Realtree's Deer Hunting Forecast | Oct. 24-30

The next week is likely to produce some of the best bowhunting of the season. For years, Realtree contributor Mike Hanback has compiled our annual “Best Days to Deer Hunt” feature story in the late summer. Hanback is one of the country’s most knowledgeable whitetail writers, both a product of his own experience and his extensive network of sources that includes guides, biologists, and all-around solid hunters. For years, the accuracy of Hanback’s predictions has been uncanny (personally, I’ve lost count of the deer tags I’ve filled on Hanback’s days).

This year, four of Hanback’s chosen days will fall during this next week: Oct. 24, 25, 26, and 28. Hanback notes that whitetails begin scraping heavily around Oct. 20, and some 5 to 15 percent of a herd’s does come into estrus the final week of the month. This year, the moon will wax to full on the 26th, and Hanback expects that to kick many bucks into overdrive as they begin prowling for does. And that squares perfectly with the information our Rut Reporters have provided from across the country. East to west, north to south, whitetails and mule deer both are laying down sign right now, and decent weather has put plenty of deer up and on move during daylight hours. That activity is only going to increase in the immediate days ahead.

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MOON AND WEATHER

Again, with a full moon on Monday, the 26th, you can expect some deer to be on their feet both later in the morning and earlier in the afternoon. If you’ve been holding off hunting mornings, it’s time to change that plan — and in fact, an all-day sit next week wouldn’t be an altogether bad idea. Realtree’s Fish & Game Forecaster predicts solid movement throughout the weekend, with peaks into the “excellent” range on both Monday and Tuesday, around 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. each day. The 6 to 10-day national weather outlook shows temperatures to be slightly above normal for much of the South and Midwest, and normal to below normal for areas of the Northeast and Northwest. We’ll take it. Overall, we give this week’s deer hunting forecast a full 5 out of 5 stars. Get out there if you can.

Midwest Rut Reporter Darron McDougal checked with sources from across his region including Wisconsin, Michigan, Missouri, Minnesota, Indiana, and South Dakota. Most of his contacts noted a significant increase in rubs and scrapes, and a fair number of little bucks beginning to spar and tussle. The acorn crop is pretty good across the Midwest, McDougal reports, but green fields planted in winter wheat, alfalfa, and clover are producing plenty of deer sightings right now. Focus heavily on active scrapes in the days ahead.

READ THE FULL MIDWEST RUT REPORT HERE

Northeast Rut Reporter Tim Kent says weather and food patterns alike are changing in the Northeast, and hints of the rut are in the air. It’s been chilly in Kent’s region, with lows dipping into the 20s, and that’s put a good number of deer up and on their feet during hunting hours. Kent says the earliest cruising bucks are beginning to wander the landscape, although most mature animals are still locked into predictable bed-to-feed routines.

READ THE FULL NORTHEAST RUT REPORT HERE

Southeast Rut Reporter Stephanie Mallory brought updates from Virginia, North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi this week. Although the late fall has been excessively hot throughout the Southeast, the weather has improved lately, and bucks are laying down sign in the northern stretches of the Southeast. Acorns are the ticket right now, according to most of Mallory’s contacts.

READ THE FULL SOUTHEAST RUT REPORT HERE

Southwest Rut Reporter Miles Fedinec has been busy guiding elk and antelope hunters so far this fall, but he says that’s about to change, and just in the nick of time. Big mule deer bucks are on the move in Colorado and northern New Mexico. Fedinec says this is one of his favorite stretches to hunt, as big bucks are migrating out of the high country and looking for the first breeding opportunities of the season.

READ THE FULL SOUTHWEST RUT REPORT HERE

Mule deer are on the move in the Northwest, too, according to Rut Reporter Jackie Holbrook, who watched a couple bucks square off outside her office window while filing this week’s report. Holbrook says rutting activity has been minimal so far in her region for both whitetails and mule deer, but that’s going to change in the days ahead. There’ve been some changes to season structures and regulations, and Holbrook reminds hunters in states including Montana, Oregon, and Washington to brush up on the regs before heading afield.

READ THE FULL NORTHWEST RUT REPORT HERE