Hunt October or leave alone until Rut
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Mad_Angler
15-Aug-17
I have access to 160 acres of beautiful property in Kansas. In the past, I let it sit pretty idle until the first week or so of November.
This year, I don't know if I can wait that long. I am thinking about a trip in early October. It would be half of a hunting trip and have preparation trip for the rut. I would hang a few more treestands and otherwise prep for the rut.
What do you think? Will I greatly reduce my odds of killing a monster in November if I also go in October? If I do go in October, should I avoid my best stands or do anything else differently?
From: pav
15-Aug-17
Keep it low impact ...and what you do in early October should not affect your November rut hunt much...if any. You will likely have bucks trolling for does in November that never set foot on your 160 acres in early October. Even a resident buck that might pick you off in early October is not going to be thinking about you at all when his testosterone spikes.
That said, I'm not a big fan of bowhunting mature bucks in early October...unless I have a great food source littered with fresh buck sign.
From: KY EyeBow
15-Aug-17
As long as you hunt the wind and keep it low impact, you should be fine. I used to be the only one in our family that bowhunted until my brother started about 3-4 years ago. Mature buck sightings have dropped off significantly since that time and this is mainly due to the fact that he still has a gun hunting thought process about not paying too much attention to the wind. I love hunting all aspects of whitetail archery season, not just the Rut. Who knows, you just might kill out during your October hunt or at least cull a few does. Enjoy!
From: elk yinzer
15-Aug-17
I see no damage in carefully hunting early food sources/staging areas and observation type stands and leave the bedding areas for the rut.
From: Brotsky
15-Aug-17
Just make sure you stay out of their bedroom and give them plenty of space and you'll be good!
From: Genesis
15-Aug-17
Damge!Damage!Damage! More bucks are "unkilled" in October in Kansas by impatience.160 ac. in KS is pretty brittle habitat imo.
Smart hunters hunt dumb bucks while cough,cough, less sophisticated ie.kinda stupid hunters hunt smart bucks....:)
Yeah,I know some slammers get kilt in October but more slammers get spooked to another property...and most don't even know they did it.
From: LBshooter
15-Aug-17
Lots of hunters wait til what they think is the perfect time to hunt a big deer. Do you know what the weather is going to be in November ? Is it going to be cool , cold or a heat wave. Are you going to be healthy enough to hunt then, all are unknown factors, so hunt when and while you can and enjoy it. Lots of big deer get shot in October, if you don't kill in November just think of what late season will be like.
From: LBshooter
15-Aug-17
Lots of hunters wait til what they think is the perfect time to hunt a big deer. Do you know what the weather is going to be in November ? Is it going to be cool , cold or a heat wave. Are you going to be healthy enough to hunt then, all are unknown factors, so hunt when and while you can and enjoy it. Lots of big deer get shot in October, if you don't kill in November just think of what late season will be like.
From: bdfrd24v
15-Aug-17
My best buck was killed in Oct. I hunt anytime I can get in the woods. I don't see any reason why I would "limit" my time in a tree.
From: Ollie
15-Aug-17
Last year on the second Saturday in October I had a very large buck walk up behind me to the base of the tree. I didn't get him but that is another story. In 2015 I killed a nice buck the first Saturday of the season in early October. November may be the best time to kill a big buck but it certainly is not the only time.
From: Fulldraw1972
15-Aug-17
One of the best times to hunt in October is during the first cold front. With that said I would not get to aggressive in your October hunting.
From: greg simon
15-Aug-17
My younger brother killed a 199 inch buck in Kansas on an early "scouting" trip!
From: cord 62
15-Aug-17
Go hunt. Tag out early and prep for next year
From: Buffalomtn
15-Aug-17
We hunt in Oklahoma. Over the last several years our best bucks (we only harvest 5+ year olds) have been taken the first week of October, which is our season opener. The bucks are easy to pattern at this time. I would rather hunt the first week of October than the peak of the rut. We hunt a large property with little pressure and and in early October the bucks are still in their summer pattern.
From: drycreek
15-Aug-17
I wouldn't overthink it. Bucks come and go at their pleasure, not ours. The biggest buck I ever killed was in October. On 160 acres though, I would hunt afternoons only on food sources, and then only if you have a foolproof entry and exit, or all the bad stuff in the preceding posts might come to pass.
From: DartonJager
15-Aug-17
It is vary hard to give advice when the asked have no idea what so ever about ANYTHING pertaining to the land your hunting on. I would not hesitate to hunt my land in early October but ONLY if I had gathered rock solid reliable information that the caliber of buck I hoped to kill was moving on the land during shooting light and I knew for absolute 100% certain I could get to and from my stand or stands without the deer busting me or becoming alerted to my presence in any way.
From: W
15-Aug-17
Not worth the trip from Wisconsin. Hunt at home and save vacation days for November.
From: APauls
16-Aug-17
Depends on the piece. If you can hunt low impact I've killed some good ones in October and seen a ton of good bucks in October. Still very patternable going to food
