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. 21- Overall Activity Status: Big bucks have started making their presence known from Ohio across Pennsylvania to Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and north to central New York, a sign they are getting aroused. Steve Topper, a serious bowhunter I met during a successful bear hunt for both of us in New Brunswick, says that in his home area of Connecticut he thinks abundant acorns have deer spread out which makes finding them difficult, a common theme throughout the Northeast. Low deer numbers in Maine make for a similar situation.

Fighting: Dominance has been established. Hunters have reported seeing big bucks chasing off smaller bucks simply by taking a few steps toward them.

Rub Making: Rub making has been unusually sparse, but picked up this week.

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By Brandon Ray

Rut Reporter Brandon Ray is an expert on the region. Ray was born in Dallas and shot his first deer with a bow in Central Texas at the age of 15. The full-time freelance writer manages his family’s Texas Panhandle ranch, is a licensed New Mexico guide, and last year took a 184 gross P&Y nontypical trophy. States covered: TX, OK, NM.

Oct. 20: I’ve been tracking a wide-racked mule deer with the drop tine, a buck I call Wide Clyde, for three years. This year his rack exploded, adding more width, longer tines, mass and a drop tine. I needed a south wind to hunt him, and finally the wind was right. I showered with the green soap, sprayed down everything with Primos Silver XP, hiked a quarter mile to my hideout then splashed a small bottle of fox pee around my brush blind to help cover my scent.

That spot is a transition zone between thick mesquites, cedars and broken canyon country that gives way to a CRP field and agriculture in the distance. Deer funnel through that pinch point every year.
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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.

Oct. 20—Overall Activity Status: On a region-wide basis, buck movement seems spotty. The weather has cooled somewhat, but we are in a sustained period of moderate-to-lovely fall weather. No fronts of any significance, temps mild and barometer steady. The stagnant weather systems seem to have whitetails in a ho-hum mood.

Fighting: Many hunters I talk to have seen or heard bucks sparring, and today a Wisconsin hunter reported listening to a fight that went on for several minutes. Bachelor groups have been breaking up for the last several weeks, and bucks are wandering into strange territories and sorting out dominance with the bucks they encounter.

Rub Making: I’ve seen more and better rubbing activity this fall than any in recent memory. The bucks are laying down sign and flexing their muscle. I’ve obtained permission to hunt a new property this fall and am trying to learn it in a hurry. Every time I make a brief visit, I’m seeing rubs that weren’t there before.
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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.

Oct. 19: Almost everything in life has to do with timing. Being in the right place at the right time is critical to success in many ventures. This is true with the whitetail rut as well. If you can get to your stand during peak rut, your chances of seeing and bagging a trophy buck go way up.

This is why it is so important to know when the whitetail rut in the region that you hunt. The problem is, it varies across the country and the hunter needs to do his due diligence to know when the timing is. No where else does the rut vary as much as in the south. The peak rut can range within several months in states adjacent to each other. If you're on your stand rattling and grunting in October when the rut is in January, you might as well be banging garbage can lids together. But if the rut is in October and you wait till December to get serious in the woods, your best chances are way behind you.
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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.

Oct. 18—Overall Activity Status: A brief cool spell that brought morning temperatures in the low 40s helped overall movement recently. The rut and related activity is still months away for Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi. Jake Utsey of Water Valley Lodge in Alabama reports very dry conditions and a serious drought. Young bucks are still in groups and making most of the rubs and scrapes. Acorn crop is scarce with deer feeding mainly on grasses. Georgia is in the pre- pre-rut with increased rubbing and scraping being seen, but still a week or two away from the intense activity. A hunter in middle Georgia (Rockdale Co.) observed a 130-class ten-pointer work a scrape and licking branch last week. Pre-rut with all the associated activities is just around the corner.

Fighting: Nothing yet.

Rubs: Rubs are being seen more and more throughout the south. The young bucks have been rubbing mainly but the older bucks are beginning to work on some trees.
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By David Draper

Overall Activity Status: Oct. 15: Deer are starting to show some pre-rut activity, with rubs and scrapes increasing.

Fighting: With bachelor groups breaking up, more lone bucks have been spotted. No sparring has been reported, but we can assume bucks are starting to test their dominance.

Rub making: A few more rubs have been reported across the region.

Scrape making: Hunters have reported scrapes opening up overnight. Expect a dramatic increase in the number of scrapes as we approach the full moon.

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