South Central WI

It's getting closer, the good hunting anyway. This week I plan to harvest a doe or two and do some work on my rifle stands. This last week I found some new bucks on my trail cams so that is a good sign they are starting to move. Still only night pictures but, I will be checking those cameras for daylight movement. With the cooler temps, this week it should really improve the hunting and if nothing else makes it feel like we should be putting the time. GOOD LUCK AND HUNT SAFE!

 -John Bulgrin

Southeast WI

Even though we are in the heart of the “October Lull”, much brighter days are in the near future.  After the cold front blew through late last week, I did some speed scouting in a couple areas that I hunt.  I started to find some rub and scrape lines.  This is a sign that we are not too far away from the best time of year!   In the meantime, Nick and I will be trying to put some does in the freezer during the 4-day antlerless only hunt in the CWD area.  It’s a beautiful time of year to be in the woods.  The leaves are dropping and the smell of recently dropped leaves is an aroma that I look forward to every year.  So get out, enjoy the woods, and get ready for the time of year that all us bow hunters dream of.   Hopefully the Brew Crew can recover from their hard times in St. Louis and give us two exciting wins at Miller Park.  Go Brewers! Good luck to everyone and be safe!  

-Paul Molitor & Nick Niemann

Southwest WI

Hunting has been limited this week.  We attempted to harvest a doe last Sunday evening and they cooperated on everything but the time of arrival.  We were out of filming light and so we let her walk.  The rest of the week has continued to be warm so I have been getting chores done around the house and making more preparations in organizing my gear, along with a little glassing in the evenings.  There has been no activity in the fields at all on my farms.  The deer continue to hang in the cover.  As I write this, a cold front has moved in and should make things more comfortable and enjoyable.  I plan to hunt more this week with the cooler weather.  I will continue to be fairly conservative in my approach. Continued success to all!

-Rick Sime

Central WI

This past week Sunday I took my son Colton out and he harvested a nice adult doe.  We didn't see any bucks and only a handful of doe.  We had a blast and that’s what it is all about. But I can't remember the last time the beginning of October has been this poor as far as sightings of mature bucks go.  Here in Central Wisconsin there is a lot of corn this year especially by my land.  It is literally surrounded by hundreds of acres of corn on three sides.  The good news is the corn by me just started to come down Thursday.  Along with the corn beginning to come down, cooling temps and the middle of October here- this week is a great week for people to get out in the woods and place cameras over scrapes.  I have always had excellent luck around October 17th to find some really established scrape lines in the woods relatively close to bedding areas.

I will be out Sunday cutting grass at the farm for the last time this year and then spending the rest of the day placing cameras.  Leaves are falling fast, with strong winds and rain the past couple days any signs of pure black holes in the woods should mean a very fresh scrape and good place for a camera.       

- Cole Sandstrom & Neal Kroll

Northwest WI

The hunting is still tough despite the cooler temperatures. Jon and I have gotten skunked the last two times out. We were hoping that this cool front would get the deer on their feet more. Our trail cameras are still showing minimal daylight activity but good action under the cover of darkness. We’ve also noticed bucks scraping and sparring. It is still mid-October though and the cool front really only brought temps back down to average daytime highs and nighttime lows.

-Sean Graese & Jon Ecklor

The plan from here is to hunt casually yet for the next week to ten days, unless we get a real cold snap or our trail cameras show us something of interest. Our main focus will be spending plenty of quality time with our families and getting the odd jobs finished up around home (like prepping the garden for winter!). The woods will be getting crazy in just a couple of weeks and we don't want to miss a minute of it! Have a great week! Corn has been our biggest influence as of late when deciding where to sit for mature bucks.  There are two reasons why cornfields have been effecting our season so much in the past week. First, the fields have been getting picked in our area and we are able to sit on the edge of the fields in the evening and catch the bucks coming out to recently knocked-down stocks.  Also, knowing exactly when the fields are going to be harvested is a good way to catch a mature buck heading into the timber at any hour of the day.  

Second, it seems the acorn mast is finally going down in the woods.  This is probably not the case for everyone in our area, but the deer have been really hitting the corn (more than normal) as of late.  After hours of hunting and no results so far this season, things are turning in our favor.  We were close to capitalizing on a mature buck on Thursday, and after that sit there were numerous shooters out in the fields following sunset.  So, stick with the corn fields and find out when they are going to be harvested over the next week to two weeks.

-Peter Lechnir & Kent Bassett

This week brought some good rain and after that some high winds. I got to sit in a spot near an oak stand tonight. It is a staging area with a lot of mature aspen, popple to some. Very mature aspen. With the high winds I had several dead aspen blows down and that along with the swaying tree made me nervous. As it does the deer.

When driving to the site I saw a spike on an old two track very early but I did not see anything while on stand. I decided since there were a few dead popple near me it would be best if I left early. Even a small branch can make for a serious injury. Trust me, I know after a career working in the woods.

I drove some back roads home and saw quite a few deer feeding along those roads. Still, I think that I made the right decision since the high winds were also swirling which makes scent control a problem. That stand has a buck on the cam that I might consider shooting so I do not want to mess it up.

Cameras are showing great morning movement now. Not good evening movement so I guess I need to get out early now.

 -Paul Ostrum