If you could hunt only one week

[peleejosh]

Normally, I would have said the second week of November. However, after looking at kill dates of good bucks back a month or so ago, my best week would probably have to be 11/19 - 11/25 which normally falls around the gun opener and Thanksgiving. My best dates have been 11/22 and 11/23. That is the gun opening week but has no bearing on the results as I hunt just as hard with a muzzleloader. Without looking at the dates as said above, I would have picked the second week of muzzleloader.

Exact same for me, 11/22 and 11/23 have been my best dates.

 

[BSK]

Normally, I would have said the second week of November. However, after looking at kill dates of good bucks back a month or so ago, my best week would probably have to be 11/19 - 11/25 which normally falls around the gun opener and Thanksgiving. My best dates have been 11/22 and 11/23. That is the gun opening week but has no bearing on the results as I hunt just as hard with a muzzleloader. Without looking at the dates as said above, I would have picked the second week of muzzleloader.

Exact same for me, 11/22 and 11/23 have been my best dates.

Our peak used to be about the same dates; basically, Nov. 18-22. But since the EHD outbreak, a new peak has developed towards late October and early November. The Nov. 18-22 peak still exists, but as a distinctly secondary peak.

I originally posted this graph in the Trail-Camera Forum, but I think it is appropriate for this discussion. The below graph displays the average annual number of unique older bucks (2 1/2+) photographed on my property each day from mid-October to mid-December during two periods: prior to the EHD outbreak (2003-07), and following the EHD outbreak (2008-14). Notice how prior to the outbreak (the green line), a peak existed in mid-October (centered around Oct. 14) and mid to late November (centered around Nov. 20), with a smaller surge in late-October/early-November (Oct 23 - Nov. 5). Those mid-October and late November peaks still exist in the post-EHD years (purple line), but now the smaller peak in late-October/early-November has expanded (Oct. 19 - Nov. 10) and greatly increased in intensity. The peak dates in this graph very closely match our hunting observations for both the pre and post-EHD periods.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

I always take my days off between 11/16 - 11/23. Though 10 miles away I'd be there atleast a week before that :shock:

 

[myboomisdoom]

The week leading into Christmas.

 

[turkeyhunter]

Second week of december here in southern wayne co.

 

[ZachMarkus]

Second week of December here in lawrence.

 

[sgtwebb1]

1st week of ML season.

Same here.
Matter of fact, I'm going to take vacation that week this year.

 

[tree_ghost]

2nd week of November and definitely with my bow!

 

[Boone 58]

Either the second week of MZ or perhaps the second week of gun........I have seen all 4 weeks in that time frame be pretty hot for me. This year the last day of MZ and the next 7 days after I took all three of my bucks....................a first.