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Help me pick days for 2018

Oct-Lull said:
It depends on what part of the state. If your in the north like me I wouldn't wait til the second half unless on public. I see significantly less action after the 10th, always have. I usually do not fill my tag and hunt whenever I can from Oct 25- gun 1. Only one time have I shot a buck after Nov 10th. My goals are 5.5 and 170" or something with character so needless to say its more famine than feast. But I spend plenty of time in a tree I run cams also. I see far more action Oct 28th- Nov 10th. Then from the 15th on other than streaks it is much slower. I have had all my best encounters before Nov 5th. I would surely choose whatever stretch allows more time to hunt myself.
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I'll be hunting the S/SW corner of the state on public land and my standard will be somewhere around 40" below yours. I was kind of set on the later week but the fact that I can get another 1-1.5 days to hunt if I go earlier is making me second guess.
 
bigvalleyboy said:
I'll be hunting the S/SW corner of the state on public land and my standard will be somewhere around 40" below yours. I was kind of set on the later week but the fact that I can get another 1-1.5 days to hunt if I go earlier is making me second guess.
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I know here the hunting pressure is much, much lower the second half of the month on public.

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Ishi said:
After this years rut which I thought was going to be great turned out not good for rutting activity.
So this is just information on this year which is just that.
November 1,2,3 there was a spike in deer kills. A few deer where shot on the 6,7.
November 10,11,12 there was a pile of deer killed.
Bowhunters also reported that the last four days before 1st shotgun season the rut action was phenomenal and the shotgun hunters reported they seen good rutting activity the first 3 days even while doing pushes.
So the week picking thing is always luck of the draw. Have fun no matter what week you choose...... cause it’s Iowa;)
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Ishi, do you have kill date data from registrations? That would be interesting info to look at over the years.
 
There are SO many variables from one year to the next...past weather, current weather, food sources, hunting pressure, coyote pressure, Ishi pressure...on and on...

So maybe change the conversation a bit? What time of Oct./Nov is best for positive responses to rattling/grunts/decoys ect.? For me this year, late Nov was best ever for seeing mature bucks chasing/cruising.. However, they didn't seem to care what I said to them, they were always 60+yds out and not interested in anything I had to offer.
 
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I hunted Iowa with my buddy the 10th to 19th this past November. I killed my deer on the 12th and my buddy killed on the 14th. It was crazy action from the 10th to 14th where we were in Davis County
 
Based on a pretty good data base of trail cams and sightings on my farms in extreme Northern Missouri I now believe the hot days and lock down shifts around a bit each year. My 2017 cam data showed the best daylight mature buck movement on cam was in late October through about N0v 4th or 5th. Luckily, I killed a giant the first day of my vacation, Nov 4th, because mature buck sightings were quite slow for my brother and buddy from Nov 5 to Nov 10 depsite cold weather, a perfect moon phase, and calendar dates that many people consider to be the best dates to hunt each year. My brother started seeing some older bucks again on 11/9 and 11/10 but MO gun season started on Nov 11 which of course screwed up natural movement.

Sure seems as though the lock down occured from roughly 11/5 to 11/9 or so on my farms in North MO. There is a lot of talk about lock down occuring from about 11/10-11/15 in IA,IL,North MO, from the "Pros" and us scrubs alike but it seems there is more to the story on timing for sure.
 
I always have the best camera pics of bucks on Nov 6,7,8 midday and the most mature bucks day walkers around the 19th to the 23rd.
 
I,ve always liked the 10th of November and the days following! If you notice this year the second week of Nov. was stellar on here as well as across the state harvest wise! :cool:
 
It varies based on location. This year, our cameras showed the most mature bucks moving on our property between Oct 28-Nov 8, then it was dead for a couple weeks, and picked up again after Thanksgiving. Late November had better daylight mature buck movement
 
MuddyHntr said:
Early November can be tough because the big guys can be locked down with the very first hot does. IMO the best times to kill the most mature deer in the woods is the last few days of October and the 14-18th of November. My vote is for the 10th-16th. The only exception to that is if you have the possibility to watch the weather and plan from there. If its not an option then go with the 10th-16th, if it is an option pick the sets of dates that has clear skies, cold temps, and high pressure.
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I have tagged at every year between Oct 26th and Nov 1st....
 
bkcrrtnps said:
I have tagged at every year between Oct 26th and Nov 1st....
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Those last few days of October can be magic, if you get a good front then its dynamite. I will take those days over the peak chasing days. Im actually not a huge fan of the rut, I love watching it and it can be dynamite but Id prefer that last week of October.
 
MuddyHntr said:
Those last few days of October can be magic, if you get a good front then its dynamite. I will take those days over the peak chasing days. Im actually not a huge fan of the rut, I love watching it and it can be dynamite but Id prefer that last week of October.
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Ive never had the chance to hunt it lol
 
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