Midwest Rut Report, Week 2: It’s the Calm Before the Storm, Folks

Over the last week, buck and doe activity has almost entirely subsided at the mock scrapes that my trail cameras are monitoring here around home in Wisconsin. As well, buck sightings during daylight are minimal. The 3.5-year-old bucks that had been feeding in my soybean field have disappeared — likely feeding in the dark. Deer sightings in general are fewer. I was seeing between 15-25 deer while glassing my field in the evenings last week, but now five to 10 seems to be the usual, most of which are does and fawns.

Granted, the weather has been fairly warm. As I write this (October 11), it is 75 degrees in central Wisconsin. However, the 10-day forecast shows highs as low as 41 and as high as 70. We’re in for a mix of weather, which should get deer on food sources in the daylight. As far as rutting activity, I’ve seen zero. Traditionally, the last few days of October in central Wisconsin are great for rattling, and then rut funnels become hot for the first week of November. So, the breaking point is just ahead, but we’re not quite there yet.

My sister, Clair, lives in South Dakota with her husband and two daughters. They had been seeing great activity on their trail camera, which has been monitoring a scrape since September. However, the buck activity has diminished almost entirely. She also had some good buck encounters while hunting in September, but the deer movement, especially buck movement, has scaled back. This past Friday morning, she did some quick scouting after hunting and found two new scrapes not far from the one that her camera was on, so she moved her camera to the new scrapes in hopes of learning what made them.

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In Ohio, outfitter Bryan Dawes of Brushy Fork Outfitters explained that the easterly hurricane winds made for a slow opener but that things are swinging in the right direction now. “We have a lot of small bucks out working scrapes,” he says. “We’ve also caught them sparring in front of the cameras. The bucks are starting to have a chip on their shoulder, and they’re definitely on their feet. I had a client hunting with me who saw seven bucks on October 10, which is pretty darn good for the so-called ‘October lull.’ I anticipate the big boys will be on their feet by October 20. It’s looking like a good forecast so far.”

Out in Nebraska’s Sandhills, the owner of Deer Meadows Outfitters, Scott Kuhn, anticipates that things will go full swing early this year. “The whitetail bucks in Nebraska’s Panhandle region are definitely showing signs of the rut,” he says. “The older bucks are actually starting to chase well ahead of schedule. The increase in daytime activity by the doe and younger bucks is definitely going to lead to an early rut here in the Panhandle. The bigger bucks are checking every night and are being very aggressive towards the does on the trail cameras. Lots of scrapes and rubs are taking place in the tree lines. Again, it looks like the rut is going to kick off early.”

In northern Missouri, Kate Sanford and her family aren’t seeing any substantial movement yet. “Bucks just started showing up this week in the daylight, but we’re not seeing a ton of movement,” she explains. “We’re hoping this cold snap kicks things into gear.”

All said, parts of the Midwestern Region have been fairly dead, but with the current cold front sweeping through in the Upper Midwest and all of the crop harvesting, bucks will be moving around more and more. If you hunt agriculture, pay attention to freshly harvested cornfields. If you hunt the timber, acorn-producing oaks should be the primary food source now. Also, now is the time to hang your cameras on scrapes or mock scrapes. The buck activity will ramp up between now and next week’s Rut Report.