I think this phenomena has much to do with hunting pressure. I claim that if a hunter was to walk into a untouched area during October the deer wouldn't be on lock down only moving at late dusk and night for the most part. What are your thoughts.
I'm not sure. I think that it is often due to the changing of bucks patterns and food sources. The full moon coming up is probably making things weird too. I have never seen a lot of movement during a full moon. I have seen the most movement during the no moon phases.
We need a cold front!
I've always believed it occurs. Hunting pressure will always have something to do with deer movement, but I do think there is a period of time, pre-rut, when things are changing, and deer movement is affected. It could happen other times of the year as well, but it's more noticeable now because it's hunting season.
I think its purely hunting pressure...just my 2 cents
No hunting pressure around here right now, but it is awfully 'lully' for the deer. Seems like it happens every year about now, and it will pick up in a week or two.
I'll ditto what centaur said, I haven't seen anything moving my last 3 sits and it's generally like this every year about this time. Halloween is usually the turning point around here, hopefully Uncle Barry will chime in with his thoughts
They still gotta eat and drink just as much. But there are acorns aplenty about then and a new food after all those dang soybeans sounds good.
I think they just don't have to go anywhere and possibly resting up for the rut too. They know its coming too.....
I've been seeing a lot, best in years.
A lot goes on in a deer's world in October. After the first few days of Oct (or a bit earlier depending on the year) the patterns really change, especially for bucks. Its real, maybe hunting pressure could enhance it, but we even see it on extremely low pressure private ground. Feed changes with acorns dropping, bucks are feeding up and laying up not traveling... nature's way of preparing them for the rut. I've gotten to the point that unless there is a major weather front I don't deer hunt between about Oct 5 and 25 anymore. Mature bucks are very rarely killed in non baiting states in the Midwest during this time. They'll move during the rut, like they always do, and its still 95+++% of the chance to kill a mature buck.... like it always is.
R
Lull? Seems more like extinction. I've seen more bear the last couple of weeks than deer. Acorns aplenty. Have never seen so many. It's like having the kitchen in their bedroom. Why travel when your breakfast, lunch and dinner are right at their feet. Not a lot of buck sign either. Has to heat up soon and Halloween is about the right time around here. I hope. :pray:
I think the current "Indian summer" can't help. But I had my best morning this year today, saw a real nice buck and a doe, buck though was just before it was light enough to take an ethical shot.
Since our deer season opens at the end of August the season has been rolling steady by the time October comes. There is a very significant "lull" here as well. I don't mean to debunk your opinions but I know that it has zero to do with hunting pressure here.
Personally, I feel it's a combination of factors including changes in hormones, changes in food sources, and changes in habitat. For those of you who have consistent foliage throughout October you can correct me, but here it's always October when the trees shed their leaves. What once was a jungle is now quite barren and open. Whether this is a factor or not, it always goes hand in hand with the "lull", and nocturnal movement becomes the trend.
Might have seen something - Tuesday I was on a ridge and I noticed the deer eating leaves and walking back and forth - 12 different deer - This went on for 3 hours - plenty of acorns around too - and during the 3 hours I could see some of the deer in distant view - always some milling around - back and forth - it occurred to me that had I not been on that particular ridge I would have seen none of these deer - None of them moved more than 100 yards - I think I got lucky picking that stand that day - I walked in wind in my face - climbed with my lone wolf when I hit droppings and feed sign both - other than being a pretty hardwood ridge and I had permission there was nothing more remarkable about it - Then after getting lucky picking a tree I think some deer passed me off as squirrels because when I hit 25 feet (which is higher than I normally hunt) I noticed deer just 50 yards away - upwind - not knowing I was in the world. I had dozens o squirrels around me constantly and they were chasing each other. Great day - I did not shoot - the few bucks were 1 1/2 tops
Day before different place - good sign - zero deer sighted - watched a gray fox hunt - plenty of squirrels
So I do think there is an October lull - would not dismiss hunting pressure - but at least for me I think it is super abundant food combined with no real rut activity yet.
Cory<><
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Hey Cory... what were the leaves? You might have a hot food there... something like that is how I learned about mulberry leaves 15 years ago. Sitting a stand on Dad's place in Iowa I watched does eating big yellow leaves off the ground 100 yards across a clover plot 2 mornings in a row...and three bucks between 140 and 150 inches cruised them those 2 mornings. Third morning I was there by the yellow leaf tree in a new stand, watched a button head clean up the last leaves, probably a 5 gallon bucket full that AM.... then it was over, day late and dollar short again. Figured out what that magic tree was... mulberry... I watch for 'em now.
R
i think there is no such thing. bucks get more active the shorter the days get. warm weather will suppress them some but they gotta do what they were born to do... eat, have sex, stay alive.
I know of 6 bucks killed this last week that are all 150" or better. Doesn't sound like a lull to me
Around here when the combines fire up deer relocate a bit. The hunting pressure on busier tracks will push deer off of them very quickly, as well as the pre season activities of hanging tree stands. for our public areas it is almost like the deer, that were all over them in early September, know right where the boundaries of the public land are. As far as bucks go, I almost stepped on a wide eight pointer opening day, all the rest have been a little bit far off for a secure shot. Although we are seeing bucks regularly, we are seeing very few rubs and scrapes. I suspect with this rain and coming cooler temps things will look different shortly. I am a little disappointed in the turkeys, they moved off the land that I have access to where I hunt deer. Someone told them about my turkey designated four blade Herters broad heads.
I've had two opportunities with nice mature bucks on National Forest I hunt. First one was in a year round scrape first morning of the season Oct.1 at about 8 or 9 o'clock. Couldn't get my bow drawn back on him due to stand and angle. He was about 10 steps broadside.
Second one was coming up a thick drainage to a bedding area at 9:15am. He was about 17 steps, but I couldn't get him to stop in the one semi little opening he passed through and didn't have enough time to get on him as he went through at his pace.
That was about 2 wks ago and nothing but small yrling bucks since, right on top of me. All but one in mornings. I very seldom see a mature buck or any buck in evenings where I hunt and I hunt till I can't see my broadhead.
It's like this every yr around here..unpredictable except for seeing lots of small bucks..especially yrlings about the middle of Oct...looking for a home I guess and then about wk and half before Nov. the bigger sign starts appearing and if lucky the mature bucks will start cruising from first part of Nov. till they get through.
I know a lot of people have different opinions but for sure every year with this probably being the worst all my good bucks on camera have disappeared I mean not a buck pic In weeks even the does pics are down so if you ask me?? Yes there's a October lull in my parts but for those who are covered up in deer... Ride The wave brothers!!!!
I know a lot of people have different opinions but for sure every year with this probably being the worst all my good bucks on camera have disappeared I mean not a buck pic In weeks even the does pics are down so if you ask me?? Yes there's a October lull in my parts but for those who are covered up in deer... Ride The wave brothers!!!!
Sorry double post
I'm seeing several deer but they aren't as active as they were. We have very few acorns in my location this year. I have noticed the deer eating maple leaves a lot this past week. Noticed this several times in the past. You just have to adapt and overcome I guess. Scrapes are just starting to warm up so things are about to change. Especially if we have any sort of front come thru.
Well the October Lull may be upon us, I only seen 13 deer last night. First time I had hunted stand and it was on a food plot that I put in.
had does and bucks all over the place up until a week and a half...right after our floods. There were so many acorns on ground that it looked like a truck backed up and dumped the worlds supply to carpet the roads and trails and forest floors....mostly small ones. Now the big ones are still dropping... Not seen but two small deer the past two weeks when usually I see 4-5 an evening. The pre rut is in action...does not really in heat...bucks starting to sniff them good and push them....but not a feverish pitch. I think the pre-rut, huge mast crop this year, plenty of rain for water...all is combining to keeping the deer near bedding areas...they dont have to go anywhere for anything. Hopefully they will start moving again..... ;)
Yep this year is the worst ive seen ever...haven't seen a buck since opening day. I'm waiting for November
I'm seeing bucks everyday, not big bucks mind you, but bucks nonetheless. A friend just killed a 150 class buck yesterday. Unfortunately it's one I was chasing. It was dogging a doe already.
Very few acorns here. Activity has been steadily increasing.
I am seeing more deer during daylight in October than I did in September. I hunt public land but nobody else is hunting it so pressure isnt an issue. A nice cold front rolled in a couple weeks ago and its been chilly so I think that has gotten them moving. I have been seeing them early in the morning about an hour after sunrise. No bucks though.
In our area it's purely pressure related.
I belive it is adjustment to food sources and temperature changes. Moving mkre at night to start fatting uo for the winter
In my opinion, the October Lull is simply deer patterns changing due a number of variables already mentioned. they're still there, they just have moved off their routines.
A really slow morning here today, saw one spike and 4 or 5 does where in a more normal day, I would see 15 or 20 deer. A beautiful morning; right at freezing, no wind, clear, but not even the turkeys were moving. I'm ready for the rut to kick in.
The lull is over in northeast Oklahoma! I saw a mature doe and two young bucks, both showing interest even if mild. I missed the doe and then made a perfect shot on the second small buck has he seen through following the doe about 15 minutes later. These were the first bucks I've seen since opener in the first deer I've seen in two weeks.
What Ryan said...
I'm the only pressure on the area I hunt and the "lull" is very real.
My area is slow too. I hunt a private area that is very slow right now but I know will pick up in another week or two.
I usually see deer during the full moon and have seen lots of chasing it all depends on where you're hunting and you got to stay in the woods ........most of my full moon sightings are between 9 and 2
And I certainly hunt in October as I've killed and had lots of opportunities during that month but of course I live in the south so it may be different elsewhere
To me they just don't have to move much when there's so much food on the ground like acorns and such. They just park there butts right on the food were they know there safe and eat, and eat and eat while they can. No need to travel except for water, they know the rut and winter is fast approaching and they need all the food stores they can get.
Hunters are setup in travel patterns waiting for them to come by and there on a feeding vacation and not needing to move basically. I just let them be like Ryan but I just keep on fishing the river until about the last week in October, that's when the season really starts if you ask me.
Weather is great, bugs are gone, leaves are falling and you can see thru the woods. The bucks are feeling the urge and starting to check does, making rub and scrape lines real ones not those little rubs and marking primary and community scrapes. The same ones they used last year and the year before and next year too. :D IMHO
Tracy
My favorite time to hunt is 4 to 5 days before the full moon in October and then 4 to 5 days after that same full moon. We start seeing bucks that haven't been seen on any cameras or by any of us that stay in the woods. They are cruising and the occasional doe will come into an early "heat" that gets the boys hormones raging even more. We do hunt property that we have control over and access is limited, but we don't see much of a lull down here. This past week was pretty awesome with deer sightings.
I've seen 3 this am....buck 2 doe in a new spot....crossing 30 to 35 yards away....
I'm on the ground so I'm moving...
As has been stated, around here the "October lull" simply means that the white oaks are dropping. If you can find the "magic tree" you've got a gold mine, but it seems like it's feast or famine...if they're all dropping, flip a coin!
Funny, I always see deer in October. Never had an Oct. Lull. :dunno:
Better get ready (in MO at least), had a buck by at 10 yds this morning, pretty good 8, and he worked a scrape a bit before leaving. Right at sun up and he had a way to go yet before hiding out....
Bout 23 years ago I was bowhunting the evening of October 17th....
killed 2 bucsk and a doe in 13 minutes.......7:00 - 7:06 & 7:13
We even kill a lot of them in September. ..sumer pattern is great.
Gene wensel mentions the chlorophyll content in the fall's leaves as being a possible explanation for October lull. Ryan thank u for hammering home the point that bucks simply aren't active yet.
I know they are there...I know they are. But, they sure are hiding well right now. Come on, rut!
I agree with Ryan 100 percent. The lull is real and I don't believe hunting pressure has anything to do with it although I do believe it may slightly enhance it. For the last 10 years I've lived next to a nature preserve that has never allowed any type of hunting. It's loaded with deer. Flat woodlots surrounded by huge Ag fields. I drive around it nearly daily just to watch deer. Every year about the first few days in October deer sightings in fields almost cease. Also I know where the main bedding area there is and at this time you rarely see any deer at all in the morning making it back to bed. They are already there. Last light is the only time I occasionally see a deer rising from its bed during the lull time of year. I used to think the lull was caused entirely by hunting pressure but 10 years of observing them in a completely non-hunted area has lead me to believe it happens no matter what.
Also there are guys who have become quite good at taking the biggest buck in their area during the "lull" period. But this is normally in areas where land access is tightly controlled and often with the use of food plots. I'm not talking about nice bucks. I'm talking about the biggest buck in the area. It can be done as we see it happen every year by some of these guys but it's going to take more of a plan than "Oh,I've got the day off, I think I'll go hunt that new stand I hung this spring". I still hunt as much as I can in October simply because if I don't then I won't get much deer hunting in at all. I also killed my buck in my avitar in October but it was early October before the lull and it was a very unique situation and frankly I got pretty lucky!
I think it has more to do with the bucks sticking to a very tight core range as they go through the changes that will prepare them for the rut. A lot is happening inside that buck with increasing hormones, muscle development and I am sure brain chemicals. I think the older bucks just tend to stay to a very small core area and prepare themselves for a very vigorous two months of rutting. Kind of like a lot of fighters do right before a big fight - they isolate and get prepared. Perhaps I am wrong but I've seen it take place even on a farm where I was the only bowhunter and there was no pressure. And I don't think it has anything to do with food, acorns or anything else other then the bigger bucks just isolate and separate - it is also when bachelor groups break up and bedding areas may change- not a coincidence.
Saw the first bucks cruising this morning with a doe. Two bucks about 115" right by my stand. They seemed quite confused honestly. It was about 7:33 am or so. Not a clue in the world what was going on as the doe led them down the path.
Just checked my camera. Nothing.
Jon those are some interesting observations by your place!!!
Three days ago Charlie and I had run ins with the 2 biggest bucks we've seen while hunting KennyMs. Funny, we've been hunting there for years and both saw our biggest bucks there on the same night.