Full potential has no clue as to the terrain, thickness of the woods, age of a hunter involved (no crossbow for me), physical condition, and, that a 1 to 1 or 1 to 2 buck to doe ratio has no effect on deer we hunt.
Can't speak for everyone near us, but, I'd throw out December except around Christmas and New Years for traditional family hunts.
February 15 would be the end of the season. I know, the rut will have passed in a lot of areas. However, post rut hunting is legal in lots of states. But, Alabama doesn't approve of it. Hunt with what the heck cranks your tractor. Manage land properly and talk with neighbors to try to get on the same page, no matter what the plan is. And yes we have a different deer than most areas of the country.

There is no reason you can't institute this on your own property. If you think it is such a good idea. Your property would be the sanctuary. Why would you want to force others into your management style?

You need your mouth washed out with soap for suggesting that nonsense. I love deer hunting way too much for those type of season dates and bag limits. Man I would a mad Sumbitch if Alabama went to that. The state would get filthy rich off of ticketing outlaws.

BSK always said the midwest deer were just different because of there behavior, some of it is pressure and some of it is if they're going to eat they have to come out into those huge fields.

Also, which part of the state would get the shaft in terms of firearms season? The rut kicks up mid November in some areas, around Christmas in some and late January in others. Who gets 10 days of prime hunting with a gun? Who doesn't?

Deer have a lot more places to hide here, and the rut varies widely. They are pressured more and that in turn makes them more wary. Add in the fact that does are targeted as much as the big bucks and you have your reason why you don't see deer like out in the mid west. No reason to try and copy the Midwest.

x2 Most of your "Big Buck" states don't gun hunt the rut.

If ya'll want to hunt a 10 day season in the Midwest, then move there.

That's the last thing I would want but I do believe that's why a lot of their bucks survive and move more natural.

I've never hunted in another state. What do Midwestern states allow in terms of doe harvest? Is it outlawed altogether, or are there limited 'doe days'? If there's a drastic difference in how they hunt (or don't hunt) does, then you're probably right on track with your thoughts.

This would probably push a lot of hunters to Tennessee and Mississippi. I enjoy Alabama's long, liberal season. We do have a ton of hunters from other states come here and hunt which puts more pressure on deer and reduces their numbers.

It varies but most states have a limit of two or three if I remember correctly. I think some sell bonus tags as well but it is limited more than AL. I know that from my experiences out in Mizzou, during gun season hardly anyone in camp would take a doe. Most would eat tag soup if they didn't take a mature buck, so the doe population was in good shape on most properties that I went on.

Deer are survivors and quick adapters. It's just not possible to compare Alabama with the Midwest. I promise that our deer are not more intelligent than other deer. They just get shot at for 2.5 months straight here. When gun season opens up in Ohio those deer go on lockdown. You might see 10 deer the first day and 1 the second day of gun season. They don't have as many places to hide in tye midwest either. 99% of the properties in the Midwest don't have people lined up to hunt them from November-January. Makes a huge difference. In Alabama everyone wants to hunt opening day because some of the deer haven't caught on yet and your chances are higher. It doesn't take long for them to figure it out and lock down there daytime movement. Also, I believe that Alabama has a lot more people that say screw the law, if I want to shoot a deer in June I'm going to do it.

When the weather is below freezing every day and food is very scarce the deer become more predictable. We don't have that advantage in Alabama.

Being able to hunt every day for 4-5 months is great and I wouldn't change it but it also makes us amazing educators to these deer.