Most cases the rut has a peak of one week with some pre/post rut then nature causes the unbred does to go back into estrus 30 days later so in december for US midwest there is a secondary smaller rut period. Deer will return to normal pre-rut activity untill cold temps put them into winter metabolic slowdown. As wmi said food is the key and they tend to move late in the morning and early afternoon. This conserves energy for them and requires longer bedding time. This is my favorite time to flintlock hunt.