Everyone's Preferred Vacation time....

[Bucky]

In WI or MO I would hunt hard the first week of season... all evenings sits. Then I would likely leave things alone until the first cold front closest to Oct 22nd. I typically take off Oct 27-28th ish through Nov 15th. Then work a little before being off for WI gun opener. Your best times to kill a mature buck in my opinion are first week of season in Sept... then first cold front late Oct... then late season food if you have it in an isolated area. Banking on the rut is gambling at best. Most of my bucks came late Oct cold fronts.

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Bucky -

Any more info on how you approach late Oct Cold fronts? Buck beds, get on the does, terrain features, food or just a general area you know a buck to be? What works for you?

Thicker cover doe/buck bedding areas... bucks are getting antsy to find the first doe and up moving from beds slightly earlier than normal. Daylight photos of a target buck captured in the area will also prompt me to sit it ASAP if during this time frame...

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[BassBoysLLP]

Last week in October thru mid November. Things get dicey at home if I take much more.

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[Autumn Ninja]

Any time, except during gun season. I guess my favorite time to be in the woods wwould be late season, Dec-Jan.

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[headgear]

Any time, except during gun season.
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Ya my much preferred vacation slot lands during the MN rifle season, I do take some time off to hunt with the fam but it really kills the rut action. I end up taking as much time as I can (often spread out to fit everyone's schedule) before the war starts.

[wibowhunt4me]

I have taken the first 2 weeks of November off for the last couple of years. We have 3 guys on our lease that are off for those weeks also so we share the cost of food and having company in camp when you finally shoot one is priceless. I also like to take 4 Mondays off thru out the course of the season giving me 4 day weekends. I work 4 ten hour shifts.

[Bigb]

I actually enjoy gun season now, not only because of the tradition that I think goes with gun season, but the neighbors actually make it nice. The one neighbor who owns the most land only bow hunts so there is less pressure on his side. Another neighbor who owns a small piece doesnt hunt so he doesnt bother us (its a small piece). Another neighbor hunts the same amount as bow hunting and the final neighbor is such a horrible hunter its comical. I watched (well mainly listened) one year as his wife and him walked in and screamed to each other to find there stands. It ruined my hunt but fairly comical. Still, give me the first two weeks in November ad I am a happy man.

[bucksnbows]

I used to try and time my vacation for that small window of peak rutting activity.......mainly when the first few does come into heat. Timing that never seemed right and of course weather conditions can play into rutting activity.
Now days I have much more vacation time is I just take 2 1/2 weeks off starting about the 28th of October. I hunt about a week and a half in Michigan and then head to Ohio for a week.
Early season I try to hunt the backside of a cold front but work and life sometimes prevent me from capitalizing on those prime conditions. Many times I'm left with weekends and sit on observation stands or just glass from a safe distance looking for a buck to make a move on. Very little morning sits early on.

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[dreaming bucks]

I really like the last weed of October anymore here in Southern WI...... Seems like you get those big boys moving a little earlier than normal in the evening sits.... but then it gets good for me around Nov 8th to the 15th.

[oldrank]

I have been splitting my time taking a few days off to bow hunt before the gun opener then a few day after the gun opener... ill take another couple days off duringthe late bow season when everyone else has given up

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[Tom's Hunting Lodge]

Vacation time for me this year, with Michigan's Bow opener on Oct. 1st , Wednesday, I'm off 1- Sunday the 5th. I've never put much effort into the early season until I got on this site ! Really looking forward to putting all the tips & tactics I have learned here and try to punch a tag on an early season buck this Fall.

Hunt 3 day weekends until

Next time off is Wed. Oct 29- Sun Nov. 16. / Nov. 15th is our Gun Opener

[JLS]

I really like the last weed of October anymore here in Southern WI...... Seems like you get those big boys moving a little earlier than normal in the evening sits.... but then it gets good for me around Nov 8th to the 15th.

This ^^^ If I haven't shot my buck early in the season , he will go down during the last week of Oct. During the pre rut all the bucks become more visible and the calling starts getting exciting . I prefer to sit observation stands (lower impact) and use a buck roar . Not only is that call loud enough to get their attention , that time of year , it says that your scent checking a doe over here

Year before last , I had a buck change 200 yards and then fall over dead 80 yards from the stand , all in under 2 minutes ... love the last week of Oct.

[E72]

I usually take the first two weeks of November . For SE Ohio ,a few days before and after Veterans Day are must sit times for me. However , I shot my biggest deer following a doe to a scrape on October 15th on the tail end of a major cold front/ rain event . I also have comp time I have banked from working overtime , so I try to take a day or two and time my October hunts with these prime weather days or moon positions .

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[wmihunter]

I like to takes few days around November 7. It can be hit
Or miss but I haven't done well in october

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