White-tailed deer move most during low light conditions. There are exceptions to this rule, but as a deer hunter, I try to be in my stand during the first two hours and the last two hours of the day.
Many factors contribute to deer activity, but I feel most confident about seeing deer early and late, particularly if I'm hunting deer going to or from a food source. If the food source is an open field, the deer will start leaving the field as daylight arrives. They might feed for a couple more hours in the cover as they trickle back to bedding areas, but they don't feel safe in the wide open during daylight hours.
You get the reverse of that movement in the afternoon when the deer start showing up around food sources. Depending on weather, you might have deer feeding in open fields at mid-afternoon, but they get more and more active as the sun drops and light gets dim.
About the only time I'll sit in a stand from daylight until dark is during the rut. When there's an active rut, you never know when something's about to happen. Of course, sitting in a stand for 10 hours is pretty tough. You really should hunt the way you enjoy it. If that means stand hunting for two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon, that's how you should do it. The key to enjoying deer hunting is to have a good time. Remember, you should have fun.
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