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Originally Posted by ruraldoc

I have lived in Alabama all my life and have killed deer in a bunch of counties all over the state. The map is correct,it has been verified by shooting bred does all over the state and determining the age of the fetus and the date breeding occured.

The hard science of the studies agrees with what locals already knew.

Just for the record I have hunted and killed deer in Cullman,Shelby,Coosa, Elmore,Autauga, Macon,Bibb,Hale,Dallas,Marengo,Clarke,Sumter,Pickens,Greene,and Choctaw County.

Have also hunted without taking a deer in several other counties. The Map confirms what I have seen with my own eyes.



With that wide array of deer movement, I reckon I'd be dotting the state and be more worn out at the end of the season than a rutting buck. laugh
How many tags are you folks allotted or does that vary by region?


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Originally Posted by SKane
Originally Posted by ruraldoc

I have lived in Alabama all my life and have killed deer in a bunch of counties all over the state. The map is correct,it has been verified by shooting bred does all over the state and determining the age of the fetus and the date breeding occured.

The hard science of the studies agrees with what locals already knew.

Just for the record I have hunted and killed deer in Cullman,Shelby,Coosa, Elmore,Autauga, Macon,Bibb,Hale,Dallas,Marengo,Clarke,Sumter,Pickens,Greene,and Choctaw County.

Have also hunted without taking a deer in several other counties. The Map confirms what I have seen with my own eyes.



With that wide array of deer movement, I reckon I'd be dotting the state and be more worn out at the end of the season than a rutting buck. laugh
How many tags are you folks allotted or does that vary by region?


No kidding right? 😄


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Originally Posted by SKane
Originally Posted by ruraldoc

I have lived in Alabama all my life and have killed deer in a bunch of counties all over the state. The map is correct,it has been verified by shooting bred does all over the state and determining the age of the fetus and the date breeding occured.

The hard science of the studies agrees with what locals already knew.

Just for the record I have hunted and killed deer in Cullman,Shelby,Coosa, Elmore,Autauga, Macon,Bibb,Hale,Dallas,Marengo,Clarke,Sumter,Pickens,Greene,and Choctaw County.

Have also hunted without taking a deer in several other counties. The Map confirms what I have seen with my own eyes.



With that wide array of deer movement, I reckon I'd be dotting the state and be more worn out at the end of the season than a rutting buck. laugh
How many tags are you folks allotted or does that vary by region?


Three bucks per year and depending on location / season, up to a doe per day.

Edited to add: no real "tag" system like the folks out west are accustomed to. Basically your license has a spot to track your harvests and there is an online reporting site. Pretty liberal....here's a copy of a license I had saved on my computer from a couple years ago:

[Linked Image]

Last edited by War_Eagle; 01/14/20.
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It makes perfect sense to me. The TX map would look much the same. Whitetails and mule deer in the far N TX Panhandle rut a full month before they do further south where I live, and even later down in far S TX. It's the length of daylight (photoperiod) that triggers the rut IME, regardless of the genetics involved. Deer evolve to their habitat....mother nature takes over, at some point.

I was hunting deer in the far N TX Panhandle in mid November and the whitetails and mule deer rut was side open. The muley rut here is just winding down, and started mid December.

Last edited by JGRaider; 01/14/20.

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Originally Posted by battue
I mentioned the North to South variation as an aside from looking at the significant different rutting times based on the most part by location. Did the majority of the late rutting Deer get transplanted at the extreme Southern border? How does their conclusion relate to the intermingling of genetic rutting times over the last 50 years? You mix genes, you eventually getting a mixture of characteristics that become the norm.

The N to S heat variation was just thrown out as food for thought.

I'm not saying there are not different rutting periods. I am saying, by now, with a 50year plus window of genetic intermingling, other factors are the cause of different rutting periods. The map write-up said it was based on the genetics of where the transplants came from. That part I'm not buying.

Her in Pa we obviously have an extended rutting period. There were fresh scrapes in the area my Bud found them the other day back in October. Yet some were still being make a couple days ago. What causes it? That area has an overabundance of Does, and some because they were missed on their first go, go into a second heat.


The overabundance of does will cause a longer, more drawn out rut. No doubt about it. I need to shoot more does....I need to focus on it early in the season.

The variations of "peak" rut dates exists in AL. If a person wants to travel they can hunt the rut for 3 months. I grew up here hunting the management areas, the original stocking locations. Huge difference between Skyline (January), Little River (December), and Choccolocco (November...even late October) WMA's even though they aren't that far apart geographically. Deer have spread like crazy the past 30 years. I've wondered a lot about interbreeding changing rut dates. In most things genetic, there will be a dominate and recessive trait. I wonder how it works for the rut timing trait?

Here's an older link that discusses where some deer were originally stocked from and rut dates:

https://www.al.com/sports/2013/01/rut_report_deer_in_various_pha.html

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I have land in Dekalb and Etowah counties. Very close to the edges of 3 different zones. Has to overlap. Guess I could hunt for a month and call it the rut. Sadly, I do not hunt the land. Have a much better place available to me in Southern Tennessee, so have never hunted it. Allow a local to hunt, in exchange for looking over it for me.


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So many variables in this discussion.....

I will say JG that Texas not only having multiple deer species, the climate and weather from Brownsville to the Panhandle is significantly more extreme than the north to south of Alabama. I'd say the rut in Texas more closely follows the north/south gradient, i.e. Bergmann's principle which would be a latitudinal gradient as you basically describe, not a giant patchwork like Alabama...


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I consider what is happening in Alabama as a anomaly. When I look for rut starts thru out the United States, I refer to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map as a general rule, and of course, there are exceptions.

https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/


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We own land in central TX and lease land in the hill country. About 125 miles apart.

I've seen a buck on a doe as early as mid September and as late as mid February.

We have buck fawns from still spotted in December to having hardened antlers protruding and rubbed off almost 3-4 inches long.

Nuts. One never knows.

The golden thing is finding a hot doe either early or late. Every buck around will be trailing. MUCH more impressive than general normal rut.


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Originally Posted by roundoak
I consider what is happening in Alabama as a anomaly. When I look for rut starts thru out the United States, I refer to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map as a general rule, and of course, there are exceptions.

https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/



I agree.

Some of the same things Alabama experiences other states in the South experience to a lesser extent. Georgia for example...


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Battue does not know what he's talking about, a man from Pa knows nothing about what goes on in Alabama. The rut in this state is the craziest phenomenon in the deer world. The rut can vary by two months or more only a few miles apart. No matter where you are the rut is not very pronounced or aggresive as far as a 2 week time frame. It usually takes about a month total no matter which area you are in. I've seen bucks breeding does while turkey hunting in late March, and I've seen spotted fawns in late Sept and early Oct. The county I live in is next to the Ga state line, our rut here is just now kicking off, 25 miles east of us in Carroll County, Ga, their rut was over in late Nov. Don't make any sense, but it's true.

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Perhaps the man from Alabama should re-read what I wrote. I questioned the why of it, not the reality of it. 😉


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Thanks for sharing this info! I've a brother that lives in AL. Long thought about trying to get in on a club/lease down there for some Dec/Jan hunting and this would help in picking a spot to look.

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If I remember correctly, wasn’t Clark county the only county with native deer left when the restocking started in the 30’s and 40’s?

It’s hard to explain the crazy rut we have. I’ve seen fresh scrapes and rubs in mid August and also in early March and every time in between.

It’s changed a little on our club in the last 14years. Around 2005-6 ours peaked about December 4or5 until about the 15th-16th. Now it’s getting good about the week of Christmas to the week after New Years.

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I hunt 3 different ruts in LA, so see no reason why AL would be any different. My uncle lived there for decades and loved late Jan for big bucks.

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I was in Pickens County (Carrollton/Aliceville area) last week and weekend hunting. The rut was in full swing, but buck movement slowed a little with the warm weather and full moon, and really fired up the evening after the front and tornado went through (Sat). Unfortunately didn’t see any shooters in daylight, but quite a few at night on game cams. Shot a big azz hog left handed at 300 yds on the last evening, so I have some meat. Will be back there before the season ends to see if I can find a shooter.

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Originally Posted by Capt_Craig
I was in Pickens County (Carrollton/Aliceville area) last week and weekend hunting. The rut was in full swing, but buck movement slowed a little with the warm weather and full moon, and really fired up the evening after the front and tornado went through (Sat). Unfortunately didn’t see any shooters in daylight, but quite a few at night on game cams. Shot a big azz hog left handed at 300 yds on the last evening, so I have some meat. Will be back there before the season ends to see if I can find a shooter.


Love it when you Florida boys come up here and shoot these hogs, thanks for leaving the deer alive too. 🤣🤣🤣

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It hasn't changed in 20 years in Henry County that I can vouch for. The rut rolls east to west across the county (southeast corner of the state, borders GA and one county up from FL). We have a lease in East Henry county where you can go watch mature bucks chase the end of December/first week of January. 20 miles west at our farm bucks couldn't care less about a doe until about the 18th-20th of January or so. Scraping/rubbing follows the same trend, you'll find them 2-4 weeks sooner on the eastern property vs the west.

Edit: I can also go 50 miles further east in GA and hunt the rut the first couple weeks of November. Its ridiculous.

Last edited by ChrisAU; 01/16/20.
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Chris, apparently we are neighbors. Cool. Its hard for folks to grasp the rut down here. Its sounds good at first, potentially moving around the state and hunting the rut for three months. But in reality its not nearly as productive as what other northern and western states experience when all the deer in an area are chasing at once. I was amazed on a January archery mule deer hunt in AZ when I saw how a "real" rut works.

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Originally Posted by ctsmith
Chris, apparently we are neighbors. Cool. Its hard for folks to grasp the rut down here. Its sounds good at first, potentially moving around the state and hunting the rut for three months. But in reality its not nearly as productive as what other northern and western states experience when all the deer in an area are chasing at once. I was amazed on a January archery mule deer hunt in AZ when I saw how a "real" rut works.


Yep, really close actually ha. And yes I agree, with such wide variance it does stretch it out, which has its pros and cons. Really hard to rely on any intel other than what your own eyeballs see because they may be rutting like crazy 5 miles away and have zero activity where you hunt at. Only way to know for sure is to get in the woods, which is ok by me.

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