How do y’all figure getting drawn to hunt an SOA equates to socialism? That comparison doesn’t even make sense.

Who said they want to turn all public land into SOA’s?

I certainly don’t want that.

I got drawn this year finally and it sucked. We scouted the weekend before and couldn’t get on deer to save our life. I will register every year and hope to draw a better place. I really like what they are trying to do and hope they add more. I also hope they add more wma land but it’s hard to find more land big enough these days.

It’s the same ideology.

I see people working hard being successful on public land, I get angry/jealous about it and instead of taking it upon myself-learning and trying to become a better hunter, I demand that the State make it easier on me. All this at the expense of other hunters who now have less land to hunt because I demanded a piece of it be sanctioned off so that I can have an easier hunt

I am saying there’s nothing stopping all public land from becoming draw units. It certainly appears to be a money maker for the state being as it now costs money to apply.

Which by definition constitutes a “lottery” from a legal standpoint- payment in exchange for the chance at a reward. Illegal in Alabama

Prior to the WMA license purchase requirement I can see how they got away with it l, but now that there’s payment involved it shouldn’t be legal by the law’s definition of a lottery

Alabama public lands are heading in a lottery direction wait and see, Chucky money!

Then we agree, I believe OP was simply using hypothetical foresight, based on how baiting started, and where it's at, I may be wrong. That was the model I based my statement off of. A dem style money grab, and haves/have nots. That's all.

If I’m not mistaken, which I may be, most of the SOA units were not open to public before they were SOA units

Eddie is that you? You are making wayyy too much of this.

Austin I hunted Uchee opening weekend and i learned something about the whole deal. They only hunt half of it one week then the other half the other week. The plan is for each section to only be hunted every 10 days. I can tell you 100% the section beside us was not hunted the weekend we were there. And the groups we hunted with were the only ones on the property. Y’all are reading wayyy too much into the whole thing.

🤣🤣🤣

I've seen his posted pics before and it aint Eddie if they were real

You never know people can have several alter egos.

The SOAs that I know of and are familiar with are special places. If you opened them to everyone they wouldn’t be special for very long. I think the current system is the best of both worlds. The hunting will be limited and will remain special and everyone has an opportunity to draw a tag to hunt it. Even though I have never applied to hunt one I support this system wholeheartedly.

Good if you get drawn, bad if you don't. I just would like to have different places to hunt. Some with a lot of deer with meat for table, deer a plenty others with one buck limit restriction applied. We need some public land with more food and a large herd. Up north some places basically have 1 buck a year, not ever wanting to see that here on most land, but some areas now I can see it. But, basically if one person is running around from public area to public area shooting a lot does, I don't support that if the area has few does. Some people will shoot as many as they can and can devastate the herd. If a person is trying to live off deer meat keeps shooting does not realizing another guy down the road is doing that until the population is wiped out, the population may take years to recover. So, I think the limit allowed on public should fluctuate to keep plenty of deer. What happened at Oak Mountain should never happen on a piece of public land anywhere. I even think in a lot cases the limit should be one buck per year limit on each public area with no more than two a year total from all public land that year. Maybe more allowed if population get's out hand. Right now I do think the doe limit should be decreased to 3 per year at a lot of management areas or less on federal lands. Maybe 1 buck 1 doe a year on a lot of federal land. There seems to be an over abundance of food now in a lot of public land areas just no deer.

Hears something outside the box…..Personally I wished the state would take one WMA per district and extensively manage it and charge say $500-$1000 for an allotted number of permits obtained through a application process for each property. Same thing as golfers paying $25 greens fees at public courses and thousands of dollars on memberships in a country club…you want average hunting pay the minimum, you want premium hunting it cost premium money….fact is everyone has different objectives and ideas of what hunting is and means to them…your not going to make an entire state of sportsman happy…guys blow over $100k on a bass rig and guys fish from the bank….people spend money how they want on what they like and for the state to offer an opportunity at these hunts for the price of general admission…well thats like getting in a bass tournament and drawing out KVD’s boat…



This might be a good idea. But isn't this basically what we have now? Basically? I buy my 2 licenses and hunt mostly 3 WMAs. It's not the easiest hunting, but the reward is worth it. There's a hunt pretty much every weekend between these 3 WMAs. But if you wanted to pay, say $1000-$2000 or more, you can join a club where you can experience less hunting pressure and have a chance for the set of horns you want. So why take away from my opportunity to hunt these WMAs as the hunts are structured now, and make me take a chance on not getting to hunt when I want, and where i want, by having to deal with a lottery? Too chancy. The WMAs are better hunting than NF. In most cases, a whole lot better. And I have to pay a little more to hunt them. I shouldn't have to pay $1000 to experience decent hunting. There's a lot of private land in this state. If you want to spend a lot of money, lease or join a club. If the state wants a steady supply of young hunters to buy a license, the last thing you want to do is take away opportunity. The more time a kid spends in the woods, the more likely that spark will happen. I would guess most 12 year olds don't start hunting by looking at moon charts and topo maps and I doubt many 9 year olds know how to score their own bucks. They just want to get in the woods and have a real chance a getting a deer. It doesn't have to be a trophy. When they grow up they can choose to spend their money trophy hunting if they want. there's no reason to make hunting an exclusive sport, for only wealthy or connected people. And if someone doesn't think we need to worry about that, "at this time", you better wake up. It's been happening since I was a kid and it's happening now. Add more land to the WMA system. Not less. If you want bigger antlers, pay for them. No. You're not going to make everyone happy. But don't make these decisions based on who has the most money, is willing to drive 100 miles, or who has connections. The WMAs are a decent compromise. Sure. I'd like to be dictator and make things the way I want them to be. My own personal hunting paradise. Not gonna happen. I don't have the means or the connections. But there are some that do. They are in government. Be careful what you wish for. These people are short sighted. They'll give up our future for what they can get out of it now. SOA hunts? i think they are all pretty far from me. it sounds pretty good. As long as they don't start taking from my WMAs. I pay just like everyone else, and I want to hunt. Why not manage the NF like the WMAs?

First, if anyone thinks you can stroll into an SOA smash a 150 class deer or a gobbler that will score 70+, you are sorely mistaken. The deer I killed last week was the the result of the hardest hunting I’ve done in 20+ years. I saw a total of 2 deer in 3 days. One set of hunters saw a couple of does and hogs. One set of hunters I spoke to did not see a single deer and only 1 hog between them the entire time. So an SOA hunt is by no means a guarantee you kill or even see the game you are after. I do think by limiting access and limiting pressure increases the odds of allowing deer to mature and along with strict antler restrictions imposed, you MAY have a better chance of seeing and taking a mature deer. But at the end of the day, you still have to hunt hard to have success.

I think it’s a great program. The chances of the state taking away any existing WMA lands and turning them into SOA’s is zero. As far as requiring the purchase of the WMA license to apply, so what? Sure it generates a little revenue but it also insures the hunter who is chosen has the proper license and doesn’t risk being ticketed. I really don’t understand the push back. What is wrong with the state setting aside land to create a “special opportunity” for a fortunate hunter? Even had I not been successful in killing a buck, I can promise you I would have enjoyed the experience of seeing and hunting some beautiful land that I would otherwise never see and doubtful that I’ll ever see again.

I've been up in that area just twice so maybe someone can correct me if I'm wrong. Wasn't Crow Creek SOA a WMA a few years ago?

I support the SOA.

When I was at Portland Landing, one of the state helpers told me that the game warden (Justin) chased/hunted a turkey 13 miles via GPS. Not sure if he was drawn or not, I didn't ask.

One thing I did notice was there was only 7 groups combined for the Portland Landing and Cedar Creek hunt. I did ask if more groups were selected and just didn't show up. The state helper told me that all groups that were selected did show up and all hunts are 50% capacity. The last time I looked Portland has 18 units and Cedar Creek has 18 units. So a total of 7 groups for 2 SOA's with a combined 36 units is far less than 50% capacity. With that amount of land, I certainly feel more people should be selected.

“Doubtful that I’ll ever see again”

Keep supporting the expansion of the SOA program and you’ll be able to say that about a lot more public land. Unless you get drawn.

I really don’t understand how people think a state program won’t continue to expand until someone looses out. I haven’t seen one measure in place to stop ALL public land from becoming draw only. There’s not one single reason for them to stop making everything draw only.

Given the apparent support for SOAs and push to be “like other states” you’re gonna wake up one mornin to find that your favorite WMA is now a draw-only unit

I support the SOA system 100%. As most know I have been extremely lucky in the fact that I have been drawn or been asked to go as a guest to multiple SOAs each year since the program started. All that aside, I’d still support them even if I never got drawn for another one. From my experiences the SOAs are very special pieces of property and you get to see deer there that you may never see on open public land, and I’m speaking both in quality and quantity. Yes you may have a bad weekend on one sometimes or just not know how to get on deer but I’ve seen a trophy quality deer almost every time I’ve hunted on an SOA. I wish they’d add more areas and expand the program even more.

I haven't seen anything that would make me think that all or any public land will become draw only. If you have any proof this is going to happen then post it on the forum.