Having gone deer hunting in MO for the last 8 years, I can tell you that the deer don't start rutting until the beginning of Nov. The peak is on or about the 15th of Nov (right at the beginning of opening weekend of rifle season). I believe the Missouri Dept of Conservation does this on purpose for the rifle hunters. I personally would like to see MO move the rifle season to the first weekend of Dec (like Kansas, Iowa and I believe Illinois) to give bowhunters a better chance of scoring a bigger buck. It would also probably help drop the mortality rate of the bigger bucks which would help MO grow some true giants. That's just my opinion though.....