In the old days when I lived there, the first ten days of November were typically the peak of the rut for both species. Same for muleys on the east side as whitetails on the west side of the state. As I recall, mountain muleys went in the rut maybe a few days to a week earlier. Some folks say that it depends a lot on the weather but I'm not sure. I think it has more to do with the shortness of days and, of course, the cycles of the moon (time of month). I know that escessively warm weather can delay the first moose rut out here in Ontario. But those things are pretty wierd anyway. Because moose are a solitary animal during and out of the rut, bulls and cows must call to each other individually to connect for breeding. This is obviously not going to be that successful given that they are roamers and not herders. So nature has compensated. Cows can come into heat as many as three times between September and December. Many times I have been out the last week of the season in mid-December in deep snow plus sub-zero (Celsius) weather and heard the bulls hollering and scrapping with each other in the brush in front of me - and the cow cheering them on. Quite a racket.

ya i was looking up they hit the rut kinda early this year but they will come back around thanksgiving time in north west montana...