If you grow up hunting deer and hearing about “the rut” then you know, or should know, that it’s not always an absolute, exact, specific period of dates when the exciting peak phase occurs.

By peak I mean that chasing and breeding phase when we’re in the woods or fields seeing bucks nose-down on the trail of a doe or flat-out chasing her all over. It’s a wild, can’t-stop-him, flat-out crazy time and pretty awesome to see.

But in the Southeast we’re not as blessed to have a more compact window like in the Midwest when that peak occurs. Talk with Midwest hunters and they’ll say “between these dates” and it’s generally spot-on. Talk with Southeast hunters and they’ll say “Oh, our ‘rut’ is …” and could give you dates from early November through February.

I’ve heard already about guys in south Georgia seeing chasing activity. We’ll have more of it picking up in Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas in the coming weeks. Alabama, for example, will see peak rutting anywhere from late November or mid-December up north to mid-February down along the southern counties. Northwest Florida’s rut occurs in February. It’s just doggone weird.

That’s why the Deer & Deer Hunting Southern Rut Forecast becomes a perfect resource to ensure you’ll be in your stand for the heart of the whitetail rut.

Behind years of research by By Dr. Steve Demarais, Jeremy Flinn and Dr. Bronson Strickland, this download lets hunters know the optimal times to hunt and observe the Southern whitetail rut in their state. Also included in this in-depth analysis of the 2014 rut are calendar pages for October, November and December with daily deer activity predictions based on the lunar rut research of Deer & Deer Hunting contributing editor Charles Alsheimer and Vermont wildlife biologist Wayne Laroche.

The 35th latitude is the dividing line for Deer & Deer Hunting‘s Northern and Southern rut predictions. Starting from the east, this line runs across the country from approximately Charlotte, N.C., to Tulsa, Okla., to Amarillo, Texas. The South consists of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas; the southern halves of Arkansas, Arizona and New Mexico; and the southernmost parts of North Carolina and Oklahoma.

Find out what the trends and forecasts are for your hunting areas and don’t be left out of the fun this season.