I've gone back, searching this forum for everything I could find regarding the rut in Skyline / North Jackson County and this is what I have come to believe ... 2Dogs and RidgeStalker plz chime in and correct me if I am wrong ...
1) The rut came and went during the period just prior to the last gun hunt. We had a brief stint of cold weather a week before that may have triggered it but I believe it happened during the 2nd week of January
2) This area normally experience 2 or 3 breeding periods. The 2nd usually runs around the last week of January which, by the way, will FOLLOW AFTER the next gun hunt ... i.e. we will not be able to hunt that rut
3) The 3rd rut typically runs 2nd week of February and of course we will not be hunting that one either.
Given all this, I don't really think any really big bucks are going to be taken next gun hunt. There may be a few good ones, taken especially in hard to reach remote areas but the normal haunts just aren't going to produce the bigguns ...
Regardless of where ya'll choose to hunt on Skyline WMA, peak breeding will be well over with before the next gun hunt. Don't let that discourage you though. Hunt travel corridors in relative close vicinity of where you know some does are. Some of the best bucks every year in Jackson County are killed late in January, cruising by themselves at all hours of the day (sit all day), desperately trying to find another lady or two before things totally dry up. Be ready. When you see one of them, he will be on a MISSION and won't check up for much of anything.
