I have about 3 different spots that I hunt on my property there pretty spacxed out and I hunt each according to the wind that day. Opening day here in nh is sept 15th from opening day for 2 weeks I usually see alot of deer, once its oct I see nothing at all What do you think is going on and what should i do?

1. Hunt a different area. 2. Find oaks that are dropping.

Last but not least realize you're experiencing the October lull. Take a couple weeks to sleep in and shoot your bow and get ready for late October. Cuz when those bucks get to chasing you can sit any place and you'll have a chance.

I don't know what to tell you for your region but it gets slow here in the south too in Oct. for me. I think that is because around here this time of year there is so much to eat in the woods the deer don't have to move much. Everything is ripe and falling. But the movement picks back up around Halloween.

Hard to say without knowing more, but a few things to consider. Have you been busted getting to and from stand? Do you use cover scent or rubber boots? How much pressure from neighbors? Could be a change in food source. I hunt Michigan and it's not easy, I feel your frustration. Not sure how much area you have but take a day and sit in a spot you never have before. Sometimes they pattern us better than we do them. Good luck

I think Shade has it.

There must be a reason for the phrase "October lull".

I've heard that tern "October Lull" for years and years. I used to think something just snapped in deer and they just went into a funk of some sort in October. Until...I did some serious scouting several years back during this "lull". I found it wasn't a "lull" after all, but the food source was changing. There was now food dropping from trees in places closer to bedding areas (mast crop, acorns). Suddenly preferred food (acorns) was in places it had not been in September and the near the first of October where I was seeing deer then. The animals were still moving and feeding...they just didn't have to move as far and if it was a good mast crop year, food was abundant and in lots of places. I had to find the best white oaks dropping food nearest the bedding zones and hunt there. The started seeing deer regularly again. Got to be willing to do some in-season scouting and find where the preferred food is for that particular time in the season. Staying in a spot that was producing deer sightings regularly in September just may lead to a "lull" in YOUR seeing deer, but the deer are still moving/feeding somewhere. You just gotta find where!

I think they change their food sources. I have about 1/4 mile of river that I hunt that is mostly a mix of red and white oaks. They start dropping acorns in early Oct. I have hunted this property for about 10 years and it has always been good through the entire month. There is always beans, corn, or milo available, but they prefer the acorns while they are available. I just wish it would cool down so I could get in the mood to go hunting before the "October Lull" ends.

It's not a lull, it's a changing food source. You have to adapt to those changes..that's all. The same deer are in the woods but travel routes are altered for many reasons, that is part of hunting..to find those reasons.

I think the (first) best time here to kill a nice buck, or any deer for that matter, is from the middle of September until about the end of September. It seems you can easily pattern deer on fields, food plots and the like. Summer has taken it's toll on browse and deer (here) will feed in meadows, to get clover, etc.

Then, there's a transition; the mast begins to fall, persimmons and autumn olive ripen and they appear to vanish from the fields and edges.

Early, you need to hunt their food. It takes a while to learn what that is. About the 3rd week of October, those first old does will come into estrus. From then until about the 3rd week of November, hunt the does. The bucks will be where they are. :^) Come late November until the end of the season it's time again to hunt the feed.

Ask your neibhor to stop feeding them?

Thanks for the help guys there is alot if food out right now but patterns definitely seemed like they changed. I have one sit left around the house in the apples tomorrow then time to do some scouting

Hunting season disrupts their patterns i.e.?...they now know they are not alone.

They will take refuge in the most remote and thick of "hard to get too" places...look there.

Thick briar patches in gnarly bottoms and ravines is a great place to start...go in wind too your face sun to your back.

slow and quiet like with the patience of an oyster. ;)

How many have you shot at? The ones that survive get smart quick. Be clean,be still,and shoot straight.>>>----> Ken

A few but in different spots this happens every year

I know for us here in MS when the overcups drop in the swamp we may as well go bird watching. Deer are gone for a few weeks then start trickling back in. I usually try to use that time scouting. Maybe find a red oak they may hit when they get back or a new creek crossing they may be using. Of course do some stump shooting along the way.

Just went out for the first hunt this morning. Saw 4 slickheads about 20 minutes after sunrise move by. When I quit hunting, I pulled the card out of a camera I put out 4 weeks ago. Had 126 pictures total. Photos in the last 2 weeks of Sept where random through all hours of day and night. Bucks, does, fawns, didn’t matter. About the 3rd of Oct, all bucks but 1 had switched to right at dark, or after,and at least an hour before daylight. Does would range from dark to 1 hour after daylight , a few midday and then again about 1 hour before dark. Bucks ranged from fork horns to maybe 120ish P&Y. Deer are still traveling my 1/4 mile of river, hey just switched hours.FWIW

When I was a youg-un here in Wisconsin, bowhunters were rare. Not so today. The woods, especially public, are loaded.

I tend to agree with the hunting pressure being a contributing factor in the "lull".

My son uses trail cams, and the deer are there, just nocturnal this time of year. Not so during the first couple weeks.

But I also agree with the food situation posted by others. The problem with my honey hole is trying to get close enough to the bedding/feeding area, during the acorn glut, undetected.

I've learned to combat that by staying out, period, till early November.

I'll hunt other spots til then...but come "sniffin' time", I'm back home!

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