I’m predicting that this is gonna be a down year overall for most hunters around the state……Buck harvest will be down 15-20% or more in many counties........

i predict i will still have buck fever every time i see a deer with horns..

CNC - What are you basing your opinion on?

Harvest trends over the last 4-5 years….. along with a hunch……Most of north Alabama was down 15-30% last year……I think South Alabama is about to follow suit and then we’ll find ourselves at a new norm moving forward for annual harvest totals…..North Alabama may see a slight uptick from last season but it wont recover back to what it once was

We have more pictures of 2-3yo bucks than weve ever had. I expect 2/3 of them will be dead by february 10. Also have pics of 3-4 older bucks i would like to kill. Most people im talking to around here are seeing the same. A little patience would lead to a really good season next year. I dont expect it to happen.

Nothing happens i predicte ill be eating deer meat next year if I hunt . Id like to kill 5 or 6. I get a little help getting them to the house . Its brown its down this year.

Based on my camera activity, It’s not going to be great.

I disagree. Acorns are spotty at best. Food plots may not do well in large areas of the state. They’re predicting a dry fall and early winter. Corn will be king and people are going to kill the piss out of deer over election frustrations.

Did Kamala promise a buck in every crosshair?

You can only take a population and “kill the piss out of ‘em” above the norm for so long before its catches up to you and there’s no longer a piss load to kill…..We’ve already been killing the piss out of ‘em for a few years now…..

I may not be the most normal person, but I just can't understand someone who would take their emotions out on a deer herd because of an election.

I think 4+ year old bucks are becoming more scarce in many areas and part of this harvest decrease will come through a portion of the hunters no longer having many “shooters” to target……That big increase in buck harvest we’ve seen over the last few seasons has likely came from more of the 2-3 year old age class being taken out……

I predict that I will fire my old processor and take all my deer, except for dog deer that I process myself, to my new processor who makes delicious bologna and summer sausage and did not almost kill me like my old processor. .

After the Harris/Walz victory, the Lamb will lay down with the lion. There will be no more killing.

Based on my cameras and others I’ve talked with I completely agree with Cnc. A few have some shooters but the majority don’t. My honey hole I’ve had pics of 3 bucks where it was 10-15 racked bucks 2 years ago.

She promised 2 bucks in every crosshair, extended seasons, unlimited buck tags, free bullets, free camo, free treestands, and also reparations for the poor AL hunters that dont have any big bucks to kill like they do in midwest.. She's working hard to buy those Aldeer votes.

We've been killing the piss out of bucks since they opened deer seasons back up again after the original re-stocking. I dont think that you'll see a big decrease from the guys shooting 4+ year old bucks because there simply are not that many in Alabama hunters exclusively targeting older bucks. It's all the 1-3's being taken out of the herd by the semi-trailer loads, every season, that are making up the overwhelming majority of the buck harvest. Maybe Matt can provide the data but I'd bet that somewhere around 85% of alabama's annual buck harvest is made up of deer younger than 4, with the majority being 2-3 yr old basket racked 4, 6, and 8 points.

I’ve seen a pot load of em just like every year… but I aint

The areas of the state I work in have not seen a decrease in deer, despite killing the piss out of em. It’s actually stable to increasing most everywhere in west and north AL that I’ve been. Deer populations are not the issue. Age structure is however. I think we both agree on that.

Season prediction? I’m gonna suck it up like always, but make some great memories along the way.