I like the chasing phase. Last year I slowly still hunted and you can hear the deer running around chasing each other. I stalked into position just on the edge of some cattails and a tree line. There were two bucks chasing a doe all over the place. Finally the doe and the smaller buck came from the north east right towards me. The larger buck went further west and stopped behind some brush. The doe and other buck finally seen me at about 10 yards and stopped for a second then went back the direction they came. The other buck looked at them and started walking that direction right out in front of me I grunted and let they arrow fly. Unfortunetly he ducked and I skimmed his back and took a little hair off. I shot a little high to begin with and him ducking didn't help. That was probably one of the most memorable hunts just becuase of the excitement. I am looking forward it again this year.

I have five days at thie beginging of November

Tim

I thing it is very tempting to to put in for time off right now, but I think you would be better served if you waited until it was closer to November. Of course this is only applicable to people taking off a week or so. If you are taking off for a month then it's a moot point.

You do have to consider givingliberal notice at work, but if it's possible to wait it out a little bit; you can gauge the weather with more accuracy. The last thing you wanna be doing on your day(s) off is sitting in a treestand when it's in the mid 70's. You won't be seeing much rut action in that setting, trust me.

Another advantage is you get a better feel of where the rut is. While predictions are helpful, I feel there are other variables to consider that are local to you where the best person to judge when to make your move is you.