00:00:02 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Wire 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 nine, and today we're back for another fresh radio episode in which we are getting reports from across the country on the latest deer activity, how current conditions are impacting things, and the tactics that are gonna help you right now during the middle of October the quote unquote dreaded October lull. All right, welcome to the Wire to Hunt podcast, brought to you by on X. We're back here for another fresh radio episode in which Spencer and I are going to be setting us up to hear from a handful of different hunters from across the country. They're gonna get us the very most recent intel on what deer doing right now. So what have they been seeing over the last week, What kind of conditions are impacting dear behavior, what are the tactics that are working right now, and what should we expect over the next seven days. Can we predict to a kind of movement we're gonna see. Should we be thinking about different tactics, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. That's the game plan. Uh, this episode the day it comes out. If you're listening to this on the day it comes out, it's October fourteenth. We are just about in the dead center of October, Spencer. What are your thoughts out the gate on that dead center of October time period? Well, um, referring to rud Fresh Radio. And I say this every year, but these are my favorite episodes of the podcast, from like that October tenth to that October uh, like early twenties episodes. These are my favorite episodes because I think there's so much to learn and there's so many different ways that hunters across the country, UM kind of approach what we consider to be the October law. UM. And you always here in these episodes, how you get this like super wide range of numbers thrown out? Like we know, Mark, when we get to you know, like the November fourth episode, everyone's going to say that movement is an eight or nine or ten, um. But right now you get this super golf, super wide golf of numbers where someone might say a one, uh, and someone might say it's an eight. And I think that just speaks to how middle October and what most hunters refer to you as the October law is quite an enigma. Um So, while it might not be the best hunting right now, these are my favorite episodes of the year for that reason. Yeah. You know. Another big thing is that whether you rate it as a one or an eight might also depend, more so than any other time of year, on what kind of hunter you are. So are you the kind of hunter that likes to play it safe and hunt the edges, or are you really aggressive and pushing into core areas and and just charity cover. If you're a conservative edge hunter, this is a time of year that you're probably gonna think things are pretty darn slow in a lot of cases. If you're really aggressive and you're pushing the envelope and going in deep, you might have some eight out of ten nights this time of the year. Um you know, if you're looking at a Mark Drewy at this time of year, he's going to be telling you as the two or three on a food plot edge. If you're talking to a you know, Aaron Warburton from the hunting public who's pushing into the middle of the buck nest, right now he's gonna tell you, man, there's big Bucks. I'm seeing big Bucks every day. So this time period, I think has, as we've talked about, generically been labeled the October lull. I'd like to call it the October shift because it's simply a big change, a big change in dear behavior and a big change in habitat and conditions, which just requires a change in our hunting. And you can make that change with them if you're willing to be aggressive. If you don't want to be aggressive for certain reasons, then then you're just gonna have to live with with a slightly slower time period in those conservative stands. Um, I guess Spencer, you tell me if you think this is necessarily not because we've talked about this year after year after years, so there might be people listening who know this stuff, but at the same time it could be new hunters. Is it worth me walking through the high level? This is what the October shift is. This is why I think it happens. Here's two things to think about. Do you think we should still cover that? Absolutely? Um, Because I think there's like two very popular ways of thinking about this. One of them is that the lull is real and box are nocturnal, um, and they're damn near impossible to kill for a few weeks stretch. So I think that's one way of think about the other way of sort of thinking about is that, like you said, there is a shift, but hunters may not look at that shift beyond just what the food sources. Um. So I think it is like still something that's really relevant to cover again this fall. Mark. Yeah, and I'll tell you, I'll run us through like the quick. You know, as you pointed out the other day when you're hosting the show by yourself, you said that here's the cliff notes version, which is something Mark says a lot apparently. Um, I'll give you the cliff notes version. Um. But you can also go And there's actually two articles I wrote on this in in quite a bit of detail over on the Meat Either website. I wrote one article last year called the October law is Real, and then I wrote an article this year that I think we simply called how to kill a buck in October, And in both of these I addressed the October shift. Here's the high level bit. At this time of year, many hunters experience a decline in visible deer sightings because of these changes. Number one, there is a change in food sources across most places. Right We're seeing certain crops that are defoliating, like soybeans dried down completely by now, and some are being harvested. You've got corn that's drying down now, so deer that maybe we're feeding on soybeans or shifting to corn or whatever the crop is in near area. This change is going on, some drying down, some being harvested. There's leaves falling down, so the cover is changing across most parts of the country. And then you also have hunting pressure increasing significantly across the country. So all of those things are changing the white tails world. So because of that, white tails are going to adjust. So you might have seen deer. Let's say you're your hunting season didn't open to October one, maybe the week before September, you saw a big mature buck out in a soybean field that still had a few green leaves here and there, and he was out there feeding in daylight. Now that buck might not want to do that at all on October because the beans are gone. There's been hunters running around spooking him, and that little thick grassy area that was next to the bean field, UM a couple of weeks ago is barren. There's no tree cover. Now, maybe we'll say hypothetically, so to over generalize, these deer on new food sources. They're readjusting to find spots that are better cover wise even without leaf cover, and they're typically spending more time in that security cover during daylight because they don't want to move as far away from their bedrooms with hunters around that they now are aware of. So you've got one of two options. I see, and this is oversimplified. There's always nuance. Everyone's got a different situation. But I would put too general schools of thought to consider for how to hunt this time period. If you know your property really well, if you're experienced, if you know where these bucks live, whether that be through observations or trail cameras, or you've hunted here a lot and you know, man, there's always a big buck. And these couple betting areas in October, if you feel really confident in that, or if you have seventeen different scouted out public land locations that you're really confident with, and if one doesn't work and move on to the next now is still a time to get on a nice buck if you're willing to be aggressive and pushing close to their betting areas. This is the Dan in fault approach or DeAndre Dequisto approach, where you push into that thick stuff you go get those bucks, no matter what time of year is um that would be one approach, and it's kind of a swing for the fences approach because by doing this at this time of year, there is the high risk that you could push in close and spook that deer or educate that dear and never even see him. So if you only hunt a little tiny property, or if you have not done this stuff before and you don't know your areas or you're not confident as a hunter yet because you're relatively and experienced, that might not be the best thing to do at this time of year. There's there's better, slightly more conducive to new hunter or too small property hunter hunting coming up later. So if you play it safe now and wait till that better stuff comes in late October or November, you could keep these deer uneducated and around for that better stuff. So those are the two schools of thought. If if you're in the less experienced or less opportunity small property. If you're in that camp, now it's a good time to you know, hunt some public land so you don't mess up your little property. And now it's a good time to be conservative and sit, you know, observation stands that are on the edges. If you still want to hunt, you just watch from afar and learn, but don't go pushing into the good stuff. Um. Or this maybe is the time to work on your honeydew list and get some work done around the house or whatever. Um now might be a time to do that. Um. So it just depends on where you feel you are based on those two sets of circumstances I described. Now there are these different varying factors that can change all that, such as if you happen to see a mature buck or whatever you're after, if you see the kind of deal you're after moving in daylight, go get him. If there's a front pushing through, that can change things. Um, at least I believe so that can change things a little bit. So there's some nuance here. But that is my cliff notes version of what this time period is all about. Spencer, Um, what what are your what am I missing? Is there anything important I'm missing there? Or is there anything that our guests that you've talked to already, is there anything that they brought up that we need to add to this as a foundation. Well, it seems like something that can you know, reverse the October law. As as we talked about a few episodes ago and you just touched on there is when you get a front to move through. It seems like for most of the country, Um, there is a cold front coming through between like Wednesday and Saturday of this week, So the fourteen uh and the seventeen between there a lot of the country is going to have some cold front where you're looking at like a forty to fifty degrees swing between the high on one day and the low on the next day. Um. And as we talked about on the September thirty episode, mark, this is kind of like, you know, maybe the last catalyst that we get to make dear movement go up and get him ature Buck moving when he wouldn't be otherwise, um until we get to November. So I think that's relevant, and it's it's a reason that all of our guests this week are really optimistic and who we talked to you is Caleb Combs from Stewart Ranch Out Figures in Oklahoma, Bo Mortonic from the East meets West Hunt podcast in Pennsylvania, Parker McDonald and Alabama from Southern Ground Hunting, and then Alex Gilstrom in Illinois from White Tailed Properties. Nice. It sounds like a good slate. I'll tell you on my end just to add a little bit of personal a personal update off of what I just described as my generic October shift perspective. UM, I used to find myself in the latter camp, so I used to approach the October laws. I was really conservative. I would leave my best spots alone completely. I wouldn't even go into the property I we usually hunt like October one and second, and I wouldn't come back again to the almost November. Um. And maybe that was the right thing to do at that time. But you know, the more experienced and confident I've become with what I'm doing, and the more people we talked to, who are you know proving that the October law, October shift or whatever to call it, it doesn't have to be a bad time to hunt. Um, I'm gaining more and more confidence in taking some swings at that time. So with this front, this is the kind of thing that I think, you know, I'm willing to do something that six years ago, seven eight years ago, I wouldn't have done. I might take a swing on in October five or six hunt because of that, because of that temperature, and because you know, check and trail cameras some some spots, I'm seeing that I do have bucks that are in the area still, that are moving on the edge of daylight. I even had my number one buck, Spencer tran Um. He was moving in daylight after the hunting season opened on this property and I was over on the back forty hunting with my dad trying to get him a buck, and Tran was walking around in daylight on the other farm. So that tells me that at least up to that point he hadn't been boogered. He was still feeling comfortable and Um, and I know the general zone, one of a couple of general zones where he spends a lot of time, and I think we're beds. So with this front coming in, I'm thinking I might take another crack at them. So I'm interested to see what everybody else says. But as of now I am cautiously excited. Spencer. I dig it a dig andd Like you said, so much of your outlook on this time of year has to do with what properties you have available, what your style of hunting is, what kind of time you have available, all those sort of factors. And again that's why I love these middle of October episodes. Um, but I think that's enough from us this week. Let's get to our guests perfect alright, and joining us on the line next is Parker McDonald in Alabama from the Southern Ground Hunting. Now, Parker in Alabama, what would you say the buck activity has been lately on a scale of one to ten, Man, I would probably say, um, about as low as I've ever seen it. I would say probably it's two or three, um, in at least in the areas where I'm hunting at right now. It's just it kind of seems like, you know, it's hard to find it's hard to really even find a lot of deer right now because just things are so much different than they usually are every other year. Um, and especially bucks Man, I'm I'm I'm not seeing even a whole lot of tracks and some of the main areas that I hunt, um, not even finding a whole lot of buck tracks or sign or anything like that. And so it's been pretty slow. The only reason I give it as high as the three is because there have been a couple of a couple of friends that I know who have killed bucks um and seeing something. But for me, it's been it's been pretty low, about as low as I've ever seen it. Now, this is one of the earliest openers that Alabama has ever had. So what does that meant for haunters in your state this year? Well, so the state of Alabama usually is about mid October, so sometime around October, and the majority of the state is still following that um those season dates. But there's actually like three different areas pretty much spread across the state this year that opened up on October one, And as far as I know, UM, that's the earliest anybody has ever been able to legally hunt in Alabama. So there's things are a lot of a lot of things are just incredibly different um this year versus last year. And that is like in in the areas that I hunt, a lot of the akrons hadn't even started dropping yet when the season opened, um, and so big woods areas like I hunt, Um, there's real big woods, very unforgiving terrain, hardly any crops, especially on the public that I hunt. Um, you just you're not gonna be able to key in on like really consistent concentrated food sources. And so the what I'm hearing from a ton of people. If you can find a hot speed tree, like just one of the few oaks that have dropped, if you can find that, then you can find deer. But otherwise the deer pretty much sticking with just a lot of the natural brows, and they're not really coming out of the fixed stuff. And that's what I've seen. I've been lucky enough in the last two weeks to kill a couple of dose um and most of that is because I found a tree that was dropping Acron's early. And I think within the next you know, a couple of weeks, you're gonna start seeing where a lot of the wide oaks have have already started dropping, and you're gonna start seeing a lot more activity. But for hunters, I'm hearing the same thing from most people. Unless you have private, private land a hunt where you've got um some type of food plot or agg field or something like that, which is you know, pretty typical for a lot of people hunting early season openers. Um, you key in on those crops and those those those food sources like that, and so if you don't have that, it's been extremely tough. Besides big egg and acorns, are there any other food sources that hunters in the big woods in the South can focus on for the month of October? Occasionally you can find things like per simmons or muscadines or or something like that. Uh, you know, a lot of on private land, a lot of guys are able to hunt over you know, bait, hungover corn and things like that. But as far as natural I really struggle to say that there's anything better than a hot feed tree. You know, a good um, a good area with you know, some some good acorns dropping. That's about as good as I've been able to find out here. I know you do a lot of haunts where you do water access on your kayak. So how does that change or how is that different in October than it is saying November or December. When you're coming into those pieces of public land through water, it's actually pretty different, um than normal. So I was I was talking to a buddy of mine the other day when we were trying to figure out why all of the signs that I'm seeing, most of the tracks, most of the really heavy crossings that I'm finding, are right up against the water. A lot of these deer just hanging out right on the water. And the thing that we figured out and UM started trying to put the pieces together, is that a lot of the area around that water, especially the um the slopes kind of that that don't really have any trees blocking them because the water is there, and so the sunlight is hitting the bottom and you're getting a lot of that undergrowth, which also includes a lot of natural brows and so a lot of these deer because the acorns haven't hadn't dropped yet, UM even for simmons and things like that, just a lot of the food sources that you tend to key in on early season in Alabama because those things haven't become available yet. These deer sticking close to the water because a lot of that browse is right there close to the water, and so it's made things a little more difficult. A lot of the areas that I typically would hunt in the early season, UM, they just they design has not started to open up even like just just not even buck sign, but just deer sign in general. I'm not seeing it like I normally do. And I think it has a lot to do with those deer just sticking right there close to the water, which makes things a little more difficult on your access. To be honest with you, if you're using water access, a lot of the deer are really close by right when you get out of the boat. So, um, you have to be pretty stealthy. You have to be pretty uh, pretty knowledgeable about your area. Otherwise you could go in there and potentially ruin a good area because you went into early and too aggressive. Going forward, Then in the six week or so, what do you think that buck activity is going to be on a skill of one to ten in Alabama? I think this. I think this coming weekend. Obviously it's the statewide over the ground. Um. But I killed a doe on Sunday. We're recording this right now on a Tuesday, And I killed a doe two days ago, and that was the first area that I started seeing that acorn crop really really start to be be good, I mean, and they were munching on them hardcore and there was a lot of tracks, a lot. I mean, it just looked like turkey scratching. So I think, Um, as as the week progresses this week, getting closer to that statewide opener, I think you're gonna start seeing a lot more buck activity. And also I think to um, you know, pressure really does tend to get deer on their feet more, at least in the areas that I like. I tend to see more deer when there's a little more pressure on them. Um, they're not just hanging out, you know, in their bedding areas and not moving around a lot. They're having to get away from from a lot of the pressure. So I think as the pressure increases, you're gonna see a lot more deer get on their feet, especially on these big public pieces. Um. But when the when the food source has become available and a lot of the deer are in the areas that you're used to them being in, I think that's gonna cause a lot of a lot of more a lot more bucks to be seen and killed this week. Um. So I would say within the next week it's probably gonna go up to about a six or seventh I part your great info. I like your optimism, good luck, and thanks for joining me. Thanks Spencer alright and joining us on the line. Next is Alex Gillstrom from white Tail Properties in Illinois. Now Alex in Illinois. What would you say the buck activity has been lately on the scale of one to ten, I would have to give it a I would say probably up to this point, to this week, I would probably give it about a six, at least in my specific region here in western Illinois. Yeah, I think a lot of I think a lot of it so far has got to do with it's been warm. We've had warm temps of varying wind conditions and and a lot a lot of it is I think what we'll I'm not alone and seeing this is is a lot of the has to do with acorn crops. So um. You know, I primarily hunt exclusively public land most most of my season, if not all my season, so um, you know, variables are working against me a little bit. I don't do anything with food plots. Uh. You know, it's not anything like guys I've I've been talking to, at least in this area. A lot of good activity on like you know, good clover plots or secluded um food plots that are close to like oaks or certain ridges or things like that. Well, for me, it's all based around bedding in those oak ridges because the food isn't isn't isn't really there, So um that that's kind of been the story of the season so far. Is is a lot of warm temperatures, which is slowed the movement made made. The movement that I have seen tend to be like right either last light or right at first light a couple of mornings that I've hunted, and they seem to be a little dispersed right now because at least in my exact area for the oaks, it seems to be pretty decent across the board, but there's definitely been hot spots where I've found concentrations of deer and in certain areas or portions of different um portions of public land that I've I've found, so it seems to have them a little bit scattered out. It always seems like in a good oak dear. It just it makes the early season tough because the deer just they're they're in the cover, they stay secluded, they're not moving as far from betting typically, and they can kind of scatter so that seems to at least be the case up to this point. How does acorn crop compared to recent years in Illinois? There was a better crop for acorns definitely this year than last year. I would probably say it's pretty close to um and and and kind of it's it's it's I guess it's remained fairly consistent with that other every other year pattern. Um and again it depends so much on the species of the oak and and kind of crecifit you know, rainfall and moisture levels and things like that in the soil. So UM. But I would say, you know, in a nutshell, that's kind of how I would stack it up. Is it's it's definitely heavier than last year, probably similar it wasn't and um and kind of seeing it evolve a little bit a little bit further um which it you know, conversely, it's it's made sign a little bit tougher to find, It's made a deer a little bit tougher to find. But um, I think you know, with just in the last five and five days or so last week, UM, finally starting to see more of that that ground sign you know, the scrapes open up and more rubbing activity and things like that, but prior to the last week, it's been pretty difficult to find even the sign. Um to this point, how much does seeing recent sign playing into your decision making hunting that public land in the Midwest in October? It's everything for me right now, it's it's it's especially for for October. Is I really try not to rely on historic um experiences now. Of course I factor that into the conditions, into the locations and things like that, but just because I had a good encounter, even had success in a specific area, it's like, I'm a firm believer that that you have to you know, scout, scout hunt, you've got you've got a scout twice as much as you hunt and um and go to the deer. I don't wait for the deer to come to me. That's that's my personal koun of philosophy and strategy. So um, it's been a struggle, but I've really it's really been great to see that kind of come to come to fruition, to see the sign kind of happening now and really starting to pop up a little bit more and and as you'd expect in a in a decent acorn crop area or year it's it's really happening on those transition lines from thick cover into those oak flats, or it's actually on the oak flats. Now a lot of it seems to be nighttime activity, so it's trying to factor in and kind of understand where that that movement is happening, when it's happening, how to capitalize on it. But but yeah, for me, understanding the sign, seeing where it pops up, and trying to factor in how uh to kind of set up my game plan around it is huge. Um and for me, the weather has affected that a lot, so we haven't had a lot of great gold fronts. We've had some. There's actually another really good one coming at the end of this week. But with this warmer weather, it's brought higher winds. So I've tried to use that to my advantage too, with these higher wind speeds and a little bit warmer weather to push back a little bit further than maybe I normally would this time of year. But I can do so with it with can kind of concealed access. So access is huge, especially when you're trying to navigate aroun on these different like isolated oak flats and things like that to where the deer kind of feeding is is trying to get in and out as clean as possible and in the higher wind speeds even though it's kind of accompanied by warmer weather. Uh. That's I've used that to my advantage to be able to kind of time my you know, time my attacks, if you will, to get in a little bit tighter on these deer to try to get more daylight movement. Um. And then the higher wind speeds have been able to help me do that going forward. Then in this next week or so, what do you think that bucket activity is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Illinois? You know, I'm hoping for I'm hoping for an eight. I'm gonna be optimistic and and and and kind of predict an eight. We've got another this Thursday and Friday. Here. Um, there's gonna be another really good cold front coming in. Um. It doesn't look like precipitations accompanying it. Um, but it's gonna be another like windy day I think on Wednesday, and then kind of transition into bringing those on the back side of that front the lower tents. So it should be really good Thursday and Friday for some some colder temperatures. I'm hoping for earlier movement the evenings, a little bit later movement in the the mornings, and my concentration is going to be those secluded kind of what I call is like primary scrape areas, So the scrapes and the sign that we're seeing and I'm seeing back in the cover um more like transitional between leaving like really thick betting areas, um even on the edges of some uh and and really focusing on those areas and trying to see which is which are the you know, determined, which are the freshest, which are the most active and capitalized, and you do you don't you know, doubling up on that as as it gets a little bit closer into the pre rut at the end, you know, towards the end of the month, those becoming more active. The weather helping that with the cold front, and so I'm shooting for an eight here at the end of the week. Great info, Alex, Good luck with the rest of your season, and thanks for joining me. Thanks Spencer, as always appreciate it. Man alright, and joining us on the line next is Caleb Combs from Stewart Ranch Outfitters in Oklahoma, now Caleb in Oklahoma. What would you say the buck activity has been lately on a scale of one to ten one lately, I'm not one to be pessimistic, but it has not been good. Temperatures have been unusually high, uh, and sidings are low and trail cameras have basically been dead, so it has not been good. You mentioned your trail cameras there where are you running a lot of your cams in mid till late October? In mid October early October, I start transitioning towards scrapes. Uh. Those are just my favorite place to run cameras, So I run scrapes pretty much all a year. I still have some on food sources, uh, some on some acorn trees that have been hit really good lately, But for the most part, I'm always on scrapes, even on the edge of the food plots, scrapes everywhere. What food sources are you most keyed in on this time of year? Food plots haven't really started going yet, so if I'm near agriculture, I'm usually still on that. So it's still be beans right now or um alfalfa, but a corns a lot of the time as well. It doesn't seem like it's gonna Last year was the most acorns I've ever seen, and this year seems like it came back down to actually huntable mostly red oaks where I'm hunting, not a lot of white oaks, so I'll be on the creek bottoms, actually the creek edges, hunting red oaks. Is there a time of year that those food plots are going to get better for you? Ideally it's gonna rain. Uh, it hasn't. For the last week and a half. They started out good. We usually plant ours trying to get our food plots going mid October, so we're not shooting for opening. We're shooting for mid October for them to really turn around. And everything started germanating popping out. So if it rains soon then we'll we should be all right. They're they're probably hitting them now. Uh, but I won't start hunting food plots real hard tell mid October when everybody's seeking. Are you seeing any signmaking yet in Oklahoma? Yeah, scrapes have been going. I've been getting real good pictures on scrapes since early October. UM. But like I said earlier, I run a lot of cameras on scrapes, so I'm usually pretty homed in on which scrapes are. Um community scrapes are the ones that get hit, the looking branches that get hit a lot of the season, like the majority of the season. But they're making new ones. There are some scrapes that I have made that have been going well, but I'm seeing scrapes pop up around my scrape so that they're really getting going. So when you say that movement has been really poorlyly, are you just saying that they're mostly moving at night or you're just finding that the deer have quite a small range right now. Small range. I'm never a big believer that they just move at night, just because I mean, I realized they go further. But if you're on top of them, if you know where the betting area is, if you've done your research, you can usually get in there might be the last ten minutes or whatever, but you can get close and you can get on do your during daylight hours. So it's just been dead as far as they aren't moving. They're not hitting scrapes because it's been so hot, So even the scrapes they had started they quit hitting the last week or so, but it'll it'll turn back around Thursday. If you've got a cold front in this next week and you're feeling optimistic, what would it set up look like? Uh, I don't know yet because I'm checked on my trail cameras, but I will probably be on scrapes. I don't think it's food plot time. If I can find a spot that they're hitting the acorns that's close enough to betting, it'll all depend on what my cameras tell me, I'll pull them this it's about to turn around. The week's about to be fantastic, So I would say Thursday Friday in Oklahoma, the weekend, and then from what I saw on the forecast, everything after that. But it's one of my favorite times to go, so acorns and scrapes. If you're not running a bunch of cameras, whatever, scraps probably will start getting hit again Thursday or Friday. What makes mid October one of your favorite times to hunt? I have O C D or not like a real bad like weird version, but you know, I like things organized, I like no one what I'm getting into. I like information, So I don't like November. I don't like hardcore rut when they're when they're stuck with dose, when they're pulling them off and they're just trying to get away from everybody. So October December my favorite because you're more predictable. But they're moving more during daylight hours. So October fift through the thirties I always love because they're starting to seek there, not like breaking up there. You can still get them in a bachelor group, but they'll push each other around a little bit. Things are getting more competitive, they're wandering more, but it's not to the point where they've lost their minds. Going forward, then a sex week or so, what do you think that bulk activity is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Oklahoma, I'm going straight back to optimistic and I think it's a nine ten. I mean, this is what you wait all year for. Our opening weekend was good because we had a little cold front. But this is it. This is when they start going. This is when opportunities will arise. If you're in the right spot. I would say put in some extra hours at work, you know, make your wife happy, because it's about to get serious. Everything i've seen on the weather pressures will be good. Moon is supposed to be good. October twenty, It's time to go alright, Caleb, I'm excited for you. Good luck with the haunts. Thanks for joining me. Hey, thanks good luck too, alright and joining us on the line. Next is Bow mar Tonic from Pennsylvania. From the East meets West Hunt podcast now Bow in Pennsylvania. What would you say the buck activity has been lately? On a scale of one to ten, I would say that the buck activity has been about a six, five to six in the last week. And and the reason why I would say that is it's it was the opening week of deer seasons. There hadn't been a ton of pressure yet, and the buck seemed to be hitting some of those mass crops and and seemed to be some deer hitting the ground. From from my own personal experience, I didn't have a ton of luck, and of still a lot of nighttime activity and some of my locations. But I from from what I've seen, I'd say give it about a fire steps As a public land hunter in the Big Woods, what sort of food sources are you keying in on in mid to late October. Uh, there's a couple of different food sources, and mostly I'm going to focus on some of the mass crops, So looking at some of your the acorns um whether that be white or red oak, depending on what in what are in the area that I'm in, If you can find any apple trees that haven't dropped already, the fact that they went through a few different frosts seems to almost make them more palatable for the deer. They seem to like those ones a little bit better, and then the early ones. I don't have a good reason for why that is, but it's just my observations. And then in addition to that, cherry trees are dropping black cherries like rain right now, and they're definitely focusing on those. So if you can find an isolated patch where they're they're dropping, that can be a very good food source. But as we start getting later into October, some of that brows and some of as the mass drops start to fall, some of that is getting wiped up earlier. Looking at some more of the brows features that you'll find in some clear cuts and that three to eight year old range can be really really good food sources when you're doing some in season scouting on public land, what are you looking for this time of year? Right now, I'm focusing very heavily on scrapes on the edge of any sort of bedding cover, in which in the big woods, you know a lot of things can place into bed but I'm kind of to have the highest the highest priority areas areas that look like they're in the thicker spots towards the edges of those. If I can find any scrapes on the transition, if there is a food source of some sort of mass crop you know, within reasonable distance of that, that just adds to the whole thing. But trying to figure out, you know, where where the potential betting areas on scrapes they start to really activate up here in uh in this time of year. And then also what the hot food sources. So those are the things that I'm trying to do. UM As far as in in season scouting, you mentioned that you're looking for good betting. What does that look like in big woods A couple of different things. So depending on the steepness of the terrain. If I'm in an area that has quite a bit of topography, more hill country type stuff, I'm looking for the points of ridges, UM where they'll use go around that ridge about a hundred eighty degrees and where they might bet they're able to use the prevailing wind and the thermal advantage to their to their advantage as well as cover so and some of the spots that may may not have as much terrain um looking for some clear cuts or logging cuts that might be anywhere even three years or older. But mostly some of those eight fifteen year old cuts can be really good betting for the box and does. And mostly they're not going to be bedded on the interior area of those, although they can be, but most of the time they're going to be bedded on the edge where they can see out into say the open timber or an open field or whatever that might be. So those are the couple of things that I'm looking for as far as betting. What does a morning set up look like for you this time of year? So from morning setups, I don't hunt a ton um of mornings in in early October, and but I will depending on the weather. So if it's if we get a cold front like we have coming through here this weekend, then I'm definitely gonna be hunting mornings, especially when the temperatures are getting down into the thirties. I'm going to try to hunt scrapes, and I'm trying to hunt these scrapes that are close to bedding and I at this time of year, I'm trying to get in very early in case you're coming back to that bed, you know, ray around first light. But I'm hoping that with the cold weather they might stay up on their feet and feed a little bit later. Going forward. Then in the six week or so, what do you think that BUKTIVT is going to be on a scale of one to ten in Pennsylvania. I would say that buck activity in the next week or so it's going to be possibly even up to an eight for the weekend, But I'd say for the whole week is still We're not going to get much better as far as a round of five or six. So if you can hit this cold front right, I think some big box are going to hit the ground. But other than that, it's supposed to warm right back up again, and I think activity will be a little bit slower at that point. All right, bo, I look forward to your videos and podcast from the East meets West. Good luck and thanks for joining me. Thanks Spencer and that concludes this week's episode of rut Fresh Radio. Thanks to Parker, Alex, Caleb, and Bow for joining me, and thank you guys for listening. As always, make sure you're following Wired to Hunt on Facebook and Instagram, following meat Eater on Facebook and Instagram, and following me at Spencer new Hearth on Facebook and Instagram. I hope you're subscribed to our newsletter that goes out every single Monday, built by me and Mark Kenyon, called Whitetail Weekly. In that newsletter, you're gonna find all sorts of relevant information from writers like me, Mark, Tony Peterson, Pat Durkin, and more. You can subscribe to the newsletter over on our website, the meat Eater dot com. I hope you're able to beat the October lull and take advantage of the cold front that's hitting most of the country today, tomorrow, and Friday. I'll talk to you guys next week, but until then, stay Wired to Hunt.

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