October Lull or No Lull?

I set up in some hardwood creek bottoms that surround a couple ag fields. They use it for travel/staging. I was 100yds from the edge of a cut corn field we had seen the does in the evening before. The does bed on the property I hunt but I'm pretty sure he was bedded on the neighbors or further.

 

Weather History & Data Archive | Weather Underground

I love using this to go back and review weather conditions on days when people shoot deer, days when I get a lot of daylight trail camera activity, or have a particularly good sit where I see either a lot of deer or a big buck on his feet. It's amazing how often those things coincide with weather patterns.

 

Good call on checking the weather for that day. The pressure...that's exactly what I was hinting at in my opening post, there's definitely something to barometric pressure and deer movement. I love this kind of data!! It makes us hunt smarter not harder.

And to shocker, I know why you posted that I just thought you were being sarcastic about the "lull" part so I just wanted to clarify that I don't think there is a definite routine lull that always exists every October. Thanks for sharing the date and setup for that kill, I'm glad we found that the barometric pressure had something to do with it, it confirms some of my suspicion.

 

I made a chart of sorts with weather conditions for the bucks I have taken a while back. The goal was to see the relationship of what I took and the pressure and temp for that day.

I will see if I can post it on here later today. If it won't post I will email it to you JZ as a lot of them are from October, with a few falling in the middle of the month.

 

It's all good spear. I don't have the best choice of words to get my point across. My wife says im socially awkward.:what: I'm really glad you started this thread and Justin chimed in with that info. I'm going to pay more attention and document weather conditions to the temp, pressure etc. In relation to deer activity/kills/sightings. Like alot of guys already do. While I know that extreme changes in weather patterns is almost a given for activity, It would be neat to see it in a trend chart or something similar with the exact conditions.

 

There is more than October bucks here. Just skip through the dates and pick the ones with dates of interest.



BUCK: 110ish Private Land (The buck on the right side of the photo, the buck on the left was my Step Dads)
DATE: October 16, 2003
TIME: 930 AM
TEMP: 50 High. 11 degrees under average.
WIND: 12 mph
MOON: Waning Gibbous
PRESSURE:30.17. Mostly steady






BUCK: 162" Private Land
DATE: November 3, 2004
TIME: 7ish AM
TEMP: 53 High. 1 degree under average
WIND: 5 mph
MOON: Waxing Gibbous
PRESSURE: 30.2 Lowest pressure recorded during daylight hours. Pressure then rose to 30.3 for an hour and then fell all day.






BUCK: 135" Public Land
DATE: October 31, 2006
TIME: Last light
TEMP: 60 High. 4 degrees above average.
WIND: 8 mph
MOON: Waxing Gibbous
PRESSURE: 29.95 rising throughout the afternoon.





BUCK; 128" Public Land
DATE: November 8, 2008
TIME: 7 AM
TEMP: 50 high. 3 degrees under average.
WIND: 9 mph
MOON: Waxing Gibbous
PRESSURE: 29.7 falling






BUCK: 160" Private Land
DATE: October 17, 2009
TIME: Early evening
TEMP: 46 high. 15 degrees under average.
WIND: 9 mph
MOON: Waning Cresent
PRESSURE: 30.2 rising throughout the day.






BUCK: 137" Private Land (DID NOT RECOVER UNTIL SHED SEASON)
DATE: September 28, 2010
TIME: Early evening
TEMP: 61 High. 7 degrees below average.
WIND: 5 mph
MOON: Waning Gibbous
PRESSURE: 29.7 Heavily rising throughout day.

 

BUCK: 156" Private Land
DATE: October 30, 2010
TIME: Evening
TEMP: 55 High. 1 degree under average.
WIND: 14 mph
MOON: Waning Gibbous
PRESSURE: 29.7 Lowest pressure recorded on this day. Pressure heavily dropped.






BUCK: 139" Public Land
DATE: October 21, 2011
TIME: Early evening
TEMP: 48 high. 11 degrees under average.
WIND: 13 mph
MOON: Waning Cresent
PRESSURE: 30.05 Rising heavily throughout the day.






BUCK: 145" Private Land
DATE: September 30, 2012
TIME: 6:50 PM
TEMP: 64 High. 3 degrees under average.
WIND: 10 mph
MOON: Full
PRESSURE: 29.9 Steady pressure.






BUCK: 145" Private Land
DATE: November 15, 2013
TIME: 3 PM
TEMP: 51 High. 1 degree above average
WIND: 14 mph
MOON: Waxing Gibbous
PRESSURE: 30.1 Lowest pressure recorded on the day.






BUCK: Public Land
DATE: November 8th
TIME: Early evening
TEMP: 48 high. 5 degrees under average.
WIND: 9 mph
MOON: Waning Gibbous
PRESSURE: 29.8 Pressure fell all day to this point then rose a little afterward.

 

Dang Buckeye you've got quite the resume.

 

their is no oct lull the deer have move to a different part of the woods for food or because of hunting pressure!

 

Some day when I grow up I'm going to kill deer like Buckeye does.

The most interesting thing I found from your history of bucks are those killed in early/mid October during the "lull" - all coincided with temps in the double-digits below average.

Also, I need to take a closer look at that Halloween weekend in 2010. I remember having an absolutely amazing 3 day stretch from the 29th - 31st which culminated with shooting a buck that morning. A few other team members also killed bucks that same weekend. I remember it being cold and clear but I'm not sure what the pressures looked like.

 

I guess it depends on how you define "lull". I consider it to be a lack of daytime activity in areas that are able to be hunted wisely. There is a period of time in October when the bucks tend to have a smaller range during daylight and stick closer to bedding areas. They start making scrapes at night around their core area and spend the vast majority of their time during daylight hours in or very near their bedding. To me, that is a lull and is easily documented.

If you define the lull as a period of time that deer can not be killed, then there is no lull. But, you are kind of putting all your eggs in one basket if you push in on them during this period. Go for it if it suits you. I just don't have enough free time to spend it in the woods when the odds are low.

 

Most of my best October hunts have come with approaching fronts. I am big on hunting before and when the fronts hit. I had made posts about hunting weather fronts in the past here but they never really got any replies.

I would definitely recommend making a chart or something similar for yourself. I wish I had kept records of other good bucks I have saw or passed shots at. I really only remember a few of the dates. You have a huge resource for comparing weather to harvests with your buddies and team members local to you who get on good bucks.

None of my friends really shoot any big bucks to pirate their dates to check the weather conditions. My buddy frank has a couple but they are both November hunts. I am not to concerned with the November dates.

 

I think it has always been safe to say that bucks will move better in October when the temps take a plunge.

 

Thanks for the info Buckeye. I learned years ago through trial and error that when a major front is coming and that barometer changes, you better be set up or you will miss out on some fantastic hunting.The first three weeks of the season I'll set up in staging areas and then closer to Halloween I'll start sitting in funnels and travel corridors.

 

Do you hunt these days?

 

I always used to before life took over. I have killed some good ones in October by setting up near bedding areas on days that cold fronts moved in. But, later in life I started targeting specific bucks and have had great success by waiting until pre-rut hits full swing.

None of us are going to be too excited about running around in 80 degree temps while wearing a winter coat. Bucks are no different. They are carrying a lot of stored fat and their winter coat is getting heavy in October. Their focus up to this point has been to pack away reserves for the rut. A cold front at that point has always triggered better movement.

 

All of last October was the best hunting (as far as buck sightings) I've ever had bow hunting. Soon as November came, it completely shut off; a lot of which is due to shotgun season.

 

I love hunting in October!! 2014 season I shot my 1st buck I had mounted. He`s the first buck I ever killed,a 9 point, and he`s on my wall with the 8 point I shot later on in November. Heck, I`ll hunt September if they let us!!