Greg,
Not looking for an argument, nor have I spent any time in Alabama hunting.
However, Bud up here in Pa is currently hunting with a muzzleloader and is finding fresh scraps which indicates some kind of rut is still going on as late as a couple days ago. So perhaps Alabama isn't as unique as they want on to believe.
Combine it with the fact, after 50 years the transplants have had more than enough time to intermingle their claimed different rutting genetics, I find their conclusions suspect. You believe if you want, but color me skeptical.
