This is gonna be the best weekend of the season so far, so plan to be in a tree as many hours as you can. With cooler temperatures and high-pressure across the country, bucks will start moving in preparation for the rut. October 20 is the kick-off of the hard pre-rut every season, and so some serious rubbing and especially scraping are set to kick in. While bucks have been making sign right along, they are going to really get after it now, with the days growing shorter and the temps cooling down. I bet you find some big, fresh scrapes. While I don’t like this full moon nearly as much as the one that will illuminate the rut next month on November [...]

One mid-October morning in Montana, I froze as an 8-pointer trotted toward me through the woods. He was moving fast, trying to get back to his bed along the Milk River before the sun got too high. Something flashed behind him—a 10-pointer pushing 150 was bringing up the rear! I was hunting on the ground, and the wind was right. Those woods were flat as a pool table and pretty open, but I wasn’t too worried. I let the bucks come close and step into the ditch in front of me. When they disappeared, I drew my bow and stepped out from behind my hiding tree. The 8-pointer popped out on my side, and I ran an arrow through his [...]