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Alabama Proposes Shortening Deer Season By Five Days
May 18, 2024
The Alabama Conservation Advisory Board has proposed reducing the length of the 2024/25 White-Tailed Deer hunting season by 5 days, due to “calendar change.”
This change would apply to all zones in Alabama.
Under the proposal, this year’s gun/stalk season would open on November 23, the Saturday before Thanksgiving. That’s five days later than the 2023 opening date on November 18.
The closing date would remain February 10, 2025.
The advisory board will consider the proposal at an upcoming meeting
Photo: Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
Comments
33 Responses to “Alabama Proposes Shortening Deer Season By Five Days”
I wish you would start 10 days later for Bow season then end hunting on February 15th so we can hunt more of the rut in pike County
This will hurt northeast Alabama, needs to been decided by zones just saying.
The season always starts the Saturday before Thanksgiving day, always has ,no reason to change the tradition.
Gun deer season has always opened the Saturday before Thanksgiving week.
I have a comment and it’s about the same thing wasting disease in deer it’s in Alabama & Georgia Tennessee I have Battle cancer for A year from gas fumes I hate to see people get cancer from deer meat wasting disease stays in deer for ,,3 years before it shows if you eat deer meat that has not been tested it’s liable to get cancer. 2600degree will not kill the disease and after three years it can kill with in day’s state’s need to start checking every deer but they want because there are so much money involved
The over population of deer can be fixed without shooting and killing deer. Seems so inhumane to hunt and kill animals (and enjoy doing it) . Maybe humans can use a lesson about being humane to all beings on the planet we share and become better humans for the sake of man KIND.
A season change to reflect 5 days off on the early season and 5 days more on the end of the season I think will benefit a wider population of deer hunters. The widely variable rut patterns across the state according to posted AL Biological research shows many subgroups of deer rutting later than commonly believed.
As to the liberalization of dog hunting, I used to hunt in a club running dogs and loved the excitement and the animals. What soured me on the sport was the huge numbers of inconsiderate hunters running dogs on other clubs land, trespassing, and shooting anything that moved. We’ve had hunters from Florida in Butler Co. steal deer shot by our hunters, road hunt, night hunt and grow marijuana on club land off season.
If anything needs to be changed, my vote goes for the 5 days of the front to 5 days on the end added. I’ve been a licenced AL hunter since 1970.
Delete 5 days on the end so small game hunters hunt when it’s not so hot . To hot in September to rabbit and squirrel hunt start 5 days later on small game.
Extend the season for Ten more Days. Don’t take away any days because doing that generates less revenue for the State of Alabama. If I have to go up 43, I have to stop for a Coffee,Breakfast, and Gas etc… If anything sell a permit to hunt an extra 15 days after the normal season. Buck Only. Try something new, just don’t take anything else away.
They should let us start hunting in December and end the season feb 28. Too hot in October and and November. Kill more deer during the last week of January and first 2 weeks in feb. south Baldwin county Alabama’s they don’t start chasing till close to the last few days of season.
Not sure why a calendar change is a reason to stop the season from starting. As for the guy who wants dog hunting in all counties, that ship has sailed thank God. They run dogs near public I hunt. Always sitting on the main roads and riding around looking for dogs that ain’t on there land. Really just bothering the rest of the area and making a bunch of noise. Ruining any chance of a day in God’s nature of peace and quiet from modern day life. Kind of like the dude every morning going up the road with his loud truck you can hear for 5 miles as you try to hear that turkey gobble. No respect for others, all about self.The state with Chuck ,comes up with some crazy things.
Why not just extend it on the other end until February 13th
Just sayin
The consideration of days is not an accurate portrayal of the majority of hunters in the states much less Alabama. Most hunters hunt Friday- Sunday and Hollidays. Your cutting of a hunt. If you look at like that they only get 12-13 weekends and maybe a few more days than that. That’s 48-55 days. It’s not the 90+ days that it looks like when you open the season. If you shorten it you are now looking at 46-53 days and 11-12 hunts. One less opportunity, one less weekend, one less hunt. Cutting it down and raising the prices is not encouraging youth to hunt. As we know the a number license purchased have drop dramatically and continue to decline every year. Maybe leave it alone and have meeting more on the need, want, desire, etc for more hunters. That should be on the order of business. How do we attract them, teach them, etc. is what is important. We have told every Hunter for years shoot and shut up. Don’t show your kill and don’t brag. Hide it. That was part the lure for youth.
If you do that, if you bring more hunters $25 hunting license is a lot of money when there enough hunters to fill your coffers. Keep raising it, you have to keep raising it Because men will stop buying them. You also won’t have enough hunters to fill your coffers. Raise it and play with the time to hunt, and limit the most widely participated season, loose it all together.
I think if they do this they should add a week at the end of season I have seen deer go into rut after the season ended
What if all the hunters in the state of Alabama just suddenly decide to not buy hunting , fishing ,
baiting, night hunting or trapping license for one year ? That would cause such a loss of revenue in the state that would probably cost quite a few jobs so stupid decisions cause serious consequences so the less meddling or changing rules that goes on the less pissed off people will be ! Doing so many changes cost the state money and it causes confusion and creates more cost to the state. Unless it’s a type of change that prevents chronic wasting disease or over kill etc… then why bother ?
I think the season should not be SHORTENED!! But they need to bring the dog hunting back to for all counties ! Every year the price on hunting licenses goes up. I think if we have to pay to hunt we should be able to hunt the way we want to I loved running dogs growing up and know of people who quit hunting when the dog hunting ended! Bring back hunting with hounds make hunting great again!
I don’t agree with shortening of season but I do think we should take away the amount of bucks we should be able to harvest a year and cut it down to 1-2
The way I read this is you still have all of Thanksgiving week. The only thing lost from general gun is Monday-Friday the week before Thanksgiving. I usually just shoot 3 or 4 to have meat through the following year even though my club rules allow to shoot twice that many. As for limiting to a tag given to the land owners because you concerned about what your neighbors shoot, mind your business within your property or purchase/lease the neighbors.
Good idea! Early season is way too hot.
Since the DNRC started turkey season on a Monday instead of Saturday this year……why not they start deer season on Monday the 18th. Muzzleloader season can run the week before from Monday 11th to Sunday 17th. Being a “leap year” really screwed the calender for Thanksgiving……I’m only guessing.
Although the game commission makes changes that won’t agree with everyone, everyone must realize the changes are for the overall good. Fives days really won’t matter with the generous season length in Alabama. Most hunters should know that big deer generally aren’t harvested until late season anyway. Enjoy the long season Alabama offers. Learn to make more out of what’s offered. Learn to appreciate why the changes are made and learn to support the Alabama Game Commission. This will help you to be a better hunter- and probably more successful.
It’s time to have yard round season to help fill the food banks for the starving Americans do to to many illegals coming into the country
.I can hunt cheaper then to get a second job just to put food on the table from the grocery stores
If you want to change something, put a limit on how many deer can be taken on piece of property. We try to manage our deer and the rest around us kill anything. When you take 10 deer on 5 acres, that’s over kill. Needs to be setup like Florida, tags issued to property owners and the fines higher for poaching.
Taking 5 days away from deer season will hurt me. I only have so many days to hunt because of the way I work and I need all the days I can get to harvest deer to put meat in the freezer and on the table for my family. I so no, but the state is going to do what they want to do.
No problem with a shorter season. Deer hunting really doesn’t get good till Christmas. I’ve never had a problem with putting five to seven deer up for myself and family. I’m a meat hunter and enjoy the liberal deer and season limit for deer. I don’t hunt for antlers they make lousy soup. And then there’s the CWD that needs to be delt with. Shoot more does to mange the deer numbers that the land can handle better
Consider taking five days off of end of season to help small game hunting on deer clubs. The northern half of the state the rut is over by January 31th.
You need to find something better to do with your time.
Absurd. Zero justification for this. It’s already hard enough for a working man to find available days to hunt, and now they want to remove 5 of those days? The DCNR has no idea what it’s doing. Messing with turkey season dates, now messing with deer season dates? This is what happens when a saltwater fishing guy is the head of the DCNR.
Shortening hunting season by 5 days make no since. Using the excuse of a calendar change makes it sound like you’re taking away five days of a sport many people would enjoy for no apparent reason. You also don’t clarify if this effects bow and muzzle loading season are we just going to have a random 5 day gap where no one can hunt. This till just sounds like the state of Alabama is trying to push there limitations to so how much they can take from a sport until they get backlash. I this this 5 day shortening is one of the dumbest things Alabama could do because there is no benefit to doing this. It doesn’t help the population and It doesn’t help the hunters.
We will still have bow and muzzleloader. I will still get my 5 to 8 deer for my freezer.
Me and my family have been huntingThanksgiving week since I can remember. you and I know the families already have enough struggles to deal with. Family time is so few and far between please do not change this date if you do, it will definitely change our Thanksgiving. I have family members that come up that week because most schools are out the week before if you make this change, they will only be able to hunt the Saturday because typically they are heading home on the Sunday after Thanksgiving making one day hunting some of my family members for that one day probably won’t even buy a hunting license because they normally buy the week please reconsider and not making this change. it will definitely change our Thanksgiving and Family time
Y’all definitely have to find something to screw up
Yea more ways to keep people from living off the land , now that grocery store prices are so expensive. Maybe I live on earth alone though. Maybe I’m the only one that can see the pain of the overall population of people. If you can’t hunt then I’m sorry, if you can the government will find a way to restrict you. Basically a country boy don’t win.I will do my thing regardless.