Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I spent the 4th - the 11th about 20 miles from MoBuckChasers place this year. Other than the much warmer than average temperatures during that time frame, the rut was definitely going on good. It was however only going on the coldest hours of the day because of the 70 degree day temps. We seen some bucks during the middle of the day, but not nearly as much movement as what I usually see from the hours of 10-2. Usually I base my hunting around cold fronts, but was unable to do that because of the travel and scheduling aspects.
I agree with NoFo that rut is about the same every year, but the temperatures will play a bigger role on how much of it happens during daylight for everyone to see. High temps, and this stinking "super moon" has a lot of the rut hidden at night. They are doing their thing for sure.
I believe if it was mid - low 40's for highs during the day people would be saying the rut was in full swing the first week of November.
We had multiple 60 deg plus days in late Oct & Nov along with one day it hit 70 degrees last week. That is crazy for Nov here in central Wisconsin. Many high wind days with winds 18-24 mph didn't help either.
Silver lining is many of the big boys are still out there.