Kevin Vistisen of Deer Hunter Podcast provides a whitetail rut update for Michigan. Location: southern Michigan Rut stage: peak breeding Current buck movement: 6/10 Projected buck movement: 10/10 Michigan is currently at the peak of the breeding phase. The majority of does are in estrous and mature bucks don't have to move far to find a companion to spend 24 to 48 hours with. I actually witnessed a doe seeking out a suitor yesterday after I did a series of tending grunts. She

Mitch Kerfeld of Rookie Outdoorsmen provides a whitetail rut update for Minnesota. Location: central Minnesota Rut stage: chasing Current buck movement: 8/10 Projected buck movement: 9/10 With temps dropping and harvest wrapping up, the rut is going to be very visible in Minnesota this week. The last 10 days have made the difference and we have now encountered mature bucks chasing on almost every sit. A handful of bucks have been responding to calls, too. The firearms open

Kyle Bennett of the Quality Deer Management Association provides a whitetail rut update for Missouri. Location: northern Missouri Rut stage: chasing Current buck movement: 9/10 Projected buck movement: 10/10 Late October buck activity proved to be slower than normal in Missouri due to above average temps, available acorn crop, and standing crops. Halloween brought some cooler temperatures into the first week of November, which increased daylight deer movement. Rattling and

Rex Wolferman provides a whitetail rut update for Montana. Location: western Montana Rut stage: pre-rut Current buck movement: 5/10 Projected buck movement: 8/10 Western Montana had a beautiful late October with crisp mornings and cool afternoons. However, I hardly saw any rutting activity the last two weeks of the month. With the first week of November bringing a bunch of rain, deer remained bedded the majority of the day. They mostly only showed themselves in the las

Kaden Schlipf of Lone Wolf Stands provides a whitetail rut update for Illinois. Location: central Illinois Rut stage: pre-rut Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 9/10 It feels like great hunting is around the corner with smaller bucks showing signs of rutting. They've been visible, aggressive, and doing plenty of sign-making. Scrapes are really hot right now. We've got new bucks showing up on camera everyday, although much of the movement is still noctur

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

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

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

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

Richard Peeples of The Peeples Passion provides a whitetail rut update for South Carolina. Location: southern South Carolina Rut stage: end of summer patterns Current buck movement: 7/10 Projected buck movement: 4/10 Buck movement was surprisingly good over the weekend. I didn't see any of the shooters I was after, but did see some quality 3.5 year olds on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Although I wasn't able to fill my tag, I do know of three big bucks for the "low cou