Halloween is around the corner, and suddenly the woods are filled with ghosts. Hunters call them the “grey ghosts” for good reason. Not only do black-tailed deer live in the thickest possible forests, but they’re also perfectly camouflaged, and like a ghost, they prefer to only come out at night. That is, until the rut, when the allure of breeding season draws the grey ghosts out from their haunts and into hunters’ sights.

In Alaska, hunters are reporting a sharp increase in Sitka blacktail rutting behavior, particularly on Kodiak Island. Bucks are moving at all hours of the day in search of does. Oregon and Washington’s blacktails aren’t quite as active yet. However, hunters are reporting increased seeking and chasing behavior from younger bucks, as well as more sightings of mature bucks during legal shooting hours.

This past week, Idaho’s mule deer bucks finally decided to ditch their bachelor bands in favor of searching for does. A friend tagged a mature mule deer buck last week after he spotted it sniffing and chasing a group of four does. Hunters are reporting similar rutting behavior among mule deer in Wyoming.

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In Montana, over the past week, I’ve spotted more mature mule deer bucks either alone or with groups of does, driving out younger bucks that were previously part of the herd. While I haven’t personally seen any chasing or seeking behavior yet in mature bucks, I anticipate that I will any day now.

Whitetails in Montana and across the rest of the Northwest are a different story. Whitetail bucks are moving primarily during the dark hours. A friend hunting Montana’s rifle opener on Oct. 25 spotted three white-tailed bucks together just after legal shooting light. They quickly headed to their bedding area. He also glassed up several doe groups without a buck in sight. He didn’t have much rut behavior to report, other than finding a scrape.

For Montana hunters hoping to tag a white-tailed deer, unfortunately, I’m hearing even more widespread reports of EHD cases. While pheasant hunting in central Montana during the state’s five-day big-game closure, I stumbled across a dead 4x4 whitetail that appeared to have died of EHD. My suspicions were further confirmed by a neighboring rancher, who told me he’d discovered more than a dozen dead whitetails on his property within the last two weeks.

I also spoke with a friend in western Montana, who said that during archery season, he encountered dead white-tailed deer near the Clark Fork River. He blamed EHD. While outbreaks are much more common in the eastern part of the state, the Clark Fork River near Missoula is one of the locations where Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks has confirmed an EHD outbreak.