I lean towards thinking "new and inexperienced" hunters should hunt as much as possible until they burn off some energy and get tired of spinning their wheels. But it seems your question has less to do with the experience aspect and more to do with your current life situation. Kinda different.
Haven't had kids, but have been in college full time and working 3 jobs before while being pulled by a very tight family that wasn't 100% on-board with me growing up and dating a pretty cool chick. I imagine it's similar in that you wake up early and go the bed late and still have stuff you didn't get done.
I've also worked situations where I didn't have a whole lot of vacation, which is kinda similar to your situation. If I only had a couple of days to a week to hunt, I know I'd pick peak rut to spend my vacation hours.
Peak rut increases your odds of shooting a mature buck, sure. But it really increases your odds of killing deer period. The bucks are running around disturbing the does, so they'll be on their feet as well. And sure, there's more hunter pressure, but my experience is that sudden and sharp increase in pressure increases deer activity as they struggle to adjust. So spend the all-day, brownie-point, vacation days in the woods during the rut.
If you have hunting grounds within 30 minutes of where you live or work, there's a whole nuther trick to learn. I have "snuck in" countless 1-2 hour hunts that don't get me in trouble with anybody and have netted me some extra bodies in the freezer. Getting good at quickie hunts isn't hard if you can get past the mental programming that makes you feel like you're doing something "wrong" by sitting on a bucket 200 yards away from your truck in work clothes.
Haven't had kids, but have been in college full time and working 3 jobs before while being pulled by a very tight family that wasn't 100% on-board with me growing up and dating a pretty cool chick. I imagine it's similar in that you wake up early and go the bed late and still have stuff you didn't get done.
I've also worked situations where I didn't have a whole lot of vacation, which is kinda similar to your situation. If I only had a couple of days to a week to hunt, I know I'd pick peak rut to spend my vacation hours.
Peak rut increases your odds of shooting a mature buck, sure. But it really increases your odds of killing deer period. The bucks are running around disturbing the does, so they'll be on their feet as well. And sure, there's more hunter pressure, but my experience is that sudden and sharp increase in pressure increases deer activity as they struggle to adjust. So spend the all-day, brownie-point, vacation days in the woods during the rut.
If you have hunting grounds within 30 minutes of where you live or work, there's a whole nuther trick to learn. I have "snuck in" countless 1-2 hour hunts that don't get me in trouble with anybody and have netted me some extra bodies in the freezer. Getting good at quickie hunts isn't hard if you can get past the mental programming that makes you feel like you're doing something "wrong" by sitting on a bucket 200 yards away from your truck in work clothes.