Best week of the year

[Grizzlyadam]

The areas I hunt it's Nov 13-19th. Thanksgiving week is a close second.

[Tennhunter3]

Tennessee. Nov 8th-15th.

Though I've seen quite a few nice bucks the first week of the season also. I've had more big buck encounters the first week though I keep missing them.

[headgear]

Generally speaking the hot/cold of your best week can depend on the scouting or sometimes luck. Choose the right property at the right time and you can be in the money, choose poorly or don't spend enough time seeking the best activity and you might have a terrible rut. Lighting can strike at any time but the extra effort in my area can mean feast or famine in the bigwoods. Traditional cruising activity happens but it is extremely hit or miss with a lot more on the miss ends of things, I still seem to have better luck hunting bedding than cruising and shot my buck last year nov 10th right in his bedroom.

[headgear]

Tennessee. Nov 8th-15th.

Though I've seen quite a few nice bucks the first week of the season also. I've had more big buck encounters the first week though I keep missing them.

This is pretty close to our peak activity in MN too, pretty much like clockword every year.

[Specter]

Well based on the responses I'd say yeah it does seem to vary a little bit place to place. I think maybe part of my issue last 2 seasons also was not getting close enough to bedding. This year I had a good doe bedding area in mind, and got out there and some logging had shifted everything. Took me a bit too long to start figuring it out and not enough back up plans. I suppose moral of the story is the week In taking off os probably fine, I just need to keep getting better!

[Brad]

I have only hunted deer for the past 3 seasons, but the last 2 seasons I saw more big bucks during the first week of november than any other time, and last year killed my first big mature public land buck on Nov 3rd.. so I know I'll be spending alot of time in the stand during the first week of Nov.

[dan99]

I see the most bucks the first week of November.

[<DK>]

The day that the most B&C bucks are taken is Nov 7th

[szwampdonkey]

When I look back at my notes and kills the vast majority of Mature Bucks ive killed have been in Sept and Oct despite me almost always taking my Rutcation the first 10 days or so in Nov. I started thinking about taking the last week in Oct the passed few seasons but just couldnt get past the ingrained belief that that first week in Nov is money to the point ill ignore my own hard and fast data telling me when ive had the most success personally.

This coming season im moving my Rutcation to that last week in Oct finally as the passed few years that "magical" time in Nov has honestly fell short in SE WI so when i couple that with the fact almost all my big buck kills have come prior to Nov its really a no brainer to give it a shot this year. I do think it has a lot to do with the sharp increase in pressure though in Nov vs Oct just being better. I dont think there are quite as many guys in the woods in that last week of Oct vs early Nov but the bucks are still really getting active in that last week or two of Oct. I hope it ends up being a killer week.

[RiverBottoms]

Another option to think about is early December, right after Thanksgiving. If you hunt public, the pressure goes way down, and you can still see second rut activity.

[brancher147]

For rut activity and bigger bucks the week before Thanksgiving week is usually the best for me in WV. I haven’t killed a lot then but that’s when I see the biggest bucks in daytime. It can also be lockdown and slower than some weeks but still it’s when I see the bigger bucks and get them on camera most

[1STRANGEWILDERNESS]

In the northwoods the 2nd-3rd week of October is reallly growing on me.

[PK_]

For most of the country with a traditional early Nov rut, I would pick the last week of Oct as the best time to kill a truly mature deer, followed by right around thanksgiving. But I would not expect ‘more movement’ overall during either of those timeframes. The way I would hunt those timeframes would be different and it really helps to have the property and more specifically a certain buck patterned if you are doing the late Oct time.

[Hookslinger]

I'm not a seasoned vet when it comes to killing big bucks by any means, but in Michigan I have had alot of great hunts the last week of October. The first week of November can be hit or miss. I think by the time November rolls around on public in MI the pressure has the bucks patterns very altered. In season scouting and finding the small pockets of action is probably extremely crucial to success.

[Ghost Hunter]

I take 3rd week of October and 2nd week of November each year. If I had my way. I would take off last week of October through 2nd week of November.