Younger bucks are opening most of the new scrapes and rubs while mature animals remain difficult to catch during daylight hours. Abundant acorns in southern Ohio and south-central Iowa have deer feeding in timber, leaving fields quieter than usual. Cameras in northern Vermont began capturing larger bucks in mid-October after a slow start, with light chasing and expanding travel.

Pennsylvania data from over 6,000 does between 2000 and 2007 put the breeding peak in the middle of November, similar to New York, while South Carolina generally peaks from late October into early November and most of Alabama waits until January. North Carolina zone averages run from late October in the southeast to early December in the west, and West Virginia found fewer acorns this year that could draw deer farther to feed.