RE: MID WEST RUT HUNTING ?
Last year I took 1 week vacation to hunt the 1st full week of Nov. (Nov. 4-12 to be exact). That week is normally a very very good week to see tons of buck activity, both chasing and big mature bucks paired up with does but the temps the entire week in So. Il. were hovering around 75! Hot as hell, not a whole lot of activity...although I did manage to get some good/interesting hunts that week. The last day I hunted was the best...saw 9 different bucks that Sun. evening, one of which produced the "roar." Too bad I had to go back to work the next day.
I think this year I will take off the full week before shotgun, but I'm still not sure. It would be nice to know what exactly the weather will be doing!