WV, PA, OH, and MD hunters (or similar): when is the best time to be in the woods?

[ThePhantom]

I’m in pa and right now it’s mostly young bucks running. I always see the best bucks the last week of the season and have always wanted it to go further into November. It is and I’m expecting the best days to be the 10th through the 20th. It does depend on where you sit like said above. I’ll be in or on the fringes of doe bedding and true rut funnels for the rest of the season.


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[HeavyD]

I had deer crawling all over me yesterday morning with that front that moved through. Multiple bucks, does working scrapes, bucks grunting, it was awesome. After 10:00 things changes and the woods went quite with that full sun. I moved spots and only saw a few does.

 

[7mmremmag]

I chose other because.... all the above

Just wanted to add more this thread with actual data. I've shot bucks the last three years in a row in archery season in PA, the dates have been 11-6,11-9, and 11-7. I just like being in the woods so I answered all of the above earlier.

 

[AttackMode]

IMO it depends on the weather. But it seems like Nov 9, 10, 11 are always good days for me. But I will take a late Oct cold front every year and be happy with it. I did watch one of my target bucks breed a doe today and run off 4 other bucks to do it. So breeding is getting going. I'm going out tomorrow morning and hope to see some more rut action. Wed is supposed to rain all day in my part of PA but if I had a buck tag I would go all day. I've shot 4 bucks on the 11th.

 

[AttackMode]

I have had several encounters and seem to get the most pictures of mature bucks cruising in daylight the first week of November. I would also include the last couple days of October in that. I agree with @elk yinzer in that the best days for daylight movement are more weather dependent though. My son has also had some really good luck on MD's youth day which is around Nov. 16th a couple years but, the years he has killed a good buck the youth day coincided with a good temp drop. I also shot my best buck five or six years ago on a bitter cold Nov. 16th morning.

Last year my cameras got lit up with buck pictures between Oct. 17th and 20th. I had multiple pictures of every buck in the area on those couple days. I assume that there was a doe on the property that came into estrus early.

Every year in the mountains I hunt I also see a flurry of activity around those dates. Big bucks during daytime on scrapes. I've always tried to captilize on it but it seems like I'm always on the wrong scrape set. Maybe next year...

 

[raisins]

If I don't score, I'll regret it and think "I should've been in the woods 11/9, 11/10, and 11/11". But I traded those days for Mon, Tues, Wed of next week because it is going to get colder (I already have Thurs 11/12 and Fri 11/13 off). It's so hot here and I'm just not in the right spots. I am not seeing anything at all. I need to scout/find better hunting spots so that I can see deer activity throughout the rut and just more deer in general.

My brother just called and right at dusk he was driving and saw does everywhere on the private property near where he lives.