Originally Posted by ShootemupTex
I've personally seen all my activity between 8AM and Noon. I don't bother getting up at 3AM, I just try to get to my parking spot around fist light and take my time walking in. I think the idea of bumping them in the dark is a little overblown for us Public Land hunters. I've literally walked through somewhere and 20 mintues later seen a deer walk through there and hang out.

They are still going where they need to go and if your wearing scent proof boots and walking on a road or clear cut it doesn't seem to leave any real scent that alarms them. Walking through brush and stuff might be different if your scent is sticking to branches.

Eliminate bad habits like looking at your phone for long stretches. I force myself to look up every 30 seconds if I am checking mesages. It only takes a minute and you can spend 10 minutes with your head buried in your phone before you realize it. I know I've missed deer doing that.
I try to get at least somewhat to where I want to go ahead of sunrise. If it's a full moon and moon is overhead I can hang a stand. Either way, I like being in the woods before sunrise. There's a lot of deer activity at first light.

Rubber boots. I'm 50/50 on this. If I have a really bad hike in I don't wear them. They do make a difference. Was recently in a stand and my wind was great - I wore normal hiking boots. A doe and yearling were walking by. Hit the trail I walked in on and obviously smelled where my boots touched the ground. It was like they hit a brick wall. Doe starts searching for me. Stomping, head bobbing. Looks right at me in my treestand. I know my wind is good 100%. Eventually she chills out and they hang around an hour and a half under/near my stand.

There are a lot of stories on here of people missing deer on their phones. Don't be a guy with that story. When looking at my phone I have a plan on how to quickly put it away.