This year I teamed up with Outdoor Life digital for the 8th annual BIG DEER rut guide, with specific tips on planning your hunting vacay this November. Click the above link to read the entire guide; below are some highlights:

New moon this rut cycle begins on October 27…expect deer to be most active at dawn and for 30 minutes thereafter… expect deer to be move from daylight until 9:00a.m. or so…get on stand extra early and hunt especially hard that first hour.

November 4, 2019 First-Quarter Moon: Looking back to my notes and all the research I’ve done over the years it is fact that many huge bucks are killed every year during the seeking phase of the rut November 6-10. This is always a good week to take off work and hunt.

Week of November 11, 2019: Full Moon: November 8 through 16 could be good for midday deer movement, especially if it’s cold. Movement from, say, 10 a.m. till 3:00 p.m. …spend all day in a stand, you never when a mature buck will come by.

Week of November 18, 2019 Last-Quarter Moon: deer movement should be good to great from November 19 through about 24, especially around food sources…if you are going to hunt the last hour of the day anytime this season, you should do it during the last-quarter phase.

Good luck whichever week you take off to hunt the rut!

One more thing: If you have the flexibility to wait until late October to plan your rut-hunting week do it. Study the long-range weather forecast for November, pick a cool to cold week when bucks will move best and factor in the moon advice you read here for a killer game plan.