Bucks are in rut from the time they shed their velvet until the time they shed their antlers. There are a lot of variables influencing their behavior from day to day, but basically, anything can happen anytime during that time period.

In general, a hunter is keying in on when bucks are most likely to be active during daylight hours, and exhibiting less cautious behavior, and traveling more. The dates that that is most likely to happen is from Oct. 20 - Nov 15. Cooler weather is usually good, early or late in the day is usually good, some wind is usually good, but none of these variables are absolute.

Just because you're not seeing bucks doesn't mean they're not active. There is no doubt that most bucks in the midwest were very active over the weekend. It's just a question of connecting.