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7 States You Can Still Hunt the Whitetail Rut

Although most hunters think about November when discussing the deer rut, there are January and February opportunities in certain parts of the country.

7 States You Can Still Hunt the Whitetail Rut
Most states rut in November, but some see the action happen in January and beyond. (Honeycutt Creative photos)

As most know, the majority of the whitetail range sees a peak rut sometime between early and late November. Some southern destinations sprawl into December. But now, New Year is here, and therefore, the whitetail rut hunting is over, right? Absolutely and entirely wrong. In fact, numerous states permit deer hunting opportunities in January and February that land during the rut.

The rut is a weird animal, though, and occurs at various times of year, location depending. Just take part of southern Florida, for example, where deer rut in July and August. Or Louisiana, where the rut spans across six months, kicks off in the southwestern parishes, moves northward, shifts eastward, then turns back toward the southeast region of the state.

Of course, in the Northeast, Midwest, West, and even parts of the Southeast, the vast majority of rutting activity is over. In these places, deer sit squarely in the bed-to-feed humdrum of the late season.

But what about those late-winter rut hunts mentioned above? For those interested, check out seven whitetail rut hunts in January and February.

honeycutt-late-winter-whitetail-ruts-cruise
In some areas, cruising bucks are seen well into the new year.

1. Alabama (Most Counties)

In Alabama, most areas see rut action after New Year. During the first half of January, expect peak-rut behavior in part or all of Blount, Calhoun, Clay, Cullman, Dekalb, Etowah, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jackson, Jefferson, Marshall, Morgan, Pickens, Shelby, St. Clair, Sumter, Talladega, Tuscaloosa, Walker, and others. In the second half of January, expect the same in part or all of Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Colbert, Coosa, Covington, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Franklin, Geneva, Henry, Lamar, Lauderdale, Lee, Limestone, Lowndes, Macon, Madison, Marengo, Marion, Mobile, Perry, Tallapoosa, Washington, Wilcox, and more. Moving into early February, the rut gets going in part or all of Baldwin, Butler, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Escambia, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, etc.

Huntable Rut: Alabama has a season structure that allows hunters to capitalize on most of the county rut dates outlined above. Go here for specific season dates by zone and weapon type.

2. Arizona (Statewide)

Arizona isn’t a traditional whitetail state. However, it’s an excellent destination for hunting Coues white-tailed deer, which is the smaller cousin to the bigger cervid. Here, in most counties, the peak peaks in early January.

Huntable Rut: Arizona does permit a window of opportunity at rutting Coues deer,  and it's mostly via archery hunting. Click here for specific season dates.

3. Florida (Panhandle and Central Peninsula Counties)

Much of the Florida rut takes place from July to December. That said, select counties rut sometime between early January and late February. These include the western half of the Panhandle and central counties in the Peninsula. In the latter region of the state, the most inland portions of Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Pasco, Polk, and Sumter counties, fit the January or February bill.

Huntable Rut: Florida’s deer hunting season structure does account for timely rut hunts. Visit the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission site for specific season dates where you hunt.

4. Georgia (Southwestern Counties)

The state of Georgia has one of the most widespread ruts in the South. For example, it starts along the coastal counties in mid-October and carries through early January in the southwest. In fact, the southwestern-most parts of Decatur, Grady, and Seminole counties experience peak-rut action in early January.

Huntable Rut: Georgia’s whitetail season structure allows hunters to pursue its population of whitetails that rut in January.

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5. Louisiana (Eastern Counties)

As noted above, Louisiana sees some of its rut take place in January and February. Nearly one-third to one-half of parishes in the eastern half of the state rut between January 1 and February 28. In this state, the rut seems far more randomly timed than other states in the South.

Huntable Rut: The Louisiana deer season dates do allow hunters to capitalize on January and February rut dates in most parishes with such rut timelines.

6. Mississippi (Southern and Eastern Counties)

Hunters in Mississippi don’t start seeing good rutting activity until December, with the bulk of it occurring in January. In fact, most of the eastern and southern counties produce January peak-rut dates. Furthermore, parts of Itawamba and Tishomingo Counties (northeastern region) and Forrest, George, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Perry, and Stone Counties (southeastern region) see early February rut timelines.

Huntable Rut: The Mississippi whitetail season structure does provide opportunities to hunt rutting whitetails in January and February.

7. New Mexico (Select Counties)

Like Arizona, New Mexico harbors a population of Coues whitetails. That said, the Land of Enchantment sees peak rut around mid-January. The peak date is January 15, and most hunters fortunate to have a tag can see the best action around that time.

Huntable Rut: New Mexico does offer season dates allowing for January whitetail hunting.

honeycutt-late-winter-whitetail-ruts-doe
In some southern counties, bucks tending does is common in January and February.

Other Late-Season Rut Options

Just because you can’t hunt the above destinations doesn’t mean you won’t see rut activity in late winter. The above timelines are the typical timeframes that most does enter estrus, but that doesn’t cover all of them. Small percentages of does are receptive outside typical timeframes. So, don’t lose hope on potential rut action near you. There just might be some late-winter cruising and chasing somewhere closer to home.

Recent December Rut Rendezvous

Here are some shoutouts to December rut timelines you might take advantage of next season. While many destinations in the South don’t rut until after New Year, others “got it done” before December’s end. Here is the majority of recent December rut action, which predictably occurs sometime between December 1-31 each year.

Alabama: Much of the Yellowhammer State rut takes place in December. Parts of Bibb, Cherokee, Cleburne, Dekalb, Lawrence, Winston, and small parts of several other counties, rut in December.

Arkansas: Most of Arkansas experiences the rut in late October to late November. That said, counties along the Mississippi River spill over into early to mid-December. Specifically, Arkansas, Ashley, Chicot, Crittenden, Desha, Lee, Phillips, and Woodruff counties, produce this timeline.

Florida: Parts of central Florida, and the easternmost counties in the Panhandle, see rut action in December. In the Panhandle, it’s largely parts or all of Gadsden, Jefferson, Leon, Madison, Taylor, and Wakulla counties. In Central Florida, it’s mostly parts or all of Hernando, Hillsborough, Lake, Marion, Pasco, Polk, Orange, Osceola, Sumter, and others.

Georgia: Parts of Catoosa, Fannin, Murray, Towns, Union, and Whitfield counties (in northern Georgia), as well as parts of Decatur, Early, Grady, Miller, and Seminole counties (in southwestern Georgia), experience mid-December ruts.

Louisiana: Another oddball state, Louisiana sees rut action from September (southwestern parishes) to late February (southeastern parishes). That said, numerous parishes sprinkled throughout northwestern, northeastern and southeastern parts of the state rut in December.

Mississippi: The Magnolia State sees the first rut action in early December in the northwestern counties. Then, by late December, it reaches the central counties.

North Carolina: Counties in the western stretch of the state see an early to mid-December rut. Burke, Lincoln, Rutherford, and some of the other surrounding counties, see such action.

South Carolina: The northern thirds of Greenville, Oconee, and Pickens counties have an early to mid-December rut.

Texas: Much of the Lonestar State ruts in December. In simple terms, much of the eastern half of the state ruts from October to November, and most of the western counties rut in December.




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