New Hunter / WMAs

This has been my 2nd season hunting (I'm 41), but 1st season exploring and using our states WMAs. I've visited a few WMAs so far and have some opinions on which ones I'll go back to and which ones I probably won't. On each WMA, I have spent little time so my opinions on my experiences might not be accurate. I'm curious to see what the WMA users think of my ranking list. I only included WMAs I've visited for 2019/2020 deer season.

1 - Barbour: 3 hunts and by far seen the most deer and had my only harvest. My 1st deer and it was a public land deer. I'll go back.
2 - Riverton: 3 hunts and seen deer. I'll go back.
3 - Hollins: 3 hunts and seen deer. It did not appear to be heavily pressured. I'll go back.
4 - Mulberry Fork: 2 hunts, didn't see any deer. I felt like afterwards I hunted a highly pressured spot. Felt like a lot of hunters were there with me. I'll probably go back.
5 - Coosa: 2 hunts, didn't see any deer, but seen plenty of turkeys. I'll go back once I enter the turkey hunting addiction.
6 - Cahaba: 2 hunts, didn't see any deer. Very high hunter tunrout. I think I just picked some bad spots. I wasn't impressed with the WMA, it'll be hard to go back.
7 - Black Warrior: 2 hunts, not only did I not see deer. I didn't even see a FREAKEN SQUIRREL! I have it marked off, will not return.

Others on my list for this season are: Autauga, Lowndes, and Oakmulgee (may or may not get them in, but will try) Which one should I go to next?

Welcome!

I'm not surprised by any of your assertions above. You hit the nail on the head with the ones I know, and said what I've assumed about those I don't know. I've never been on Riverton, never been on Cahaba or Black Warrior either, but I already assumed what you said. Barbour can't help but be good, it's in one of the more deer rich places on earth, LOL. I live closest to Hollins of all the ones you listed, I've always considered it just "so so"....maybe a 5 on a scale from 1-10. They cut timber in there over the last several years and made it better, it used to be just "big woods" and didn't hold as many deer. The greater abundance of cutover (bedding and browse) has made it better, and it also helps you not get walked in on so badly (this used to be a major problem at Hollins).
Coosa absolutely stinks, it's just pathetic. I wish they'd close that place and reallocate the money to a better WMA....either pick up extra acreage or improve the land at another one. I live 10 mins from Choccolocco, I'd really recommend it, BUT you don't want to come after roughly mid-December because the rut is over and it becomes a ghost town.

Awesome first post.

Don’t give up on Bankhead National Forest. Just hunt the Forest and not the WMA

You will see deer at lowndes and autauga if you hunt sign or just setup on major trail crossings

Welcome! Congrats on your WMA deer.

Ain't no turkey in coosa wma. If you seen any they was just passing through

I killed a train load on Riverton when it was private land

I wouldn’t some of the drags I had there on my worst enemy.

Killing deer there was easy. Getting them out was a nightmare sometimes.

Don't forget to apply for the SOA (Special Opportunity) hunts. They are on the best public land, but limited to keep them special.

I've only lived and hunted in Alabama for a year so my experiences are woefully limited compared to others on the site. I can be at my spots on Cahaba WMA in about 30 minutes so that's where I've focused virtually all of my scouting and hunting efforts. I've also only hunted gun and muzzleloader days because an old smoke pole is my weapon of choice for deer.

Your observations are on point; it can tough hunting out there. Deer density isn't great and it does get a good deal of pressure on gun days. That being said, I have seen deer on all but one of my hunts (I have only put in 5 days) and harvested a buck in November. Maybe not the best property for a new hunter though.

Black Warrior/Bankhead is generally regarded as the land of monsters in Alabama. Density is very low but the chance at a great buck if a draw for many. My preferred style of hunting is similar to Western big game (backpack in, still hunt, calling), and I think that property might be a good fit for that style. I'm already planning on a multi-day solo backpack hunt in Bankhead next November.

There are a ton of deer in Mulberry but as you said there are areas that a lot of hunters are drawn to
I know those areas and avoid them and I see deer every time I go....usually kill a hog or two also

I did see some hogs at Mulberry. I definitely want to harvest one for my freezer and challenge my chef skills. I'm going back to Mulberry, just need to invest more time and find some better spots.

Thanks for the tip, yes I will read into it and apply.

I'm from Huntsville area and usually only hunt Skyline or BNF. I'm pushing outside my comfort zone and was thinking of hitting either Mulberry or Hollins this weekend. I didn't realize we had a WMA with oil rigs on it until I zoomed in on the weird aerial imagery I was seeing. So if Mulberry has tons of deer, what is the secret??? Since it has tons of roads to all those rigs, how do you identify the areas that don't get so much pressure?

Also, do either Hollins or Mulberry allow you to use ATVs?

Thanks

Go out tiger mine rd and Blackburn rd on mulberry. Not many people hunt out that way. No you can’t use atv on mulberry, park at the gates and walk in.

Welcome to the board.

Lowndes for sure

Good luck