I had a lease in Blount Co on highway 79 about 10 miles south of Guntersville from 2012 until last season. Rut was consistently Christmas into the second week of Jan. Last year it was way off, I'm assuming it was due to the crazy hot weather, but I'm not sure. Rut lasted the entire month of January last season, but there was no peak. 5 miles away on 79 towards Guntersville, we have family land that we hunt. Rut is always very late Jan into Feb, and like I said, only 5 miles away. Makes no sense.