Cold Weather Likely to Ignite Deer Activity

For the last several weeks bucks have been sparring, scraping and rubbing their way toward another Iowa deer breeding season. The Whitetail Rut is poised on the edge.

All we need is a good trigger to unleash the hunting excitement and it looks like we’ll get help this weekend from mother nature. It’s time to get the gear ready and put some boots on the ground. The next two to three weeks will feature some of the best Rut hunting we’ll see all year!

A powerful coldfront is on the move and it’s forecast to slam into Iowa on Thursday. We’ll see near record high temperatures plummet to 10-15 degrees below average. A strong Canadian high pressure will build in behind the front bringing frosty mornings and chilly afternoons. This is pretty much perfect weather for hunting and this cold system has pretty good timing -here's why.

Iowa deer will be coming out of the Pre Rut stages shortly and entering into the Seeking phase. This phase of the rut can offer some of the best stand hunting for Iowa archers as deer become more mobile during the daylight. Mature bucks will expand their “home” ranges and begin seeking out those does that are coming into Estrus and getting ready to breed. The longer they are on the hoof and the further they travel, the better your chances are of tagging a bruiser. One thing that really slows them down is heat. In terms of weather, warm temperatures may be the biggest Rut suppressor. So this cooldown couldn’t have better timing!

I expect good to excellent hunting weather this weekend. The best conditions should fall from October 26^th through October 29^th which is the Rutting full moon. We’ll warm up next week, so get out and enjoy it. Good luck! 

-Chris