Contributors to this thread:
I don't have much vacation this year, but I plan on every weekend from now and November 4th - 7th in Portage County. Seen really good deer numbers this year, but no big boys yet on the 10 acres I hunt. That will change in the next few weeks. Good luck this year!
I will be in a tree from the 4th to the 13th....Waupaca/Shawano County.
I'll be out every chance I get. I'm fortunate to take vacation at last minute cause my boss has the same addiction as myself. I'll take my days when I see promising weather.
Nice! I have a boss that hunts too and can text her at 7 am to let her know/ask for the day off. I'm hoping to take the 1st week off in November but depending on feedback might wait for the 2nd week.
I have November 10-30th off and will be hunting majority of it. I saved all my vacation for November and have been putting in some long hours at work all summer in preparation for my month off. Will be nice to get out and relax!
I saw something yesterday that certainly surprised me. I watched a yearling buck acting strange. I climbed in my stand wearing just a T-shirt and jeans. I dress in my stand to avoid sweating on the way in. This buck was about 30 yards from me facing away. I wasn't going to shoot him, so I literally got dressed in my camo while he was standing away from me. He was rubbing a tree up and down, snorting and weezing. No big deal, until he turned my way, and kicked up a bedded doe just a bit closer to me. He chased her for about 30 minutes running her past me twice. Finally she submitted to him, and he bred her at about 40 yards. I'm in a stand atop a small ravine, and they are below me, paying no attention. 3 minutes later the doe walked in my lane, I stopped her, and shot her.
This is the earliest I've ever seen a doe get bred. I've seen young bucks bumping does many times this early, but not out and out breeding?
With that said, if the estrous cycles are roughly 30 days apart, the second week of November might be better? Especially north. I'm in southern Wisconsin to give you an idea.
I'm one of those people who doesn't much read into the moon, the predicted rut etc. I believe in ass-time. Being in the woods in all weathe on any day I can hunt. I really like the last week of October and the first week of November, and typically take three weeks off, starting at the end of October. I understand not everyone has that luxury, but hunt any chance possible. North or northwest wind seems killer. Clear days seem killer, high pressure and high winds seem killer. Above all, does have a timeline where they need to be bred. Not too early so the fawning is too cold and they don't survive the cold springs, and not too late, so fawns won't survive the winter. That makes the rut very predictable based on when fawns are born. That's why the rut is later as you head north.
I will have two, three-day weekends and a four day weekend to work with for bow. Not a lot, but I try to maximize my hunting time by doing all day sits for many of the days.
Pete-Pec
Full moon this weekend, the Hunters Moon.
If all the deer were bred and had fawns all at once there would be some problems. Yes, deer cycle every 28 days and can be bred until pregnant. I am thinking that the rut is just around the corner and should be going full bore around November 9-13.
I will spend more time in the stand then and of course late season, unless the tags are filled.
I'm just gonna keep an eye on the weather forecast and choose then. It was rather warm last years rut. I'm hoping we get some dry cold days late Oct, early Nov.
Trapper, I'm on the Wolf right near the Navarino Ski Hill. We have land in both counties and both sides of river. Do you know that area?
From earlier this season
From earlier this season
I am hunting at the Southern tip of Adams County just a few minutes from the Dells.
I will be out in the woods on Oct 29th - 30th and then I take my vacation from 11/5 - 11/13. I feel really good about that time period for bow hunting this year. I've got the fever!!!
Anyone else hunting around the Dells area?
i took all the guessing out of it this year and saved the majority of my vacation for November. I am off from October 27th to November 17th, and then again from the 19th to the end of the month. Fingers crossed.
I'll do my best to get out in November, but I'll be up in Waupaca/Portage counties the week leading up to Halloween.
Halloween weekend and November 9-13th for me!
Halloween weekend thru the first weeken in nov. for me to go up north but I'll be hunting quite a bit from now until then near my home. If I don't connect by the end of my vacation I'll go every day the weather permits before work down here by my house until the end of the season. It's soooo nice to have a good spot less than five min drive from home!!
November 6-13 if my shoulder is better. Northern Waupaca County.
Halloween weekend & the first week of November for me...weather permitting.
Grant Co.
Vacation time Oct 31st thru Nov 4th. With the 2 weekends that gives me 10&1/2 days to hunt. If the weather gets too wet to sit in a tree, I'll set up my ground blind. Gotta get me some sausage :)
My vacation is set from 11/5-11/15. I always take the week the 9th of Nov. falls on. My place has really changed over the years. When I first bought it in 2001 I saw more bucks than does. Then our herd changed thanks to heavy harvest during the CWD legislation rules... Our herd diminished and is coming back.
Meanwhile I started food plotting. It gets bashed by some but I enjoy growing things for deer to eat. I also use cameras to keep my intrusions to a minimum.
Anyhow, I now have more does year round living and raising fawns on my place. I credit my food plots but bucks are a conundrum. In May I see them on cam, lots of them mixed with the does. As horns develop they disappear, I assume they are following some other feed pattern. Then in mid July I get a spike in activity for a couple days... Then nothing till just before the rut and all during the rut I get cruisers (because I have does). That in the end is a good thing. Anyway, why the LONG story?
OK, this last week I saw 3 young bucks cruising my place. All too small but these guys think they are something. Ha. They are making rubs along the normal travel routes and look like they are getting ready. So, starting next weekend and all the way up to my vacation I expect things to pick up. I purposely have kept my previous hunts to more observation and hunting. Just confirming my camera data. This year looks like last year so I am good with 11/-5 to 11/15 in NE Crawford.
Bill
I don't sign up for blocks of vacation any more...if the weather looks right I just text in that I won't be in that day. Nothing worse than putting your vacation in ink and then have the weather turn to crap and ruin your hunt. Of course I know some guys can't do it that way, but if you can it makes sense. If I was forced to take just one week off it would be the week starting on October 26th...like a light-switch my cameras go crazy on that day with never before seen big bucks, year after year...then POOF, gone on November 11th!
Isn't it interesting? A lot of fellows voice their opinions and I believe all are being sincere, but we are hearing this week is the best to take off, or that week is the one to be in the woods, and what about the five days from X to Y? Further, I believe these opinions are coming from competent bowhunters. In my opinion this just goes to show how variable our experiences are and how we all need to listen to others but trust most in our own experiences. I think a lot of whitetail bowhunting is just like that, we can listen and learn from others but in the end we need to decide for ourselves. No matter how good we are at making decisions, the deer will always have the final say and make the final decision. Ultimately, they always have the home field advantage.
Headed to Price County from Nov. 1st - 7th, and then again on the 9-10. Spent a lot of time at the cabin over the last few months scouting, checking camers, etc. Tough to pattern deer in the big woods with all the baiting going on. Some nice bucks on camera, but very inconsistent. Went up grouse hunting this weekend keeping a casual eye for any kind of pre rut sign, almost nothing going on in the woods yet. One rub and one scrape, and we covered a lot of ground on Friday and Saturday. Good thing is we got a dozen birds!
Point well taken Trapper....
