Today’s blog comes from Mike Hanback of Big Deer TV. Mike has been writing about whitetails since the 1990′s and is considered by many as an expert on the subject. For more information about Mike, you can follow him on Twitter, find him on Facebook or visit his website at www.mikehanback.com
It’s not only Zombie week on Sportsman Channel, it’s also one of the best weeks to hunt this year.
Mike Hanback with a little Halloween twist!
Back in August, buddy Mark Drury and I compared notes and came up with our annual prediction of the best moon/rut days to shoot a monster buck in 2012. We said:
Based on the full moon October 29, we predict good to great deer movement (through) November 4… the full moon will kick bucks into scraping and prowling in late October, and they should seek does hard the first week of November, which will be the best week to grunt and rattle. If you have the flexibility during this 12-day window, watch the weather and be sure to hunt the 2-3 crisp, high-pressure days after a dry or rain cold front moves through.
We were spot on in places, especially where cold weather has hit. I talked to a guy Kansas who said the bucks are bonkers. He just rattled up a huge 8-point and shot it. Mark Drury texted me from his Iowa farm yesterday: as good as it gets right now buddy…giants rolling…the cold really got ‘em going…
So I say again, if you can get off and hunt the next 10 days or so do it! And change your thinking on the full moon–the one tonight will make the buck hunting better!
While the rutting activity is early in some areas, I repeat something I said back in August: There have been more record-book bucks shot November 8-12 than any other days, and that week will be great again this year. So if you can’t get away until them, no sweat, you will still have some good hunting. And for you hunters in the Northeast affected by hurricane Sandy, those mid-November days will be better than right now, as the deer will have settled down from all the wind and rain and be rutting by then.
