Thread: Mid afternoon bush hunting?

Hello.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a newbie hunter (1 year, no deer shot)
I've been planing my hunts around around first and last hours of light, but with work and family life this limits me to just once or twice a week.

Some times I have spare time in the afternoon.
Do people have much luck hunting this time of day?
Would the time be better spent just bush bashing around scouting out locations for my morning hunts?

I hunt the kaimais, not to high up 300m-400m generally.

No time spent hunting is a waste of time mate. The deer are there no matter the time or weather. I see deer regularly at all times of the day


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Originally Posted by JoshC

No time spent hunting is a waste of time mate. The deer are there no matter the time or weather. I see deer regularly at all times of the day


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+1 What this legend said. Bushstalking the deer are in the bush all times of the day. I always start at first light and hunt until ive had enough or shot one. Most deer i shoot are around 10-12 in morning but have shot and seen deer first thing, middle of day, mid afternoon and late afternoon. Summer time best to hunt flats and nice terrances close to flats and feed areas first thing in the morning. Look at creek heads as the day gets on. Winter head for the north facing sunny faces and hunt the areas where the heavy sign is as deer dont move far in winter. So i recken a good plan is hunt first thing in the morning and hunt as long as your legs will carry you etc and cover the ground. In the afternoon, late afternoon thats a good time to glass flats up high and likely looking ridges and try spot deer that start moving around later in the day.
Worth going for a walk anytime of the day thou as you not going to get one on the couch

A lot depends on pressure. Given no pressure they will be wandering around all day. Given lots of pressure they will go nocturnal. Mid afternoon to even isn't a bad time particularly on nice sunny days.

Thanks guys, those are the answers I was hoping for. 😊

Time stamps are out but the pics I put up on the trail cam thread has them out during the day more than night

Find some sign, get into a feed zone and either slow down or just stop and wait and something will cruze through. Go a bit further than the last guy, get off tracks and away from huts and it is easier. Where are you based mate? Stick at it and you will be fine. First one is the hardest

Mooch around during the morning, lay up around the middle of the day and have a feed and nap then early/mid afternoon mooch around some more.
Like us deer don't like the cold so look for sunny areas and stay in the shadows. As mentioned look for feed signs and stay at that level.
Stop and listen, deer make quite a bit of noise. Move and make a bit of noise to alert a resting deer so it stands up to look.
They are where they are when they are so just a matter of hunting smarter

Evenings are my fav I tend to be a bit slack getting up early usually by the time I get my lazy ass up the hill to hunt , animals are heading back into the bush but in the evenings they are coming out ,if you are after your first deer watching bushline,s , open tops , clearings , slips from a vantage point is hands down easier than hunting bush in the sense that generally the deer don't no you are there. what ever spear time you have head to likely areas as described above find where animals are coming out , youl see tracks , marks , & shit where they are feeding look around for a spot that you can watch from at a distance , go back early or afternoon keep the wind in mind & your in business.

Do you think I should stake out this?
It's in a tricky spot to get a advantage point on. Not a lot of fresh poo, but plenty of sapling scraping's around aswell.

10 and 2 is smoko I reckon! Shot plenty at those times

Originally Posted by SlowElliot

Do you think I should stake out this?
It's in a tricky spot to get a advantage point on. Not a lot of fresh poo, but plenty of sapling scraping's around aswell.

Vantage point...waiting in the bush for something to come along & rub its antlers would be pretty hit & miss in comparison to the above pic look at all the likely bushline you can see vs a very small window you will get looking at the tree plus the wind would probably burst your bubble at some point...forget the bush for a while head for the open ground

I'd love have a vantage point like that. Sounds like I should be going much higher up.

Get on google earth & look at some new ground river flats & slips can be good to.

Unfortunately the Kiamis don't have a lot of open country unless you have access to farmland bush edges. The deer during the day 10am - 3 pm tend to be up higher on the bush ridges or just off the sides where the thermals bring the sent of danger to the deer bedded there.
As the afternoon wears on they begin feeding so areas with clearings or slips would be good places and as the afternoon wears on they will drop down to graze and find water.
We have found a lot of deer move at various times of day on the trail cams we have out, this is in pine blocks mostly but they are much the same everywhere.