Alabama Rut

[69Viking]

I hunt in Conecuh County Alabama and was wondering if anyone has input to when the real rut occurs in Alabama, particularly SW Alabama.  In the 4+ years I've hunted there it seems to me the real rut starts in mid January and runs into February even though the season ends January 31.  Maybe there are two ruts this far south, I'm just not sure.  Looking for anyone who can either confirm or deny!

[Bulls eye]

Having hunted numerous counties in Alabama for 20 years I have come to this conclusion about the Alabama rut. There is NO way to accurately predict the days of the rut year to year in Alabama. There are just to many variables. Buck/doe ratio, weather, where the deer you hunt were stocked from,etc,etc,etc. The timing can and does vary from county to county and year to year. Its not like up north where fawns have to be born in a small window of time to help give them a shot to make the winter. It dont get that cold here. The best way to say it is when the first doe in your neck of the woods goes into estrous the RUT is on. She should go into estrous within a day or two of the same day every year, but the catch is we have so many does and not enough bucks to service them so a lot of does will have 2 or 3 cycles before they get bred. Thats why we have late born fawns and not a lot of competion between bucks for hot does. A doe will cycle til she gets bred and a buck will breed her no matter what day it is. That being said once you hunt a few seasons at a place you should start to get a idea of when is the best time to kill your bucks. For me if I had to pick one day to be in my woods it would be dec.28th. We seem to do best between dec 28th and Jan 10th at our place.  Good luck!!!

[69Viking]

Thanks Bulls eye, that pretty much confirms my theory that there is at least two ruts or as you put it a much longer rut timeframe than up north.  The reason I think the rut is later in our area is that out of 5 deer I've shot in 4 years, 4 of them were shot in late January.  Two years ago I shot a doe at 7:15 am and a buck in the same field on her trail 45 minutes later, this was on January 30th.  That year the 30th was the last day I could hunt and I thought I was going to get skunked and then bam, two deer in a 45 minute timeframe.  I also have pictures of a doe with spots still just 2 weeks ago so you know that momma doe was breed late just like you described.  Good luck this year! 

[jacannon63]

I too have been hunting in Ala. a long time. I have always said we have a trickle rut. It starts in late Oct. and goes on till April. This is my theory,fawns are born from June till Oct.Back that date up 200 days and that will tell you when the doe was bred. We have killed bucks on opening day of gun season that were in full rut and we have killed bucks in Dec. that showed no signs of being in rut. i don't understand why some bucks would be in rut and some not. I know does come in estros every 28 days till they concieve. The late born doe fawns wouldn't be ready to bred till they are 6 or 7 mos. old. That would be Feb. or later. I spend alot of time in the woods in March and April turkey hunting and the deer sign is everywhere. I find fresh scrapes and see those large running tracks on dirt roads,so I know the rut is still going on. The weather also has alot to do with the rut. If it is above 50 degrees deer just don't move much. These are just some things I have observed over the years. Our best time to hunt is usually the third week of Jan. if the weather is cold.

[buckfever]

[8D]

[jacannon63]

Buck sign is starting to show up everywhere in the woods this week. It is time to start sitting all day.

[69Viking]

Yes buck sign was out in full force this weekend but I think the weather kept the deer from moving much.  In northern Conecuh we were treated with warm, muggy, foggy conditions (wasp weather) and then came the rain.  Thunderstorms started at 2:30 on Saturday and lasted until well after dark.  Sunday morning was good until 9:00 when a new round of thunderstorms rolled in.  Before we left Sunday almost 2 inches of rain had accumulated in less then 24 hours and out of 5 of us hunting only one small spike was seen.  [:@]
 
Our next trip is planned in two weeks starting on Jan. 16, I hope colder dry weather has returned by then and the rut is in full swing!

[jacannon63]

All my trail cam pics of bucks are late at night. The only buck I saw sat. morning was a small 8 point running across a clear cut like his tail was on fire. After that frog strangler rain and lighting storm, I went home Sat night, but I will be sitting in a tree all day next Sat. and Sun. God willing.

[frazor]

I live in NW Alabama and hunt in southern Tennessee as well. The distance between my usual hunting locations is no more than 10 milesbut it seems as though the rut in Alabama (first of January) almost always starts 2-3 weeks later than that of Tennessee (mid december). I would suspect that your location has you slated for an early to mid january rut as well. Due to the colder than average weather this year I think the rut has started a little earlier this year.