Southeast Rut Report, Week 9: Rut Picking Up in Some Areas, Slowing Down in Others

Peak rut is winding down throughout much of the Southeast, but in some areas, such as Alabama, it’s barely getting started. John Hurt has been hunting in Hale County, Alabama where he says the bucks are finally breaking out of their bachelor packs.

“I’m seeing zero sign of rut activity,” Hurt says. “They’re not moving well during the daylight and the action is really slow where I’m hunting.”

Bert Moore hunted on his farm in McCalla, Alabama, on Saturday where he saw 11 does that were all yearlings except for two. “No bucks,” Moore says. “My neighbor was hunting one ridge over from me and had a small 8-point cruising for does. That was the only deer he saw. My does were not feeding—really just cruising around and enjoying the sun.”

Moore says he hunted the same field Sunday afternoon and did not see a deer until 5:00 p.m. “Two does came onto the field to feed, but it was too late to take a shot. Most of my game cameras are still picking up deer at the feeders between midnight to 3:00 a.m.”

In central Kentucky, the first rut peak has passed. Realtree Timber to Table editor Michael Pendley says doe family pods are getting back together.

“I have at least three bucks traveling in a group again, one of them mature,” Pendley says. “The bucks have started to return to food sources. I’ll concentrate on food and food plots over the next two weeks. I did have a trail camera photo of what looked like a mature buck trailing a group of does just after daylight this morning. All I can see in the photo are the forward tips of his main beams, but the body says he is definitely mature.”

Pendley says the does that didn’t get bred on the first go around and some of the early doe fawns from this spring should start to cycle again about the first or second week of December. “We have gone from absurdly hot to what looks like well below normal temperatures for the next week or two,” he says. “That should also push them to feed and hopefully increase some daylight movement in mature bucks.”

Matt Lee of Apalachicola, Florida, says he’s been hunting on public land in Zone D where a recent cold front has gotten the bucks up on their feet and moving. The mature ones are still mostly nocturnal, Lee says. “But I know some hunters who took 2- to 3-year-olds this past weekend.”

Don’t Miss: Maple Glazed Venison Backstrap and Cornbread Dressing

He says another good cold front is in the forecast and he hopes it will benefit the opening of rifle season. “I know the zones east of here are producing bucks. Zone C is on fire. It’s definitely going hot right now.”

Realtree’s Michael Pitts says things are beginning to slow down a bit in Georgia. “I believe we are on the backside of the rut, and some of the mature bucks are starting to lock down,” Pitts says. “There are a few that have been pretty regular, and I have not seen them in days. I have a feeling that hunting is going to be pretty tough for about a week, and then they will be searching for food to replenish their body after the rut. Food will be the ticket for success here in the near future.”

Realtree’s Tyler Jordan agrees that the Georgia bucks seem to be in lockdown right now. “It also does not help that the weather has been warm for the last five to six days,” Jordan says. “We are expecting a cold front to come in Friday, which I’m hoping will help in Georgia. We have seen a lot of deer transition to corn and food plots in the last week, so both of those will be key in hunting deer from here on out. I’ve seen a lot of bucks come to feed just to see if they can find a hot doe, still cruising.”

The buck movement has slowed down considerably where CJ Davis hunts in South Carolina, but occasionally you still find one cruising hard for a doe. “You’ve got to be ready at all time this time of the year, “Davis says. “I will probably switch to late-season food sources and not call as much.”

In South Carolina’s low country, outdoor writer Mike Hanback says some bucks are still making scrapes and moving well in mid-morning hours. “In Virginia, the primary rut is winding down, but there are still some bucks prowling for the last estrus does, and they will do so into the first week of December,” he says.

Cody Kelly says buck activity is starting to pick up in the Mississippi Delta. “In the past week or so, there have been a lot of scrapes and rubs popping up. We are starting to get trail cam videos of bucks pushing each other around in the food plots. We will begin focusing on food plots and cool fronts to target our shooters. We’re mainly focusing on afternoon hunts for the next couple of weeks moving toward morning hunts when they start cruising.”

In Tennessee, the bucks are either resting or traveling far and wide to find those last remaining does in estrus. “My son got his first deer yesterday after a couple years of tough luck,” outdoor writer Gil Lackey says. “Patience pays off, especially right about now when most but not all of the does have been bred. Thanksgiving traditions are family, food, football, and fretting bucks. It can be an exciting time in the woods. Patience is the key.”

In parts of the Deep South, such as Alabama and Mississippi, the rut is just around the corner. In the states where the rutting activity has slowed down, hunting food sources will be key as the bucks try to replenish the nutrients and body mass they lost during the rut.