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Wired To Hunt

Ep. 375: Rut Fresh Radio 9/30/20

Silhouette of hunter holding deer antlers at sunset; text 'WIRED TO HUNT with Mark Kenyon'; left vertical 'MEATEATER PODCAST NETWORK'

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35m

Today on the show we're getting from-the-field updates on current deer behavior, activity, and tactics from deer hunters across the country for the first week of October.

States covered:

  • Minnesota
  • Tennessee
  • Michigan
  • Kansas
  • Ohio


Connect withMark KenyonandMeatEater

Mark Kenyon onInstagram,Twitter, andFacebook

Seeomnystudio.com/listenerfor privacy information.

00:00:02 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wired to Hunt podcast, your home for deer hunting news, stories and strategies, and now your host, Mark Kenyon. Welcome to the Wired to Hunt Podcast. I'm your host, Mark Kenyan, and this is episode number three seventy five, and today we're back for our latest rut Fresh radio episode in which we are getting updates from deer hunters across the country on the latest deer activity, current conditions, and the tactics that are gonna work for you right now. All right, welcome to the Wired Hunt Podcast, brought to you by on X. Today in my home state of Michigan is hunting season Eve. Spencer. That's the best night of the year as far as I'm concerned, because the best time of the year starts tomorrow even better, even better than like gun season Eve. Well, I'd say for me, yes, maybe there's other people that feel differently, but for me, this is when it all begins. Gun season Eve actually is, at least for me, is kind of a scary night because you know that so many deer are gonna wiped out the next morning. Um, So today it's all hope. Today it's it's nothing but pure good, unadultered hope. For the season on November four, it's a little bit more fear so. So yes, that's why I'm really excited about today, and because we got a new episode of rut Fresh Radio, which is our mini series. Hopefully you guys know what that's about. But we're gonna hear in just a couple of minutes from a handful of hunters from across the country, and they're gonna give us a scoop on what they've been seeing over the last week as far as dear activity, how different conditions have impacted deer movement. And then what does this all mean for the next week, What should we be expecting, what are we predicting, what kinds of tactics should we be employing over this fort week of October. That's gonna be the plan for today, Spencer. Um, I just told you I'm I'm just in that very very high excitement world right now. I've spent the last two nights laying in bed doing the staring at maps and weather forecast back and forth, back and forth, and debating between different stands sites. Um, that's where I'm at. Where are you? Um? I'm headed to Wyoming after we get done recording this podcast, So I am similarly excited the differences. I'll be hunting with a gun around like some broken sagebrush country and big egg in the central part of the state. Um, so it'll look a little bit different than what you're doing on your opener and what I'm doing on my opener. Um. But like you said, we're gonna talk to different hunters from across the country this week. But the first hunter I want to hear from Mark is you. I want to know what you're gonna be doing for opener and right now you sound really optimistic, and I think from some recent social media posts you see optimistic. So I want to hear about, like what your setup is going to be for this October first hunt. Okay, so last week, I think it was last week, we talked about my generic you know, best practices or ideas for this late September early October time frame, right, um, and I mentioned lots of times you want to take a swing for the fences a little bit before the hunting pressure gets crazy, if you've got the right conditions and you want to take that swing, you know, based off of the most recent intelligence you have on what that top food sources or where are these deer moving in daylight right now? That's like the generic standard approach for in October one type hunt. UM. Well, I have a situation that I think lines up really well with all that. UM. Number one. I'm after one particular buck on a Michigan property I can hunt, and this Michigan buck has been moving in daylight. I saw him in daylight two days in a row this week, UM, moving into place that I can hunt him. That cold front that came through, UM for a lot of people that hit I don't know, Sunday or Monday. The night before the front, he was out in daylight, and the night after the front he was in daylight an hour earlier than any other time I've seen him. So that got me very excited. Saw a lot of activity, a lot of bucks moving around. I saw several bucks making scrapes. I saw several different bucks sparring. UM. So when that cold weather moved through, it just got him out and about and and moving and excited. So that's a good thing. So that all leads me to be, you know, not overconfident, but at least optimistic that there's a chance at getting a shot at at the deer. I've called tran um. There's two locations that I think I could get a shot at him. Both of them are food related UM, and the both close. They're basically the same zone. It's just two entry points. UM. There's one spot where a bean field and a corn field come together right at the edge of the super great bedding. And this buck and a number of deer have been coming into this food source area UM, crossing into the bean field and heading north into that corn a lot of days that I've been able to watch it. That's what they've done. The problem is to hunt that spot with the wind we have, it's gonna blow right into all the bedding. Are these deer coming from? And that is the spot with the highly highest likelihood I think of these deer coming by just based off of a lot of observations. I've spent a lot of nights glass in this area and that's the number one spot. But I just don't see any way I can hunt it with this wind. I've I've thought, man, if it's due west or a little southwest. In the past, I wouldn't have hunted it because it blows into part of the betting area. But based off now year years of watching how these bucks used this zone. They I think are a little bit south of there, so I could probably cut the corner and get away with it. But any north it's just gonna blow right into the best stuff there's I just don't think you can do it. So because of that, I think I have to hunt my number two spots, which is I don't know, a hundred and fifty yards probably south of this on the exact same line, still on the edge of this bedding, um, but in this other spot where a lot of deer have been coming out, just not as many times. Now. I did see Tran two times over the last twelve days. Two times of the last twelve days. Maybe he's come out into that corn bean corner and then headed south and went into this zone too. And last year on October one, he came into this spot and passed by this exact location. So between historical data and you know, two ops are vations over the last twelve fourteen days, and there were nights that I couldn't watch it, so he might have done that on the nights I wasn't there. Um. All that tells me that this is my second best place to be, but it's best for wind, so it is where there's an entry into this food source area out of the bean field or sorry, out of the cover. There's a little green food plot that these deer like to hit first before they head to the big agg fields. And there's this kind of dead zone where I can have my wind blowing south of the bedding area and not spook these deer. So at a high level, that's what this area looks like. It's it's a place that I hunt a lot early in the season, like every year. It's a spot that I hunt once or twice in the early part of the year and traditionally has given me a lot of opportunities. This is a spot where I passed a really nice buck last year. I passed a hundred, I don't know, hundred thirty five inch type nine pointer last year on my first hunt in that spot, um which a lot of people thought it's crazy for doing, because I really wanted to get a shot at tran So you know, it's a spot of note can produce at this time of your conditions look good. That cold front came through earlier in the week. It kind of stabilizes now and then dropping another ten degrees or so give or take from the highest today to the highest tomorrow, mixed with a rising barometric pressure. It's low pressure yesterday, the day before, and then starting last night and over the course of today, Tomorrow and Friday it's steadily rising, with Friday probably being the highest pressure day. Um. As we've talked in the past, a lot of people like those high barometric pressure days. That's lining up here with cold temperatures about ten degrees lower than average for this time of years that we have, we are about oh, almost thirty degrees lower temperatures than we were just a couple of days ago. So conditions are lining up, the sightings are lining up, the history is lining up. And all that's to say that, you know, I'm excited. If nothing else, I'm excited. Yeah, and uh, you know, every year on Red Fresh Radio and the last two years specifically, there's some cold front event that happens like between October one in October fift and this is really anecdotal, like a lot of this stuff, UM, but we've talked about and talked about this in the past. Mark, how a whole bunch of mature bucks get killed on like that first cold front of October. UM and that's why you're optimistic right now. Now, what I think is like even more relevant than like this specific cold front is if you look at like the really extended forecast, um, Saturday and Sunday are the coldest days for most of the country that we're gonna have for like the next fifteen days, and so looking ahead like this is the cold front mark um, the one that we talked about last year and a bunch of bucks were killed, the ones that we talked about in when a bunch of bucks were killed. This is that one for money, because there's not going to be like another big cold snap that happens um during what a lot of hunters referred to as the October lull um. So, like you said this, this is probably for a lot of hunters the time to take that swing, because if you're waiting on cold weather to get some deer on their feet, you're probably not gonna get it for like the next you know, fifteen to twenty days. Yeah, that's a really good point. I actually hadn't. I've been so obsessed with looking at the weather for Tomorrow and Friday that i haven't even looked way past to like the eleventh, fourteen and you're right, this is it, and that's that's a huge point you just made, because this is the time to take your crack and then you know we're to wait till almost late October until something else might come. So yeah, if you if you're informed, if you have that you know, if you have any of the kind of data I just listed like I have in this situation, use it. Take a swing. Um, see what happens. You know, you never know all these things, like you said, Spencer, We've got some anecdotal we've got some you know, I don't know. I don't want to get into the whole thing where we debate, uh what hunters different factors. Yeah, but but man, there's a lot of things lining up. So short, short answer to all this is if you can get out, get out, go after him. We've got a decent chance over the next couple of days. One more thing I want to touch on, Mark, and it's something that we talked about with our guests this week. A little bit um is that today September is a full moon. Now, hunters give a lot of attention to the next full moon, the one that happens at like the end of October, the beginning of November, but almost nobody talks about this specific full moon. UM. So I want to know, Mark, is that anything that you pay attention to, um, or that you put any stock into for the full moon that we have on today sept I don't put too much stock into it personally. UM. You know, there's there's some people who think that deer don't move on a full moon because it's so bright out they can just move in the middle of the night. UM. But then there's other people like the Druries who really like the full moons, UM, who think that the light of the moon is your very best time of the year to be hunting, that the dark of the moon so middle of October is not very good. I just was listening to a little video that Mark and Terry Dreury posted, and they were talking about how they think that having the moon right now, lining up with this cold weather and the beginning of the season is going to make this amazing. So you're gonna hear a load of everything from people when it comes to the moon specifically. But the juries have always pointed to when you've got that moon that is rising early in the evening, so if you're out there the last hour or two of daylight on an evening hunt and the moon's out already, that's a good thing. And then on the flip side, if there's a moon that's setting late in the morning, so if you're out there it's the first hour of daylight or two and the moon's still out, that's going to help a little bit. And that's the situation you've got right now. We've forgot it late or sorry again, early moon in these early, these evening hunts leading up to today, and then it's going to be starting to give you more moonlight in the morning, uh, starting tomorrow, in the next couple of days. So I don't put too much into it, but for whatever it's worth, Mark and Terry are saying that the morning hunts might be particularly good over the next couple of days because of that. Uh, I'm keying and mostly on the temperature swing, and I'm getting out there and excited that. Yeah, the moon stuff says it could be good. So sure, I'll take any extra luck I can take, but I'm not going to count too much on that. I'm putting my eggs in the cold front basket and that's what's given me most of the confidence on top of my sightings. The cold front is something we'll talk about with all of our guests, and we'll also touch on the moon. Who we talked to you this week is Joe Call from Minnesota. Rack Stars in Minnesota. Vince Bodiata in Tennessee, Nate Creek in Kansas from Identical Draw and they're from white Tail Experience in Ohio. Is Byron Horn. Sounds good to me, Spencer. Let's uh, let's tune in here. These guys have to say and then get out hunting. All right, Good luck. Mark, talked to you next week, Same to you, all right in joining us on the line. Next is Joe Call from Minnesota Rack Stars in Minnesota. Now Joe in Minnesota. What would you say the buck activity is ben lately? On a scale of one to ten, I would have to give it about a six. Um. There's been a lot of people have been in contact with that have either known someone or themselves. They've put down some good deer lately here. So let's say on a scale it's probably right around of six your friends who have been successful. What are those setups look like in late September in Minnesota? Personally, I like the green food sources right now. Um, talk to a guy last night'sot a nice mature eight pointer, and he was actually on a bean field that actually has turned brown already. So I mean, um, it's it's field edges. Um, it's just inside the woodline, you know, trying to catch them coming from their bed going out to that food source. But you know, anything right now that's green, whether it's alf alfa, clover, or even those beans right now, it's just kind of the food sources are in your area, and you know, continue to scout and monitor your deer activity and then kind of go off of that. But yeah, I would say focus on you know, those beans and also you're clover and alfalfa. Are there any natural food sources this time of year that you focus on. You know, the acorns have really been dropping like crazy this year. Um, they actually started dropping fairly early. So UM, I know I have a tree rate in my yard that the deer have cleaned up already. So I mean, yeah, kind of monitoring those those oaks and and see you know who's dropping, and you know, kind of keying on those a little bit. Um. You know, that's that's primarily you know the most um, attractable food source in my area. Definitely is is those acorns right now too? You mentioned that you're doing a lot of field edge sets this time of year. Do you pay attention to things like scrap on those field edges or that's not something that you really care about. Yeah, so I know this past spring, I actually went in and he limitated some possible looking branches in my woods just to kind of speed up the process a little bit for those bucks getting out to those field edges and keeping those licking branches a little closer to the field edge, you know, so they don't get hung up deep in the woods. But the scrapes are actually starting to open up right now. I've got a lot of reports guys seeing some scrapes in the woods. So, um, I would definitely, you know, take that into consideration coming up here with this cold front coming in and uh, you know, try to get on one of those scrapes inside the woods. Um, maybe not necessarily on those those field edges, because those primarily are are are late night screen uh spots. So I would out keep more in the wood scrape lines. Where are you running your trail cameras right now? Yeah, So I got a couple of pinch points that I'm I'm running some cameras and then you know, also those food sources. But you know, if it's if it comes down to running a trail camera to try to harvest the mature deer, it's definitely those pains points just inside the woods, probably a hundred yards or so. That's where I'm focusing right now. We have a cold front coming up for most of the country. Does that change anything for you in Minnesota? Get my button the woods to get everybody in the woods man. It's it's this, This is the front that that I've kind of been waiting for. Um. You know, it's kind of been you know, ideal temperatures, um, you know, throughout the hunting season so far. But right now is the time to get out. The temps are gonna drop, you know, twenty degrees here in the next two days, and the pressure is gonna be rising. Um. And that's perfect recipe for harvesting mature gear right now. You touched on your attention to scrapes, but do you care about rubs in the same way? Not necessarily yet. UM. To me, those rubs right now would have to be you know, those bucks when they're kind of shedding their velvet. Um. You know, we'll see them out there rubbing out stuff off. Uh, you know, the scrapes the deer, every every buck that I've seen so far on stand you know, the little guys that are coming out on the on the field, Um, they go find another buck in there. They're tickling antlers with each other, so they're starting to try to find that pack in order a little bit and testing out their strength to see where they're gonna be sitting. But I would say, you know, um, you know, focus more on the scrapes and the rubs right now as we get into what most hunters consider to be the law. Do you have any tips or tactics that used to try to get a mature buck within these next couple of weeks. Yeah, I just you know, I would say, pay attention you know to the weather. Um. And then also you know, don't don't over hunt your property. You know, depending on your property size and how much time you have available to get out hunting. But for myself, I've been kind of staying out of the woods and and waiting for the right time. And then you know, every deer is different. Um, you know, we We've had a mature year that we've been watching, and normally this time of year we're not hunting mornings. But what happens the second day of archery. He comes in at said and thirty in the morning. So, I mean, every deer is different, and you just gotta, you know, pay attention to what they're doing in your area and go off of that going forward. Then in the next week or so, what do you think that buck activity is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Minnesota? You know, with this weather front coming in, I have to put it at least a nine. Um, I'm really looking forward to to seeing some big bucks hit the ground, and uh yeah, it should be. It should be really interesting and I'm looking forward to it. All right, Joe, good luck to you and everyone else from Minnesota rack Stars, Thanks for joining me. Sounds good. Thanks Spencer, alright and joining us on the line. Next is Vince Bodiata from Tennessee. Now, Vince in Tennessee, what would you say the buck activities been Leley? On a scale of one to ten, I would say the buck activity has probably been around uh six and a half to seven, depending on where you are. Um, lately, we've we've started to see you know, the bachelor groups there's they're still kind of there together, but we have started to see them start to split off a little bit and starting to starting to start making some sign and stuff like that. But we've we've still been running into quite a few. So are you seeing any mature bucks that are moving in daylight? Still? We have seen some, Um, I think there is a few that are really starting to move around to their their second home ranges. Um. But we do have a couple um that that are moving in daylight. Um. But I think a lot of them they're just they're just starting to kind of move around a little bit and just kind of start to get comfortable. A lot of the country has a cold front coming up here in these next couple of days that it's already started in the South, in the state like Tennessee. What are the impacts of a cold front and what is like that degree difference that you're looking for that would be different from someone who's maybe hunting in like Illinois or Michigan. Yeah, so, uh, definitely totally different than than the North. It does not take much to to get there moving on their feet here. This far south. Um. Being someone that that grew up in mission again, UM, you know you're looking for those really you know, really cold um temperatures to really drop to kind of get them up and moving. Um here, you know, let's just say it was you know you've been running, you know, and temperatures in the seventies. As soon as it drops ten degrees, I mean they're gonna be they're gonna be up and moving around. So, especially with the cooler temperatures that are coming up, um some getting down into the mid forties, we should have some pretty good movements. So as someone who haunts a lot of public land, where do you want your trail cameras as we get into early October? Uh, right now, I would probably say I'm I'm probably most likely going to leave my trail cameras um on scrapes is probably where I'm gonna be leaving them. I do have a couple that are on some transition areas, um just from betting to food. Um. But for the majority of the part through October, they'll they'll they'll be on scrapes for sure. So are you seeing some signmaking already in Tennessee? Yeah, not not a ton, but we are starting to see you know, the community scrapes starting to come up a little bit um but not not not a whole lot, but it should within the next couple of weeks, it'll probably start getting pretty heavy. What food sources are you focused on this time of year? Uh, this time of year, I mean we're we're starting to look for you know, the acorns dropping, um, stuff like that, but just just regular brows, not nothing too crazy. There's still some standing crops and stuff around. Um, but really we're really just mainly focused on those transition areas mainly. Now. Tennessee has an early season that opens up around the end of August. I know you were hunting that season. How with patterns change since then until now, probably of a difference has that month made? Uh, it's it's definitely made a difference, I would say during that time and that that early part of the season. Um, if you've been watching them, they're they're they're dead nuts on their on their pattern um from then until now. Um, Like I said, they're starting to split off a little bit um still on some of the patterns, but it's a it's definitely starting to change. You said you're seeing some signmaking already. How much does deer sign factor into your decision making as a public land hunter this time of year? Oh yeah, it's it's it's huge, um, you know, with with all the pressure and stuff that that you do get on public land and you just never know what you are going to run into out there. Um, you know, we we try to do our our best to just kind of hunt our way in and always looking for just the most hottest, freshest sign that that we can find. And as soon as we roll up on one with just just hanging hunt on that, unless you got some intel somewhere else, are you getting pretty close to beds? Uh? We have a little bit. I probably will get a little bit closer here as the month rolls on. Um, but we have started to move in. I would say no more than a hundred yards going forward. Then, in the next week or so, what do you think that bucket TV is going to be on a scale of to ten in Tennessee? I would probably probably say about the same or maybe even just a It could even get up to an eight, just depending on the temperatures. If it stays cooler like it's saying that's going to then we should have some pretty good buck movement, our adventable. Good luck with your hunts. Thanks for joining me, buddy, Thank you alright and joining us on the line. Next is Nate Crick in Kansas from identical draw now Nate in Kansas. What would you say the buck activity has been lately on the scale of one to ten, I would say the buck activity is probably in the five to ten range. Um, I gave it a five to ten. I give it lower. But honestly, the last week we've had a little cold snap, so I think they've been on their feet a little bit more moving with that. Um, but yeah, five to ten for buck moving this last week. When we get a cold front this time of year, what specifically do you notice that's different with dear movement. Um, as far as recently we've had with this last cold front, our cameras have been way more active. We have a few cellular cameras on our property in Kansas, and UM, we've been getting a bunch of dove movement. The buck activity has been okay, but the dope movement has increased significantly, And I know once they start moving then the bucks will soon follow. Um. Yeah, they've they've been moving a lot more. I say, this morning was probably the most movement I've seen, and it's also the coolest morning I've seen this season. Um With that, we've also seen movement in different areas. Um The cameras that we have in the timber, we only have a few of them in there. We need to move a few more, but our cameras in the timber are definitely getting hit and activated more. Um So, yeah, there's kind of a shift going on there. A lot of haunters like to let their trail cameras soak for the next month or so. Where do you like to have those trail cameras set from now until the rout? Yeah? Right now. Like I said, we have ours on the food stores and it's still goods um our bean plot. We have a three acre being in Braska plot and that's still get hit pretty heavily. But like I said, this, with these cold fronts and this next month, they're definitely going to be making more of a transition to the bedding and timber. So we had a few different corridors um and ridgelines that we will be moving. Some of our cameras that are on the bean in Braska, mix and clover plots will be moving some of those into that thicker timber where um those bills and bucks will start to hanging out more. It sounds like the white tails in New area have a lot of choices for food. But what are they hitting the hardest right now? Yeah, so, um, we've got a lot of a lot of agon areas. They are corn in the beans, um. And last night when we were watching them, they were still hitting our bean field really hard. Um. We do have some ratshes and turnips in that area too, and they were starting to hit that. But still the beans were probably the number one UM thing they were feeding on. UM. Right now, the crops are majority of the crops are still in. They haven't been harvested yet, so they're still um hitting both corner beans pretty good. But last night when I saw the mix when they at Clover, they had peas um, the brassicas and then the beans in the area. They are still definitely focusing on the beans the most. Are you seeing any signmaking yet? Um? Very little. It's just starting up. UM. We've we've made a few mock scrapes. I think that's a great time to do the mock scrapes. And we also um planted a licking branch in our field, just basically cut a cut a branch and buried in the ground, and that has been starting to get hit more and more these this next week or two. If there's cold fronts, I'm gonna be sitting near that that looking branch because I know that the scrape action and the rub action is about to get pretty good. We have a full moon coming up. Does that change anything as far as your strategy goes? Personally, I'm I'm not a huge moon guy. Um, I know a lot of guys who have and die by it. And if if I'm hunting during it, then I'm like, hey, thumbs up. If it helps, it helps. But right now I am mainly focused on those cold cold fronts whenever they drop. If if we have this difficant drop and weather, I'm going to be out there hunting, especially if you have a little rain like we did this last cold front. I'm gonna get there either that evening if it clears up, or that next dry morning or evening sits So, yeah, the moon, it's great if it's full. That doesn't really change my strategy mainly a weather guy, but yeah, definitely cold temps and full moon should be good, Nate. I know you and your brother have had success killing big white tails in October. What do you think it is about this coming month that works so well for you guys on your property in Kansas. The thing that we have done is unless there's a good cold snap, which I'm talking at least fifteen twenty degrees dropped UM in the high of the temperature and like good barometric pressure, we are only hunting those days. We are not going to be touching the property unless we have the significant cold cold front come through. UM. And yeah, we've the way we've killed UM last year early October was UM, it's October three, I believe it is. I mean the temperature drop about thirty degrees. We had rain comes through that night, UM, and that next evening we were sitting the field edge. U there's a bean field and he was out there making fresh stegn UM. I think I think cold fronts during either any time during October. I know there's sometimes that October Lowell people talk about, but I think if you get any cold snap during the month of October, I think you should be looking at food sources if it's still UM applicable or timber scrape lines. That's where we've had our most success killing bucks over scrapes. And like I mentioned before, those licking branches, we've killed bucks in October over those licking branches on food sources. They can be super deadly during October going forward. Then, in the next week or so, what do you think that bucket activity is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Kansas looking at the weather and stuff. Um, I'm thinking it's probably going to be the same, probably in that five to ten or six to ten on the buck movement. Um. And I'm thinking I'm probably going to be staying off that property and waiting to hunt until we get the better cold snap during this next week. But hey, if you if you're in a property where you guys have some nice cold weather and bucks on their feet, go hit it. But right now, yeah, I'm saying probably five percent right now, but old road. All right, Nate, Well, good luck to you and your brother. Looking forward to seeing more videos from Identical Draw. Thanks for joining me alright and joining us on the line. Next is Byron Horton from White Tail Experience in Ohio. Now, Byron in Ohio, what would you say the buck activities Ben Leley. On a scale of one to ten, I would say it's a three. Um, just I'm based on the guys I talked to him myself being out in the field a decent amount. Here, we had a very warm opener. Um. Today we do have a cold front moving through. But I think, um, I think today's to day if you're gonna get it done. But but literally the past couple of days it's been hot. So you think the cold front is gonna change things in Ohio. Yeah, the front that just pushed through had good winds, like kind of getting up their fifteen plus mile an hour, and so like our our oaks are now on the sound from that front, and so that, like the ocock population on the grounds has jumped up tremendously in the last like forty eight hours. Um. But I think guys that that were kind of on a book, Um, I think today's the day they're going to kill them. Um. Otherwise, like the front, the rest of the week is is kind of neutral. There's some some some tent drops, but nothing drastic, nothing outside of a few degrees. But um, yesterday's today we kind of had that bigger ten degrees swing. Um, So so I think here, today's a day if if you're gonna get it done. Besides oaks, what are the food sources should hunters in Ohio focus on right now? So? Uh, something noted in farm country from some of the scouting I've been doing is, uh, the bean fields that are smaller with like essentially more shade um still are green or maybe those are being said planted late so you still can find like green beans. I don't know if it's got something to do with the planting, but I know of to too green bean fields that are dominant green instead of the yellow, so I think those can be hot. Andy did see a buck hitting beans that were turning on. I think that was Sunday evening. UM, So that's kind of a source in foreign country. UM. As far as the oaks are concerned, from the scouting I've seen UM with the white oaks are dropping and this isn't like a big year for oaks, so it's it's a little concentrated patches UM. And definitely if you I feel like the deer a touch lower over the weekend. They seem to be lower on the big hills UM, and I think that's due to they can get to watering in oaks down there. As a public land hunter, I know you're more aggressive than other guys. So are you hunting mornings in late September and early October on public land? So I actually did throw a sit this morning after a buck um, but that was due to trail cam data. He seemed to favor mornings actually, and I'm not afraid to hunt mornings by by any means early in the season. But I think the most important thing to be doing now is scouting, even if you're not hunting mornings. UM. Scouting is so critical this time of year because the buck sign is just super concentrated, and so if you don't know what's going on, you've got to go find it um and potentially relocate the books that you found in the summer. When you say scouting, right now, besides rubs and scrapes, what are you looking for on public land? So I would be looking. Uh, as far as public land, I'm still kind of noting maybe trucks and parking lots. UM tracks are another area um that they you know, you can pick up a big track. We just had a rainstorm come through, so so you know, those mud tracks could be fresher than than say, you know, in the prior weeks, Um, rubs are are super concentrated. So that's kind of what I'm looking for right now. That's I've seen a couple of scrapes open up, but nothing tornched as as far as scrapes are concerned. So I'm looking for clusters of rubs, those better rubs, and trying to maybe locate a Buck's core betting area this time of year going forward. Then in the six week you're so, what do you think that buck activity is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Ohio? I think we're gonna jump up maybe like till four point five. I mean, at the end of the day, we're still early October. Um, we do have temperatures in the upper thirties forties overnight, so that you know, we do have and then highs in the sixties, which is all lower than average temps. But nothing crazy, No no big like fronts coming through this week, and no big like ten degree temp drops. So I'm not gonna get too optimistic. Um, So I'm gonna give it a four four point five somewhere in there, all right, buying good luck with your haunts. This year. Thanks for joining me. Thanks, and that concludes this week's episode of rut Fresh Radio. Thanks to Joe, Vince, Nate, and Byron for joining me, and thank you guys for listening. I hope you get a chance to take advantage of this cold front and it's everything that Mark and I have built it up to be. Good luck this weekend, and the next time I talked to you, it'll be October. Until then, stay wired to Hunt three.

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