Opening Day Strategies: How to Be in the Right Spot at the Right Time

Opening day is this Saturday in Minnesota! Are you ready? We’ve compiled some tips and tricks to help direct you to the right spot at the right time when the sun rises on opening day. Check out the tips, below, and get ready to enjoy another deer season from your Stump blind.

Dawn and Dusk

Though deer are active at all times of the day, they are known to be crepuscular animals, meaning that they are the most active during the twilight hours of dawn and dusk. So either set your alarm for an early morning hunt or make sure you set aside time to hunt later in the day. The weather is still getting up into the 80s during the peak of daylight hours here in Minnesota, so the summer temperature will continue to drive deer to their crepuscular schedule to take advantage of the cooler 60-degree temperature when the sun isn’t out. As the weather cools and we approach rut season, the deer will start to be more active at all hours, including during the day, but in the meantime you can follow the dusk/dawn schedule. Keep in mind that hunting hours open half an hour before sunrise and close half an hour after sunset in Minnesota.

Scope out the Parking Lot

Opening day is like the Super Bowl for hunters. That means droves of hunters will be venturing out to public hunting lands to take their shot at filling their tags. If you hunt public land, make sure to scope out the parking lot before you set up shop. If you see there are plenty of cars, keep your eye out for treestands and blinds as you enter the grounds. If you see a lot of hunters at the entrance, continue on and go deeper into the woods. You don’t want to contribute to hunting pressure this early in the season. Setting yourself up a good distance away from the other hunters will give you the advantage of being ready and waiting when the deer inevitably start to notice all the hunters at the front of the property and move to the back of the woods. If the entrance has signs of deer, like rubs and scrapes, and you can’t deny it’s a prime spot despite the crowd, set up shop but make sure to stay out of the other hunters’ shooting lanes. Don’t set yourself up directly across from another hunter and always wear an item of blaze orange.

Set Up Your Stump Blind

Our Stump blinds are super easy to transport, so you’ll have no problem hooking your blind up to your truck or ATV with the steel hitch and towing it onto the hunting grounds. Check your state’s regulations to see if you’re allowed to leave blinds on public land overnight. If so, be sure to set your blind up now so you’re ready to go for opening day. Consider adding our Locking Door Handle to your blind if you do, that way other hunters won’t be able to enter your blind when you’re not there.

The time is finally here and another opening day of deer season is upon us. We hope you’re excited to enjoy the outdoors and harvest some big game to put quality meat into your freezer.

What are your opening day strategies? How do you make sure you’re going to be where the deer are? Let us know in the comments below!