I have a NE SK whitetail hunt this fall. I cannot be gone on the week of our Thanksgiving as originally planned.

I have the options of the week of the 5th-10th or the 26th thru the 1st of December.

The 5th-10th is falling moon with no moon on the 9th. The moon will be full on the 24th then falling. I would assume the weather will be colder later in the month. The rut seems to be predicted for around the 15th (that week is full).

I live in Louisiana. I would always go with the moon from these options.

I understand there are too many factors for an absolute answer, but I was wondering what option you guys would choose.

- Go the 5th-10th. Dark Moon. Pre-rut
- Go the 26th-1st. Cold. Bright moon. Post-rut?
- Reschedule for next year the week of the 15th rut.

Thanks for your time.

My 2 cents worth..take the early hunt. Less hunting pressure will mean the deer are not so nocturnal or spooked. Also, the bucks are fighting less so broken antlers are less of a concern.
The rut doesnt automatically mean all the big bucks come out to play. It just means you have to try different things to find "Mr Big".

I would take the first hunt also. I hunted the first week there last year. Many people there thought the first week was good because the deer were undisturbed. The second week was good because of the rut. The third and fourth weeks were good because the bucks were all about eating. They killed quality deer all of the weeks.

It got down to -12 degrees F the first week, can't imagine how cold it will be in December.

I am booked to go again the second week next year.

I would also book the early hunt. I think the rut matters a bit less up here than down south and you could get into temperatures the 26th of Nov that will seriously suck the fun out of being outside if you aren't used to it.

I prefer to hunt the later the better in November. A busted tine on a big mature buck doesn't matter; what's a damn number on a score sheet mean anyway? Nothing...

The weather will be a crap shoot no matter when you book. You can get stupidly warm/cold weather at either time. I can recall a hunt I had Mid-November a few years back, lying on a hillside watching some bucks in a field, wearing just a tee-shirt cuz it was so warm.

The whitetail in my sig' was shot November 20 2005; there was almost no snow, as you can see in that pic.

If you think back to November 2006, then the earlier hunt was better. We got a blast of cold plus heavy snows that really made the last half of November a mess (in my part of the country), while guys that hunted early had some great weather and hunting success.