October Lull ?

[DeerCamp]

Now I wasnt trying to say anyone is a bad hunter, because I belive that all of you on here are good ones and darn good ones at that! I just ment that, a lot of people will use that as an excuse because they werent seeing deer. Change things up a bit, see what happens then.

[PrairieShadow]

Movement patterns certainly are changing this time of year. So where you might have been seeing deer in Sept. may not produce much in Oct. But the opposite is also true. Where deer were few and far between in Sept just might be the point of interest in Oct.

I try and focus on rub and scrape lines this time of year as this is where the bucks will be. I might not see many deer but most the deer i do see are bucks.

[Demoderby4]

I don't know if i would call it a "lull" but their is definitely a change in deer behavior/activity during this time of the year where i am at. The most significant differences i have noticed from Sept. to now is their are still hot temps, (at least above average temps most days) and changing food sources, from fields, to mast. Apples and acorns have been disappearing off the ground lately and thats when i have seen deer, coming to feed or leaving a feeding area. Deer tend to not move around as much during daylight when it is warm, we all know that, and it has been that way most thedays around here after the opening week or so. When i have seen deer so far this year it has been from 5:22-7:12pm (they all have been coming into my woods to feed, or using trails to come back from feeding like i said) and i have had a N or NNE wind most of the time i have seen them. So maybe the wind has to do something with it too? Im sure it might, not that they don't move when the wind is a certain way, but they just might move in different directions (away from my stand) depending on the wind, i dont have the luxury of having 10 stands for different wind directions ;/ so if the wind is bad i have to be careful, and even if i dont see deer that day, its still nice to be out there even though it can be frustrating.

I don't give into beleiving the whole "lull" thing, but i do believe this time of the year can be one of the hardest times to hunt and it can also be the most rewarding if you put the time into getting into the woods and patterning deer. I just found a great rubline that i totally overlooked for two weeks, im thinking about going out there tom morning to the ground blind i made a few days ago, if not i'll head out to my tree stand and see what happens. I might take PrarieShadow's advice and try the rubline thing out once or so before the rut kicks in. Good hunting to all and don't give up hope if it is slow right now, be patient.

[cjkrw]

In this past week Ive seen deer every morning, which was a change from 2 weeks ago, HOWEVER, I havent seen a deer yet in my evening hunt. Ive kicked one up a time or two but havent seen any of them actually moving. Is it possible that they are waiting until after dark to get up and move?

[EatDeer]

I always thought the " Oct. lull" was more rut induced than travel or feeding patterns. The buck's have spent the "Oct. mini rut" or pre-rut seeking phase searching out the local doe's, and now will settle down the travel activity for a couple weeks. The deer seem to always do the same thing every year here, lots of pre- rut travel, then the woods are quiet for a week or two, then the real rut kicks in gear for the chasing phase.  

[Patriot]

I hunt open farmland and generally see deer each time out.  Mostly does / fawns and sometimes at very long range with binoculars.
 
Buck activity seems to be present during the first couple days of season and then the rut.

[OHhunter]

I got off to a slow start, but now that temps have fallen and most crops have been harvested, I've really seen activity pick up.  In my last 3 trips out I've seen 24 deer a couple of which were good mature bucks.  Finding a few rubs, have yet to see a scrape but that's not uncommon.  I walk directly to my stands and try to get in and out as quick, quite and undetected as possible.

[djohns13]

Like OHhunter, early October was rough for me but activity is definitely picking up now that the cooler temps have arrived.  Only about two more weeks before things get really hot around here.  Not a moment too soon for me.
 
Good shooting.

[dtrain56]

The lull is real in a sense because the deer change there movements by mid october...at least the mature bucks anyway...
 
the leaves are falling and cover becomes less...deer change when and where they move and hunters usually are still sticking to the deer trails they hunt at the beginning of the hunting season so they see less deer.
 
during the lull..i try to move back into the thick cover as i would hunt gun season and i tend to see deer regularly..hard to shoot very far though and most of the time can't get a clean shot
 
once the rut starts i move to travel corridors which usually works out ok

[RNC]

Well so far this year had been a lull all season. I didnt see a deer until the evening of 10/11. We seem ot expericence a lull to some extent most years and it mostly due to above average temps it seems. The deer are starting to get their wint coats in and the just dont move as much when its pushing 80 degrees. The deer didnt disapear they just move more at night.