Shane Olson of Habitat Solutions provides a whitetail rut update for Oklahoma. Location: northern Oklahoma Rut stage: pre-rut Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 9/10 Unlike earlier in the season, deer have been more visible in the morning this week. Specifically younger bucks and does can be found heading to their beds in daylight. The evening hours have mature bucks on their feet early, like one to two hours before sunset. There's a really strong acorn

Brad Bever of Whitetailer provides a whitetail rut update for Iowa. Location: central Iowa Rut stage: pre-rut Current buck movement: 6/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 Unusually cold weather has gotten bucks on their feet more than normal for this time of year. It seems as though daylight movement is really starting to pick up, especially in the mornings. Every low-hanging branch in the woods has a scrape under it right now, and bucks are lighting up trail cams. Mature buck

Spencer Neuharth of Rut Fresh provides a whitetail rut update for South Dakota. Location: eastern South Dakota Rut stage: pre pre-rut Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 The story of this fall so far has been rain. Normally we don't associate precipitation with affecting deer movement, but this season has been an exception. Some parts of the state have had record breaking totals, and deer hunters have taken notice. There are three main ways all the ra

Zach Lamb of The Average Outdoorsman provides a whitetail rut update for West Virginia. Location: northern West Virginia Rut stage: October lull Current buck movement: 5/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 Most buck movement has been nocturnal as of late. I'd say it's because of the constant rain we've had for weeks and the increasing public land pressure. There was a recent cold front that seemed to get immature bucks moving around, but it was followed by rain that kept deer am

Alex Comstock of WhitetailDNA provides a whitetail rut update for Minnesota. Location: northern Minnesota Rut stage: October lull Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 7/10 After nearly a week of torrential rains and high winds, deer were hunkered down for awhile. The weather finally broke late in the week, and I knew I had to get in a tree. Temps had plummeted into the low 30s and the wind and rain letup. It was the ideal combination to get a buck on its

Byron Horton of The Whitetail Experience provides a whitetail rut update for Ohio. Location: central Ohio Rut stage: pre pre-rut Current buck movement: 4/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 With temps dropping this week, I made sure to get some treestand time on Thursday and Friday. I was running-and-gunning on public land, finding fresh sign to setup on like small rubs and hub scrapes. Although I didn't see much for deer movement, I predict this will be an ideal location t

Andrew Giles of Midwest Creed Media provides a whitetail rut update for Illinois. Location: southern Illinois Rut stage: pre pre-rut Current buck movement: 3/10 Projected buck movement: 7/10 With temps in the 80s, the daylight action has been slow besides does moving just before first shooting light. Mature bucks are even harder to come by, with much of their movement taking place well before or well after dark. Young bucks appear to still be traveling together, but that

Andrew Maxwell of The Southern Outdoorsmen Podcast provides a whitetail rut update for Alabama. Location: central Alabama Rut stage: summer to fall transition Current buck movement: 3/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 The season is drawing near in Alabama, and with it we are seeing some big changes in deer movement. With our season not opening until October 15, we are missing out on those predictable bed to food patterns that hunters in other states enjoy. Trail cameras ar

Western South Dakota isn't exactly a destination for antelope hunters. Sportsmen often pass through the area with Wyoming or Montana aspirations, driving past herds of goats that get ignored because of what side of the state line they reside. That's alright - I won't try to change their mind. I showed up two days before the hunt. A buddy and I had archery tags that closed with the opening of firearms season. Thursday and Friday doubled as scouting for my rifle license, and pu

Beau Martonik of East Meets West provides a whitetail rut update for Pennsylvania. Location: northern Pennsylvania Rut stage: summer to fall transition Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 3/10 I spent opening day still hunting through an area with a relatively low deer density. I was surprised to see a lot of deer on their feet, including a few young bucks within bow range that were feeding at midday. That afternoon, temps fell from the 60s to the 40s. I sa