October Lull or No Lull?

It's interesting that you mentioned the trail cameras, fletch. I just went back to my trail camera pictures saved from previous years and I see a clear pattern change at the end of September and into early October where deer (both does and bucks) go from morning, afternoon, and night to just afternoon and night. I literally had maybe 10 pictures total in the morning for late September and early October for 2014 and 2015 on my cameras but I have a few hundred for the afternoon and night. And this is on my property that I stay out of once September hits until season starts at the end of September. So I'm not saying pressure and food changes have nothing to do with it, but I am very certain where the food, bedding, and trails are on my property and my route to stand is literally as short from the road as it can be and doesn't go anywhere near the bedding and the dominant wind is in my favor. So now I'm a little more curious and perplexed.

 

Imo it's stand burn out that causes the lull. Id bet if seasons started in Nov (God forbid) we'd see Late Nov lulls

 

But according to the past 2 years of trail camera pictures as I mentioned above, the deer patterns changed and they are out during day less frequently even before I hit the stand, so stand burnout doesn't seem to be the case for everyone or at least not every year, granted it likely is the cause for some or for some years.

 

There are lulls in every month. and it is often unpredictable when it is gonna happen. But the last week of Oct with the scrapes, bucks rubbing and sparring, and the beautiful fall colors, is a week I look forward to almost as much as that 2nd week of Nov!

 

Great post, I couldn't agree more.

 

mid October is the best action for me. last chance to catch a buck before he starts running. I always hunt beside the thickest and nastiest stuff. that is why I don't have a lull.

 

I don't really start hunting until October. I think the biggest factor here are temps still being warm. Yes food sources change and other factors but In October deer start putting on their thick coat and around here you still get temps in the 70s and 80s and deer just will not move in those temps sporting a thick coat. They wait until night when it cools down and move.

 

^THIS^

 

Most are. And, I see reduced activity during daylight for about two weeks in October every year. The cameras that I put in or near bedding areas are normally set and left alone for a couple months at a time. So, its not due to pressure from checking cameras.

The first week of October finds these same bucks standing in the wide open bean and alfalfa fields an hour before dark and then its like flipping a switch. They move to acorns etc., and stay very close to bedding and move very little before dark. To me, its just not worth pushing in that far to try to kill the buck I am after at that point. If I don't hunt the first week of October,(almost never) then I wait until mature bucks start showing up on the camera during legal shooting time. That is almost always the last 5 days of October.

You can kill a mature buck any day of the year. But, your odds of messing things up are much higher when you have to push well into their core area. In my area, through years of observation with cameras and driving around, there is definitely a "lull" in daylight activity for a couple of weeks in October. That is not to say that everyone here would have the same experience.

 

And to add to that, we are only able to control the pressure that WE add to the deer, think about the home range of a deer and how many neighbors/other hunters there are who could be the ones adding the pressure. So even if we stay out of our hunting grounds, if a deer senses pressure from others, it's going to affect their entire routine. So it definitely sounds like even if you do the right things, there are other aspects that may be out of our control.

 

I've shot some good bucks during the "lull"

 

I'm a 100% believer in the "lull" as it impacts how much a mature buck moves during daylight during mid-October. Years and years of trail camera data has indicated to me they simply don't move as much, or as far, during that time of the year.

I'm also a 100% believer that you can kill a mature buck during the lull if you know where he's bedding AND you get favorable weather conditions, most notably a good cold front, to get him on his feet long enough to kill him. Mid October and warm temps is a recipe for a lot of lonely sits IMO.

 

Do you mind sharing dates, locations and weather conditions?

 

This buck isn't a giant but his body was huge (200# +). Those extra brows pushed him into the low to mid 130's. It was Oct. 16th 2012 in Madison Co. Illinois. (30 mi. East of St. Louis Mo.) Winds straight out of the South and it was 84 degrees. A few minutes before last light l killed him. I guess October 16th falls in the "lull".

 

Technical difficulties. Aka operator error.

 

Just to reiterate, I asked the question not because I feel like every October is a lull. I asked the question because it seems to be occasional and completely random. Some Octobers are great and others seem completely dead. I'm not implying it's impossible to kill a nice buck in October, I'm simply trying to see what other hunters experience to see if there's a rhyme or reason to it or if it's just an anomaly. I would like to think I improve my tactics year after year, even if subtle, by taking what I learn and applying to my hunting season. I've been hunting for 20 years, and my point is, if anything I'm paying more attention to details like wind, scent control, deer movement, stand placement, etc., yet I still have random October lulls. I've killed a few bucks in October too, whoopie do.

 

The post above mine mentioned sharing weather, regional, and dates. I know what you originally implied. Didn't mean to hi jack the thread.

 

Where was your stand setup? Field edge? Staging area? Bedding?

 

I checked the weather for St. Louis that day and you're right, it was an 84* high. However the barometric pressure was dropping like a rock with an East wind as a front was blowing in. The following day the temp was only 68* with 30-40 mph wind gusts and thunderstorms.

As I said earlier, I think the key to killing a buck during the lull is having the right weather to have him on his feet during daylight.

 

Wow I remember that now that you mentioned it. De- boning that deer in my shed the next day there was some crazy wind. What site did you use to check the weather?