Magical stuff happens on Halloween, so dress up in camo, paint your face and go bowhunting.
Compared to the last several years, we’ve noticeably cooler weather for October, and let’s hope the trend holds. A little cold front followed by a few days of high-pressure with a light northwest wind and temperatures in the 35- to 55-degree range… If those conditions come together on Halloween, you’ll see deer moving, and bucks starting to rut.
Moon-wise, no trick but a lot of treat this Halloween. Based on the full hunter’s moon October 28, I predict good to great deer movement October 27 and continuing through November 4. This is one of my favorite windows to bowhunt any year, and made better by the big moon this season.
The full moon will kick some mature bucks into scraping and prowling hard during the last week of October, and they will seek does hard into the first week of November, which will be a great week to grunt and rattle.
Top stand: A killer spot to set up is near the corner of a woodlot where an overgrown pasture and a crop field merge. Bucks will run those diverse edges and fence rows, rubbing and scraping as they make for the feed in the afternoon. Some does and bucks will cut across the weed pasture, especially in the mornings, so watch for tines and flashes of hide out in the brush.
On morning hunts, grunt and light rattle to any bucks you see crossing the weed field. Calling remains a good if uncertain tactic for the next 3 weeks. In the afternoons, try a doe decoy. Stake her where she’s visible in the cut crops 25 yards below your bow stand. Good luck!
