How long do you usually observe chasing on your place? Reason I asked, since roughly the about the first or middle of last week we have seen the bucks on their feet, making scrapes, rubs and doing some cruising. Had nice bucks shot on the 13th, 15th, and missed on the 16th. None of these were chasing or following does. I seen some bucks over the weekend and the could care less about does or would not entertain a grunt call or anything.

Now these last couple days have been a different story. Big buck missed Monday, 10pt killed yesterday, a miss, and a big 8pt and 7pt killed this morning along with another buck missed. All in which were chasing. From what I can tell is things are just now starting to get really good. My question is. How long do yall usually see chasing before it calms back down? I have vacation planned from this Friday until the 8th but can move some days around if I need to. Been a LONG time since I actually seen the rut in South Alabama and don't want to miss it.

Where abouts do you hunt in south Alabama . Just curious.

read his location...

Greenville and fort deposit

I imagine that a buck would stay with a doe for at least a day before he convinced her to let him breed her. then again I'm sure in some cases it could only take a few hours. Kind of like going to the bar and chasing women, you'll find one that will make you work for it and others that will give it up within a couple of hours

It'll last till the last one gets bred. No reason for em to keep looking after that. They can go back to eating drop their horns and all get along for a while, while they heal up.

I've seen bucks chase does for almost two solid weeks on an area with a lot of does. Then I've seen hardly any chasing at all on some places. I think it depends on your buck:doe ratio and can vary widely at each location. One thing you need to do though, keep a log of the dates y'all start to see chasing and when it winds down. You'll know for sure next year.

That's why i asked. Where he mentioned ain't mobile. I live in mobile and would love to have a club in mobile or really close.

Boom

That doesnt always tell where a man hunts.

I’d be ready for one at any time from now until the end of the season. It may cool off a little bit but the rut won’t be over until they have at least one more breeding cycle. Some of the most intense rutting action I’ve seen has been in Feb when the does that didn’t get bred the first time come back into estrous again. There’s not nearly as many does to breed the second time around so in essence you’ve tightened up the buck to doe ratio…..probably more bucks than hot does I’d imagine. Bucks will be on the prowl for several weeks to come.

How bad does the wind bother em chasin wise? Like say sat when there prolly gonna be 20 mph winds, if they are ruttin...will they still be on the move?

I ain’t saying that wind never plays a factor but I don't see it bothering them as much as people perceive that it does. I’ve killed deer in some pretty nasty wind before and see them commonly around my home on windy days. High temps and high humidity are the real weather suppressors.

It's a strange year for the rut in the north Pike county area IMHO. I looked at a very nice tract of land today, miles of good two trail woods roads in a very high deer population area and a lot of good green fields. I saw two scrapes, no old before rain (Sat night) scrapes and no hooking. They should be wide open by now.

I honestly believe the majority of the rut action in north Tuscaloosa county and southern Fayette county hit about a week and a half later than usual this year.

Wind bothers people a heck of a lot more than it bothers deer. In Talladega county i've seen chasing from the middle of December into February.

CNC is dead on. Anytime this time of year a big one may chase one by you

The wrong wind bothers deer, lots of wind bothers people. If the wind is wrong don't take a chance on screwing up up the rest of your season.

I was talking speed, not direction.

I don't live anywhere close to where I hunt so what I see in terms of bucks chasing does is sporadic, at best. The Monday after Christmas, I witnessed a young spike following a very young doe. 10 days later, I saw a different young buck actually chase a doe on a different part of the property. Those are the only examples I've seen this season. Its hard to judge when chasing begins or ends since I'm not on the property consistently.