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Alabama Deer Forecast: Five Distinct Ruts Give Hunters Plenty of Opportunities

Hunting the counties with lots of agriculture can pay dividends for Alabama hunters.

Alabama Deer Forecast: Five Distinct Ruts Give Hunters Plenty of Opportunities
  • This whitetail hunting forecast for the state of Alabama is part of Game & Fish’s “Great States" project identifying the best deer-hunting states in the country. Read more: America's Top Whitetail States

Alabama Hunters Should Be Happy This Season

Whitetails thrive in the Cotton State, where only three CWD cases have been detected and where EHD cases don’t happen at population-impact levels. Alabama deer hunters enjoy plentiful populations in diverse habitats ranging from the “sandy soils and pine-dominated forests of south Alabama to the mountainous terrain and continuous hardwood timber of north Alabama,” as Keith Gauldin, the wildlife section chief with Alabama’s Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, put it.

While Gauldin aims to suggest WMAs to hunters based on the terrain type they prefer to hunt, he outlined some top-producing WMAs. “The Barbour WMA, located in southeastern Alabama, is 28,214 acres of mixed hardwood and pine, pine plantations and hardwood bottoms,” he shared. “It has an average harvest of 400 deer per season. Another one is the James D. Martin – Skyline WMA, which is our largest WMA at 60,732 acres. It is located in the mountainous terrain of northeastern Alabama. It is well-known for its difficult terrain and continuous stands of mature hardwoods, and it supports a typical harvest of 200-300 deer per season.

DID YOU KNOW?

RUT LENGTH

Alabama has five distinct ruts throughout the state that initiate early in the season and subside towards the end of the season.

“Well known for quality hunting and a harvest of 200 deer per season, the Oakmulgee WMA consists of 44,500 acres within the Talladega National Forest’s Oakmulgee District,” he continued. “It’s characterized by the rolling hills of the upper coastal plain and occupied by numerous stands of longleaf pine and hardwood-dominated drainages. Finally, in northwestern Alabama is the 16,372-acre Sam R. Murphy WMA. It is best described as having pine-dominated stands on the uplands with hardwood drainages and a typical harvest is 200 deer annually.”

Gauldin said that in addition to the WMAs, other public land opportunities exist on properties owned by the U.S. Forest Service on National Forests, Corp of Engineer Tracts, National Wildlife Refuges and Lands owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

gaf-alabama-2-shutterstock_2516314679
While Alabama comes in 30th place in Game & Fish magazine’s “America’s Top Whitetail States” rankings, there are plenty of deer to give hunters a good chance of filling the freezer this fall. (Shutterstock)

Regarding deer densities, Gauldin explained that counties with higher agriculture and better soils—particularly the Black Belt Region known for richer, darker soils—typically have the highest densities and associated harvests. During the 2023-24 season, he said that Baldwin, Tuscaloosa and Dallas counties reported the highest harvest numbers of all Alabama counties.

Have you ever wished that the entire deer season was the rut? Dream no more. “A unique and thus attractive element about hunting in Alabama is that we have five distinct ruts throughout the state that initiate early in the season and subside towards the end of the season,” Gauldin said. “This means that one could actually hunt the rut the entire season by moving to the differing regions of the state as the season progresses. A map detailing these rut zones and WMA locations can be found at the Division’s website.”

THAT’S A FACT

PUBLIC ACCESS

Arkansas has more than 1 million acres of public hunting land.

To hunt deer in Alabama, nonresidents are required to buy a $389.40 non-resident all-game annual hunting license (which allows the hunting of deer and turkey). The all-game 10-day is $240.40 and the three-day is $169.55. That is all you need when hunting private land, but WMA hunters and those on limited-quota special opportunity areas need a wildlife management area license, which is $22.20.

“Using the OutdoorAlabama App, WMA hunters are required to check in and out during each trip to each WMA,” Gauldin reminded. “That enables biologists to attain information regarding the time and effort of hunters and harvest numbers as well. All hunters are required to Game Check all deer and turkey harvested either by using a paper harvest record or by using the OutdoorAlabama App.”






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