Given the time of year in relation to the rut, I have been looking at the forecast for the next 10 days (I like and use wunderground.com). I am using Jackson County as my location because that is where I hunt mainly.

Hytop, AL 10 day forecast

It doesn't look like the weather is going to get any colder anytime soon. But what is interesting is the barometer forecast. It looks like it is going to peak at 30.18 around 9am Sat 12/12. Then it will drop to 29.71 around 9pm Sun 12/13. Then it is forecasted to have a week-long rising trend peaking late Sat 12/19 at 30.42 after which it is slated to drop off sharply.

How do you guys think this may affect deer and does it have an impact on the start of the rut, at least up here in northern AL.

I've also been watching several threads on here regarding temperature, moon phases, etc. in relation to the rut. I've heard that it's the cold weather. Then it must be boring for those bucks in Florida. I've heard that does will go into heat a few days after a new moon. I just can't believe that is a predominant factor. Any ideas? Ejumacate me.

i will be hunting any type of changes...pressure, rain, etc.

Agreed. I wonder if we are still seeing the sun shine all day long this time of year if it will push the rut out even further. Decreased sunlight=increased testosterone=rut.

My $.02 worth:
The timing of the rut is dictated by the shortening of daylight. Period. The shortened photo period stimulates a gland in the doe (pineal, i believe) that triggers the estrous cycle. It has NOTHING to do with the weather, temperature, etc.
Now, the temp does have an effect on how active deer are and thus the perceived intensity of the rut. Lower temps = more actitivy. warmer temps = less daytime activity.

If it had anything to do with the days getting shorter.....why do parts of Florida have deer that rut in July/August and parts of Alabama rut from November-February?

What's wrong with next weekend??? Calling for snow Sunday!

Interesting. Admittedly, I'm a just a slightly cultured redneck from Jackson County. But I've never heard about the diminished sunlight and the pineal gland. However, wouldn't you have to say it affects the different varieties of Odocoileus virginianus differently (I told you I was a cultured redneck).

Otherwise, we should see a very steady progression of the rut as you move from north to south. But even here in AL we have a very varied rut map. The deer around Bankhead that were sourced from Michigan, have already had their rut, where as Jackson county usually starts around the end of Dec.

I'm not trying to say decreasing sunlight doesn't trigger the start of the rut, just that it triggers it differently for different deer, maybe with contributing factors being habitat, food sources and climate.

days will be getting longer after winter solstice in a week or so and the rut here in St.Clair don't start till last 10 days of Jan.

Those two pennies might buy you something in the Midwest, but it won't get you nothing in AL.

LOL, I didn't mean to stir things up on here, but this has turned somewhat humorous.

I am beginning to think (my wife would probably say, it's about time) that there's something we're missing and it is right in front of us. These deer are female. And there is something, that men have struggled with for centuries, it is to understand females. She will be ready when she is ready and not a moment before. We just have to be in the woods when it happens.

To the OP original question, the weather will have absolutely 0 effect on the start of the rut. It could affect how much activity you OBSERVE. Best thing to do is go by the rut history for your area and hunt if it's time.

That sounds like the most level-headed response so far.

The length of the day does NOT trigger the Rut. However, the deer do use it as a calendar of sorts. The visible Rut activity is controlled by the weather. They are gonna breed regardless of the weather. But, if the weather conditions are 'right'.....hunters will actually get to SEE a lot more of it due to the increase daytime activity. Cool to cold (not figid) weather helps promote daytime activity.

Here is a pretty good synopsis put out on QDMA:

https://www.qdma.com/articles/what-triggers-the-whitetail-rut

Of course, I thought I had a pretty good handle on it myself...until mid April 2013, about midnight in Brunswick, GA I watched a huge mature 10 pt (IN FULL VELVET) bird dog a fawn doe all around my work parking lot before breeding her before my eyes. It threw me for a loop, knowing that the rut for that area occurred Sept 2012 and again in Oct 2012 earlier that season. Weather, sunlight, wind, horoscope....all second to the girls coming into estrus.

Well it's pretty obvious he injured his testes the summer before if he looked typical but still had velvet in April, and therefore biologically had no clue as to what he was doing.

Yep. He was just mad cause he had hurt his cods

Papaj has it right. Rut is triggered by length of daylight. Deer movement is affected by environmental factors, i.e. Cold weather, moon phases. Different rut dates in different parts of our state are due to restocking of deer in the 50's from all over the country. Those deer still retain their native rut dates. I thought this was common knowledge among Alabama hunters.

How can it be triggered by length of daylight and in the same instance be different in various places because of where the deer were restocked from?

It is biologically triggered by daylight. But, I can see where I wasn't quite clear. The deer from Michigan,for example, are programmed to rut earlier in the year because of the colder climate. This is determined by photo periods. When they were brought here, they retained their natural rut timing based on daylight. Eventually, over who knows how long, I would imagine all deer in Alabama will evolve to the same rut timing as native Alabama deer. But, that kind of thing takes centuries if not eons. Some deer in Alabama were restocked from native populations in the southwest corner of the state. Others from Virginia,Michigan, and so on. All the deer in Georgia were restocked from up north. Which is why deer close to the river here in Russell county rut in November, while the deer a few miles west rut in either December or January.

In other words, it is genetic.