Getting a deer on opening day

Deer behavior is determined by so many variables centered around when and where the hunt is taking place. There are other factors to take into account that have nothing to do with what is going on in the field- like how many opportunities a hunter may have to get out there. This can definitely affect a hunter's decision to take a particular deer, or let it walk in the hopes of a better opportunity later.

mainecoon said:

Is getting a deer on opening day reserved for people who research the deer year round? I know a lot of people pattern them so well the shot is just a formality. Is an opening day hunt likely to be any more successful than the rest of the season, given that the deer aren't spooked yet?

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Going by your screen name, I guess you live in Maine. In Idaho, if you get a deer at all, on opening day or otherwise, you're very lucky. In a good year, only one in three Idaho deer hunters kill a deer - unless you count the ones they might have killed on the highways that summer.
But to better answer your question, in some areas we hunt, we like opening weekend when there's a lot of hunters out there pushing the deer around - from one draw or pocket to another. In other areas we hunt, we do just as well when there are few hunters out and about. In the evenings, we like to sit quietly and wait until a deer wanders out into a clearing or stubble field on his own.
We do "research" the best the best places to hunt deer in our part of the state - long before the season opens. I've been doing that for 57 years. The truth is though, my record for killing deer in Idaho is only slightly better than 1 in 3 years - I usually kill one every other year. But so does my wife. So together, we seldom go without venison for more than a year. I cooked up a 16 deer (mine this year) sausage patties for the freezer just last night.

Opening days success is relative. Depends on time of the year, hunting pressure and deer numbers. Seasons that open during the peak of deer movement mean better success. If you're someone who hunts pressured land and you are sitting on a prime escape trail, after opening day odds might be slim to even see a good deer. If you're in an pressured area, numbers of good deer left after opening day is greatly reduced and those left are experienced and not moving during daylight hours. You either have to stalk them, jump them or drive them to get them moving. Folks who have patterned deer and know the area well will always have better success than those who don't, regardless of what day it is.

Planning never hurts. Right place at the right time is more the norm.

Main advantage to opening day, there are more hunters out pushing the deer around.

I have shot deer in the first 10 minutes of the season. I have decided that I don't want a 10 minute hunting season.

I love hunting, and shooting a deer like that ends my hunting way too soon, so my goal now is to shoot a huge buck in the LAST 10 minutes of the hunting season. That's the most hunting I can have, and still gets me deer meat. I have decided that I would rather not shoot something because I passed on several opportunities, than not have a hunting season. I also believe that, unless you have a monster buck patterned so well that he does actually show up where and when you expect, that you can't shoot a really big buck if you shoot a small one. So I like to spend lots of time in the woods claiming I'm looking for a really big buck, and hope that I can get venison on my last chance to hunt that season. Of course, that means there are years I pass up too many opportunities, and I don't fill a tag at all. That's fine with me.

I also don't hunt from a stand other than occasionally watching a good area I have sneaked into for an hour or so. I like still hunting, with my goal to shoot deer in their beds. Deer tend to stay in country they know, and really can't be pushed out of their territory by guys wandering around; that's why "patterning" works. So if there are deer in the bush on the first day, there will very likely be deer in the bush on the last day. I do have the luxury of much less hunting pressure than most people talk about on these forums. I have access to and permission for literally hundreds of square miles of deer hunting territory that allows me to enjoy hunting in ways many cannot. But hunting to me is not checking game cams for a month, and then going out and executing a deer on the morning of opening day.

I think it is true that opening day has higher odds of getting a shot at, well, something, but for me, hunting is more important than shooting the first animal I can, so opening day is no more important to me than any other day of the season.

I hunt public land & don't do any special scouting for opening day hunt.
I have learned that any preparation I do for that hunt is useless. Now I just locate where a large amount of hunters have their tree stands & put my stand to the side of their location. As the others hunt & retrieve their kill they will chase deer out to me. I call it hunting the hunt pressure. You have to be able to shoot fast because the deer will be on the run, you won't get them to stop to take a shot. If you can't hit a moving target your out of luck. I don't always get a big buck but I almost always get something. Being a meat hunter if I have to take two small ones & still fill the freezer.

Generally the first day is the most sucessful followed byThanksgiving day then the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.
About twenty-five years ago I had four bucks paterened in north-central PA right up tp the opener.
Opening morning the suroinding properties started getting people showing up and wandering to their hunting spots and these four bucks never showed. They sence the disturbance and readjust to the smells & sounds.
These old bucks don't get old by being dumb.
The main thing about deer hunting is stand still, be quiet and when moving to get in to position to shoot go about it slow when they are not looking in your direction.

You just have to be in the right spot at the right time and don't screw up. Take an extra second or two and aim at the point of impact and just squeeze the trigger.
THE FIRST SHOT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SHOT!
After the first shot the rest are just hopeful shots and will most likely result in a wounded deer that will have to be tracked down.

Shooting running deer just doesn't do it for me. When I shoot a deer they are walking or standing still. All the deer I shoot are dead with the one shot. No tracking, no wounded deer, no lost deer.

No research, I have tagged out twice on opening day. And it was just luck. Last time, some one pushed the deer right to me on accident.

Nothing is cut and dried when it comes to deer. I learn something every year and it is usually something not to do again. That said, it helps to know the lay of the land and to scout for sign when you can. I usually start in September and try to get into the woods at least once a week. October is prime time to scout here. The bucks are starting to think about the girls and start advertising by making rubs and scrapes. It is also when the acorns start to drop. I don't know how many times I have heard people say that their deer were gone. Just disappeared. They disappeared from the feeders and food plots and hit the oaks for acorns. This is also the time to home in on the does. When the rut hits in November the bucks will hunt the does. So will I.

Depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is hunting pressure. Discounting outside variables such as rut timing, weather, and food source availability, I'd say on public land, with few exceptions, the odds of connecting go down rapidly with every hour of season that passes, much less days. The odds tend to improve there again on weekdays, and kind of find a mediocre equilibrium at some point in the season, with a favorable weather pattern combined with temporary lack of hunters can vastly improve odds. I've seen similar results on small parcel private ownership areas.

Growing up we hunted such areas. The landscape was made up of a patchwork of 40-80 acre parcels of private with some public parcels mixed in. Everybody drove deer after a few hour Saturday opener sit. We'd sometimes game the system and save a refuge parcel for after the footbal game on Sunday when everyone else was too boozed up to be on their stands. Usually made for an interesting drive, with deer bouncing every which way. That was our exception to the "opening day rule." By and large though, barring severe wind or early winter weather landing on opening day, probably over 50% of our deer, and definitely the majority of our bucks were taken before noon on opener.

When I've hunted large blocks of private or remote areas of public that do not receive significant pressure, the opening day factor is much less of a factor. Weather and deer movement vs rut activity and available food sources become much more critical, as does putting in your time in the stand.

I am a firm believer that dear behavior cannot be studied. It’s completely random. When you think you’ve got it figured all that out it changes .

daniel craig said:

I am a firm believer that dear behavior cannot be studied. It’s completely random. When you think you’ve got it figured all that out it changes .

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I completely agree. Over 2o years hunting and the only thing that i can count on is that the deer will be in the woods. I spent years trying to figure out there pattern. No luck. I just go where i think they might be.

daniel craig said:

I am a firm believer that dear behavior cannot be studied. It’s completely random. When you think you’ve got it figured all that out it changes .

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Deer behavior can absolutely be studied. Accurate prediction is more difficult because deer have minds that make choices based on stuff that changes, so their behavior can change and make them more unpredictable, but it is not ever completely random. They do not randomly wander the territory like a Rumba vacuuming a room. They make decisions based on their experience and their very acute senses. Oh, and sex and hunger count a lot too.

Have killed deer opening day of bow season, gun season, and muzzleloader season.

Have also let deer walk on those openers.

Our gun season is during rut, and we let everything walk opening day. The next day my bud and I bucked out.

Ive killed deer on the last day of the seasons too.

Didnt hunt bow opener this yr. Its too green and hot and I learned long ago to not waste vac days going too early. Pre rut is starting here, so tomorrow it should be way better ( 20 degrees cooler ).

Only opening day I worry about is gun season, as rut is on and people are out moving deer

I really like the Whitetail Habitat Solutions videos on YT. Think he tells it like it is
Have heard rut is on.......from folks at the gun and bow shops, starting Oct 1.
Lots of nonsense out there.
Esp with " buy this now ".

LoL

Halloween is usually 2 weeks before gun here. I am a wreck for the month after ( 2 weeks bow, 2 weeks gun ).

Kill most of my deer regardless of the time of the season, between 10 am and 2 pm.

Guys getting down to go get lunch during rut are slicing their own throats.
When they get down, you stay up!

daniel craig said:

I am a firm believer that dear behavior cannot be studied. It’s completely random. When you think you’ve got it figured all that out it changes .

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Then you ain't figured it out. Deer behavior is not random until they start getting heavily pressured or caught out of their home range. During the heat of rut, I have seen bucks 5 miles or so from where I know they spend most of their time. If they get caught there on opening day their chance of escaping is mostly to run and attempt to get back to their core and known places of safety. This is where "patterning" does not work. But when deer are in their home range, they bed, feed and travel with consistency. Many times with mature deer, it's because those areas have shown to be safe.....one reason they have lived long enough to mature. Mature deer don't randomly find white oak acorns when they begin to drop.....they know where they are and when they drop. If you do too, you have a good spot. Mature deer don't randomly chance upon good escape routes, they have used the same ones for years. It may not be cognitive thinking, but a habit developed because it works. Same goes for bedding areas. deer select thease areas for a reason...proximity to food and cover, and the ability to monitor any actively within it, whether it be other deer, predators or us. Again, when deer are heavily pressured and pushed beyond what they are familiar with, or blinded by lust during rut, all bets are off. This is when even a blind squirrel can find a nut and is usually when folks who don't prepare get lucky and get a deer. For half a century I have hunted a large piece of public land. On opening day, knowing where the primary escape trails are and where other folks are entering the area are key to success. But even then without control of where other folks may choose to stand(usually right next to you) or travel will change patterned behavior. even the best stands is a bust if and when you are surrounded by folks and being cut off unless they miss. This is when I pick a not so obvious stand that is difficult to get to. I don't see as many deer, but odds are I will get a chance at a deer. Later on when the pressure dies down, the deer will go back to what they are familiar with. While the rut has been killed by hunting pressure and the deer are now basically only active during darkness, if one has patterned where they eat and sleep, the odds of success is much greater. I like to wait till the last weekend to sneak hunt areas of this public land, hopefully with nasty weather to help. Because of years of patterning where deer go in this area when pressured, it helps me to avoid the other 90% of the area where they are not. Years ago, we called this "Woodsmanship".

A lot of truth there Hookeye.
Another blunder is getting to your spot to late, get set up early and let the other hunters coming in at day light chase them back to you.

Hookeye said:

Guys getting down to go get lunch during rut are slicing their own throats.
When they get down, you stay up!

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Highland Lofts said:

A lot of truth there Hookeye.
Another blunder is getting to your spot to late, get set up early and let the other hunters coming in at day light chase them back to you.

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^^^another form of "Woodsmanship".

Patterning other hunters. Deer do that too. I have watched bedded deer let numerous hunters walk by them in their beds. I have also shot some nice bucks that let other hunters walk by them. Deer that were within a few yards of the hunter and waited till they were out of sight to get up and slip away. Have picked out deer by the movement of their head as they watched other hunters walk thru the woods. In heavily pressured areas, deer know the main routes that hunters use to get in and out of the woods. The logging roads, creeks, clear-cuts and power lines that keep weekend hunters from getting lost. Knowing that and taking routes that parallel those will give opportunities to jump deer that feel safe by watching people walk by.

Folks sometimes pattern deer unknowingly. Seeing deer cross a road at the same place many times is observing a pattern. Remembering you have jumped deer from a particular spot more than once in your hunting area is patterning. Back when deer drives were more popular that they are now, folks would set standers on trails that deer had taken out of the drive in the past. This was patterning too. We just weren't using that name for it yet.

buck460XVR said:

Then you ain't figured it out. Deer behavior is not random until they start getting heavily pressured or caught out of their home range. During the heat of rut, I have seen bucks 5 miles or so from where I know they spend most of their time. If they get caught there on opening day their chance of escaping is mostly to run and attempt to get back to their core and known places of safety. This is where "patterning" does not work. But when deer are in their home range, they bed, feed and travel with consistency. Many times with mature deer, it's because those areas have shown to be safe.....one reason they have lived long enough to mature. Mature deer don't randomly find white oak acorns when they begin to drop.....they know where they are and when they drop. If you do too, you have a good spot. Mature deer don't randomly chance upon good escape routes, they have used the same ones for years. It may not be cognitive thinking, but a habit developed because it works. Same goes for bedding areas. deer select thease areas for a reason...proximity to food and cover, and the ability to monitor any actively within it, whether it be other deer, predators or us. Again, when deer are heavily pressured and pushed beyond what they are familiar with, or blinded by lust during rut, all bets are off. This is when even a blind squirrel can find a nut and is usually when folks who don't prepare get lucky and get a deer. For half a century I have hunted a large piece of public land. On opening day, knowing where the primary escape trails are and where other folks are entering the area are key to success. But even then without control of where other folks may choose to stand(usually right next to you) or travel will change patterned behavior. even the best stands is a bust if and when you are surrounded by folks and being cut off unless they miss. This is when I pick a not so obvious stand that is difficult to get to. I don't see as many deer, but odds are I will get a chance at a deer. Later on when the pressure dies down, the deer will go back to what they are familiar with. While the rut has been killed by hunting pressure and the deer are now basically only active during darkness, if one has patterned where they eat and sleep, the odds of success is much greater. I like to wait till the last weekend to sneak hunt areas of this public land, hopefully with nasty weather to help. Because of years of patterning where deer go in this area when pressured, it helps me to avoid the other 90% of the area where they are not. Years ago, we called this "Woodsmanship".

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Guess it depends on the area. I hunt the best possible place there is on this land, never get in late, never head out early. The deer are under a lot of pressure here and there really and any “resident deer” just those passing through and stopping here to gas up.

daniel craig said:

Guess it depends on the area. I hunt the best possible place there is on this land,

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....and how did you determine it was the "best possible place"? Odds are, you did not just choose it at random and continue to hunt it because of lack of success. Chances are you noticed used trails or observed deer moving thru the spot more than once. Might be minimal, but it is still patterning.

Hookeye said:

Kill most of my deer regardless of the time of the season, between 10 am and 2 pm.

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I have noticed a lot of movement midday. In fact, I have seen a nice buck cross a field midday 2 times this week. I could see his rack over 200 yards away with the naked eye. I put a camera on his crossing spot yesterday. The last big buck that I have taken was midday during the October Blackpowder season 2 years ago. He was checking out the oak flats trolling for does.