2026 Rut Predictions by State: Your Whitetail Rut Map for Every State

The whitetail rut runs on a photoperiod clock — peak breeding is set by day length, not weather or moon — so the dates barely move from year to year, and you can plan your 2026 season around them right now. This is the state-by-state index. Tap your state for its full phase-by-phase rut breakdown, or its daily solunar calendar to time individual sits within the window.

New to rut timing? Start with the complete 2026 whitetail rut guide — it explains the five phases and the regional science behind every date linked below.

01Midwest

The most synchronized rut in the country. Peak breeding lands around November 12–15 across most of the region, with Minnesota and Wisconsin running a few days earlier.

• Illinois — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Indiana — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Iowa — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Kentucky — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Michigan — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Minnesota — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Missouri — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Ohio — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Wisconsin — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar

02Northeast & Mid-Atlantic

Peak breeding runs slightly later than the Midwest — mid-to-late November in most of PA and NY, a touch earlier in northern New England where hard winters pull the rut forward.

• Connecticut — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Delaware — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Maine — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Maryland — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Massachusetts — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• New Hampshire — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• New Jersey — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• New York — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Pennsylvania — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Rhode Island — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Vermont — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• West Virginia — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar

03South

The most fragmented rut in North America — timing varies by county, not just by state, with some zones peaking in October and others in January. Always cross-check your state's published conception-date study.

• Alabama — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Arkansas — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Florida — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Georgia — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Louisiana — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Mississippi — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• North Carolina — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• South Carolina — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Tennessee — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Virginia — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar

04Great Plains & Mountain West

Western whitetails hold in the river bottoms, shelterbelts, and farm-and-timber edges, and rut a few days ahead of the Midwest — peak breeding generally falls November 8–15, running a touch later in the northern Rockies and the Idaho Panhandle. (The mountains and open range are mule deer country; these predictions cover the whitetails in the cover along the water.)

• Colorado — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Idaho — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Kansas — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Montana — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Nebraska — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• North Dakota — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Oklahoma — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• South Dakota — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Wyoming — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Arizona — solunar calendar
• Nevada — solunar calendar
• New Mexico — solunar calendar
• Utah — solunar calendar

05Pacific & Non-Contiguous

The huntable whitetails out here live in the northeast corners — northeast Oregon's Blue Mountains and northeast Washington's timbered counties — where breeding peaks in the middle-to-late part of November. The rest of this region is blacktail and mule deer country.

• Oregon — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Washington — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar
• Alaska — solunar calendar
• California — solunar calendar
• Hawaii — solunar calendar

06Texas

A state with no single rut — breeding dates swing from early November in the north and east to late December in the South Texas brush country. Find your ecoregion in the full breakdown.

• Texas — 2026 rut prediction · solunar calendar

Pair your state's rut window with Deer season dates 2026–27: every state's opening days to confirm the season is open when the breeding peaks. Every state page and the Hunt Forecast run on the free plan — the free plan is the full app, not a trial. Get started, or see pricing for extended forecast windows.