I don’t want to downplay how beautiful the state of Michigan is during the month of October. Our fall colors are hard to beat, and for most of society it’s depressing to watch the leaves slowly fall from the trees to signal another gloomy and cold Michigan winter looms. Not us. Not whitetail hunters. The colors are beautiful, but with every red or yellow leaf that hits the ground it signals another leafless rut is upon us. As the calendar turns toward November, the only purpose an existing leaf serves is that it annoyingly blocks the view of a buck I’m trying to watch cut across a cut cornfield.
October hunting is fun, and I would never wish it away; any time in a treestand is good for the mind and the soul. Trying to pattern whitetails early season, hunting bachelor groups of bucks, doing some slick-head slaying to fill the freezer, and trying to pinpoint primary bedding areas to sneak into are all fun October activities. However, the ticker ticks a little bit more aggressively when those bachelor groups stop enjoying each others company and start pinning their ears back at each other. First, it’s the little bucks that start bumping does around a couple weeks into October. Then a couple days later you spot a mature buck just before daylight for the first time since September. At the same time you start seeing scrapes significantly multiply throughout the timber and field edges. Finally it happens; November is visible on the 10 day forecast and we get a cold front accompanied by a high pressure system and the woods come alive. Bucks you have 15 night time pictures of finally start broadcasting their presence during daylight hours and the activity only increases as November quickly approaches.
In my home state of Michigan, the last week of October is actually my favorite time to be in a treestand as it can sometimes be even more exciting and action-packed than November. Even though in the lower peninsula deer numbers are at an all-time high, one of the main issues Michigan has is its buck-to-doe ratio. In some areas of the state it is above 10 does to every buck, and the fact that fawns are born at a 1 to 1 buck to doe ration shows how big of a problem we really have. What I am getting at is that since the doe numbers are so high, once they start to go into estrus, in many areas the bucks don’t have to move far to find them and breed them. The reason why late October can be so exciting is that a bucks testosterone is sky-rocketing and he’s ready to breed, but the majority of does aren’t quite in estrus yet. That leads to bucks running all over hell trying to find a doe in estrus to breed, and being very aggressive in doing so, which leads them to be much easier to call in with a grunt, bleat, or rattling bag. Depending on the buck to doe ratio in your specific area, you might see things slow down in November as more and more does go into estrus; in extreme cases, if there’s a lot of does in your area, that big buck you’ve been waiting to hunt during the rut all year long might not have to leave his bedding area to find does to breed. That can lead to a very unproductive and disappointing rut.
Not at all my biggest buck I’ve killed during the rut, but I killed him at 10:45 am. Bucks move frequently during midday hours in the first week of November. Hunt hard and you’ll be rewarded.
On the plus side to that, if you do a good job of managing your area and keep the doe numbers from exploding, you’re in for a treat the next few weeks. I’m not here to give you any strategies or tips on how to notch a tag in the next couple of weeks before the orange army is out in full force. What I am here to tell you is if you really want to be successful this season, you might have to say “no” to a few social events and turn your out of office email on for a few days. HUNT HARD; all day sits are going to be the most productive. Go to any big buck state like in the Midwest and ask locals when the majority of big bucks are killed. The numbers are staggering on how many bucks are killed between the hours of 10am and 3pm during the first couple weeks of November. Rain, shine, snow, or wind you need to be a treestand. You don’t have to watch your football team the next couple weekends, football will be there after the rut. You can’t shoot them being on the couch, so chase tail like you’ve never chased tail before.
As for where the weather forecast sits right now, it’s looking like the last week of October and first week of November are going to be DYNAMITE. The pressure is steadily climbing and is going to reach 30.4 on Halloween, with a small drop after that, but it is going to stay above 30 for the foreseeable future. On top of that, it is going to be COLD. Like snow could fall cold. Highs in the low 40s and lows in the high 20s are going to lead to extremely high deer activity in daylight hours, and the fact that there’s a new moon is just icing on the cake. A few rain drops might fall mid week, but who cares, a few rain drops aren’t going to keep the bucks from being on their feet.
It’s time folks. Put down the remote control. Use the vacation you’ve been saving up. Tell your family you’ll see them on Thanksgiving. Hunt hard, put food on the table and racks on the wall. It’s the best time of year for a whitetail hunter, but in order to hunt whitetails you have to be in the woods. Goodbye social life, hello whitetail woods. Stay safe, shoot straight, and happy hunting!