Hi all,

Just a question and a few observations for the Wisconsin area hunters.

I was in the woods all day Sunday, and although I saw quite a bit of deer, no bucks were moving. Scrapes and such definately have picked up. The weather is supposed to cool down again Halloween, and I plan on being in the woods as much as possible that day and the next week after that.

Any reports on what the rut is doing elswhere in WI?

Well instead of hunting satruday nite we decide to do some observing from afar. We observed several mature bucks and does, and one spike chasin one doe. The more mature bucks were not interested in the does one bit. Lastnight I had sucess using the growl, this tells me that the younger bucks are seeking and doing some light chasing, the mature bucks wont be too far behind, by the end of the week we will be looking at a good start to the rut. Good luck.

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.

I hunted Burnett county and St. Croix county this weekend. Both heavily managed properties and stone cold dead in both areas. Very quiet for this late.

CMSCAT - I hunt Polk. I am heading back tomorrow morning for the rest of the week. My father-in-law saw two bucks chasing does off of 35, by Luck.

This week should only get better and better. Warm today and tomorrow, but then back into the 40's for highs.

Good luck