HuntingPA Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) I am always curious to how the whitetail hunting goes in other parts of the country, so you guys down south where are you in your deer season? Mid-season, late-season, post season....? When is your rut. Never hunted anywhere but PA, which is now in its late archery and flintlock season for next couple weeks (last season of the year for us)...seasons I like to be out in, but I always wondered if there was still good mid season hunting to be had down south now (especially after my vacation day bank refills on 1/1) Heck some of you guys can shoot a couple bucks a day correct?? Just wondering and figure it to be a good across the boundries discussion for this board. Edited December 29, 2010 by HuntingPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Chase is on in Mississippi. Rut in full swing here, moon is just now getting right again, but rain moving in We are only allowed one buck and one doe per day here. Five does and 3 bucks, no tags, just the "honor" system, lol. All in all it works ok I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawg Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 We are in the last few weeks of season here in East Texas. Matter of fact, this weekend is the last weekend of general gun season. From Jan. 3-16 is our black powder and youth season. Then it's all over til next October. The rut is dead and gone by now. Our peak is about mid November. We are allowed 2 bucks/2 anterless in the county I hunt. We can tag out in one day if we wanted to. That will never happen with me though, the hunting ain't that good lol!!! I'm already making plans for fishing trips come mid February. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redkneck Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 We at least get to hunt until Jan 31st here, giving us 4 full months of hunting time. I like the late season when the rut is over and bucks are coming in just looking for food sources again and the food plot action picks up a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntingPA Posted December 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) Chase is on in Mississippi. Rut in full swing here, moon is just now getting right again, but rain moving in We are only allowed one buck and one doe per day here. Five does and 3 bucks, no tags, just the "honor" system, lol. All in all it works ok I suppose. I made note of that...our rut is early November, treats us well in the archery season, but i'd never be against experiencing another whitetail rut in full swing.. in the same hunting year As far as the honor system and the 5 does/3bucks per hunter limit....I CAN NOT EVEN FATHOM SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEING DONE HERE IN PA EVER!!! That is an absolutely amazing statement to me. Great stuff on East TX too , thanks for the replies and keep them coming. Edited December 29, 2010 by HuntingPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rhine16 Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Rut is typically from December 18- Jan 5 here. What hasn't been mentioned is that rifle has been opened since mid November so all the deer are well educated by now. If you wanted to try and hunt our rut next year, HuntingPA, I might can point you to some decent public land and point you toward a few decent spots. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 Central and West Texas sees most of the rut in November, with the second rut in early December. Right now its all about the food. General all weapons season opened the first Saturday in November and runs through the first Sunday in January. We then have another two weeks of any weapon spike and antlerless only season. I killed a buck last weekend with a rifle, so I'll probably try to kill a doe or two sometime between now and January 16 with my bow. I actually have 2 buck tags left that I could use as long as I hunt different counties (not a problem for me), but I doubt I'd shoot one unless it was a booner or it had some type of problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntingPA Posted December 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 (edited) Rut is typically from December 18- Jan 5 here. What hasn't been mentioned is that rifle has been opened since mid November so all the deer are well educated by now. If you wanted to try and hunt our rut next year, HuntingPA, I might can point you to some decent public land and point you toward a few decent spots. Cool! by 12/18 our rifle season is over for about a week, the chasing a good month in most cases and the only thing left is the late archery/flintlock...in my neck of the woods that is usually just hunting thermal cover near food sources on deer grouping up to beat the snow. You either see none or a dozen. So do the deer go nocturnal with the rut knowing the gun pressure is out there? I mean up here it seems like when it is on, its on, and they will run thru a firing squad to find a hot doe...but then again up they are just accustomed to bowhunting pressure during our rut and it does not seem to bother them at all since most guys in the woods are stationary and 20' up. I would like to try a southern hunt, even a DIY...I got to look into my days available and such, and would also like to bring my son, Dad or wife along to hunt...so lots of logisitcs. But i REALLY appreciate the offer on giving me some places to try. I'll do the same in PA if you ever want to see what a one and done (for bucks) state is like. Glad i started this one....been great to learn about Mississippi and Texas. Edited December 29, 2010 by HuntingPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FSU_Seminole Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 I'm in South Carolina & deer hunting here for "trophy bucks" is on the decline. Our hunting season in my 3 counties for guns runs from Sept 1st to Jan 1st. Archery starts from August 15th - Jan 1st. Our rut typically starts the 3rd week of October. You will start to see young bucks chase. Then the big boys chase from the last week of October through the 1st week of November. After that it really dies down but you will catch a bruiser with follow a doe if you stay on stand long enough. Right now its all about the food. For us its been a very very cold December with temps dipping way into the teens at night, we even got a little snow last Sunday. So right now its about hunting cut corn, food plots or hunting newly planted wheat fields late in the afternoon. With the woods thinned out due to winter & with 31/2 months of hunting pressure deer are moving right at last light. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 29, 2010 Report Share Posted December 29, 2010 I made note of that...our rut is early November, treats us well in the archery season, but i'd never be against experiencing another whitetail rut in full swing.. in the same hunting year As far as the honor system and the 5 does/3bucks per hunter limit....I CAN NOT EVEN FATHOM SOMETHING LIKE THAT BEING DONE HERE IN PA EVER!!! That is an absolutely amazing statement to me. Great stuff on East TX too , thanks for the replies and keep them coming. Not sure what you consider south. Tennessee we are allowed 3 bucks total for the season, in the unit we are in you can take 3 does a day from season start to season end. Season opens the 4th Saturday in Sept and runs to the 2nd Sunday in January. Our rut usually is around the 3rd week of November here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HuntingPA Posted December 30, 2010 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) WV andMD are south to a guy that never left PA to hunt. I can't believe the liberal bag limits and LONG rifle seasons you guys have..you give a guy in PA more than two tags and two weeks with a rifle and everyone is saying we shot the herd off in 5 years...LOL Can you tell me the approximate # of licensed hunters in your home states, and if you have alot of public land or is it alot of private ranches. TN sounds like heaven to this backstrap eating addict, how many deer does the average SERIOUS hunter get over the course of the season in TN? I almost went to SC this year, a place called Deerfield plantation but the only time I could go was late Sept, and some guys i know down there in the military said it is not that fun hunting deer in 85 degree weather... Edited December 30, 2010 by HuntingPA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntnfish Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 I hunt in both NC and GA. Archery for both starts around the second weekend in September. Gun in GA starts around the second weekend in October. Gun starts in NC around the second weekend in November. Blackpowder is usually the week or two before gun in both places. In GA we can take 2 bucks with at least four points on one side and 11 does. In NC we can take 2 bucks and 4 does. Season ends in NC Jan 1st and in GA ends around the second weekend in Jan. Hunting in both of the areas I hunt at is pretty much over by now. All the hunting pressure has driven deer to be noctornal. Sitting in a treestand not seeing much still beats sitting at home waiting for the next hunting season to come in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 WV andMD are south to a guy that never left PA to hunt. I can't believe the liberal bag limits and LONG rifle seasons you guys have..you give a guy in PA more than two tags and two weeks with a rifle and everyone is saying we shot the herd off in 5 years...LOL Can you tell me the approximate # of licensed hunters in your home states, and if you have alot of public land or is it alot of private ranches. TN sounds like heaven to this backstrap eating addict, how many deer does the average SERIOUS hunter get over the course of the season in TN? I almost went to SC this year, a place called Deerfield plantation but the only time I could go was late Sept, and some guys i know down there in the military said it is not that fun hunting deer in 85 degree weather... Don't know the exact number of hunters, but can check here for harvest data here from last year https://hfwa.centraltechnology.net/TNHFInternetHarvest/app/hunterSuccessStatewideSearch.do, use start date 09/01/2009 and end date 01/10/2010. Different types hunters with different goals, tough to answer your question with a specific number, what you consider serious(meat, quality deer). I know a few who will pass up deer like myself, I have taken as many as 4 deer in a single season. These days with other hunters in the household I am content with taking one. I am aware of some though who shoot everything they see. Guess if I took the notion I could probably easily have killed well into the double digits of deer this year. There is a flipside to the liberal limits, it can become quite frustrating when you see the herd take huge hits and those on neighboring properties unwilling to pass on anything. Temps here can be pretty high during the archery season, a thermacell and snake boots are highly recommended. Can be quite cool in December and January. November you never know what it is going to be doing, have killed deer in early November and it get up around and even over 80. County we hunt there is mostly private ground. There are wma's throughout this state and there is other ground accessible to the public. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texan_Til_I_Die Posted December 30, 2010 Report Share Posted December 30, 2010 Keep in mind that the liberal bag limits and long rifle seasons in most of the south works because we seldom have any significant die offs. Winters are mild and diseases like CWD are almost non-existent. Dr James Kroll had a really interesting article in this month's Texas Trophy Hunter magazine where he broke the country down into regions and reported on the state of scientific management efforts in each region. Interestingly enough, he's predicting that unless some major changes are made in the management strategies in the Mid-West, those states that are now enjoying great harvests of trophy sized bucks are heading for a crash over the next 10 to 20 years. He went into quite a bit of detail which I can't exactly recall, but the gist of it is that the Mid West is in essence one gigantic food plot, but the total acreage is on the decline while the deer numbers are exploding beyond the current carrying capacity. The current management practices don't encourage a balanced harvest and over the next decade the problem will likely reach a tipping point. He's also predicting that Oklahoma has the best trophy potential (other than Texas), over that same time period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Widowmaker La Posted December 31, 2010 Report Share Posted December 31, 2010 It's just starting to bust loose her in Louisiana and the bucks are hitting the dirt.We have several ruts in the state and if you travel around you can pretty much stay in ruting activity all year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BamaTrae Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Here in Central Alabama we're starting our rut. Action is picking up alot. Seeing bucks in the daylight. Our season runs till the end of Jan. 2 deer per day one of which can be a buck, but only three bucks a season, and one has to have 4 points on one side. It's the honor system here too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huntnfish Posted January 2, 2011 Report Share Posted January 2, 2011 Season is done in NC. I always get alittle bummed this time of year. Hurry up turkey season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TN Bucknasty Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 It is over with here in TN. The cruising and chasing phase, which most people mistake for peak breeding time, usually happens the same week that gun season opens which is the weekend before Thanksgiving. Most of the actual breeding happens in late November or early December. I've hunted 14 of the last 15 days and saw 7 deer in that time. There will be a doe or two that got missed, but other than that, we're done with rutting here. Deer are hitting food really hard, but they have become so nocturnal that I might get 1 out of 100 trail camera pics that were taken during daylight. It's gotten to the "anything goes" stage for most hunters here. I can't wait for season to be over with. I've got a nice 2 year old that has managed to survive thus far. All five of the yearlings that I consistently saw and had pictures of earlier have been killed by neighbors. The two year olds have been eliminated as well. I killed the only two three year olds I've seen this year. In other words, most of the bucks are dead, and dead bucks don't chase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hycohounds Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 our rut don't start until the end of january in south alabama and north florida. in alabama we get 3 bucks a year but in florida we can get 2 bucks a day every day of the season which starts in oct and ends the last of february...............tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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