Missouri Rut Report
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 are starting to drop acorns, which makes deer patterns even more difficult to analyze. The corn is currently being harvested, and I think that's increased some mature buck sightings for us. I nearly had an opportunity at one of my target bucks on a field edge, which I think was the result of him being pushed around by combines. I doubt his presence in the freshly cut corn is a reliable pattern that I'll be able to take advantage of.
Overall, deer movement has been slow and mostly nocturnal. However, I feel that buck sightings will increase this coming weekend. A cold front is rolling through on Saturday, with a 20 degree temp drop, skyrocketing pressure, light precipitation, and a north wind. This will be a big weekend for Missouri archery hunters.
