Halloween and Rut?

 

 

I started to allude to how I believe that Halloween, or rather October 31 has something to do with rut in central Maryland.  I have been hunting Halloween day, as I did this year for the past 8 years, and every year the hunting seems to go from static boring October hunting to bucks coming out of the wood work.  I took a very respectable 8 point about 6 years ago, and since then I have seen lots of deer either too far away to shoot or too small.  I also note that last year our GlenDel  Full Rut Hit Story happened on Halloween night as well. This year was no exception, I went out on Halloween morning and had that nice little 5 point come walking through, as well as I saw a little spike earlier in the morning.

Well, I went and checked our trail cam to see what pictures were taken on Halloween night.  Much like I was guessing, our activity went from just that decent 8 point buck and a few smaller bucks every now and then, to several different bucks coming through the area in one night.   I will admit, I was hoping to see something bigger than the 8 point so I could start hunting that area, but looks like he might run that section of woods this year (at least for now).

So going back to rut and October 31st, it seems like a switch is flipped on that day that increases the buck’s activity. Granted this year we had the help of a cold snap to help it along. Other years, the moon phase has played a role, but I have been watching this pattern for at least 8 years now, so the conditions are not always perfect and it still happens.  So October 31st is always a day in the woods for me, and it should be added to your calendar next hunting season as well.

Below are the pictures from our trail cams from the night of October 31st.

 

8 Point: Buck # 1 of the evening

Spike Buck #1: Buck # 2 of the evening.

Spike Buck #2: Buck # 3 of the evening.

I believe this is a 6 Point: Buck # 4 of the evening.

3 Point Buck: Buck # 5 of the evening.

I believe this to be a heavy 4 Point Buck: Buck # 6 of the evening/morning.

 

Has anyone else noticed this change in activity on Halloween day?

Hunting Information, Trail Cam Photos
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  1. Gino Ciotola
    Nice to see the bucks starting to move. Now you just need those bigger ones to get on their feet!! The next two weeks should be good if we can get that temperature to drop a little bit more.
    Reply
    November 3, 2011
    • admin
      Gino, I agree, it is nice to see the bucks starting to move. The bigger ones should get in the swing of things in the next week or so. I haven't seen a lot of chasing yet, so I think we are still at the beginning of rut at least where I am hunting. A little shot of cold weather would be perfect, as of right now I see Saturday the high is only to be 51, so that is a step in the right direction!
      Reply
      November 3, 2011

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