When do you start seeing buck morning movement?

[headgear]

In the northern the deer are also slowly growing their winter coats when the season opens so that could certainly lead to less daytime movement on those warmer early season days.

[DaveT1963]

Does OH, MO, KY, OK, IL, KS, NE, not count as the midwest? Not sure why you think some of us have no midwest experience? Because we haven't hunted WI? No one said it was easy, just that it can be done with proper planning.

BTW, thanks for clearing up, twice now, that "this ain't Texas" I was starting to get confused :) Since the rut timing is different in many locations, you might consider that your definition of early season in WI is not an accurate definition for everywhere (i.e early Oct behavior is also early season in some areas).

[hambone]

Historically, I haven't seen much steady, morning activity by mature bucks until the temps start to cool, which is usually a couple of weeks into October around here. There are exceptions, such as early season cold fronts, rainy or foggy days etc.. So it is rare that I hunt mornings, early in the season. That habit could have cost me a chance at a good buck last year. We had very hot temps for September and early October. I hunted my favorite waterhole close to bedding, in the PM's a few times. Movement was slow, in the PM's through the entire heat wave. What I later discovered though, was the mornings had been getting a lot of movement. The mornings were so much cooler than the evenings, the deer had uncharacteristically been staying on their feet longer in the AM. It is easy to get stuck in a certain mode. Ever situation is a little different. Hopefully our ability to adapt brings us out on top when we are paying attention to the details. It sounds like you may have found another morning spot!

[Huntress13]

Season opens October 1 here. I was going to say I saw a big buck the morning of my first sit of the season last year.... But then I didn't go out the first weekend of October, which would have made October 13 my first sit. And it was right next to a big overgrown thick brush lot where the does bed. So this falls close to Dan's Oct. 15.

[Boogieman1]

I start hunting mornings when the fruit is ripe for picking, which in my case is after Halloween. Now I will say a 2.5 can be taken in the mornings from the jump both public and private. Also agree cams don't lie. Can only speak for my cams, but as long as I can remember it goes like this.... Right around time velvet is shed older bucks are in there honeycomb hideout well b4 daylight following low topography to it. Meaning if your anywhere in the area b4 they head in they will know bout it.

If u have a truly overlooked spot and have cams out it looks like this. As rut approaches they return later and later. If they have not detected and danger during this time it will lead to well after daylight. That's when u slide in for the gusto! If they did detect your efforts and u jumped the gun the process starts over. Except this time he is looking for u. And the window of easy Pickens has slammed shut. Atleast these are my conclusions of how I breakdown years of trail cams.

[JonNc]

I start hunting mornings when the fruit is ripe for picking, which in my case is after Halloween. Now I will say a 2.5 can be taken in the mornings from the jump both public and private. Also agree cams don't lie. Can only speak for my cams, but as long as I can remember it goes like this.... Right around time velvet is shed older bucks are in there honeycomb hideout well b4 daylight following low topography to it. Meaning if your anywhere in the area b4 they head in they will know bout it.

If u have a truly overlooked spot and have cams out it looks like this. As rut approaches they return later and later. If they have not detected and danger during this time it will lead to well after daylight. That's when u slide in for the gusto! If they did detect your efforts and u jumped the gun the process starts over. Except this time he is looking for u. And the window of easy Pickens has slammed shut. Atleast these are my conclusions of how I breakdown years of trail cams.

This was exactly my thinking regarding this spot, and any good bedding spot. The rubs by these beds were very large, indicating most likely a mature/smart buck. It's a spot that is only 60 yards off the hunter access trail. This buck is winding most people and can also hear them as they approach, bordered by private and water on the other sides. As usual, he is bedding right on a transition! I found 3 single beds within 150 yards of each other all right on the transition. It's definitely one of those spots that makes you think how the heck do I hunt this? But back to the topic, my thinking is waiting until late October would give me higher chances at a successful first time sit with him on his feet. Just wanted to see what people a lot smarter than me thought. I've enjoyed hearing back from people in different areas and their experiences.

[DaveT1963]

I start hunting mornings when the fruit is ripe for picking, which in my case is after Halloween. Now I will say a 2.5 can be taken in the mornings from the jump both public and private. Also agree cams don't lie. Can only speak for my cams, but as long as I can remember it goes like this.... Right around time velvet is shed older bucks are in there honeycomb hideout well b4 daylight following low topography to it. Meaning if your anywhere in the area b4 they head in they will know bout it.

If u have a truly overlooked spot and have cams out it looks like this. As rut approaches they return later and later. If they have not detected and danger during this time it will lead to well after daylight. That's when u slide in for the gusto! If they did detect your efforts and u jumped the gun the process starts over. Except this time he is looking for u. And the window of easy Pickens has slammed shut. Atleast these are my conclusions of how I breakdown years of trail cams.

This was exactly my thinking regarding this spot, and any good bedding spot. The rubs by these beds were very large, indicating most likely a mature/smart buck. It's a spot that is only 60 yards off the hunter access trail. This buck is winding most people and can also hear them as they approach, bordered by private and water on the other sides. As usual, he is bedding right on a transition! I found 3 single beds within 150 yards of each other all right on the transition. It's definitely one of those spots that makes you think how the heck do I hunt this? But back to the topic, my thinking is waiting until late October would give me higher chances at a successful first time sit with him on his feet. Just wanted to see what people a lot smarter than me thought. I've enjoyed hearing back from people in different areas and their experiences.

I agree with you 100%. I have said it before, early season is one of the easier times to pattern bucks, but IME late Oct is often a much better time to kill him. But like above, it turns into a, you haven't hunted WI and this ain't TX silliness.

Each spot is different, hunt it if you can, dont rule out an AM sit if you work out access, if not keep tabs on him, wait for weather (rain or fog) or a cool night , or wait until later in Oct, slip in early and catch him coming back late. Not every spot is huntable in the evening, and if he's on natural browse with no beans or food plots available, evening hunts can be really hard to get close enough in a lot of areas (too thick/noisy in early season). You'll have to weigh it out and play your odds..... no one can tell you the right play without seeing it, knowing all the details. Trust your gut and what you observe.

[Tennhunter3]

Your best chance is going to be full moon mornings or when a cold front comes through.

I do think the south has more morning buck movement then up North has I'm not sure why this is. It could just be it's the coolest time of the day. Though often I hear bucks come through at 5am and they are in the bedding area by daylight. You gotta be very close to bedding to even have a chance.

I did almost kill 2 mature bucks opening morning september 23rd near bedding as they hooked up into bedding from a swamp a batchelor group of 5 bucks passed at 50 yards outside of my comfortable bow range. If this group was 15 minutes earlier it would have been dark still and most mornings they could have been in the bedding area by daylight.

My best 2 bucks upto now were both mornings where they j hook to bed. Both were in November.

[thepennsylvanian]

I'm new at this still but just last week I discovered that on some of the bucks I found it depended on the wind. On days the wind shifted over night, I've noticed them coming to the bedding later than usual. This is proving to be especially true when we get the relarively rare easterly winds. I didnt make this connection until going through pictures from the past two years.

[dan]

Does OH, MO, KY, OK, IL, KS, NE, not count as the midwest? Not sure why you think some of us have no midwest experience? Because we haven't hunted WI? No one said it was easy, just that it can be done with proper planning.

BTW, thanks for clearing up, twice now, that "this ain't Texas" I was starting to get confused :) Since the rut timing is different in many locations, you might consider that your definition of early season in WI is not an accurate definition for everywhere (i.e early Oct behavior is also early season in some areas).

My definition of early season probably does differ from others, which is why I gave dates. I have hunted 9 states and have not seen any place where mature bucks prior to those dates are not usually bedded in the am. If your shooting mature bucks older than 4 repeatedly in the am prior to Oct 15th you have my attention. Not trying to argue just stating that up here every where I have put in a solid effort prior to October 15 I spook more bucks out of bedding before dark than I shoot and have a lot more success in the evenings both seeing and shooting bucks over 4. In the eve. Been doing this a long time and have shot a bunch of mature bucks prior to that date. Not looking to argue with you about what I have seen and done. Just answering the original posters question. Personally I know a lot of friends beyond me that have also taken mature bucks in the am. Before Oct 15. I cant recall a single one shot in the sm though most of them do put in an am effort. Respect my opinion and my observations. I respect yours. And like said, if you have taken mature bucks in the am prior to that date I am all ears.... I would love to know how or why.

[Tennhunter3]

I'm new at this still but just last week I discovered that on some of the bucks I found it depended on the wind. On days the wind shifted over night, I've noticed them coming to the bedding later than usual. This is proving to be especially true when we get the relarively rare easterly winds. I didnt make this connection until going through pictures from the past two years.

Interesting.

I wonder why easterly winds, perhaps the buck expects the wind to shift again when he runs out of patience he decides it's not going too and beds on the west facing slope. Perhaps the bucks expectation of change delays him?

[ODH]

Is it safe to assume stages in the deep south (ie. rut, etc.) occur 4 weeks or so later than they do in the North? if so then I would conclude early Oct movement in the south is comparable to my August/Sept movement.

So I've got 19 years of trail cam history in NY State, all over the state, rolling hills, ag, big woods, public/private, etc. For me, from mid summer to about the 3rd week of Sept, with cams located near bedding areas, it's common to see all deer including mature bucks in unpressured spots, moving late to bed or circulating for water or an apple or stopping at a licking branch in the morning light. 7-8am area generally speaking, sometimes later. Depends how far food is away from bedding. But late Sept through the 3rd week of Oct it's extremely rare for me to get pics of mature bucks in morning light. And note for most of that time bow season in NY didn't open until Oct 15. Now it's Oct 1. The 3rd or 4th week of Oct they start to show again, first at midday, then in the morning, if your cameras are in the right spots. Yes I used to have a problem - I have more cameras than I care to admit, and I used to put them all out.

Reminds me of a story, it was 2002 or 2003 when I thought I knew everything. It was early bow season, I was relocating midday in the Catskill mountains state land, walking toward the base of a ridge when a coyote did me the favor of bumping a mature buck and doe bedding in the thick saplings about 100 yards in front of me. I would have walked right in to them. Since they never saw me I immediately hatched a plan to be in a tree over the bed in the morning when they came back. And since I was smarter than him I would be there at 4am since light is creeping over the hills around 5:45am and I know I need to be there first. So at 4am I am there, at my tree 20 yards from the beds I shine my light that way and they stand up, the buck and doe, staring at me.

[G-Patt]

There are 1000 exceptions but generally October 20th thru the end of rut. I also see morning bucks late season (mid to late January) too. I'm in southern Ohio.

[thwack16]

Is it safe to assume stages in the deep south (ie. rut, etc.) occur 4 weeks or so later than they do in the North? if so then I would conclude early Oct movement in the south is comparable to my August/Sept movement.

While this seems to be a safe assumption, it is not. The area I've grown up hunting has a peak conception of January 1. So if you're using a peak conception of November 15 to compare to, you might think that my area has 45 more days of "summer movement". The fault in that line of thinking is that velvet rub off and the increased testosterone that comes with it has always been the generally accepted factor in pulling bucks off their summer patterns. We see velvet rub off here within days of when the deer in the Midwest do.

Also, fwiw, the rut in the area Davet is hunting aligns with the traditional Midwestern rut.

I don't think the south has any more morning movement than the midwest does. I think there may be a couple factors in play here that have led to some thinking it: 1. Access due to more condensed bedding and more ag fields is a bit trickier in the Midwest than in the south. 2. Early season temperatures make it a good bit more comfortable to hunt mornings than evenings in the south.

To the OP, if I was in your situation, I'd shoot to hunt the spot on a morning hunt as you think is best. With your rut timing, I'd try to get in and do It just as pre-rut activity kicks in and the first time the wind is right when the moon is OH or UF between sunrise and two hours later.

[Beauford]

WI - I have had good luck around October 25 & on with morning movement. With this not till 9ish - 1pm