What are the best 3 days to take off work to bow hunt this fall of course the weekend if that's how it falls would make 5 any input I am in northern central ohio
Best 3 days??
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bonecollecter
Junior Member
bonecollecter
Junior Member
That's usually the best time in my opinion the bucks are starting to move in day light. I would also say if you took any 3 days off in November you have a damn good chance of killing something.
OO2
Well-Known Member
Check my 2014-15 and 2015-16 journals and you will see the reason for the posts. But I do see more deer around the Nov 10-12.
Being retired I hunt all the dates health permitting.
I'm is SW Ohio but not sure if it makes much difference in the same state. Thoughts?
Being retired I hunt all the dates health permitting.
I'm is SW Ohio but not sure if it makes much difference in the same state. Thoughts?
there is no "best three days". too many variables in play. if you only have three days to hunt, it's a crapshoot. hunt every minute you can between October 25 and gun season. that's the only way to maximize your odds of killing an antlered deer with a bow and arrow, imo. if you want to hunt during "the rut" any time in the first two weeks of November, weather considerations notwithstanding, is always a good bet. the best DAYTIME buck movement I've seen over the years has pretty much always been the last week of October/first week of November when they are really checking scrapes, chasing, and beginning to hitch up with does, and my best bucks have all been killed in that time period. still, by the third week of November, after the majority of breeding is done, bucks start cruising again. I've seen some pretty good ones scent checking bedding areas and hitting scrapes the week of Thanksgiving.
cspot
Member
It is a crapshoot with alot of variables. I always liked the first week of November, but anytime the 1st 2 weeks of November can be great. In my opinion if you can schedule your trip/vacation kinda on the fly in November, the best bet is to look at the weather and pick 3 nice cool days that have decent weather. If you have to schedule before that then just pick a few days and hope for the best
nis1
Junior Member
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I would choose the 11th-15th without a doubt. I'm in NE Ohio and I didn't even see a buck chase a doe on my main property until the evening of the 12th last year. I took my buck the morning of the 13th and when I took it to the taxidermist in the afternoon, he told us that the phone was ringing off the hook all morning with people wanting to drop their bucks off that were harvested either the evening before or that morning. I know weather plays a key role in triggering quality rut activity so that may have had something to do with it but I saw awesome rut activity on the 12th and 13th the previous season as well.
Quick additional little story about Nov 13th. After I got my buck I swing to my buddy's house down the road and as we were sitting there admiring my deer, my wife says, there's a deer. A doe goes running by the pond on his 5 acres that is literally completely surrounded by an allotment. The doe is followed by a decent buck, then a bigger buck, then an even bigger one (biggest Probly 140's). We picked our jaws up off the ground as the doe ran back out of the property towards the road, figuring they were gonna be long gone. 5 minutes later she comes running back through, now toting 4 bucks behind her. I'm standing on his picnic table at this point trying to get up high and you could see the reeds on the back side of the pond going crazy and hear what sounded like the bucks fighting to the death. As I had ran to go jump on the table, my buddy had ran to grab his bow, went running out into the little field behind the pond and ended up sticking a respectable buck that would've been a 10 point but was only a 6 because he was so broken up. Ended up being his first bow buck and he was proud as could be. The other deer must've ran into the allotment or something because we never saw them again.....that's why I will always be in the woods on the 13th!
Quick additional little story about Nov 13th. After I got my buck I swing to my buddy's house down the road and as we were sitting there admiring my deer, my wife says, there's a deer. A doe goes running by the pond on his 5 acres that is literally completely surrounded by an allotment. The doe is followed by a decent buck, then a bigger buck, then an even bigger one (biggest Probly 140's). We picked our jaws up off the ground as the doe ran back out of the property towards the road, figuring they were gonna be long gone. 5 minutes later she comes running back through, now toting 4 bucks behind her. I'm standing on his picnic table at this point trying to get up high and you could see the reeds on the back side of the pond going crazy and hear what sounded like the bucks fighting to the death. As I had ran to go jump on the table, my buddy had ran to grab his bow, went running out into the little field behind the pond and ended up sticking a respectable buck that would've been a 10 point but was only a 6 because he was so broken up. Ended up being his first bow buck and he was proud as could be. The other deer must've ran into the allotment or something because we never saw them again.....that's why I will always be in the woods on the 13th!
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Bigcountry40
Member
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I Swear Ohio has like 2 or 3 different rut zones, NW, Eastern and Southern. In the NW tundra is earliest of the 3 Halloween through 1st week of Nov. , Eastern/central/South Eastern second week of November, South West Ohio 3rd week through Thanksgiving. I have no first hand experience in the South Western Ohio, but have heard/read of a lot of people having success grunting killing nice bucks during the opening of gun. these zones and dates can vary a little bit but over all this what I have observed over my years as a hunter
The brutal reality of it is, the deer are going to what they are going to do when THEY decide to do it. It's really a crap shoot.
Hang a calendar on the wall, grab three darts and throw them.
However you choose, I wish you the best of luck.
Hang a calendar on the wall, grab three darts and throw them.
However you choose, I wish you the best of luck.
It has been proven that the rut happens the same time every year on whatever property you're hunting. Weather plays a big role in how much we see.