Bowhunting's Best Days in October

Prognostication is not a skill I have ever claimed to possess. But the information I was gathering from my computer on Oct. 28, 1997, overwhelmingly told me that if I spent some time in a treestand the following morning with my bow, I was certain to tag a buck.

The four days immediately preceding October 29 were all unseasonably warm, it rained most of each day, and a howling wind threatened to uproot every tree in the woods for the entire period. Looking at my computer October 28, I noticed the forecast for the following day called for the skies to clear during the night, the wind would die almost completely, and the temperature was expected to drop 15 degrees. It was a Pennsylvania bowhunter's dream forecast for late October, and nothing was going to keep me out of my treestand the following morning.

Cold Temperatures, Hot Action

It was cold and remarkably still in the woods as I sat in my stand waiting for daylight to conquer the forest on this clear, cloudless, fall morning. Shortly after legal shooting time arrived, a buck materialized from the thick vegetation guarding the stream bank below me. Like I was reeling it in with a fishing rod, the nice little 8-point followed a scent trail to within 10 yards of my stand. When the buck stopped broadside, I drew back my bow and released an arrow. Within an hour I was tying my tag to the buck's antlers.

The meat of the month of October can be slow for Pennsylvania bowhunters. Once the season's opening week invasion puts deer on the defensive, they seem to vanish into thin air. The rut really hasn't started in earnest yet, so bucks haven't begun prowling for does. Fields and trails that teemed with deer before the season opened can become devoid of all life. Add the annual arrival of the full, harvest moon, which provides optimum nighttime dining conditions, and the latter three weeks of October can be a lonely time in the woods hunting deer with a bow.

Naturally the best time to hunt is whenever you can. But if you have the luxury to pick and choose your hunting days, there are certain factors you should consider to make sure you're hunting the days during the October lull that offer the best chance for success.

Bar none, weather is the No. 1 factor to consider when picking a good day to bowhunt in October. Days that are expected to be hot and sunny, or hot and windy, are probably not going to be productive. The deer will go about their business in the dark when it's cool, and hole up during daylight hours.

Welcome Cloudy Days

Overcast or drizzly days, on the other hand, are good days to be out. The muted daylight seems to keep deer out feeding longer in the morning and draws them out of their beds earlier in the evening. That's when hunters can intercept the deer along their travel routes.

The weather condition I look for most in October is a sudden drop in temperature following a prolonged warm spell. Better than 75 percent of the bucks I've shot in October over the years have come on days when the temperature dropped at least 10 degrees from one day to the next. And the colder the starting temperature, the better.

For example, you'll probably notice some increased deer movement if the mercury dips from 70 to 60 degrees. But you'll really see the deer when it drops from 60 to 50, or, even better yet, from 50 to 40 degrees.

October is a big month for farmers to harvest corn. If corn is being harvested on or near the property where you hunt, try to get into your stand while the fields are being cut or the day after the job is finished. Cornfields not only feed deer, they also provide cover. When the deer on the farms I hunt vanish from the woods after the first week of bowhunting season, I know they've taken to the cornfields. Only the rut or a farm tractor will push them back out.

When it comes to bowhunting in Pennsylvania, there are no hard and fast rules about when you'll get your deer. Anything can happen on any given day. However, generally speaking, there is a period of reduced deer activity in mid to late October. But if you pick your hunting days carefully, the October lull can be a productive time to be in the woods.