Is the “lull” a bunch of bull?

[Gun&BowSD]

What do you think? My thought is, they don’t go home and hang out on the couch until the rut. They are still out there. Patterns may change but theres a lot of ramping up happening with sparring and sign posts, scrapes and rubs. So what do you think? Buncha lull***?

 

[FLS]

No lull, patterns just change.

 

[Rich M]

no lull, just not visible like pre-season and not running around like that do pre-rut and rut. They still eat & sleep & walk around.

 

[Yoder]

I think the food source changes. It's not like they go on vacation somewhere.

 

[Skerhunter]

A lot is changing in a short period of time. Food sources change, right now we are in the middle of harvest (habitat/food/pressure changes), currently my bucks are still tolerating each other running around in groups, but any second that will end. My old deer won’t day walk consistently until November. Is it a lull, not really. Is buck hunting good, meh. Personally I would rather stay out of the woods and let them get comfortable vs bump a good buck out of an area.

 

[wind gypsy]

About a week ago I had bachelor groups of bucks still piling into the food plots an hour before dark every night. They have since dispersed and I'm seeing just a few and activity near cameras and in general is getting more nocturnal.

I'm sure there are places that bucks i was holding dispersed to that are now better. Seems like Sept through early Oct you can find patterns and bucks concentrated in certain areas which should mean other areas are dead. The action now is definitely slower than it was when they were more concentrated.

 

[SloppyJ]

Here in the south, I just noticed the onset of active rub and scape lines this weekend. I have bigger bucks that are running smaller bucks off but still have smaller bachelor groups hanging around. The big ones know that it's about to go down. This weekend is opening muzzleloader and I typically see some really good buck activity during these coming two weeks.

I have the biggest buck I've ever had on camera coming in around 9pm every night in a different spot. Typically I'd jump in there and go after him but I think I might be getting older/wiser and I've decided to leave that spot alone until the rut picks up. That will leave them with a decent sanctuary but I do worry that there is a lot of road hunting going on there so I'm still up in the air on it. With him arriving after dark I imagine that he's bedding nearby and coming to get some food when he gets up. I want to learn more about where I think he's at but I'm afraid I'd run him out of there.

 

[Glendon Mullins]

Here in WV/VA it the "lull" generally coincides with acorns dropping, so the deer aren't out in the fields eating grass, or the food plots, or people's corn piles. They in the woods, eating acorns, which r falling.

 

[sconnieVLP]

Here in WV/VA it the "lull" generally coincides with acorns dropping, so the deer aren't out in the fields eating grass, or the food plots, or people's corn piles. They in the woods, eating acorns, which r falling.

This is what has been kicking my butt for the last few weeks where I hunt in NoVA. There are acorns EVERYWHERE, so many that it’s been really tough to pinpoint which ones they are going to feed on and when.

I found one area a couple weeks ago that I thought was going to be a slam dunk. Set up between bedding and an oak flat about 20 yards off of the only place they could cross a creek to get to the oaks. The crossing looked like an ATV trail it was so torn up. The only deer I saw there was on the walk out on the edge of the parking lot.

The lack of ag here has made my learning curve a little rough this year so far.

 

[Macintosh]

Lull=BS ime. Changing weather, changing food sources, feeling the itch…those all cause changes in location of activity, not decreases in activity.

 

[Honyock]

Here in WV/VA it the "lull" generally coincides with acorns dropping, so the deer aren't out in the fields eating grass, or the food plots, or people's corn piles. They in the woods, eating acorns, which r falling.

^^What he said. When the acorns start falling their patterns change. Some guys think since they are not seeing them on food plots or feeders that the "lull' is on. They are still there, just pounding the acorns in the timber.