I've been hunting the elusive grey ghost seriously since the mid 90's from my treestand. Archery, muzzle loader, modern depending on my schedule. I pattern them by trail cam from August through January. My experience has been that rut activity usually starts pretty seriously around the mid-last week in October and continues through most of November and even early December. My best rut hunts usually take place very close to Halloween and Typically everybody is in full swing. Most does are bread in the first cycle and the action falls off around the late rifle hunt/Thanksgiving time frame but there are still swollen up bucks running around after unbread does into December although not as hot and heavy. They are usually into a feeding pattern and fairly nocturnal buy the late archery/muzzy season. Pre-rut tactics, rattling/grunting work very well during the early muzzle loader and modern season early mornings/late evening and it just gets better as the season progresses. Isolated timber stands with soft wood borders especially near feeding areas where does are regularly present see a lot of pass through traffic and make the big boys hard to pattern during this time so patience is a virtue.
