Very juvenile .

I just hunt when I can

I’ll add this to the mystery. We have two totally different looking deer mixed together. The bucks will either be shorter body and light brown with real long hair underneath or longer body and grey with the pronounced black line down the top of the back.

I talk to a buddy last night above Pisgah. They killed a big cull deer yesterday. He said before he got down 4 bucks wad chasing a hot doe around the field with the dead one laying in it. Here across the river it has not started

It’s wide open North of Stevenson.

I am still getting pictures daily of bachelor groups of bucks. Here it seems the groups seem to break up once the rut kicks in. We are in the lower end of PRV. As far as coat and appearance. We have darker and lighter deer. The summer coat is more of a different coat vs winter. Some are almost orange, and some are more of a brown orange. No idea if that means anything. I never really give much thought to this subject but have found this thread really interesting. Lot to think about in it. My guess would be they are all mutts. Either way in a year that we have good cold weather, it seems our deer really get going around Jan 8 as the earliest but the 13th for sure. If we hunt the 13th through the 19th we see deer all day going every which way . This seems to start winding down and then fades away at the end of January.

We have that in south Monroe County. The “short” bucks will weigh 140-160lb range. The “long” bucks will weigh 180-200lbs. The long bucks barely fit when we hang them under the skinning shed. I’ve killed 3 of the long bucks. 185lbs, 200lbs and 205lbs. The 200 and 205 was killed out of the same stand. Our guys have killed a few more of the long bucks and they ranged from 170-200lbs. Most bucks killed are the “short” size. Which I refer to as our normal bucks.

Just curious but whereabouts are you "across the river" generally speaking?....South of Scottsboro?

Get ready.

I am in the swamps between 2 dogs and Jeremy

Kyle's Alabama home of the moody brick and the rock zoo. About 5 miles north west of the real Hollywood. I ain't seen sqaught this morning. I did kill a huge cull buck last Saturday that field dressed 162 but the horns might have scored 80. He did not stink but he was covering ground. A buddy about a mile away had a video of him working a licking branch on his camera. I ain't got all the answers but I know January 6 has always been my best day. I did kill a 9 pointer last year on December 27 working a scrape that scored 128 which is good for me

Ok....so here’s a new map…….I added some dots to give a better representation of what’s occurring with stray doe groups merging…..Again, I’m not saying this is exact but a generalization based on what everyone is telling me and what the data shows. The red line may need to be moved one way or the other or there may be areas with higher concentration of red or blue dots, etc……..Disregard the south end of my red line….you actually have Jan does across the river there at Guntersville State Park

I have hunted most of my Adult life all around those mountains I have places I have hunted 40 years that I've got permanent stands on that I hunt year in and year out that are part of extended family. I hunt that area for the rut every year.

Dec 15-first week in January then head back to deep South Alabama.

Trying to break down different localized areas is just plain stupidity. The deer are a mixed up bunch of crap and one day they rut 2 miles over there and the next 2 miles the other direction. There is no scientific rhyme or reason to it at this point all those deer are mixed up genes. Because I also hunt the TN side of the line I also think they have TN deer influence in a lot of the areas y'all are discussing. They stocked deer on the TN side 60 years ago. To say that their genetic influence has stayed local in those mountains is also a complete joke and plays into the false theory that deer don't travel for miles during a rut. 60+ years of deer traveling 2 miles and breeding... how long does it take for that genetic influence to carry 30 miles or 60 miles? 60 years? Hail no.

I think y'all believe the deer know when they have left TN. I know the air smells worse down here but..... What a joke.

And what a worthless discussion.

How bout that heavy frost and heavy fog this AM , unusual .

Yeah, it ain't exact, more guessing and misinformation. The rut around , Scottsboro , Hollywood , Bellefonte and Mud Creek IS THE LAST 5 DAYS OF DEC - THE FIRST 5 DAYS OF JAN. +/- a couple of days . Exactly like Upper PRV and Hytop and exactly like the states fetal studies confirm. Period . It doesn't matter how much you want it to be two weeks earlier , it ain't. And there ain't any stray doe groups, that area is saturated with deer and has been for decades .

Say Uncle.... say it........

Exactly 2dogs. I’ve only been deer hunting up here 8 years and from Christmas til January 10 is the best rutting activity I’ve seen and when we kill the best deer. I just don’t understand any one trying to tell people like you who have hunted here their whole life when the rut is.

Yes when it thawed and the wind blew it down the back of my neck it was lovely

Y’all sure are stubborn……This thread would have died a long time ago had 2dogs not felt the need to come back and “set the record straight”.....


How bout calf rope instead??

Some of the coldest mornings I ever hunted was in thick fog , just above freezing. Never done any good in fog either.