November is the payoff month
October gets the openers. November gets the hunting. The mule deer rut builds through the first week of the month and peaks in mid-November, which is when big bucks do the dumbest things of the year. Montana's general deer and elk rifle season runs all the way to Nov 29, so the back half of the month is peak rut hunting on a general tag. Colorado runs two more rifle seasons in November: third rifle Nov 7 to Nov 15, with over-the-counter bull elk tags in many units, and fourth rifle Nov 18 to Nov 22 for limited tags. Idaho's late season turns into meat season, with antlerless hunts opening across the zones in the first two weeks of November. Washington's western elk modern firearm season runs Nov 7 to Nov 18. The trick to November is not finding a season. It is picking the right week for the tag you hold, and not wasting the rut on a spot the animals left in October.
Week by week: what is open
Every date here is for 2026 and every season has unit and hunt code exceptions. Confirm your tag and your exact dates on the state planner before you go. Nothing on this page overrides the warden.
| The week | What is open | The play |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 25 to Nov 1 | CO 2nd rifle ends Nov 1; MT general rifle running; ID Bannock antlerless Oct 25 to Nov 15; ID South Hills B tag Oct 25 to Nov 15; WA black-tailed modern firearm through Nov 1 | Last days of the October pattern; bucks warming up for the rut |
| Nov 1 to Nov 9 | ID Pioneer muzzleloader antlerless Nov 1 to Nov 9; MT general rifle; mule deer pre-rut building | Meat season opens in Idaho; hunt does and watch the bucks start checking them |
| Nov 7 to Nov 15 | CO 3rd rifle deer and elk; WA western elk modern firearm Nov 7 to Nov 18; MT general rifle in peak rut build | The biggest November weekend: rut plus a fresh Colorado opener |
| Nov 10 to Nov 24 | ID Pioneer rifle antlerless, McCall short-range antlerless, and Smoky-Bennett antlerless all Nov 10 to Nov 30 or Nov 24; MT general rifle at rut peak | Peak rut week: bucks on their feet in daylight, late antlerless tags filling freezers |
| Nov 18 to Nov 22 | CO 4th rifle, limited tags only; MT general rifle final stretch | Low pressure, late season elk in the timber; the 4th season hunters drew for this |
| Nov 23 to Nov 29 | MT general rifle final week; ID antlerless hunts winding down; ID Bannock muzzleloader Dec 1 to Dec 31 ahead | Last call on a general tag; rut winding down, weather doing the pushing |
The rut is the story of November
Mule deer run the month. The pre-rut warming in late October turns into real chasing in the first week of November, and the peak hits mid-month. That is when a buck that spent October invisible will follow a doe across an open bench at 9 in the morning. The setup that wins is the same one from the late season playbook: hunt the does. Does feed on south-facing benches with fresh green growth, and bucks check those benches on cold mornings. Burn scars and timber cuts from the last few years are the greenest feed in the unit, and the does know it. One more November signal that most hunters ignore: the roadkill data. November is the peak month for deer road kills in Oregon's records, and a third of Idaho's kills land in October and November. Those kills are not random. They are bucks moving between doe groups and crossing the same roads to do it. A roadkill cluster on a highway near a bench is a rut funnel with a body count.
The gap week matters in Colorado
Colorado's calendar has a hole in it, and smart hunters use it. Second rifle ends Nov 1. Third rifle does not start until Nov 7. That gap week, Nov 2 to Nov 6, has no general rifle season in the state, and the pressure resets. Elk that spent nine days getting pushed settle back into feed patterns. Hunters who drew or bought a third rifle tag walk into country that has had five quiet days. Third rifle is also an over-the-counter bull elk season in many units, same as second rifle, so it is a real second chance for anyone who did not fill a tag in October. Fourth rifle, Nov 18 to Nov 22, is limited draw only, which keeps the pressure lower and the elk a little less educated. Check your exact unit against the current OTC list before you commit to a trailhead, because OTC eligibility changes by hunt code and not every unit is OTC in every season.
Idaho's late season is meat season
If you want a freezer full and do not care about antlers, Idaho in November is the best hunting of the year with a fraction of the pressure. The Pioneer Zone runs muzzleloader antlerless Nov 1 through Nov 9 in units 36A, 49 and 50, then B tag rifle antlerless Nov 10 through Nov 30. McCall runs short-range antlerless Nov 10 through Nov 30 in units 23 and 24. Bannock runs antlerless any weapon Oct 25 through Nov 15 across units 70 through 74, with a muzzleloader antlerless stretch Dec 1 through Dec 31. South Hills runs B tag any weapon Oct 25 through Nov 15 in unit 56. Smoky-Bennett runs B tag antlerless Nov 10 through Nov 24 in units 44, 45 and 52. Big Desert runs short-range antlerless all the way from Aug 1 through Dec 31 in unit 53. Late season antlerless hunting is also migration hunting: the first real storm pushes herds downhill through the same corridor funnels the collar tracks documented, and the stopovers between summer and winter range are where the animals pause.
Montana's long season rewards patience
Montana's general season is five full weeks, Oct 24 to Nov 29, and that length is the whole advantage. Opening weekend is a crowd. The second half is the rut. If you can pick your week, pick the back half. Bucks that were nocturnal in October are on their feet in November, and the pressure thins out as the casual hunters go home. Weather is the other Montana factor. The first real storm of November starts the migration push in earnest: snow that buries the feed or crusts over sends elk riding the snow line downhill, and the published migration corridors show which drainages they walk. Hunt the corridor and the stopover, not the summer basin. The stopovers are always the same kind of ground: feed that is still working and water close by, usually a three to fifteen year old burn or a recent timber cut near a permanent source.
Scout November on the map stack
November scouting is the same stack, read for the rut instead of the opener. One, migration corridors and collar tracks for where the animals walk when the weather turns. Two, roadkill clusters for the confirmed crossings, which in November are also rut funnels. Three, burn scars and timber harvest for the feed, because the does are on the greenest ground and the bucks follow the does. Four, water and wetlands for the daily loop, since elk drink every day even while they are moving. Five, slope shading and the satellite basemap for your glassing seat and the walk in, plus the wind overlay for the setup, remembering thermals slide downhill in the morning and reverse in the evening. Six, public land and parcels before you mark anything, because the November spots that look best on satellite are often the ones that sit on private ground. Mark three spots where feed, water, corridor and public land overlap, and mark a backup for each. November will burn one of them. That is what backups are for.
November in ten minutes
One, confirm your tag, your unit and this year's exact dates on the state planner. Seasons shift and nothing here overrides the warden. Two, pick your week around the rut if you hold a mule deer tag, and around the gap week if you hold a Colorado third rifle tag. Three, turn on hunt units, public land and parcels and mark where you can actually be. Four, stack corridors, roadkill, burns, water and wind, and mark three spots where it all overlaps on public ground. Five, check the walk in on satellite: roads, closed gates, timber, and a glassing seat for each spot. Six, cache the tiles before you lose signal. November is the month the hunting gets good and the weather gets serious. The elk and the bucks already know what they are doing. Now you do too.