Scott Spitzley of DirtNap Gear provides a whitetail rut update for Michigan. Location: southern Michigan Rut stage: summer to fall transition Current buck movement: 8/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 Through observations of my own and others, it appears deer are still bedding close to bean fields that remain green. On an afternoon sit this week, I saw 12 different bucks feeding in a soybean field. Two of the bucks were mature, and I'd attribute this solid movement to green

Rick Taylor of Tennessee Turkey Hunter provides a whitetail rut update for Tennessee. Location: central Tennessee Rut stage: summer to fall transition Current buck movement: 4/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 I've been hunting some field edges and mineral sites since our season reopened on September 22nd. It had been raining on opener, but let up with about an hour of shooting light left. Not long after, a few small bucks fed on acorns that just started dropping and I sp

Andrew Younker of Stricken Outdoors provides a whitetail rut update for Maryland. Location: central Maryland Rut stage: summer to fall transition Current buck movement: 2/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 We hunt a few different properties that function differently. Some are large ag fields with hedgerows and small patches of timber, while others are wood lots tucked into suburban areas. The amount of mature buck sightings we had on trail camera the first week of the seaso

Alex Gall provides a whitetail rut update for Wisconsin. Location: northeast Wisconsin Rut stage: summer to fall shift Current buck movement: 3/10 Projected buck movement: 7/10 Typically on our land we don't see many mature bucks throughout summer because they spend their time in the neighboring ag fields. Once corn fields come out and bucks lose their velvet, our property becomes relevant again for deer. This year, that held true again as we were able to identify three

Tim Endsley of Livin' the Brand provides a whitetail rut update for Kansas. Location: eastern Kansas Rut stage: end of summer patterns Current buck movement: 8/10 Projected buck movement: 3/10 Although temps have been really hot for opener in Kansas, the moon phase is perfect all week. I've seen a lot of deer on their feet early in the afternoon, including some mature bucks. The beans are still green and deer have been hammering them every evening. The bucks are on a str

Zac Hudson of Crooked Pine Hunting Club provides a whitetail rut update for Missouri. Location: southern Missouri Rut stage: summer to fall shift Current buck movement: 3/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 The Missouri property that I'm hunting this season is a large ag farm with scattered woods and swampy bottoms. The amount of bucks we had on cam in their summer patterns was promising, but deer ranges are now shifting as they always do in mid September. Dispersed oaks

Deer hunters draw on a lot of wisdom that's been passed down from generations of fellow whitetail killers. Much of it becomes so widely accepted that it's almost considered fact, like that deer move better during cold fronts or that rutting bucks taste worse. Another one of those whitetail "facts" that everyone believes is that deer won't eat yellow soybeans. This is something I've often wondered to be true. While I've had some really poor hunts over yellow soybeans, I've a

Jake Grages of Daybreak Ranch provides a whitetail rut update for South Dakota. Location: central South Dakota Rut stage: end of summer pattern Current buck movement: 3/10 Projected buck movement: 7/10 Almost all bucks have shed their velvet of the last few weeks and are shifting from their summer range to fall range. The loss of velvet, dissolving of bachelor groups, and maturing of crops all at the same time has really thrown deer for a loop. A good example of this is t

Patrick Cutter of Red Hand Outdoors provides a whitetail rut update for New Jersey. Location: northern New Jersey Rut stage: end of summer patterns Current buck movement: 8/10 Projected buck movement: 6/10 Buck movement was very good the first few days of the season in New Jersey, and I think it was primarily because of the big weather change. The day before opener the high went from in the 90s to in the 60s. This cold front hung around for several days. I believe that's th

Brady Miller of The Virtue TV provides a whitetail rut update for Nebraska. Location: western Nebraska Rut stage: end of summer patterns Current buck movement: 5/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 Most bucks have stripped their velvet off by now and are switching out of their summer patterns. There has been a lot of new bucks show up over the past week as they are transitioning out of their core summering areas. The unseasonably warm temperatures have greatly affected the deer