By Will Brantley

Rut Reporter Will Brantley of Murray, Kentucky, knows the region well. He spends 40 to 50 days each season in the Mid-South whitetail woods. Brantley shot his first deer at age 10 with a sidelock muzzleloader. States covered: KY, TN, WV, VA, NC.

Nov. 2: If you’re a Mid-South bowhunter, you need to get your butt into the stand in the next two or three days. Bucks are on their feet looking for does that aren’t quite ready to breed yet. It’s one of the most productive hunting times of the season, but it can be one of the most frustrating, too, because you (or at least I) really need those bucks to stand still in the open for a few seconds to get a shot. Standing still anywhere isn’t on their list of priorities right now.

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By Eric Bruce

Rut Reporter Eric Bruce has been writing about hunting and fishing for newspapers and magazines for 25 years and hunts deer all over the South, including near his Georgia home. States covered: AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, SC, FL.

Nov. 1--Overall Activity Status: The rut is raging in South Carolina! Reports of bucks chasing does in South Carolina and Georgia are coming in. The recent cold snap has got deer moving all across the southeast and has particularly stimulated rut activity in Georgia and South Carolina. Jimmy Haskins of Bostick Plantation in South Carolina reports six 8-pointers killed by his hunters since Saturday, and several were chasing does and their hocks were dark and smelly. The rut is still in the future for other states, but cooler weather has generated more sightings.

Fighting: Bucks are fighting in Georgia and South Carolina where the rut is occurring. Several hunters have rattled up bucks in Georgia . Haskins reports a harvested buck with fresh bruising on its head and neck from fighting.
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By Mike Bleech

Northeast Rut Reporter Mike Bleech has been hunting whitetails in his native Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast for more than four decades. A Vietnam veteran and full-time freelance outdoor writer, Bleech has had more than 5000 of his articles published. States covered: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA OH, MD, DE.

Oct. 31: “I started out hunting near an apple tree. Everyday that I hunted I noticed that they were moving farther to the north,” said Kirk Rudzinsky, owner of East End Tackle in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Habitat where Rudzinski hunts is the same as is found through much of Ohio and eastward along the Lake Erie and Lake Ontario lowlands. Soils are rich. There is a lot of agriculture. It is big buck country. [ Read Full Post ]

By Scott Bestul

Rut Reporter Scott Bestul is a Field & Stream’s Whitetails columnist and writes for the website’s Whitetail365 blog. The Minnesotan has taken 13 Pope & Young-class whitetails and has hunted, guided for, and studied deer in the north-central region all his life. States covered: IA, IL, IN, MI, MN, MO, WI.

I’m so rarely right about anything that I have to take a moment and brag: In the wake of this week’s record winds, buck activity has positively exploded. I’m getting reports from happy hunters all over the region, as they witness increased buck movement and, in some cases, are able to fill a tag. This is that rarest of time frames during the rut cycle; only a few does are ready to breed, but the bucks are feeling it, big time. And unlike the past several seasons, when warm weather has limited daytime buck activity, temps are right where they need to be...I had 20 on my home thermometer this morning, and it will struggle to make 50 today. I can’t think of better conditions, for bucks and for hunters! [ Read Full Post ]

By Rich Landers

Rut Reporter Rich Landers, a native Montanan and life-long hunter, is the outdoors editor for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane. He has written several books about the western outdoors and has hunted whitetails all his life. States covered: WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, CO.

Oct. 27: "The bucks are getting very antsy now," reports Brian Beisher of Big Buck Outfitters in Sheridan, WY. "I saw two make scrapes yesterday evening—scrapes are rare in our area. I saw one buck chase every other branch antlered buck out of the field—although the chaser and the chased were not older than 3 1/2. 

"Some young bucks are showing interest in the does, but the old ones know it is still a long way off. It is getting close, but probably only the false rut."

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By Mike Bleech

Northeast Rut Reporter Mike Bleech has been hunting whitetails in his native Pennsylvania and throughout the Northeast for more than four decades. A Vietnam veteran and full-time freelance outdoor writer, Bleech has had more than 5000 of his articles published. States covered: ME, NH, VT, MA, RI, CT, NY, NJ, PA OH, MD, DE.

Finally some actual mating. Hunters have reported seeing bucks chasing does over the past couple of days. Dave Zelina, who is out of action because of a fall from his treestand, saw three bucks in his yard. One was a 10-point with an outside spread of more than 20 inches. It chased a doe through his back yard three times, back and forth.

This coincided with a drop in temperature through much of the region. Snowflakes were seen Thursday as far south as Pennsylvania. Most of the bog buck activity has been taking place from Ohio across through Pennsylvania into Maryland. Kirk Rudzinski reported taking his buck Wednesday in the northwest corner of Pennsylvania.

How many of us thought it should be the other way around, with bucks starting to chase does first in the northernmost states?
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