Wednesday November 2nd, 2022
BOW HUNTING & THE RUT 2022
October ended with some farms showing some nocturnal scrapes being tended by only a few mature bucks. Scrapes were honestly lightly touched in late October compared to prior years on our farms. I have seen only a few does still with their yearlings/fawns. Most have kicked them off around us according to our cameras. Also, cameras have shown A LOT of busted up mature bucks who have obviously been getting aggressive, more than we are accustomed to seeing.
As of today, we have 1/3 of our bowhunters out currently. The remaining 2/3 of our hunters will all be arriving by Sunday, November 6th, 2022. So, by Monday, everyone should be hunting!
As for the rest of this week and the weekend, it is looking dismal at best. Yet, it is still Iowa and still early November. Deer could slip up at any moment. The warm weather could definitely influence the movement and restrict it to the nighttime hours and the early morning hours. Evenings can be decent yet, but the deer will be staying where there are cooler temps: in the woods still holding canopy, in a low-lying area with cooler air pockets, etc. Starting in the early weekend, we should be getting some good rain, some say around an inch. Rain will continue off and on into Sunday. While this rain moves in, the temps will drop but also the barometric pressure. Once the rain passes, the pressure will rise but temps will stay lower into the start of next week.
Next week, it appears to be varying a bit, warming a bit, then dropping again for the long haul. High's in the 40s, lows in the 20's. How awesome!! We will be about 5-10 days behind schedule on this arriving, but better late than never.
I expect the rut switch to flip (or rather like a dimmer switch turning on slightly) sometime between today and Sunday, but Monday on this will increase to full bore rut. Maybe slightly late, but I think the first hot does will catch a mature bruiser and disappear by Saturday. We will see how my predictions fare as my hunters arrive and get out there to put in the time. I could see the prime weather not happening until Nov 14/15/16 which may just extend the rut and lessen the effects of the lock-down phase. We will see.
Overall, we have some good mature deer to hunt, and knowing the rut brings in new faces, I am excited for the guys to get in over the next two weeks and hunt hard. I will share any good updates here via blog posts. If you are out hunting yourself, best of luck, be safe, and happy hunting!
AVAILABLE 2023 IOWA HUNTS
We still have some slots open for 2023, and those are visible on our website showing the current openings. If you want to confirm beyond such or want to discuss booking, give us a call at 563-320-6875 or send us an email to MDLOutfitters@gmail.com. We would love to have ya! I offer a $500 veteran discount and first-responder discount. Also, all hunts for following years require a $500 deposit. I require all hunters to fill out the Hunt Booking Form online and also the Hunt Questionnaire to make sure we are a good fit. Follow our site menu to find such easily. Thanks everyone!