Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Who's seen adult bucks legit fighting in Alabama?

I'm 47 years old and I saw something for the first time Tuesday evening. I was bow hunting, and around 3:30 I heard a deer coming and out steps a freakin' good un.... instantly you can tell this is an honest to goodness 4/5+ year old deer, big thick chocolate 8 pt. He's about 100 yards from me and really at no point did he come my way, just fed on acorns in one spot for a long time. He'd been out there alone about 15 mins and I heard other deer coming, assumed it would be bucks (I felt like the bucks should still be grouped up), but it was 7 does. Between 3:30 and 4:00 I'm guessing around 20 total deer all filtered out of that bedding area and were feeding away from me towards an interior dirt road where I parked and walked in, and they were all does except that one buck (they never paid attention to each other, just all fed about 100-125 yards back up the ridge from me). At this point it's about 4:00 and they're far enough from me that I can hear them, but I'm having to use binoculars to still see them (they're on the side of thickish finger ridge, and I think they're about to cross that road). About that time, all HELL broke loose, and my first thought was they were spooked, maybe a truck was coming up the road (they couldn't be 20 yards off that road).... I can hear deer running, deer blowing, and brush crashing, LOUD!!! It took me a moment, but realized I was hearing racks busting together and I knew what was going on!! I was scanning and looking hard with my binos, finally found them, it was that big chocolate 8pt and another equally big looking buck. For the next 20 mins I watched those two bucks absolutely try to kill each other!!! One of them would fall down, and the other would literally push him on the ground and crash over saplings and bushes. Then I noticed a 3rd buck kept trying to involve himself, but he'd just run up there and blow real loudly and circle the two deer fighting. I have no clue where those other two bucks came from (I guess there coulda been more, but those are the only ones I saw). They covered the whole side of that little ridge, and eventually I "think" they all crossed that dirt road and it just went stone silent.

I've heard deer lightly sparring before, and I've seen bucks gently touch horns and stuff just play fighting, but never in my life have I seen legit grown bucks IN ALABAMA fighting like crazed killers!!! I just wonder how common that is?

Saw two studs sparing while bowhunting one time never a legit fight tho....I have seen 2 does going at it with their feet

I watched this deer beat the crap out of some other smaller bucks. I lived in a townhouse that backed up to the Cahaba River and we had deer back there every night. During the rut, or close to it, this guy would come out and I watched him and another 8 point look really really go at it. I thought the smaller buck was going to die.

Me, when you bow hunt all season you see things.

Several times

I’ve seen it twice. Didn’t last long once, but the other time they were trying to kill each other. You can not replicate the sounds you hear in a buck fight with a pair of rattling horns.

One time I saw 4 in one fight

Multitude of times. Seen 3 fighting and a 4th run in and hammer one of the other 3

One time they fought till they could barely stand. I've seen them bump heads a few times

I haven't seen it, but I heard one walking into my stand one time to bow hunt. I stood there waiting for enough light to make a shot, but they stopped and took off.

Friend just sent video of 2 bucks on his property in Camden getting after it - the video was taken last weekend. Bucks fighting in November in this part of the state seems strange.

We're on the other side of the river and We've seen 'em (not all but but some bucks) act that way nearly every year, and it's always late Nov and the 1st week of Dec. Also seen some fights through the years, if your buck to doe ratio is where it needs to be, it can make for a very entertaining rut lol

This specific locale has a Christmas rut, so I guess it's probably a logical time for this behavior (20/30 days before chasing). I noticed on Saturday (on the same property, but in a different spot) the place was destroyed with buck sign, I'm talking about a scrape under every limb. I had hunted that same roadbed the previous weekend and there was no sign, so something "clicked" in the last week it appears.

They weren't shooters but they were getting after it

My brother was sitting on his back patio last night in chelsea when all hell broke loose. Said he never could see them cause it was dark out, but they went at it hard for a minute or two. Ive never personally whitnesed it up close, but did catch a few going at it through a swamp with my binos last year

I have only seen an all out fight once. I have seen several sparring matches and quick bumps of the antlers but only one real fight. I was on a ridge overlooking a small bottom (select cut pine). The understory was starting to come back so it was somewhat thick in the bottom. I heard what sounded like leaves being pushed and then it sounded like a bull dozer was coming through the woods. Trees/limbs were breaking and it was an all out brawl. I could see the deer pushing back and forth but never had a shot on either of them. They were probably 150 yard through the understory. This lasted for a good 10 minutes. About the time I decided to get down to get a clear shot they stopped fighting. I killed the 11 point that was fighting that day on the next weekend using a tending grunt. I hit it twice and he ran straight up the hill like a freight train on a mission.
Last year I was sitting in another select cut pine stand and just over the hill from me (no more than 60 yards) I had a fight break out. I immediately started climbing down once I realized what was going on. I got on the ground and worked my way to that area. About half way there they stopped fighting. Never saw the deer but it sounded just like the fight referenced above. .

Heard two at daybreak on the WMA the other day. Not a full on bloodbath, but a decent spar

Me

Killed one involved in a fight a few years ago.

those watching are how bucks get killed fighting, one of the watchers will take the opportunity to charge in a horn one of the fighters in the ribs/guts.

I listened to two go at it for the better part of twenty minutes late one afternoon several years ago. It was during the muzzleloader season. I didn’t go into where they were to see them though.
I had a nice video series on a game cam a while back as well. An old 12 point and a 3-4 year old 8 went at it off and on for about 45 minutes in a plot one night. That was in early January.