I am going to have to call your bluff on this one Mouse. The biggest deer shot in Oklahoma last year was on opening morning on Oct. 1st. So, not all the big ones stay layed up until rut. I have seen some of the biggest deer I have ever seen in Aug. and Sept. by watching their late summer feeding pattern. Not all the big boys are nocturnal at the first of the season, I have prove with my game cam and video.

YUP... an awful lot of big deer drop dead before November.

I dont care how hot it is I WILL be hunting on the first weekend. You can pattern big bucks which makes hunting them a hell of a lot easier i have more trouble patterning bucks after the acorns are falling. people like hunting during the rut which is great becasue deer are moving constantly and you can screw up and still kill that big buck but if you really want to kill your big buck the best way to do it is to scout by glassing fields find where he is coming out put your stand up and kill him the first time you sit the stand. plus i love the look of deer in velvet which there is a pretty good chance of finding some in sept.

I think its great, yeah well have to endure some heat but its almost as good as the rut for taking mature bucs. Think of all the bucks still running in bachelor groups and very patternable that time of year cause they are in green feilds every evening. This time of year the bucks are not worried about being seen and will come out into feilds before dark sometimes 5 or six together, all I have to do is find the right field and where they are coming in, and hope it all comes together.