When the bucks shed their velvet they nearly turn nocturnal... They're a real pain in the butt to kill.

If you have buddies find patches and make pushes through them into a clearcut and have a shooter in the clearcut... You've got to push them out of their beds.

If you are solo hunting it is so important to have the wind in your favor (use a breeze squeeze) or something alike and hunt slower than a turtle... My rule is take 2-3 steps and wait 15-20 seconds... It's amazing if you can stay quiet with the wind in your favor how close you'll be when deer stand up when they finally hear you.

You'll find the smaller blacktails from time to time with the does in this early season but it's extremely rare to kill a big one..

The rut is the answer, you need them bucks up looking around for the does.... Personally, that's why I've gone to Archery for deer this year. We get Nov 20th-30th in a heavily populated blacktail area. They'll be on the move at that time. Anywhere from November 5th through the end of November but the peak of the rut falls November 18th or so....

Good luck out there.

Keith