The Best Days to Deer Hunt in 2025

Any day in a deer stand is a good one, but some are always better than others. Check out our expert’s picks for this season. (Image by Rich Waite)

Every deer hunter in America wants to know: Will it be an early or late rut this fall? How will moon phase and weather affect things? Will some days and weeks be better than others to plan our precious PTO? Those are all great questions, and read on for the answers as we make our annual predictions on the best days to take off work and tag a buck this season.

SEPTEMBER 15-16: EVENINGS OFF

If your state’s archery season is open, think about sitting your favorite stand in or around a corn or bean field where days or weeks earlier you glassed or got trailcam images of a shooter buck. Anytime you hunt in the early season, the best and most predictable deer movement will occur in the afternoons. This September 15, when the moon enters a last-quarter phase, that late-day movement could be turbo-charged.

Mid-September is a great time to tag a big buck that’s sticking to a regular feeding pattern. Hunt near food sources and focus on evening sits only. (Image by Aaron J Hill)

For the last decade when planning hunts, I have relied on a N.C. State moon study of GPS-collared deer. One of the project’s findings is that during a last-quarter moon, deer movement is often “extreme, with the last hour of the day especially good.”

If you hunt these days, no matter the region, chances are it will be warm to very hot. Dress for it, take scent-control precautions and go. The good thing is that you can work in the mornings to save PTO hours, and take the afternoons off. Plan to be on your stand by 4 p.m. at the latest, and hang tight until dark.

Don’t Miss: 7 Serious Field-Dressing Mistakes

OCTOBER 20-23: SCRAPE DAYS

Studies have shown that whitetail bucks begin to intensify scraping behavior around October 20, which to me is the official kick-off of the rut north of the 35th parallel. Data show that bucks breed 5 to 7 percent of a herd’s does on October 21, give or take a few days, as well. That might seem insignificant, but it’s not. When bucks get on their feet for a few days to scrape and sniff for the first precocious does, the bowhunter in the right spot can shoot a big one.

Morning activity spikes in late October, when bucks are on the prowl for early does, marking the woods with scrapes and rubs, and fighting frequently. (Photo by Paul Winterman)

Over these four days, the new moon will be 90 to 100 percent dark. I expect deer movement to be best in the mornings, and especially good if it’s cool, maybe 35 to 49 degrees. Not surprisingly, both the Farmer’s Almanac and the NOAA Climate Prediction Center forecast warm to hot weather across most of the country this fall, with intermittent and unpredictable cold fronts and cool rains here and there. Watch your weather app, and take off these days only if a cold front blows in and drops the temperature 20 to 30 degrees. If you hunt, try a tree stand back in the timber, overlooking a trail pocked with fresh rubs and smoking scraps, and hang tight until 10 a.m.

Don’t Miss: 4 Ways to Shake Up Deer Season This Year

NOVEMBER 4-14: A GREAT RUTTING MOON YEAR

Regardless of weather or moon phase, these are good days to take off in any given year. In 2025, I believe these 11 days are the absolute sweet spot!

I like the way this rutting moon sets up. Waxing gibbous on the 4th, it begins to expose the chaotic seeking phase of the hard pre-rut, when bucks expand their range, scraping and rubbing and cruising for does. As the moon grows to full and brightens on November 5, the deer movement should be especially good, maybe even explosive for several days if you’re lucky and a cold front sweeps into your area. If conditions line up, some of you will experience an early and active rut.

If you hunt November 5-10, you might see a shooter on the prowl or chasing a doe any time of day, maybe 8 a.m. or 11 a.m. or 1 p.m. Hang on stand as long as you can. I’ll add that the N.C. State study found that during a full moon, bucks tend to move earlier in the afternoon than you might imagine. If you take a lunch break, get back on post by 1 p.m.

Don’t bail on your sit too early during the first week of November. The bright moon should put deer on their feet at midday. (Image by Realtree Media)

* Stand tip: Since you never know when or where you’ll see a big buck this week, hang a stand on an elevated ridge 100 to 200 yards off a corn or bean field if the land is conducive to it. It could be a hotspot either morning or afternoon.

If your boss approves PTO later in this window, say November 10-14, great! Big buck movement anytime during the rut is unpredictable, and this could turn out to be the best week, especially if the weather is cool. Remember, the moon study I reference found that deer movement is most extreme during this last-quarter phase. If you can hack it, stay on stand all day.

* Stand tip 2: Set a stand or blind back in the timber where 2 or more ridges, points and draws converge. Both resident bucks and cruisers from a mile or two away will swing though these corridors and funnels, either trolling for does or chasing them. Hunt this vantage long enough and you’ll see bucks.

NOVEMBER 19-22: PLAY THE PRESSURE

These are a solid four days to take off, especially if you live in the Mid-Atlantic, from Virginia to Pennsylvania to points north, where most years the rut peaks a week or so later than it does in the Midwest. Gear up, hope for cool weather and hunt hard as you can every day.

If you hunt these days out in the Midwest, you might hit “lockdown,” when older bucks hook up and lock with does as they breed for several days. Mature buck sightings might decrease. But if you hit it right, when bucks are coming out of lockdown and starting to cruise for another estrus doe, you might have a fantastic hunt. You just never know.

Many bucks will be locked down with does by late November, and hunting pressure can impact movement. Stick with it, though, because it’s a great time to tag a mature deer. (Image by Realtree Media)**

If you go this week, factor in pressure. There will be many bowhunters in the woods in most areas, and it’s opening week of firearms season in places. If you hunt private land or a well-controlled lease, go and kill big one. If you hunt public land or private with a lot of other guys, hunt the less-pressure weekdays of November 20-21, and by all means set your stands in secluded areas with thick cover.

I hate to harp, but the hunting will be best if the weather is cool. I chose these four days largely because they line up with a new moon. My 40 years of journal entries from hunts across America, supported by findings of the N.C. State moon study, show that during the darkest moon days in mid-November, deer consistently move well, especially in the mornings.

Don’t Miss: 20 Things to Know About Deer Body Language and Behavior

On November 20, 2017, the new moon in November was almost identical as to what it will be this year. One evening I sneaked onto an oak ridge flanked by a corn field on one side and heavy CRP to the west. I found two fresh trails and a smattering of scrapes, and figured deer were cutting across the ridge and staging here as they moved from bed to feed. I hung a tree stand and from it the next morning I killed a 158-inch 10-pointer. Try a new set in a hidden spot like, where skittish does and bucks stage and move through thick cover as they come and go to feed. Be on stand early each morning, and hunt it out until at least 10 am.

DECEMBER 2-6: LATE LOVE

If you’ve got a few vacation days and a buck tag left, burn those last days this week. I’ve been shouting for years to anybody who will listen: There is more late rutting activity, and mature buck movement, in early December than most people realize. So good, in fact, that the first week of the post-rut has become my favorite time to rifle hunt.

The first week of December can produce more rutting activity than many hunters realize. (Photo by Sandra Sap)

One big thing is that the weather finally starts to cool down and stay that way for days in many areas. Mature bucks move best on high-pressure days when it’s 45-50 degrees (daytime high) or cooler, especially when a cold spell follows warm November weather. If the forecast for December 2 or 3 shows daytime temps in the 30s or 40s, with lows in the 20s, get out there. While the mornings will be tough, the waxing gibbous moon rising to full on December 4 could enhance the activity of deer around feeding areas the last two hours of shooting light each day.

One of my go-to tactics in early December is to hunt from a treestand or box blind 100 yards or so off a crop field, back in the timber where I can watch a thick-cover staging area or funnel that leads out to the feed. Bucks are wired and spooky now, but driven by two things—the need to feed and replenish their bodies, and the overriding desire to hook up with one last doe. Hidden in a stand back in the cover, you might get a crack at a good buck as he moves out toward the feed at last light. While the afternoons are always best in the post-rut, you might kill a big deer from this setup at sunrise if you hang tough and get lucky on one of the last best hunting days of 2025.