Man, to me thats a tough one. The ideal time would be the week in between the two available hunts. Looking back over the years I would say that the 10th to 15th of January hold the most promise for rutting activity. Thats not always the case, I am just basing that on averages over the years. If there are going to be hunters in before your friends on that ranch I would not go on the later hunt, I would go on the first hunt. The bucks will be starting to check the does and every day has the potential to be better than the last. Its just the opposite on the third hunt, the rut should be slowing down and there will have been 2 or more groups in before you. Neither of those weeks are what I would consider to be bad weeks, I just like hunting the middle week the best.
Drum