and end up seeing lots of deer between 9-10 depending on the stand.