Ep. 833: Rut Fresh Radio - Overcoming the October Lull

Welcome to Wired to Hunt's rut Fresh Radio bringing you the latest reports from the White Tail Woods, presented by First Light, creating proven versatile hunting apparel for the stand, saddle or blind. First Light Go farther, stay longer, and now your hosts, Casey Smith and Tyler Jones.

It's mid October and that means the lull is singing you a sweet lullaby to sleep?

Or is it?

If you know where the deer are and you have the right hole front, it could be absolutely awesome.

This is rough Bresh, let's go. This isrough.

Fresh Radio brought you a first Light gear. This Casey Smith and my ben amigo, Tyler Jones.

What are you doing? Man?

Oh?

Just try a little myself to sleep and get a little little The right leg is just shaking the bed that I'm laying on, Yeah, so that I can rock.

Myself to sleep.

You kind of like it, just a little grasshoppers of rubbing them legs's going to sleep?

Yeah?

Did you just call me cricket Jones?

Old cricket Jones?

Man?

That probably because you jumped high. That's why they called you that.

No, I see the play guitar.

I don't know how that correlates because crickets are percussionists, is that one? Yeah, they play stringing a I see, I see, I see.

Yeah.

Well I hear you had a very swell lunch. Did you happen to get a dessert as well?

Swell is what my belly is doing right now.

Yeah.

I chicken, fried steaks, mashed potatoes, and uh, I'm feeling like I need an after right now, you know, I mean, midday between hunts, kind of warm, you know, feeling like an old buck just want to down.

That's it, man.

I think that if we want to really understand dearing a deeper level, we should just look within and just think about what it's like whenever we're satisfied, you know, or what it is that we need, and then we'll have a better idea about it.

You know. That's right, man, basic need you know, that's right.

It needs I don't know.

You don't need that new Matthew's bow.

No, maybe you do, Maybe you might well if you don't know, people don't. Yeah, Yeah, that's it man. You don't need to go hunting, but you just might want to, you know, I want to.

You know, you need some water every once in a while.

Yeah, I need some bad you know, I'm up here doing a little do your scouting, and when I say up, that's gonna just remain ambiguous.

But let's go man Canada.

That's right.

Uh, I'm in the country where they got crops and one of them crops is milo and I'm pretty allergic to that stuff. So I got me a little sinus infection going that I think is the result of allergies, or I got allergies compounding compounding upon something.

It's already there. So if I sound weird, that's why.

And I'm gonna try to remain sniffless while we're on this phone.

Without sniffle, that's what I'm gonna have.

Yeah, it's nontrumissible.

Don't worry. You get a little hunt right now yourself.

Hey, Yeah, yeah, I've been hunting.

I've been hunting a little different deer than most people are used to hunting.

You know, people hunt these kind of some kind of a little we'll leave at that, and then, uh, once you conclude that hunt next week, we'll get a we'll get a wrap on that and figure out exactly what's going on.

Yeah, So you know, I'm just waiting. I'm waiting to hunt white tails until you know the October lull is better.

I mean, man, if I was you, I was just crawl in a hole and lower yourself to sleep until the loll's over.

You know what I'm thinking about doing?

Yeah, all by until then, and then when the has finished and over, I will be ready to shoot white hills.

All right.

Tell me, in general, what do you think about the October lowl, because it's gonna be a big topic of conversation today.

Yeah. I think, generally speaking, I don't just love the concept of the October.

Loll because it's not fun, or because you don't really think it's a real thing.

Oh, you know, I think it. I don't know. I lean towards it not being a real thing.

But interesting.

There's some new info to me that is making it feel or real.

What's that?

Uh, it's basically a lack of trail camera data, So I guess you'd say lack of into Yeah. We put some trail cameras out in some different areas and across the US, and they have been very quiet the.

Last week two days.

Yeah. Yeah, I've seen this, Yeah for sure. Yeah.

It seems like sometime around October fourth, we had a daylight walker in the Midwest, a shooter is a big ten point. And then since then it's kind of been just all silent on the home front out there.

So why do they why do they stop.

Daylight walking or period walking period on our cameras.

I fan or six, I don't know for sure. I got some thoughts. I think it's all environmental factors. I don't think it's every it's like a I don't think it's a hormonal thing too much.

I don't think it's like, well, maybe you might could consider it.

That it's not the rut where their bodies are telling them, oh, it's time to get up and do stuff, you know, chase dose and and you know, uh, spread your genes, as they would say. But it's kind of the inverse of that that that drive isn't there yet, and so deer just don't moving around very much right now.

They have a lot of reason to.

They're just eating, hanging out, rubbing a little bit here and there, you know, and they just don't do a whole lot. And then he compound that with some some other like environmental factors, like right now it's blazing hot, and I don't really like to get.

Out there middle of the day, neither of the deer right.

And then across the country there are two types of nuts falling from a tree. In the south there's an acron falling from the tree, and in the north there's an acorn falling from the tree.

And I thought you were gonna say whites and reds.

Uh.

Yeah, there's that deciduous deciduous.

Hard mast is falling currently.

And what means that is that that the deer don't have to go very far right, they can kind of just live and chow down on acrons and and stay away from people.

Yeah.

Yeah, they stay away from our cameras too, they do.

So it's it's very odd. Uh huh. You know you had mentioned at one point that you know, had a lot of places hadn't seen it for Australia. Yeah, so I think.

I think that's something too, you know, I mean these uh, these animals eat all kinds of stuff. They browse a lot of different things throughout the day usually, and uh, even though there's uh a lot of people like to see.

You know, they can see it's easy easy for people to see acrons falling and making noise. And you know, when you drive a car over the driveway. You know, you can crunch them all up or whatever. But it's also.

You know, the deer can't survive just on aacrants, so you're you know, they have to eat something else. And uh, you know some of that browse and stuff like that that they leaves and different things like that, are you know, still viable and and.

Uh, I would have seen tasty as well somewhat.

I know, like where we're where we're at, it's you know, it's ninety five degrees.

Or you know, with like left up to come up here, it's you know, ninety five degrees, it's hot.

Things are dry, dry, and so you know, I don't know how great some of those broad leaves taste, but.

Yeah, there's uh, they got to eat something different then. So there's a lot of there's a lot lot of factors that can weigh into that.

I think this October old and again the deer, if we're gonna speak in truths, which people don't love a lot these days, the deer don't just fall out of existence or going to another dimension. They uh, they're still on this planet during this time period, so they exist.

Somewhere and as hunters for whatever reason, we just don't see them as as often.

And it may be something you know, back to like our biology or whatever.

There's something about the way that humans.

Kind of go about their day or operate or whatever that we're just not ready to get to find them in the in the middle October.

Sometimes, yeah, and so we just put a name on it and call it the October roll and really it's us, Yeah, just can't.

Really figure out how to how to find them.

It's probably I mean, this is one of the hardest times a year to find a deer. I don't I mean, I don't have a deer right now that I'd feel confident about going.

And hunting, you know. So, uh, it's it's difficult for sure. And so.

Yeah, in the sense of it being a mystical thing, it's not that. But it is a difficult time of year to find a dear. But if you know where they're at, if you if you got a good beat on one, you can probably still find even getting killed.

But why would you how would you if you were to give a tip on how to find a deer during the during the quote unquote roll, what would you say?

I would say It's tough.

I would say I I would look for extremely fresh rubs and thick betting, and I would just that. I would just get the tree. I'd climb up about eighteen feet high and that would fold my hands together and I would pray about it. Maybe you might see one if that happens. It's difficult, but that's my that's my take. I think that the freshest sign is going to put you the closest to the deer, and you're gonna have to be within one hundred yards of him on an evening to feel like you got a shot.

Right now, I think.

You know that's that's not the truth everywhere on everything, but in general, that would be That would be my take. That's what I think, Tyler. This is a difficult time of year, but what fallows it.

Up well pre right and right?

Yeah?

I mean, And so what is effectually known as scrape week sometimes scrape week.

A lot of people call call this next week or so or two weeks scrape week or so, you know, like it's it's got different names.

We like to name stuff.

Yeah, And I think that one thing that I can look at historically speaking, that gives me hope for the next week and maybe should give you guys, hope as well. Is two years ago, I was hunting some.

Land, public land in Illinois.

Well, I actually wasn't hunting it yet, but we had put a camera out in the summer. It set all summer until October sixteenth, got a little bit of weather and I had.

A buck show up on that camera in the dark working the scrape.

And this buck had never been there and shows up on the sixteenth in the dark working.

Scrape things like ten PM.

So instead of going up there and trying to hunt this year, trying to find you know, hope that his hope that he came in you know, a little bit earlier every morning, every day, every night. I decided, along with one of our guests from this.

Swege helped me to make this decision.

But we decided that it would be better if I held off for about a week and waited on a good cold front that came in the middle of the day to change things up and give me an evening hang. That might be advantageous and I might be able to see if that buck or a buck show up in the daylight and I went in there, I actually drove

I had an opportunity to kill the buck.

They showed up a week before I scrape, which I did kill, and then another even bigger buck that got away, and it was one of the.

Most fun evenings of my life. Man.

So I mean this this next week things can really pan out, and I think being conservative and you know, making sure you got good entry, you got good wind.

If you're gonna hunt.

Otherwise just maybe don't hunt until you know for sure that a really really strong cold front is coming in, or.

Just we start to get a little bit closer to the end.

Of this month and you start seeing some maybe closer daylight movement. Yeah, those cold tempts will help it to kind of, you know, actually come to fruition where a deer is actually in shoot mind. Yeah, just being patient, being conservative the next week, keeping eyes on the cameras and that kind of thing. And I think that's highly important coming up, and it's it's fixing to happen.

Just hold off just a little bit longer.

That's it, man.

That's that is some good advice, right there, sir. You sound like you know what you're talking about. I think you do.

Actually, yeah, that's right, that's right.

I do know that our guests this week are pretty excited about the cooler temperatures. You know, it's a cold front or a cool front, depending on where you're at in the country, but either way, anticipation is kind of high.

Let the people know who the guests are well.

As you mentioned, well a Goo Jake Hofer in Illinois will be on here. Sounds like a buddy of his did in fact exist outside the October Lowell killed a big giant deer. And then we're gonna have Nick Gonzalez in Texas, a good friend of ours as well.

He's looking for to the cold front, hunting some public land.

Michael Stole, the Element's own Michael Stole has been in South Dakota.

He's got some info there as well.

And then we're gonna wrap it up with Jimmy Shyri in Pennsylvania and he's gonna tell us what is going on up in the Big Woods.

So I'm excited.

I think I should give this disclaimer though, Guys, if there's any week where you need to just hear the numbers that people tell us and then say, you know what, maybe I should take a step back. This is the week. Okay, I'm not telling you don't go hunting. I'm not saying anything about that. But it's not here yet. But it's so close to be a little patient kind of like what Tyler said, right, dude, Yeah, yeah, you.

Don't wanna You don't want to blow up the woods, right, I mean, it's you blow up the woods a month before the rud It ain't no big deal.

Probably, yeah, blow it up a week before the run. That could make things really hard on you.

Yeah, it's like getting to hype at the pop Pepper Allley on Fridays and then by the time it's game time.

You're tired. You know. You gotta like you got.

To hit that cycle just to the right time and it's coming on. So let's go talk to these fellas well. This week, we've got Jimmy Shyrie, friend of mine, up in Pennsylvania hunting deer, and then Nick Gonzalez down in Texas hunting some Texas public land. And then we've got Greg Latham, the Element's own Greg Latham, who is been spending some time up in Kansas, and then Jake Hofer of Exodus Outdoor Gear. The dude has laid October dialed. I can't wait to hear what these guys have to

What's going on? Dude?

Hunting as much as I possibly can.

That's what's going on. Hey, I love it.

I mean, that's that's how every feller should lead his conversations, you know what I mean, hunting as much as I possibly can.

How are the woods in Pennsylvania right now?

Ah, They're been pretty decent, i'd say, and see deer anyway.

That's good. That's good.

So this week in general, it's kind of like what people call the October Lowell. You know, it's the mid October stuff essentially. I don't know if it's ever, you know, if there's a date range or whatever. Do you feel like you see that in the woods? Is that a thing for where you're at?

Before?

I used to think that, but lately I think, after hearing research, I don't think it really exists. After changing my tactics, I've noticed, like deer just seemed to change their plans.

Got I kind of changed with them. So yeah, now I've been seeing more deer all your long, kind.

So what's the main change or tactic You're using to still see deer during the kind of the more difficult time to find them.

I'm noticing the bucks just like the change in the test astera and you know, they're starting to rub, they're moving a little more. They do seem to go a little more nocturnal, but you just got to kind of find where they're betting and get a little closer.

Gotcha.

Are you finding that betting in like pre scouting or you know what I'm like preseason scouting?

Yeah, a lot of preseason scouting, and then some of the properties I hunt. I've been hunting for a while now, and I've kind of just over time picked out areas where I've noticed junior kicking big bucks out or seeing them more often.

Got you?

So, uh, you know, you you definitely live in the area of the country that has a lot of timber, uh and acorns or acorns depending on where you're at, is what people call it.

You know, the hard mass fall is this time of year.

But I also know where you live is affected by that moth, the oak moth that really bothers the trees bad.

Right is that is that a thing? Do you have a good acorn crop? Or is it?

What's this year is phenomenal. We have a ton of acorns this year. Last year was really bad. I forget the name. Now they changed the name of the moth to be a little more correct. But but anyhow that they didn't seem to be bad.

This year we have crazy good acorns. Okay, very cool. So is that something you're targeting to have deer encounters? Yeah, that's what I'm targeting.

But the problem is there's so much of it.

You got kind of pick and shoes where you're sitting.

Yeah, for sure. Have you all had your first frost yet?

We have as in an area I haven't here where I live, but just driving to work, I've noticed, like when I get towards there, it's it's had.

Frost air earlier this week.

Got youa Does that affect some of the food sources for deer? I mean, I can imagine you live in an area of the country where there are wild apple trees and apples on the ground aren't going to do great after a freeze, right, and then the you know, the broad leaf stuff, deer browsing and all that, that all changes, right. So is that one of the things you think kind of contributes to, you know, deer changing what they're doing.

I think it does a little bit, at least I noticed just here to run my house. I mean, we have apple trees here and they seem to drop real early. Anyhow, the deer hit them hard and now it's nothing.

Yeah.

Yeah, So, I mean I don't know what it really affects it like crazy.

I guess it just takes its course. Yeah, I got you. Cool?

So when do you shift your focus to scrapes? Are you already scrapes or is that still a week or two out now?

Actually, I just noticed a lot of rubs popping up this slot within the last week, and a lot of scrapes started up. And once I start seeing them, I start focusing my you know, my hons on scrapes.

No one buck sign got you? Got youa you running shot cameras right now? Too?

Yep? I am yeah.

How's your camera data? A lot of nocturnal action?

Uh huh, seems that way.

Anyway, if I had five bucks last night, hit hit us grade there I had to sell camelon gotcha?

Gotcha? Wow?

So hitting scrapes at night, So really the first good cold cool weather push, there's a good opportunity maybe to see some daylight moving.

Huh. Yeah, it's actually this week.

We're we're dipping into the near freezing level here in the nighttime here this week and highs in the fifties, so here are definitely on their feet. I've still seen a lot of nocturnal movement, but I'm hoping this week we catch one moving a little earlier.

Yeah, that's cool. So let's look at this week.

I know that a large portion of the country is going to experience some cooler temps. It sounds like you're going to see the same there in Pennsylvania. If you had to rank the buck movement on a scale of one to ten in Pennsylvania over the ne week, what would you call it and why?

I am going to probably rank it right around a six. Okay, I think you're gonna start seeing bucks move a little more in a daylight, but I still think you're gonna hit the majority of them right after darker.

Yeah, sometime in the middle of night, gotcha. So you need the possibility to see one's getting bough higher though.

That's good. That's what we need, always need the chances just to get a little bit better.

And they're going to very much so, as the says, testosterol supposed to ramp up and we get to that sweet month of November very soon.

Man. Well, I appreciate the report from uh, Pennsylvania.

Dude, I'm glad you're getting to get out and chase the deer around a whole lot and uh, I hope that you do, in fact run into one of those bucks this week.

Thanks my pleasure.

My friend Nick Gonzalez, the public land hunter as they.

Call him his in Texas right now, burning up.

What's going on, dude, Man, I'm just sitting in the truck right now and did some scouting this afternoon.

But it's pretty hot out so yeah, just just chilling at the moment.

Are you drying your clothes and the air conditioner?

Yeah, I am all sweaty.

That is October due hunting in Texas, man, for sure.

Absolutely.

Yeah. I let me ask you a question.

A lot of the country is talking about the October lowll right, now, Texas is kind of its own deal. Do you feel like Texas has an October lowll?

I would say typically I've felt that way, but I haven't quite felt that way this year for some reason.

Yeah, I don't know.

I've seen I feel like I've seen more activity this year in October than I have in previous years.

I don't know.

I don't know what the reason for that is.

But yeah, so it is. Hell, let me ask you this, how's the acorn crop.

In the areas that you've been in Texas?

It's been pretty good?

Yeah, Yeah, it's been It's been pretty good, and they're definite, definitely hidding those.

Yeah. Yeah, is that something you're targeting right now?

It is, yeah, for sure, kind of the main food source where I'm at.

So that what did you do on your little scouting loop that you do today? Were you looking for acorns or what?

Were you looking for?

Actually looking for scrapes mostly today and trails that lead to it, and just trying to cut them off because I think the scrape the scrapes are really lighting up where I'm at. I mean today when I was scouting, I found a ton of them.

That's cool.

Yeah, And so that's kind of what I've been targeting, and I think they're hitting those then, you know, kind of early mornings, you know, right before shooting light and probably right at the end of shooting light light in the evening.

So I'm just trying to find those places in between.

Yeah, so you're saying in between, are you targeting, are you figuring out where betting is and kind of getting in between there.

That's what I'm That's what I'm trying to do. In Texas a little bit harder sometimes to find betting. But I think trails, if there's a good trail that kind of leads up to an area, I think it's something you can kind.

Of key in on.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. So how far do you set it from the trail?

It kind of depends what the wind, But like this morning, I set up probably about twenty yards from a main.

Trail that went through.

Yeah, did you see any deer on that main trail?

There was the trail actually kind of splits at one point and which is about fifty yards away, and they seem to be taking.

That other trail more.

But they there were definitely some doughs that came down that trail that I was onnest wet.

That always how it goes.

Man, if you got to pick too, you're gonna pick the wrong one, right right. Sounds like you're narrowing it down real nice.

A lot of the country's going to get.

A cold front this week, and I've actually been talking to you outside of this, and I know that's something that you're thinking about. Is your strategy going to change once that cool weather gets here or are you just making or gathering intel for when that weather does get here?

Mostly just been gathering intel for that.

So just the kind of scrape is kind of the main thing I've been looking for, and I think that with that cool front, maybe it'll keep them on their feet.

A little bit longer.

Yeah, So that's that's probably gonna be my main target.

Gotcha.

Are you gonna add any calling or anything into the mix as we kind of ramp up here?

Is that? Is that a tactic use?

It is?

Sometimes and I might I might this week when that cold front comes through. This morning, when I was getting set up, I was just about set up right before shooting light, and there was a there was a buck that was just really vocal just on that other trail, really yards right it didn't see him, but he was really vocal.

That's cool.

Yeah, so.

They're they're definitely starting to They're definitely starting to fire up a little bit.

So I would probably consider using some calling.

That's cool, that's exciting. So you you you would, uh, specifically grunt. You're gonna be doing some blind grunting potentially while you're in the Yeah, yeah, potentially. Yeah, it just depends on how slow it is. That's how I am.

I'd probably give it around a six. Just as those scrapes are really starting to light up, and with that cold front, I really do think.

That they're going to be on their feet a little bit more.

You know, I've seen a couple of bucks already in the warmer weather during daylight hours, so I really think that once that cool front comes to it's gonna it's gonna get them out a little bit more.

Nice man.

Mid October six is a pretty good rating, so probably good time to hit the woods in Texas. Appreciate it, dude, and I hope that you get one of those big bucks this week.

Thanks man, Appreciate it.

The Element's own Greg Latham homies been up in Kansas doing some scouting.

What's up, dude, Not as much Vansas doing some scouting.

Yeah.

Yeah, scouting is kind of hyped sometimes when you know there's there might be some big deer around. But did you happen to feel like there was a lot of deer on their feet?

Not?

Really. It was pretty hot up in Kansas, and I don't know, I just feel like things haven't got quite haven't got going yet, you know.

Yeah, so I've been asking everybody else about the October lowll and Kansas isn't quite like a lot of the rest of the Midwest. You know, It's a little bit different kind of a state. But you still feel like the October lowl is a thing there.

I don't know, it's a I feel like deer might you know, they come out of velvet and they get kind of hyped for a little bit. Yeah, and then the hot weather is still around and they just kind of I don't they just kind of lay low for.

A little bit, a lot of nighttime movement stuff like that.

Yeah, just kind of waiting on that first cold front.

Well that's coming this week.

Do you expect that deer will be or bucks will be on their feet in daylighters?

It's still too early.

I think this cold front could get them on their feet. I think scrapes would be a kind of a you know, a target for me.

Yeah, at least how the crops look up in Kansas.

The crops were seemed like the corn was cut and uh, I think they're in the middle of cutting mile Low.

Yeah, so a lot of stuff has already come out being seemed to be out too.

Yeah, it's it's like an early year for crops.

Huh.

Yeah, definitely.

So if you had to try to find a deer to shoot this week, would you feel comfortable hanging and waiting or would you be more like in the glassing type thing.

Uh?

I would probably on a cold front. If if there was a scrape I knew about, I would probably be hanging on that.

Yeah.

But in the hot weather this week, I would have been just glassing.

Yeah.

How do you feel about the moon? We got a full moon right now and it'll be full for a couple of days here.

You know, I've never been a big believer in the moon thing. Yeah, but I don't know. I feel like the rising full moon. I've seen a lot of big bucks on the rising full moon. So yeah, I don't know. I think it's just a little bonus. It might help you out a little bit. Yeah, I don't know.

What's what's the best October cold front date?

I'd say, man, anywhere from the twenty fifth to Halloween is that's my favorite.

A little far out yet, right, this one's good, but.

This one could be good. But I think there's gonna be a.

Better one in the month.

Yeah, yeah, do you think that what do you think that the pattern is on the cold front? How long between cold fronts do you think that it usually is this time of year?

I think about every seven to ten days, maybe maybe two weeks, but I think it's about ten days. Is when you're gonna get your next one.

Yeah, So I do think that deer will be on their feet a lot, but maybe not bucks. Do you feel like shooting a dough in a spot right now, could mess up something? Or do you think it's a good time to go ahead and fill the freezers?

Yeah, if you were going to shoot a dough, I'd probably would have done it like way early.

Yeah.

I probably wouldn't mess around shooting a dough right now because I think we're on the cusp of being able to shoot a really big buck.

Yeah. Yeah, man, that gets me excited.

Yeah.

Do you feel like calling works this time of year?

Yeah, I definitely think it could could work. I mean, if you see a buck that's you know, skirting edge of your shooting range, I mean I definitely would try calling.

Yeah, at this point, would you bust out antlers or grunt or like what's the thing to do still in mid October?

I a grunt is probably my go to, Maybe a snort we if he's kind of bristled up or I think calling could work at this time of year. It's just not quite there, but it's definitely a tactic tactic worth you having.

Got you Okay, So, like we discussed, it is a cold front week. The whole country's excited about it. Everybody's talking about it. Right, it is still a little bit or I shouldn't say a little bit earlier. I don't want to lead you to your a different conclusion. But it's earlier in the month then later, right right in the middle of what most people call October. Lowell, a

I think we get a cold front and I give it about a seven. I think it's going to get until eight or nine after that, but yeah, seven this week, I think.

Okay, you're pretty you like it. You think it's still a time to get out there and get after him.

I like the next week.

Okay, that's exciting, dude. Well appreciate the report. On the phone.

Now, I have got my friend Jacob for from Exodus Outdoor to Gear and this guy probably has October, specifically late October dialed more than any person that I know.

So I'm excited to talk to you. Man. What's going on?

Hey, thanks for having me. Not much is going on.

Just finished an evening hunt here wasn't too exciting, but man, it's crazy that it's October fifteenth right now, and basically half of October is over and we got to get out of and enjoy every six.

So that's that's where my mentality is out right now.

That's cool, man.

So Illinois is where you're hunting right now, and it sounds like, you know, just on the phone with you Will to Go, you were having some rough hunts. A friend of yours killed a very nice dear, So there's things happening, and then tonight you saw kind of a flurry of activity.

So can you explain that a little bit.

Yeah, We'll starting off with my buddy Richard.

He shot really really really nice dear buff ball lifetime as I'm yeah, yeah, And so he was hunting off a.

Thick creek ditch with some cut.

Corn and an alfalfa field in the in the in the area, and I was, you know, I'm guessing he killed it before before we know where he was headed to. But I assume he was probably going to the alfalfa field. And the reason I say that is tonight I could see in our f apple field probably one hundred fifty yards away, and that's where all the deer ended up.

To go feed.

So that seemed to be the hot food source. And you know, this cold front here, if you're in the bubble of where that buck's spending a lot of time, it could be really productive. And if you're like me and you don't have a deer right in your bubble, it could.

Be pretty slow.

Yeah.

Yeah, I can definitely see that, and I don't I have one deer that I could go hunt, but I'm kind of still trying to be patient. But I know exactly what you're talking about. So you mentioned the cold front, that's that's impending right now. But right now the dates that we're looking at. You know, this launch is on October sixteenth, and I would kind of loosely denote the second and third week of October over as being the October loll Would you would you agree with that?

Yeah?

Just actually what people call it rot.

Yeah, I'd say we're smack dab in the middle of it. And I feel like this next cold front we could call pre rut.

And that I mean, that is my opinion. And we actually just released.

A really interesting episode on the xd of this podcast with Steve Shirk. He runs the Hunt fifty trail cameras on Pennsylvania Public Land.

And he makes mature book.

He's kind of mature buck movement tracker on this spreadsheet and you can see distinctly with weather fronts of how the buck activity picks up. And then during these really warm days that are kind of you know, after Wednesday going into Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, it's.

Probably gonna cool off, not with the.

Temperatures, but buck activity, especially in daylight.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. So what is what are EU opinions on the October Lol? Is it real? Is it a thing that people should consider and when they're planning, you know, hunt trips.

Yeah, I think it's definitely something that you should plan. I think that if the weather cooperates, it could still be really good. Yeah, But if the weather isn't cooperating, man, I would probably save those days for when the weather cooperates. And I'm personally probably never going to take a week vacation on the second week of October thirtek of October on a hot trip personally, And that's just based off of a bunch of trail camera data over the years.

Excited, so excited.

So I wanted to talk about that with you specifically because you have dates pretty nailed as far as like when you think is a good time to move and when you think to predict like the first day on movement and YadA YadA, and a lot of this orientates around scrapes, and you're talking about the sign that are

You know, we haven't.

We've kind of dialed back on that. Okay, we've talked about scrapes a lot.

Yeah, there's a lot of there's a lot of it's loosely scrape week coming up, seeing right, that's kind of like what follows the October lolls. So I guess my question is is this cold front the cold front to go ahead and move on those scrapes or are we waiting for the one that maybe might happen in the next six to ten days.

I would say both, and I hate that I'm not giving it a definitive answer, but.

Because I hating people do that to me. So like, for example, this Saturday, I.

Tore through a farm to go look for sign yeah, and I found one scrape that was actually from last year as well, that was really active as we got deeper into October. There was some activity, you know, let's say October or whatever, fourteen seventeen from last year, but it really picked up when we got that front towards the end of October last and so I'm anticipating similar activity for this upcoming, you know.

As we get the next front.

So the long and short of it is, if you find a scrape right now that's in conjunction of betting, maybe on the way to food, to throw in one other thing for people to key in on, that is something I would I would pay a lot of attention to because I'm telling you what, for the guys that are saying I don't have anything to hunt, I'm not feeling real good about this year. Your season is probably going to change in the next week. From a trail camera picture on a scrape.

If you follow those those things that I have because every year I'm just like, oh my gosh, there's a new due.

The year I shot my ey wouldn't show up until the seventeenth of October. Yeah, and I shot them on November six So it's like it happens a lot every single year. So just buckle in and remain patient, but move those cameras around to the best.

Sign and associated association with betting.

It's kind of what I would suggest for this next week from a scouting interreparation tactic.

Man, those are some hot, high level tips. Man. Thank you very much for that.

So as you're looking at the next week, you know we're discussing this could from that. I mean quite honestly, everyone around the country is excited about and I know a lot of that has to do just because we're so excited about deer season being here.

I still, well, I don't want to put words in your mouth.

It is October sixteenth, right, it's not the twenty fifth, and I see that we have a full moon rising right now. It's almost complete, so like in the next three days we're going to have full moon days.

All that being said, what do you think.

The deer movement is going to be like or the buck movement, excuse me, on a scale of one to ten, and why do you think that?

Yeah, I think for daylight buck activity in the next week, I think it's going to be pretty low. To be honest, I'm gonna put a number of like three to four. However, I think that the inventory and sign that's getting laid down is probably what is what I'm personally going to key in on those hot days, Like I'm going to go in and scout and probably move some stuff around and get a game plan for the next cold front or even prep into a somewhat of a game plan

I'm not going to do anything.

I'm going to try to do some strategics out and move some cameras around, check some standard cameras, and just get as much data to try to make.

A play on the next cold front.

Because man, the next one that comes in is often.

A really, really really great time to be on.

That community scrape, or even the scrape that's in the back of your mind of like, oh my gosh, this scrape was absolutely tore up. Go spend some time there on this next front, and I think you'll be surprised with what you see.

Awesome, dude, appreciate all the great information.

Awesome, I appreciate it. Thanks for having me on.

I hate to say it, but quite honestly, it's a pretty good week to hunt deer, especially for mid October with the weather rolling in.

And you heard that from the guys today.

I mean, big bucks are already going down and it's only going to get better from here. Guys, this is the sweet spot. This is the time of year that we look forward to all the time. Enjoy it, don't stress about it, don't worry too much. Have a great time in the woods. Enjoy being out there in God's

Also, go over to wiredhunt dot com this time of.

Year, Mark and the crew are always putting some really good articles on the website. Right now, Adam Moore has a article which I think is really interesting why your early season hunting should include a ground game. Okay, and people think about the ground a lot, especially myself if you're in the rut or maybe even late season when you're setting up on food sources, but early season, I don't know. It's kind of strange, but it just might work.