Question 1

What is Best Hunting Time?

Accepted Answer

Best Hunting Time is the best deer movement prediction app. You enter a ZIP code, name the spot, and the app scores the next 24 hours hour by hour on a 0–100 movement index, then extends a daily outlook 14 days ahead. Every score comes with a short written rationale so you know why a window is rated the way it is.

Question 2

Is there an app to download from the App Store or Google Play?

Accepted Answer

There is nothing to download. It runs in your phone's browser and you can add it to your home screen from the browser share menu for a full-screen, app-like icon.

Question 3

How do I add Best Hunting Time to my home screen like an app?

Accepted Answer

Open besthuntingtime.com in your phone's browser, tap the Share button, then choose 'Add to Home Screen' (iOS) or 'Add to Home screen' (Android/Chrome). The icon will appear on your home screen and launch the app in full-screen mode.

Question 4

How do I set up my first location?

Accepted Answer

Sign in, open the forecast, and add a location with the ZIP code of the property you hunt plus a name you will recognize — 'Home farm', 'Grandpa's ridge', 'Lease gate'. The forecast builds immediately from that ZIP's weather, latitude and rut timing.

Question 5

Do I need GPS, a map layer, or property lines?

Accepted Answer

No. The app deliberately skips mapping, GPS tracks and property boundaries. It focuses only on the conditions that decide whether deer move on a given day, so the screen stays fast and uncluttered.

Question 6

Does the app work offline?

Accepted Answer

The last forecast you loaded for each saved location is cached on your device. If you open the app at the stand with no signal, your saved locations and the most recent forecast are still readable. You do need a connection to refresh weather data or load a forecast for a new location.

Question 7

Which devices does the membership cover?

Accepted Answer

One login covers every device you use — iPhone, Android, tablet, Windows and Mac. Your saved locations, alert settings and sighting logs follow you between them.

Question 8

Do I need cell service in the field?

Accepted Answer

You need a connection to load a fresh forecast. Many members pull up the day's windows before they leave the truck or the night before, when signal is reliable.

Question 9

What goes into the movement score?

Accepted Answer

Barometric pressure level and trend, temperature and 24-hour temperature swing, wind speed and direction, precipitation timing, cloud cover, moon phase with overhead/underfoot transit times, daylight position, seasonal rut phase for your latitude, and any sightings you have logged at that location.

Question 10

How is the 24-hour prediction different from the 14-day forecast?

Accepted Answer

The 24-hour view is hour-level and is the one you hunt off of: it ranks specific windows and explains each. The 14-day view is a daily outlook for planning — picking vacation days, scheduling a trip, or deciding which weekend to burn on a good stand.

Question 11

What do the rating colors mean?

Accepted Answer

Each window is grouped Poor, Fair, Good, Prime or Best, with a color legend on the forecast. The bands are relative to that location's conditions, so a Best window in a mild week still marks the strongest opportunity you have.

Question 12

Why does each prediction include a rationale?

Accepted Answer

A number alone does not tell you whether to sit all day or slip in at 3 p.m. The rationale names the specific drivers — a falling barometer, a 14-degree overnight drop, rain clearing at dawn — in two or three sentences so you can make the call yourself.

Question 13

How often is the weather data refreshed?

Accepted Answer

Today’s forecast automatically refreshes when you open the app if the data is more than an hour old.

Question 14

How accurate is a deer movement prediction?

Accepted Answer

No forecast can promise a deer under your stand. What the model does reliably is rank your available hours by how many favorable factors overlap, so your limited time goes to the highest-probability windows instead of guesswork.

Question 15

How does the app know when the rut happens where I hunt?

Accepted Answer

Breeding timing is estimated from your location's latitude and published regional breeding data, so a Deep South ZIP and an Upper Midwest ZIP get different windows rather than one national date.

Question 16

How are pre-rut and second rut calculated?

Accepted Answer

Pre-rut runs the three weeks leading directly into the peak breeding window, so the two read as one continuous timeline. The second rut is a one-week window that opens 28 days after the start of the peak breeding window.

Question 17

Does the rut phase change the daily score?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Rut phase is a weighted factor, which is why midday windows that would rate poorly in October can rate Prime during peak breeding.

Question 18

What triggers a movement alert?

Accepted Answer

An alert fires when a day rates Good, Prime or Best and at least two additional movement triggers overlap — for example rain ending after a storm, rain arriving within four hours, barometric pressure moving rapidly into or out of the preferred range, or a temperature drop of 10°F or more over 24 hours.

Question 19

When are alerts active?

Accepted Answer

Alerts run August 1 through January 31, the window that covers pre-season scouting through late season. Outside those dates the app still forecasts normally; it just does not send alert emails.

Question 20

How many alerts will I get?

Accepted Answer

At most one per saved location per day, and only when the overlap rule is met. In practice that is a modest handful across a season rather than daily noise.

Question 21

How are alerts delivered, and can I turn them off?

Accepted Answer

Alerts are delivered by email and are off unless you switch them on. You can toggle them on or off at any time in the alert panel.

Question 22

Are alerts specific to my locations?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Alerts are evaluated per saved location, so you are notified about the spot you actually hunt, not a general regional blast.

Question 23

How many locations can I save?

Accepted Answer

Unlimited. Hunters who run a home farm, a lease and an out-of-state trip can save all of them and switch between forecasts with one tap.

Question 24

What is a sighting log?

Accepted Answer

A short entry recording the date, time and number of deer you saw at a location. It takes a few seconds after a sit.

Question 25

How do sighting logs improve my forecast?

Accepted Answer

Logged sightings are folded into the score for that specific location, so patterns unique to your ground — an afternoon bench that consistently outperforms the model — start to show up in your ratings over time.

Question 26

Can other people see my locations or sightings?

Accepted Answer

No. Location names, ZIP codes and sighting entries are private to your account.

Question 27

What does membership cost?

Accepted Answer

$4.99 per month or $29.99 per year, each starting with a 7-day free trial. The annual plan works out to roughly half the monthly rate.

Question 28

What can I do during the free trial?

Accepted Answer

Everything. The trial is the full membership — all forecasts, unlimited locations, rut timing, alerts and sighting logs — for seven days.

Question 29

How does auto-renew work?

Accepted Answer

You choose auto-renew at checkout and can change it later on your account page. With auto-renew off, your membership simply ends when the paid period is over and you are not charged again.

Question 30

What happens when I cancel?

Accepted Answer

You keep full access through the end of the period you already paid for; nothing is cut off mid-term.

Question 31

Can I switch between monthly and annual?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Change plans from your account page and the new rate applies from the next billing period.

Question 32

Who processes payment, and can I get a refund?

Accepted Answer

Payments run through Paddle, our authorized reseller and Merchant of Record, so card details never touch our servers. We back the membership with a 30-day money-back guarantee — email support@besthuntingtime.com and we will process it.

Question 33

Are there ads in the app?

Accepted Answer

None. There are no ads, no sponsored placements and no upsell interruptions inside the forecast.

Question 34

Is my information sold or shared?

Accepted Answer

No. Account details, saved locations and sighting logs are private to you and are never sold or shared with outfitters, advertisers or data brokers.

Question 35

How do I get help?

Accepted Answer

Email support@besthuntingtime.com. Questions about a charge, a location that will not save, or an alert you expected are all fair game.

Best Hunting Time FAQ

Getting started

The forecast and what drives it

Rut timing

Movement alerts

Locations and sighting logs

Membership and billing

Privacy, ads and support

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