The October Lull begins after hunter's begin to enter the woods for hunting activities. For this reason, the October Lull actually begins in September in some states, due to early bow openers. Rest assured the October lull has started in your area, if your archery season has already opened. Here is what to do about it.
Why Does The October Lull Begin?
As soon as deer recognize that the annual hunting season has started, the October Lull will begin. The acorns are dropping, the weather is warm and the mature bucks are lazy in October, all feel the blame. When really, the only reason deer appear to stop moving as much during the daylight, has to do with hunting pressure. One great way to verify this, is to find a lush, hidden food source hidden back in the cover and away from hunting pressure. What you will probably find amazing, is that many of those hidden honey hold food sources actually become daylight deer hotspots, as the levels of hunting pressure continue to rise in other locations.
3 October Lull Busting Strategies
There a 3 quick and basic tips that I have experienced you can practice, to completely eliminate any ill effects, of the October Lull.
1. Stay off your food plots
If you would like for the October lull to begin, then hunt your food plot over and over again, beginning on opening day. There is probably no greater cause of October Lull symptoms, then over-hunting food sources. The stronger the food source, the greater the risk.
2. The deer season does not end in October
While some treat the deer season as a sprint, the entire season is a marathon. As of this writing, I have sat 3 times in 10 days, with 26 stands and blinds to sit in, on 3 parcels. The old adage of, "you can't shoot em sitting in the couch", has got to be one of the most misleading, counterproductive deerisms ever uttered. If you want to see the October Lull begin, try hunting as many stands as you can, as quickly as you can. A strong stand rotation game can be one of your best friends for making sure the lull never even starts.
3. Play poker in the deer woods
Successful deer hunts during any time of the season are never a 100% guarantee. However, those who experience consistent success play poker in the deer woods, whether they know it or not. What that means is that by reducing your sound, your access scent, your on-stand scent and taking every measure you can to avoid spooking deer on the way in or out of your stand locations, increases your odds greatly. Whatever you can do to decrease your overall number of unwanted deer-human encounters (by scent, sound or site) not only tilts the odds in your favor, but it insures that you never have to experience the October Lull.
*Using terrain features to block your stand access movements is a great way to reduce deer/ human encounters! Unwanted encounters accumulate over the course of a season, which is why you actually CAN shoot more deer from the Couch.
Conclusion
Like many things in the world of deer hunting, you may have a lot more power to eliminate the October Lull than you may realize. If the deer don't know that the lull has started on your land -which you can even accomplish on 40 acres or less- then the the October Lull won't start either.