I am being fully sincere when I tell you I couldn't care less if I ever saw the rut.

These type of dumbass threads are the reason why I do not post much here any more.

We've got to answer the question "Why?" Why do you want February hunting?

Because it makes it easier? (I disagree, but that's another argument)

Because you want to see Outdoor Channel deer behavior? (as if you're guaranteed to see it)

Because you don't see bucks otherwise? (So what you're telling me is for 3-1/2 months you couldn't see a buck?) This is the worst answer to me, do NOT tell me this and expect me to be persuaded.

Because you want to see rutting activity? Why???? Why does it matter??? If you CAN see a buck(s) from Oct 15 thru Jan 31(and you CAN!!), what does it matter if you see a buck chasing a doe on Feb 10??? This is a grossly selfish and misguided reason.

And to the guys who say "we hunt turkeys when they gobble", I'd say "yes, but we haven't already been hunting them for 3-1/2 months prior to gobbling." As a young man, I easily killed as many longbeards in the Fall season as I did in the Spring.

Quit being selfish and abusing the resource. Get out of your over-pressured club, get off the food plots, get out of the shooting houses and ladder stands. I don't see bucks when I hunt like that either!!! Quit goofing up the season for those of us who DO see and kill good bucks from Oct thru Jan, just because you've been brainwashed by TV shows.

It's amazing the difference between hunters..

I am being fully sincere when I tell you I couldn't care less if I ever saw the rut. I don't anticipate it, not even interested in it. And the truth is, most years I don't observe any kind of rutting activity, nor do I attribute any kill to the rut. I'm trying to emphasize to you that we don't have a rut here in central AL either, or what we do have is just weak...might see a spike harass does in a field or something. But we don't have that week where every huge racked buck is out prowling like Michael Jackson at Toy's R Us. It's not any different here than it is where you are in extreme south AL.

Many of you act as if the whole 3.5 month season is a total bust if you don't have that tiny window of days when that happens. I don't hunt there (except for occasional trips), so I'll just defer that you're right, but I can't wrap my mind around it. I can't comprehend the mindset that there is zero reason to go hunting unless this mystical, magical rut is occurring. I have spent years in Lee & Russell counties (not too far south), and it hunts exactly like here in central AL. You don't really see a nilly-willy chase phase there either, yet with some regularity all season long you could see and kill bucks at least as big as that one pictured above. Again, I'll just assume you are right, but I can't even begin to understand the difference.

and what every serious hunter anticipates.

[quote=jlbuc10]

But even if you are hunting your arse off hard, that's not really my sticking point with the whole argument. You simply cannot make me understand this bizarre fascination with "the rut"?????? I've repeatedly said, I couldn't give three $#@$'s if deer ever rutted whatsoever. What are YOU seeing during "the rut" that I'm apparently missing??? I see deer chase does, I hear bucks grunt/snort wheeze/growl, I see and hear bucks sparring, but I don't see those often, sometimes I go a whole season without seeing any of that. Yet I still kill my 3 bucks most years, and don't feel disappointed if my buck was only standing in a cutover nibbling on privet (instead of fiercely chasing a doe). And yes, they are large, mature deer, not skinny racked 3yr olds.

I'm telling you, if you hunt 3-1/2 months from Oct till Jan and do not see/kill a buck(s), YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!!, not the season dates. Come on guys, I don't want to argue about it, I don't dislike y'all (we're all hunting brethren), but let's quit being Democrat hunters. (Let's change the rules to make it easier on some of us) If they made our season from June till September, I'd just make it work, not whine about "the rut".

after all, hunting is supposed to be fun

Not necessarily. There are some serious hunters who just enjoy hunting, the time outdoors, the opportunities to get to do something and whatever happens, happens. They're not hung up on a specific time of the season or some kind of ego-strokin' buck for the wall.

Some folks have fun all season.

Not necessarily. There are some serious hunters who just enjoy hunting, the time outdoors, the opportunities to get to do something and whatever happens, happens. They're not hung up on a specific time of the season or some kind of ego-strokin' buck for the wall.

I think I get it now some of you city slickers need hunting season to get in the woods..........

I like seeing big bucks. I watched a buck shadowing a doe in Kansas this year that would have made y'all's knees wobble. Saw two others chasing a doe, both shooters. Saw a third that was every bit of 160 if not 170 ... and none were within crossbow range.

I hunted here in North Alabama on land I know well. They gave me the slip this year. I have them on camera. But I learned some more things and enjoyed being in the woods.

To each his own. But I won't stop emphasizing that it's not only about "the rut" or giant bucks or "one buck a season" or "baiting" for everyone. It's not. Everyone's different.

I have hunted truly all over the state. I've killed mounter bucks on WMA's. I've been in $4,000 apiece leases on seriously elite land. Been in 10,500 acre clubs with 40 members. Been in some clubs that sucked. Been on invited hunts on places most folks only see on TV. I've worked in game management operations on a military base that probably has the highest density of older age structure, world-class genetics in the state. I've killed 13 deer in one season with my bow, killed 22 deer total in a season, killed two 8's with one shot, killed 144" deer, killed yearling knot-heads, killed a $hitpot load of deer in my life and seen as much in the woods as most men ever will. I've seen more bucks in one group chasing a single doe than I could even count. I've gone whole seasons and never seen rut behavior. At age 41 I've had a fantasy hunting career already if it ends tomorrow. I don't know if there's anything a deer does that I haven't observed from a treestand. I love it all, done it all, hope to do it all again for many more years. But in the end, "the rut" is so unpredictable and undependable that I simply don't care about it. If I see it, and it helps me, good. It may happen in season, but even if it does you still have low odds of actually seeing and killing a good buck. Better than usual, yes, but still no certainty. But since the early 90's I've not hunted one single bow season when I didn't see bunches of old, big bucks, and usually it's batchelor groups. It's 100% rock-solid dependable, it simply happens in October!!!!!!! And as many of those years as not, I get a chance to shoot at / kill one or more of them. The rut?...not so much. And again, I know it's just a personality thing, but it's not the same as turkeys gobbling to me, I just don't get any more excited seeing rut activity than I do when I see a big buck any other time of the season.