Hunting hours. When is it to late to shoot?

[Junction hunter]

I don't wear a watch when hunting. In Michigan the hunting hours end half hour after sun set. When I hunted with wheels I knew it was to late when I couldn't see my sight pins, with the gun it's when I couldn't see the cross hairs. With the recurve I can shoot in the dark. Normally by half hour after sun set you can’t see deer anyway (they are just blobs in the woods) but with snow on the ground I can see well. Last night I got in and it was an hour after sun set.
So the question is: Is it too late when you can't tell the color of the deer?  
P.S. Will be wearing a watch now.

[vermonster13]

It's pretty clear, up until 1/2 hour after sunset you're a hunter, after that you are a poacher. Law is law.

[Ranger44]

Deleted!  Sorry I misread the first post.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Sunsets at Different times dependiong on where your stand is.  

I sit one stand that the sun sets a 1/2 hour before the one on the other side of the mountain.  Even if you dont have a watch, usually you have an idea of when its time to pack out.

[lil jake]

i agree... but sometimes i will have to sit 4 awhile in the dark because i will have deer come in rite before dark and then get closer in the dark... and i can c them now with the snow. but i guess as long as u have no intentions of shooting after dark, no law says u cant just sit and watch/wait so u dnt scare the deer away.

[bornagainbowhunter]

I really like sitting in the stand on a full moon or in the snow at night.  As long as you don't harm or bother the deer, you are fine in most areas.  

Be careful, some management areas have a set time that you must be out of the woods or off the water.  If you have a long walk or a boat ride to get back from your stand you better concider that when sitting late.  In my neck of the woods, sometimes the wardens will be waiting at your truck.    

God Bless,
Nathan

[Bowwild]

You must follow the law as Vermonster13 points out above. I have an AP on my I-Phone which provides these times for every day. I'll be in the stand long before legal shooting time and stay up until time is up. If deer are around me when time is up I may stay in the stand but I quiver the arrow.

I am very proud of my son.  Last year, he passed the largest live white-tail buck I've ever seen (well over 150) because it was 10 minutes before legal shooting time -- it was rifle season and the deer was less than 40 yards out. The deer passed me too at 70 yards in an open field.

I once had a Conservation Officer tell me, knowing I was an avid bowhunter, that ALL bowhunters break the law. He claimed as a group we disobey shooting hours, tresspass, don't wear orange when required during overlapping gun seasons, and tresspass under the guise of our camo.  I corrected him.

[Bowwild]

Correction: the white-tail was the largest live buck I've seen in Kentucky -- I've seen a half-dozen larger in Indiana.

[magnus]

In Ohio the DNR lists sunrise and sunset times and go by that. You have a half hour after sunset and must have a time piece on you at all times. You must list the time on your tag. Like stated above nothing wrong with waiting for deer to leave  so you don't spook them. I don't know how an officer would feel about that though. Good luck.

Keeping the Faith!
Magnus

[xtrema312]

It is all by the book first.  Then it is if you can make the shot with the light.  With a compound I couldn’t see the pins a little before end of hunting time so was generally safe with that.  The exception would be full moon, clear sky, and snow.  Then there were times I could see the pins well past legal hours.  I never used a light on my site to push it.  With a trad bow I have a hard time shooting if I can’t pick a spot.  A deer outline in the snow is not a spot.  

Now with a gun and scope it is a different story.  Bow hunting has been slow, I can’t hunt the late season this year and I needed another deer to finish getting what we use for the year.  During a very rainy Thanksgiving Day and evening I took out a gun to hunt.  I shot a nice doe about 10 minutes before the end of shooting time.  I knew the highly pressured deer wouldn’t move until after dark in the area I was hunting, but also that they would think it was dark due to the heavy dark cloud cover.  My dad said I shot it too late.  I told him the deer and he didn’t have a watch or look at the time tables.  I did and was checking my watch every 5 minutes that last half hour.  Ended up shooting it at 12 yd. and wished I had the LB with me, but I don’t know I could have picked that spot very well in the low light.  It was nice and clear with a good scope.

I have the times table page of my hunting booklet open and in the door of the truck.  I check it each time I get out to hunt.  As a water fowler often hunting public waters, I have the times table in that booklet in a waterproof flap on my blind bag so I can check it at a glance and I set a watch or phone alarm.  Often the best shooting is very close to the legal time, and it is real easy to get busted for shooting off a gun on public waters if you don’t watch time close.  The CO’s really prowl waterfowl areas.  Waterfowl hunting has really made me a stickler for watching the time.

When deer or turkey hunting I set the end time on one of my watch alarms, but turn the alarm off.  That way I can check later in the day if I forget.  I have also e-mailed myself the times for a few days to cover the time I will hunt so I can look it up on my phone if needed.  I never hunt without a watch and phone.

I have passed on many deer and turkey when I could easily have shot them, but looked at my watch to see I was a few minted before or after legal time and had to let them pass.

[Bowwild]

Officers have a lot of room for discretion. An officer who sees someone walking in or out with a bow (or firearm) could, if he thought he could make it stick, cite a person for hunting before or after hours. However, such cases, if contested could be thrown out of court and the officer's reputation with the court degraded. Officers need to maintain very credible relations with the county prosecutors and judges in order to get their important cases taken seriously so most wont' abuse their powers of discretion.

I would hope, as long as my arrow is quivered whether before or after legal hours, the officer wouldn't consider me in violation. If I was super concerned, I might find a way to disble my bow (cable and lock-unstringing wouldn't be a good option because of the risk of limb twist even with stringers on uneven terrain) until legal hours but that would be WAY beyond reasonable I'd think.

Frankly, if I heard of someone who was cited for hunting after hours I would tend to believe the officer was correct and the hunter wasn't just waiting for some deer to leave the area.

[Fletcher]

I don't like messing with a watch, either.  Generally it is too dark to shoot in the woods outside of the half hour, but snow really brightens things up.  Best is to just carry a watch or be pretty generous in when you choose nock and quiver.

Illinois regs require that the arrow not be nocked outside legal shooting hours, half hour before and after the sun.  Quivered arrow would probably work for most wardens.

[Terry Green]

Here's what I go by if I don't have a time piece on me.

I find a few pencil sized dead twiggs on limbs at 15 yards away....and I know exactly where to look for them at.  When I cant see them, its time to get down.......

[lovethehunt]

I look at my surroundings and pick a few objects that I can reference. I usually have mixed fletching in my quiver, when the color is hard to determine get out.  I had a last minute shot a few years ago  that has made me get out alot earlier now if nothing is around and I am hunting open country. I shot a doe that was following a nice wide 8pt (so sad I didn't have a buck tag left) I hit her a little back and she bedded down about 40yds away. I sat until nearly 9pm watching her lay there under an apple tree. I was glad I had my phone so I could let my wife know I was ok. Text is great in that circumstance. The deer finally moved 10yds and laid back  down facing away allowing me to sneak out. I found her still in her bed in the morning but will not push the light again. A few days later I fell on the ice and was out for the season, I think it was a reminder of what I had done.

[Stumpkiller]

NY is prescribed "sunrise to sunset" local time.  It's a real temptation to stretch that either way when pursuing crepuscular animals like deer.

It is amazing how many gun hunters put off a "fouling shot" 30 or even 45 minutes before legal sunrise or discharge long past sunset.

[Mudd]

The time tables of sunrises and sunsets are listed on just about ever piece of literature they print.

Plus I think most experienced hunters know when they are trying to push the envelope.

Respect for the critters we hunt helps us make those determinations.

God bless,Mudd

[bolong]

Terry beat me to it. That is exactly when I quit.

[acolobowhunter]

To me you have missed the point here.  When I am elk hunting, I quit about 7:00pm.  You say, but there is still shooting light.  True, but if I shoot an elk, I still have to give it time before looking for it.  Sure, you can use a flashlight, and I have.  However, if I can find the blood trail and the animal before total darkness it is a real blessing.  I don't mind dressing it in the dark.  I have seen many people loose the blood trail and maybe have it rain during the night.  Now you have lost and wasted an animal.  
Personally I will limit my shooting time and not loose an animal, or find it the next day and the meat has spoiled or preditors have already been on it.  This is more ethical on my part - personal opinion here.

[MCNSC]

Small limbs and twigs will dissapear when it starts getting late. I know I can still see a deer well enough to shoot but cant see those small twigs...something to think about,especially if you dont have a cleared shooting lane.

[jcar315]

Vermonster put is best.