All the talk in the Great Plains has been of an early rut, as if the deer were going to get a jump on hunters and break out in full breeding mode this week. Jeff Danker, however, from Major League Bowhunter, taps the brakes a bit in this video, and I have every reason to believe he’s right. Danker, who was hunting in Kansas last week, confirms my observations from the southern half of the region: Scrapes are developing slowly in Kansas and Nebraska, and some of the smaller bucks are starting to cruise—but otherwise, the peak of the rut might still be a few weeks away. Still, deer hunters shouldn’t lollygag in this last week of October, as reports of bigger bucks have been on the rise.