By Bob Foulkrod

It's that time when the woods grow most quiet, when the squirrels and birds return to their dens and roosts. It's that time when the shadowy areas beneath your treestand become inky places your vision can no longer thoroughly explore.

Last light is one of my favorite times to be in a treestand when bowhunting for whitetail. More deer are taken by bowhunters during the last light of day, that semi-twilight period that precedes darkness, than nearly any other time slot.

You do not have to have years of experience under your belt to know this is the magical "witching hour" for big whitetail bucks

Each year, hundreds of articles are written about how productive bowhunting for whitetail can be during the last half hour of light.

Oddly, too few bowhunters seem to understand the importance of hunting the last light. Many leave their treestands too early to capitalize on the time they have put into their hunt. Some who stay long enough sometimes find they are ill-equipped to get the most out of their efforts.

A couple of years ago, I joined a group of bowhunters at a plantation in southern Mississippi for a mid-October deer hunt. We were only a few minutes from the Mississippi River.

The bottomland hardwoods where we were hunting were flanked by great looking croplands. Deer sign was everywhere The weather was the only thing that was not in our favor. Each day the mercury rose to above the 85-degree mark, sharply curtailing whitetail movement along the river.
Late morning and early afternoon time spent in treestands was a waste. None of the dozen or so bowhunters in our group got a glimpse at anything other a few small bucks very early in the morning. It was the last half hour of light that provided the most reliable action.

Each of the seven, 6- to 10-point bucks taken during that week of Mississippi hunting were taken during the final minutes of shooting time. The bowhunters at the plantation who did not get a shot a buck that week did not stay in their treestands until the last possible moment.

Most experienced bowhunters understand the value of maintaining a treestand vigil until the last possible moment they can legally shoot. Bucks, especially large, old ones, reach this point in life by understanding the intentions of hunters. A buck's best defense is shifting its activities to the night hours.

Such bucks often bed down shortly after sunrise and stay there nearly all of the day before rising again to go water and feed. Even during the rut when these animals wander, many bucks restrict much of their movement to those hours when they are veiled in a cloak of darkness.
More often than not, a bowhunter's only shot at a mature buck is right at dark when these animals are hungry and eager to move, the witching hour.

Confidence in your bowhunting equipment and your archery shooting abilities are essential for consistent success under the much less-than-perfect conditions of near darkness.
Practice shooting your bow at home during this time slot. Shoot from ground level to make sure you know the conditions when you can effectively use your bowsights Also practice shooting under these conditions from a treestand. Strive to leave nothing to chance.

Some bowhunters like to use electronically lighted pin-type sights when shooting under low-light conditions. Granted, these types of pin sights have easily recognized advantage, but I am a bit old-fashioned and do not want anything electronic on my hunting bow.

There are a number of pin-type bow sights on the market today that feature fiber optical materials that naturally gather and focus available light on the points of pins. These types of pins can make the difference in knowing exactly where you are placing a pin on a buck and taking a calculated guess.

If you are hunting an area you know by heart, you should not have any problem getting out of the woods at dark without getting lost. However, even if you know your bowhunting area well, do not discount the prospect of getting lost in the dark. It happens to bowhunters every year.

Always carry along a flashlight with strong batteries This is the last place you want to cut corners.
If you are not bowhunting until the last possible minute of the day, you probably are missing the very thing you sat in a treestand waiting for.

Stick out as long as the law and light allow. You will not regret it.