Best Days to Hunt the Deer Rut in Each Region

By Game & Fish Staff

Our Regional Rut Update team of Doug Howlett, Daron McDougal and Josh Honeycutt asked experts from each region for their input on when the best hunting days are during the deer rut.

EAST

It seems like just yesterday we were sweltering beneath a brutal summer sun, yet here we are with the 2023 deer season fully upon us. Deer hunters along the Eastern seaboard are already in the woods with stick and string in hand (in some places for a couple of weeks now), and it hasn’t taken long for big bucks to start dropping.

The early season just prior to the rut is a great time to catch deer at their least wary. They are still on their fairly predictable summer feeding patterns, and despite the continued warm weather in much of the region, hunters working ag fields or food plots can find evening success just before dark as bucks edge out behind the does to feed. CONTINUE READING STORY