I have been keeping a log for Zone 2 for 10 years now and here are my findings.

Nov 10--Nov 18 has been an awesome time to be in the woods with some of my best activity on 11/15 and 11/16th. However, last year the bucks were still rutting for the 1st day of early Muzzleloader as I shot a nice 7pt that came into scent followed by a spike. That day (12/1st?; we shot 4 bucks out of 4 guys and all were rutted up. In 1998, I shot my best NJ buck (134") on the shotgun opener that came into a field and made a rub!

However, the rut has been hot and cold some years according to the weather/etc.

In the end, you gotta be in the woods around the middle of NOV---bar none!!

Good luck!

Bob