Portland Landing

Lets hear some stories from some of the guys who had the chance to hunt Portland Landing.

I have never hunted at Portland landing. I have hunted at Hit-n-miss some. Portland landing was hunted by hammermill employees when I was going up there. Some of the best deer and turkey hunting I have ever seen.

I hunted there once woth 04Spoiler but all the timber had been cut. I met Doug Link last week while showing property. He used to manage it for Hammermill then IP. He told me some fascinating stories about the place

I got some land there now and more land 20 minutes up the road. I don't make it down there to hunt too much, the land up the road is just as good and it's closer to the house. Heard stories from folks that hunted there in the past but nothing that didn't happen at many other places around the area.

Hearing some of elkhunter's stories about the place was awesome.

Too many and too long!!!

Because of a relationship I had with a Mossy Oak VP, I got to experience and hunt PL as it transformed into a paradise for deer hunters. I never picked up a gun on PL as the area I hunted was bow only. My MO close friend was named Darrell and he and I spent many hours on that place. One day, after MO had had PL for three or so years, an approx 125 or 130" jumped across the road in front of us... Darrell looked at me and said, "Those bucks are a dime a dozen and I don't even note the location now unless the buck is around 140 or above."

I did shoot a 125" with my bow at PL and I was ecstatic and proud but oh man, I had some missed opportunities at some 140's and one that I really think would have been 150" plus. It was just unreal at the number of bucks on PL.

Darrell shot a typical 173" with his gun which I was there the day he first saw that buck coming to a biologic food plot and he killed it 5 days later.

Now PL was managed and it was habitat enhanced and MO planted way more acres than most clubs could afford. Darrell used to say that if you put the groceries on the ground, it'll show up in the antlers. Dr. Woods was there a great deal of time and I did get to pick his brain. MO never did do any "supplemental pellet" type feeding; just planted everywhere and did Arsenal spraying and stuff like that.

A lot of the timber was cut or I should say, raped by Lanier Edwards???... is that right. The man that bought PL several years ago. Anyway, IMO, he raped the timber and cut some huge hardwood stands that were located in swampy bottomland but he was able to get to them during a drought. Environmentally irresponsible, IMO.

HOWEVER, the dirt's the same and ultimately, that's what grew the monster bucks! And, with so many trees gone and so much bedding areas and natural browse now, there should be a great opportunity to grow some really large bucks there.

I have some stories but they're too long but I'll just say that PL was the best place in Alabama I have ever hunted. THE BEST!

I would love to hunter there again and be a part of a quality managed plan for the deer herd. PL is truly magical.

Thanks for sharing Bucktrot. When you get a chance share a couple of those stories with us. I'm sure they're some worth hearing.

I've never deer hunted at Portland but I've been hog hunting there a few times. It's a very nice place and we saw bucks just about every time we went hog hunting. Killed a good number of pigs to. I know a few people who have hunted on it and guided on it and I've heard the stories. It's an impressive place and its absolutely beautiful there.

I have heard so many good things about PL and know generally where it is located. Can someone tell me specifically where it is/was?

Just curious....

Go down Hwy 41 until mile marker 101 turn right on CR 403. When it dead ends into CR 225 take a right until you hit the gate. That takes you to the camp house. Basically, most of the land on the west side of 225 is PL.

I sure wish we could pull up a few of the old threads from 2007-2011. There were so many good stories posted then. And lots of pictures of the deer we were killing.

Guys, I sure wish I had my old stories somewhere. You just can't retell them years later and remember all the details.

There were so many, rattling up 9 bucks in one morning, duck hunt gator, driving the electric cart up on 5 P&Y bucks bedded down under 25 yards..with no camera, all the hog stories, the rainy day stalk of my 9 pt, all the big bucks we would get on camera and never see, the big bucks that were killed (I think it was 24 that I gross scored over 125 in one season), the gator stories, .....

Maybe Skinny has those old threads saved somewhere.

How many acres?

The first couple years I hunted there it was 6,300 and then they sold about 1,100.

I hit the biggest deer of my life in Portland right up from the mossy oak place...totaled my work truck .scored155 7/8. Biggest damn deer ive ever seen

Who owns the land now and what are they doing with it?

In 1971, a friend and I put his boat in at Portland Landing to go duck hunting. This was long before it became a private hunting estate, but it had lots of wildlife back then.

I don't remember getting many ducks, but we saw part of a dead deer floating in a creek that would have gone thru the land ya'll are talking about. We were curious about it, so we started trying to pull him out to tell what it was - it was a huge buck, think he had 11 or 12 points. He was still in pretty good shape, so we loaded him in the boat, carried him back to Camden, made up a story, and showed out trophy buck to everyone in town.

This is probably the first time the fraudulent nature of our "kill" has ever been publicly revealed.

I have been hog hunting there a good bit and my son has deer hunted it with a family friend. He killed a really nice OLD 9 point there a couple of years ago.

We have sent the pas 2 days there hog hunting. It has become over-run with them!!!! I think the 2 day total was 14 dead hogs. ANd we should have done a lot better. We had some catchdog goof-ups! LOL

There are some nice bucks up there, no doubt. I found a nice non-typical's skull and skeleton out behind a food plot yesterday that someone had probably shot at the end of season. I took a pic and sent it around to see if anybody claims it. He is pretty unique. So, they will be able to identify it. It was actually just South of Portland's property.

I'm currently hunting 1000 acres of the old Mossy Oak property a good friend of mine owns. They sold it off in 500 acre sections. Lanier Edwards bought most of it, about 5500 acres I think. He no longer owns it. I hunt the Executive tract and St Paul tract. Last buck was a 142" nine point... Amazing land.

We are just off 225 right before the gate on the East side... Next to White Oak Creek... Can't wait till this fall.

BCole, I bet you can't wait. I'm jealous and envious!!! You're on great property. A 142" nine.... great buck!!!

Good luck this fall.

Anyone ever seen a big black cat between 41 and the river along the pine barren creek?

I have from 1974- 1981

Also saw many tan 'cougar' cats from 41-89 junction to wilcox county line.

On the old mcmilan bloedell land across from the river side of pinebarren creek- my daddy shot a cougar.

Logging crews had just completed clear cutting behind the old black church/gravel pit on 41 opposite the river. I was serpentine stalking an SMZ while daddy sat in a hilltop. Well, he was yelling at me like crazy.... Stood up on the back if the truck and drew down in my direction. Fired! About 75 yards in front of me- about 300 from daddy- his 308 round hits a massive pine stump.

A huge tan cat runs out away from us.... Daddy empties the clip....

The cat had been circling me 30 minutes- set up the ambush behind a 4 ft massive pine stump....

We found blood and hair and trailed it to property line as darkness approached... All we heard was growling/moaning as we tan out of light.

Daddy said the cat had be circling me ad i serpentined in and out if clear cut/smz since he got on top of the truck....

We are gonna need doecommander to weigh in on this one. After all he is our resident black painter expert.

It's amazing that hunters and just general folks in the outdoors aren't eaten every day!

Im no expert- im no fanatic...i was simply a high school college kid driving a 30 day old clear cut smz. Daddy was law enforcement. We had hunted most of the land south of 41&89. I dont want to name names, but some of you will recognize this land- and also know MICO and McM/Blodell ( and diamond/amcan/stone container) had timber rights on the private land. We hunted tilden south to just about a mile south of pine barren creek bridge-most both sides of 41.
Yall know that area? I cant remember exactly what parts of 41 except by pine barren. I also had russian boar chase my ass up a tree one afternoon.

I found a cow still smoking at dawn one - they said the pigs got her. Damn cow had claw marks across shoulders and hq's/ribs.... Right!

I can appreciate your cynicism. You dont know me and likely you didnt know daddy either.daddy killed panthers / cougars along the sucarnoochee at bellamy- sumter county when he was a kid.

Cynicism is nice- me too on most things- but i have nothing to gain by sexing up a story about big cats- for a bunch finebaum mindset stroke artists. Most here are Obama's favorite intellect- neck south scholars.

That's why i dont post much here- bunch of lowbrow least common denominator types..who mock anything that provides safety in numbers ...

I've got clients all over that area and been working on old MB land around Tilden for years. There ought to be a season on cats around there, they are everywhere!

aww somebody got him's precious little panties in a wad. really dude we are just poking fun, learn how to take a joke. you could be a world renowned expert on panthers who feeds one in your backyard everyday and have pics to prove it and we would still rib you a little. lighten up

Sorry- long time lurker- not much of a "joiner"
Didnt mean to be offensive- simply how i see most conversations here become path dependent- facts be damned at alter of folks with most posts etc.,
Sorry Im not joining a fraternity in order to have my posts go a ways through the gut of a maggot to be deemed credible.

NO NO NO! By all means, post here more often. We need the smart, high minded, condecending elitist to let the rest of us know we are just carrion scavenging, pea brained troglodytes

Post is answer to you- dont know how forum works- but i dont have panties. You prove my point

Keep calm and carry on- and- if you have anything constructive to contribute to panther/cougar/portland landing... Let's hear it!

bill you just used a word i have never heard before. troglodytes

Dar hit!

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=JNS42Na2mpc&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DJNS42Na2mpc

family compound?

I have a friend who bought 105ac of the land that was part of Mossy Oak lease!He just moved and is wanting to sell it. it borders the Dawson tract and i on The big Pine Berron slough! he has killed 3 that i know of over 140" in the last 3 years. My family land is on Pine Berran 2 miles from Portland so I know the area very well and this is a great tract! Plenty of hardwoods and thickets!

And about the cats I have hunted all my life there and have never seen or got a pic of any large cats! Also my close relative have over 6000ac in Tilden and they have never see a large cat! So if by chance one exist there's not many!

I have ran across feral ape's in that area!

My Father has ran the youth ranches for many years and we had the hunting lease to the macmillan/blodel property for many many years when i was a young fella. i still hunt out along 41 behind safety net there was an old black guy named mr esaw that worked for us and told us many a story of big cats running around out there. i wish i had pics to put up of all the large deer we took out there over the years!

Have you been broken into yet? They are having lots of trouble right know over there with some of the kids breaking into people camps! Some of safety nets kids burned down Johnson and stallworths office! Also broke into a friends camp and stole 4 golf carts and wrecked them!

no i havnt had any problems. but i dont have anything for them to break into. iv heard all the stories of the boys breaking into stuff though the guy who runs it is a friend of my dads. i hunt the old boys ranch property behind safety net.

I drive 41 on to get to work. I saw my first big Alabama cat last week right before you get to sardis on the way to selma. It was Tan in color. Went across the road I turned around at a church and tried to get another look but it had already went in the woods. I talked to a leo last month that was telling me about a man in minter that had killed a couple and had them mounted, at the time I was still somewhat skeptical but not now.

Tell steve and billy bluetick said hello!

Steve told me the mcmillan bloedel land behind the black church was also called dawson tract. He clear cut it in late 70s early 80s . It was across 41 from big ralphs land. Thats where we shot the cougar. Back behind the church gravel pit way in back aling the creek smz... Daddy sat on top of camper shell as i serpentined the 1/4-1/2 mile smz . The cat ran towards camden parallel with 41 south. We trailed blood and found tufts and think we jumped a couple times before he went in neighboring land to south. We waited till dark and never saw him- but damn sure heard bliid curdling groans and growls. Daddy called mcm bloedel and the game warden. Nothing was ever said. At 41& 89 we had a black cat run out with a tan one about 4am one day. Ran up in the green house front yard.

bluetick, I actually kinda thought you were joking and being funny. Was I cynical? Yes, a little. I have heard of stories of panther attacks but I haven't seen or heard of anyone being taken out by a panther as I know there have been millions upon millions of opportunities for the panthers to do so.

Anyway, I would very much like to apologize to you as I don't want you to not posts here. I truly am sorry and I would like for you to know it. My hat's in my hand. Sorry. Thicken up your skin as you can get eaten up round here!!

I believe panthers are here. In fact, I know they're here but when they're called "black".... I can't help but tilt my head a little! I'm not ready to acknowledge "black" panthers. Tan and dark but not black.

The old cut through dirt road off 89 through minter wound around to Snow Hill Institute, farmersville-furman. We used to ride through there on way to pine barren . Saw black and tan cougars/painters there too with headlights


The old iron bridge over pine barren creek- that swamp back in there- we used to camp out and damn cougars would scream at night. I stepped in a pungi stick hole stalking planted pines. The vietnamese got relocated to Selma after war. Those bastages set up lean to's along banks of pine barren way the fu** back in the swamp. They strung piano wire bt pines firebrakes and dug pungi holes.
Last i remeber, game warden and state trooper helicopter was hunting gook chinkypins like a texas style hog hunt.

No problem Bucktrot- Im sure Im offensive but dont mean to hurt anyone's ego. Dont hunt 41 anymore, but at the risk of being laughed at, again, .... Me and a buddy were cruing a power line in his buggy 2 springs ago in lowndes county- off 21 near hayneville.
We topped a hill and saw something sitting totally upright like front rear feet together. We got about 40-50 yards and it lept up and i swear looked 20 feet long- tail included. We watched it run for about 10 seconds. It was cow birthing season and 3 had dropped within the last day or so. No cam pics- working cattle ranch with hands on day to day crew. No one had ever seen any kind of cat- and havent seen it since.

no such thing as a black cougar.Its impossible and never has ever been recorded in the wild or captivity.People confuse them with leopards wich do not live here in the US

I hunted Portland back when Mr. Bonds ran it - he was our neighbor in Selma, probably 1970-77. We had a 300 acre track at Richmond (off 89) and a almost 300 acre tract in Carlowville. I hunted probably every square mile within in 10 miles of those places and the soybeans were definitely the reason the deer were big. I'm not sure about antler development, but I've seen so many deer (killed by others) over the years that were never entered into any books that had to have been B&C. Our best two deer were killed on the Richmond tract the same morning backstanding the Miller tract. A #310 8pt that scored 159 and a #265 8pt that probably didn't score 140 but had a 30" spread. They were killed 200 yds apart within 15 minutes.

My grandfather shot a small doe, one afternoon at Carlowville (I was with him) and it folded up in the foodplot. We walked up to it, drug it to the entrance of the field and laid all our gear on it and walked back to get the truck. We came back about 30 minutes later and it had been drug across the field (50yds), across Hurricane Creek and started up a hill. We could see the paw prints and the drag marks. We turned around and went home.

My great uncle lived on the Carlowville tract and was the rural postman for years. He has pictures of a bear at the intersection of 89 and 11 (I think it's 11) where it turns off at Carlowville to go to Minter.

Billy bonds real estate man? He sponsored little league teams. I played for Bush Hog... We seldom lost, if ever. I have a neighbor landowner some of you might know- he recently passed. Several years ago he was bush hogging prepping plots. Took a break to cool off. Sitting on tractor in shade he kept hearing a dripping sound.

He found a doe carcass in the forks of an old pine about 30 feet off the ground. Its throat was chewed out. This man was lifetime law enforcement with unassailable character. I have never got a pic or a track at our place ever-neither had he in 70 years!!

Yes, Billy. I said he ran the place, but back then he was the entertainment guy for the whole timber company. I don't think Billy knew which end of the gun to hold. He did too well with them and they transferred him somewhere up north, maybe Pennsylvania? He was a great guy.

yes indeed, i remember elks and country club stories!

bluetick, wow... you sir, have had more big cat experiences than anyone I've heard of! I just wanna see ONE. Just one!!!

Dawson tract is 4 miles from hwy 41!

ask steve. Thats what he told me at the liars catfish rodeo on the deck at his house on pine barren at Tilden, with billy J and ray H. Wait, how bout Bracken Tract? he either said dawson tract or Bracken Tract... sorry... getting old is new dance... he said either one... I do think its bracken, but ask him anyway. I have not been back down there in a couple of years.

didnt ask for them. I think it had to with old growth hardwoods before pine plantations waylayed soybeans and hardwoods etc....as I said, my daddy grew up in a timber family in sumter/choctaw/greene counties from early 1900's. all hardwoods. he killed cats, as did his uncles and cousins and it was not a big deal when he and I first saw them. It was old hat to him.

Dallas, Wilcox and Autauga as a kid. 2 years ago in Lowndes. We thought nothing of seeing cougars down 41 growin up... happened moreso than not.. One of our members was a MICO guy (miller lumber co.) he ran a pack of beagles and blueticks( thus my name)... it was nothing for folks to see cats running ahead of dogs... I never saw one on a drive and only have seen 3 in woods since 75... rest were in truck at night/early before dawn.

Blue tick or DC do either of you remember the big three story house (i was told it was once a hotel) on the east side of 41 between Dallas county lake and the boys ranch?

I looked at it a couple times with some friends in the early 90's and somebody was renovating it then. Had HUGE tall columns on the front.

If its the one I recall there was a black family living there in the 70's. I think the interior burned out at one time. Is it the one that had car tires for a fence painted orange?

Funny how some people see black panthers and cougars all the time but with all the time I have spent in the woods, I have never seen one. I ain't saying they aren't around but I know quite a few people who may or may not have vision problems and see panthers all the time.

There is no proof they exist! Not one single black panther has ever been documented in the history of the world but if you listen to some folks there must be a pretty heavy breaking population. Every single biologist I have eve talked to laugh at these sighting! The #1 killer of the Florida panther are cars! A total population around 100 they lose 10 a year to vehicles but never once have anyone took a single picture of one in Alabama! I think some people let their imagination get the best of them while other are just either fools or liars! But please prove wrong. I've been waiting for 30+ year for someone to prove they exist but yet we are all still waiting! Every part of the country have mythical animals some places have big foot and we just have panthers! It's just funny listening to all these stories. One day when I have time ill post about my alien sightings!

I read where someone has seen lots of panther/ cougars on Pine Berran aroumd the old steel bridge! Well since we have own that land since 1890 I can say that I have never seen one and I'm out there 250+ days a year! Also there has never been one seen there much less killed out there! We run around 12 game cameras all year long an we also trap bobcats and coyotes! Still nothing!!! So to the guy who keeps talking about all the panthers out there I call BS! Plus the catfish tournament was at Mr Billy camp house not Steve's!

I just saw this. Everyone knows that black panthers are very rare. There is a very large population of them in Goodwater though.

^^^ lol

Back to the topic, Portland was not hunted last season due from the land being took away from the land owner by the bank. The leases holders got most of their money back and leased some land at the end of hwy 89.(that's what I heard don't know if it was true) Does anyone know if there was a club formed this year at the Portland camp?

Billy's house was 2 or 3 down. We sat on steves deck before during and after the tournament . You must be the kid killing alligators illegally down there..
I hunted the steel bridge land on pine barren for many years- late 70s early to mid 80s.
No BS from me. Got nothing to gain by making up stuff. Like i also said- havent hunted there since 80s..

Chill out man ..

Have another drink- come back when ad hominem meets facts beyond reductio adsurdum. You are lying, are stupid or are simply a child.

Sadly, people like you and several other lowbrow free riders diminish the value of this site, diminish interest from people like myself- simply wishing to share blackbelt/ portland/tilden/pine barren/furman/minter stories we lived as kids to young adults nany years ago. I have no reason to lie about anything i stated. Daddy was a lawman, I was his son, (he died in 80s). You erstwhile daddys land minded kids werent even born when these stories occurred. You know why me and daddy left selma at 3 am to get on a deer stand before 6am, merely 40 miles away? He policed yalls sorry ass for night hunting/drug dealing. Remember the vietnamese immigrants pungi stick steel bridge incident? Guess you never heard about columbians making airdrops on your land? Guess you didnt know about the dixie mafia/ cartel/klan connection that ran the drug trade in central alabama late 70s early 80s?
Those effing gooks said pungi an piano wire traps were tocut a deer's head off or poison it in the pungi trap. Thats bullshit. I found their drug den and was a pungi / piano victim.
I was not hurt, beyond pride...

Assuming you actually own 6k acres, you will never know what daddy did for your land every week during deer season for about 20-30 years before you were born. Its what cops did back then- good neighbor policy! Old south valus and duties off the clock. Good fence policy.

You pukes obviously didnt get the memo from your parents- if you did, you forgot it.
I remember one night daddy busting up a drug deal involving some snow hill scholars and mexicans acting like hunters- shots were fired ... About 45 min later troopers and cotton nichols finest showed. Daddy put himself in harms way , off the clock, because that what a lawman did in my youth. He held about 8 or9 rural negroe scholars at bay with a spotlight a 38, and his mind- for quite some time- in the mind of a kid left alone in the truck while shots are fired and hell breaks loose..shoot, thought i was going deer hunting!

Enjoy your nescience, predators lie in wait for soft minds and vacuous egos...

If there is an old time game warden who had charge of this region- would love for him to chime in... Bham Fred? Anyone?

The mind is a terrible thing......

Familiar with Casey's? It's right down from the boys ranch...

ignorant, wasted minds are terrible things. No thought is so bad until thinking makes it such..." Not trying to hijack thread guys- simply trying to contribute while cutting through the daily weak minds to address what is perhaps lies or simple churlish fantasy from a child... . Surely yall know about the drug drops and boats and night time woods walkers- exactly in this area?

I feel the need to tell you that you are not invisible on the Internet, people can find out who you are. You may want to keep that in mind before accusing people of participating in illegal activities. I know if I were the one that you were accusing and blessing out on this thread that I would be none too happy with you.

He is too enamored with his own words to respond to yours. He might get back to us cavemen after he gets done with the dictionary and goes through all his lotion.

Wish I did. Would love to offer my hog control services to them.

I am quite visible... Fyi... You on the other hand....

Look- i got on here to talk about Cats my family saw from 69-84 or so down 41.
I try to talk with folks and get ridiculed by people without facts.
Hey- remember me telling yall about the colombian drug network that made drops down 41?

Well- watch the news- some thug with a badge been running coke in wilcox for years...


An folks there worry about night hunters!!! BS!!? Folks there worry about getting caught

Bhamfred/tyson or other game wardens familiar with combined surveillance/ dragnet- Please chime in!

Come on wilcox property owners!!!

Need to hear your stories of drug interdiction

I have to believe most did their dead level best to work with State/Fed
CBI interface?

We aint talking bout kids kilking gators randomly....

I figured the topic would silence the mockers.

No reason to lie- daddy did law enforcement project there 74-86... I went on several.

Yall remember the old Bluebird joint on 21? Just up the road from x 's house?

Uh huh....

Dude chill out and go start your own thread. Nobody cares about arguing with you about that junk. This thread is about the hunting stories from Portland Landing, not about you rambling on about stuff nobody gives 2 ***** about. Have a good one.

i don't know where pl is much less never hunted it talking about big cats at the mwr on rsa the person that runs the place told there has been three cougar seen on rsa several time by different people all that work there.

no, plenty of black leopards exist in captivity in the US, some have been known to escape their pens

is there a breeding population in the wild, highly doubtful
Distribution and habitat[edit]

Yes PL! Man, did this go off on a tangent!

PL for sure has been awesome but it seems that that stretch of eastern side of the river from Camden to Selma sure has produced some great bucks in its history. (Other specific locations around Alabama produces too but just focused on PL and that stretch).

The buck on the left was killed less than one mile to the east of Hwy 41 in that stretch.

If you're lucky enough to hunt that area, congratulations!

I don't know anything about panthers or drugs there.

The Casey's is about halfway between our two old tracts. They leased one tract when they first got in the guide business. They had a skidder to pull us out of the mud when we got everything with tires bottomed out.

I hunted the property just east of Snow Hill Institute and north of 21 (one small block of it was south of 21) back in the late 90's. We killed some absolute whoppers there. I believe there were 2200 acres on that tract...can't remember for sure, though. One side of our land bordered up with a pay-hunt place, but I can'r remember what it was called....Harrison or Hamilton Hills, maybe?

Hamilton Hill. Doug and Lyle Smith - great guys!

Played baseball with doug smith on turner chevrolet.

FYI

http://www.waka.com/home/top-stories/Ala-sheriffs-deputy-arrested-on-drug-charges-213379351.html

Nothing has changed and never will. chess got fred off cause the dues must keep flowing.. Yall old enough remember?

Blue tick do yo know the details about the plane that (crash) landed in the pasture between Furman and Pine Apple? Allegedly full of drugs. Word I got was they buried it with a dozer.

My daddy did- i was a kid ... I wont say any more here. But if you have read some of my posts on this thread you will understand. Not just pine barren/pl/ but oakmulgee/ crumptonia- dallas- wilcox-- perry-ish

Mostly around river feeds or remote waterways without habitation that coukd escape review after several days of activity until big mobil-

Sorry to eff up so many pretty boy dreams/egos...

Not my intention.... Rural land/dirt roads and poor people/ complicit landowners have and will always be the challenge for interdiction, short of shooting suspects on sight...

The hell they will. Not without a super decoder ring, anyway...

bill...post is not a dog whistle... just figured there were some old timers like me who remembered the 70s when most people considered running drugs a hobby.air drops were common

Bluetick....start your own thread. I didn't start this one to hear about drugs and what not. If you don't have a deer story on Portland Landing keep quiet.
Thanks

I unna stane!

BTW, I killed a nice 9 PT in PL 5 years ago. Great hunting, fishing and all around beautiful country. Now Bluetick, please continue in another thread. Some areas mentioned are in my neck of the woods and I'm hooked. Even though I haven't a clue what I'm reading, I can't quit watching this thread.

Barry - My daughter killed her first rack buck beside yall's camp house a couple of years ago... I always wondered if you were hunting the Executive tract after seeing your pics over on PFF...

I have a ton of cool stories to tell about Portland, probably not as many as some but quite a few. Probably the first story that I tell people is the first experience that I had in seeing what effect basically zero hunting pressure have on deer.

Elkhunter, myself and a couple other friends stayed in the lodge on the river actually ON Portland the years it was a lease. We all were up there usually every other weekend the whole summer putting out feed, scouting, checking cameras, fishing and chasing hogs. One Friday afternoon I get there and everyone was already there, so I want to run down to what we called the Video/Square field to see what was in there. It's Mid-August, so at Portland, most of their rack is already developed by then. I jump on my four wheeler, grab a cold one, turn my stereo on and head that way. I turn off the main road on to River Road and there is a nanny standing about 30 yards down the road walking away from me toward a little clover/briar patch between RR and the Video Field. I slow down and ease up about 5-7 yards behind her, stereo playing kind of loud but not LOUD and it's still an hour before dark. I follow her down the road about 60-70 yards until we get to the corner of that little briar patch and there is another nanny already standing in the field eating. Once the nanny I am following gets to the edge of the field, she hauls ass to the other nanny and they start raring up fighting like hell. I am still only about 30 yards from them and they are going at it. I stop and this goes on for at least a minute to a minute and a half. Once they stop, I go down beside the field they are in toward the Video field, it's only about 50 yards to the video field off of River Road. Once I get to the Video field, there are 10 rack bucks and 10 does in the field. They are anywhere from 50 yards to 150 yards. I stop at the mouth of the field, stereo still playing drinking a cold one. I watch them for probably 3-4 minutes. Not one deer left the field and I bet there were 3-4 deer that never looked up.

So I pull back out to River Road to go check another field, I pulled right by the two does still eating in the clover/briar patch within 20 yards. I go check another field just down the road from there. There was only 5 or 6 deer in the back of the field so head back to the lodge. Once I turn the corner to where I could see that little briar/clover patch where the two does were fighting earlier, I see they had made there way back to the road I was on and they are basically nose to tail but the lead nanny has her feet in the left hand rut of the road. So I slow down to 5-7 mph and put my left hand tires on the grassy hump in the middle of the road and my right hand tires off the other side of the road, basically straddling the right hand rut. I get closer and closer to the does and I am thinking, I am going to stay right here and see what they do. I drive by those two deer and they never moved and neither did I, except at the last minute I slid my ass off the other side of my seat. Yeah, I chickened out but I kept my four wheeler in the same place. I could have literally reached out and touched the lead nanny's head. Her head came a foot from my left handle bar. That is the most scared/excited I have ever been around a live deer. All of that happened with my stereo playing the whole time. It was a wild 30 minutes of my life, very very cool experience.

There are several others - Rattling up 4 rack bucks one morning, 4 rack bucks the next morning and 5 the next morning and killing a 120" 10 point the last morning...

Getting to see my daughter kill her first rack back in the same field Biolgic was basically invented/field tested in was pretty cool... That's the only place that I REALLY miss hunting and being around that I was part of a lease with. It was an AWESOME time and I saw over 500 deer one season there...

I will never forget PL. Some of the highlights were rattling up 9 bucks in one morning. I killed the biggest (10 pt).

Stepping 1 ft away from a huge gator while duck hunting.

Killing tons of pigs.

Hammering does like crazy.

Having a fellow member that we had killed so many does that we had the buck to doe ratio at 25-1. At that time we had killed 50 bucks and 30 doe off of the place that season.

Catching gators by hand.....

All the great times spent with family and friends.

Calling up a big cat while sitting around the camp fire one night.

I remember those... The gator story with you and Dennis was funny as heck, that's why I wouldn't ever hunt behind that dang hay field... Haha...

A few others were getting to hunt with two of the best hunters I know, Deadeye and Elkhunter.

Sitting in the hayfield with my girlfriend and her daughter and watching a 120" 6 point all afternoon. He had broke his browtines and we were 8 point or better so I was scared to shoot him because he didn't have 8 points and then another member killed him a few weeks later...

Watching two bucks fight 30 yards in front of me, then a big hog came in and broke them up and one of the bucks starting fighting the hog...

Riding around with Elkhunter the first time we went to see Portland before I joined and seeing 10-15 deer and close to 10 longbeards in a field 30-40 yards from our truck at 2:00 in the afternoon...AND almost getting stuck, LoL...

I got over 15,000 trailcam pictures in one season there...

Hunting 200 yards behind the lodge, watching buck after buck after buck and smelling Dennis cooking breakfast at the lodge...

Counting bucks in the yard at night while we were grilling on the porch and drinking beer...

Man it was hard to stay in the stand and smell Dennis cooking breakfast!

A few others...

Taking my four wheeler to the lake, listening to some tunes, drinking beer and catching the hell out of crappie...









This was the "6" point I watched one afternoon and didn't shoot because his browtines were broke...





This deer was killed not to far from the lodge that we stayed in..

No crap... I still tell him he cost me a buck that morning. I had that buck that was tearing all those oaks up behind the lodge 3 mornings in a row on camera between 8:30-9:00 and couldn't stay in the stand because of Dennis and my belly...

I hate I missed out on this idiots rampage but since we are Wilcox county landowners and since during the time you hunted here my grand dad and great grand dad was the sheriff I call BS in all your drug crap! The idiot who got caught last week was just that a idiot! Where are you from? I would love to know! Oh and my family owns the land either on or next to where you see all those cats and we have never seen one!

Once again I have a friend who is selling 105ac on the water the use to be part of the Dawson tract! You can PM me if you want his #

Daddy was in law enforcement. I remember eatin hard candy at Wally's store and meeting Pablo Escobar. One night I saw a cat at ol man johnsie's house so big he took down full grown heffer. Daddy was in law enforcement. Anyone remember the story about the big cat that got caught running drugs just north of Camden? Can't talk about it but I figured someone on here might.

The drugs were simply a cover for the DCNR air-drop/releasing the big cats. I know, my Daddy was in Law Enforcement!

^^^^^

Fascinating.

Oh no..... do we have a narc.... If so please step up... You will remain anonymous here.... honest....
What was Pablo doing in Camden back in the day? Last I heard he was hanging around Priesters smuggling through their millworks..... Of course... before he was caught and dealt with....

From what I heard they smuggled in columbian jungle cats with stomachs full of cocaine and they had to catch them in holes with pungi sticks in the bottom. Some of them were never caught but they crapped the cocaine out and in the process made several cocaine licks for the deer which sped up their metabolism and made them grow super big antlers. Those cocaine licks are still active today and are still growing big bucks and the highly elusive columbian jungle cats that survived have turned into a flourishing breeding population but they can only be seen by the super hunter bluetick. I hope this solves the Portland landing jungle cat drug trafficking mystery.

The deer harvested at Hamilton Hills, Portland landing, and the Selma area seems to be bigger than the Bullock/Macon area deer. Seem to be wider and have more mass. Is the soil that much different there than the south macon /north bullock counties area? Bullock/macon seems to have high good population densities and we do kill good deer there too, but the Selma area guys seems to consistently kill better deer on average. Is this true? If so, why? Thanks

It's all in the dirt.

I would tend to disagree with that.... I hunt Bullock and have for years now.... I have hunted Dallas all around White Oak Creek and P.L. Close to Casey's camp and the boys ranch... Near Minter HWY 85..89...and 4.... I would say there is not much difference between the two. Not to say other areas of Dallas may be better... just my comparison when I hunted down that way.... I hunted there for 12 years and have hunted Bullock for the last 8 years.....If I had to pick one over the other it would be a coin toss.... I would be happy with either side of the coin....

On a another note... You get a chance to hunt near Fitzpatrick....you might change your mind....

Fitzpatrick is on a totally different level than anything else in Bullock Co...or, for the most part, the state.

Some people don't understand that bill.... That's why I mentioned it.... and I hunt in the vicinity.... You have to hunt there... or near there to even comprehend this area...

Does the Selma area have the higher population densities like we do here in Bullock? Also, Fitzpatrick is a lot of old farm fields with with low lying almost swampy hardwood drains. Not a whole lot of pine trees except maybe some that have been planted a little higher up on hills, etc. Is the Portland Landing, bogue chitto, Hamilton hills area like this, too? Just trying to pin point what it is the difference or similarities in between the two? Superior genetics near PL? Thanks

Never seen rubs on large trees and even power poles like I used to see turkey hunting in Shopton/Fitzpatrick area.
That's one area where I would love to own land. Best area I've seen in Alabama.

I'll second that on the Fitzpatrick area. Saw a few monsters in the wee morning hours that dang near made my eyes pop out of my head. I'd definitely like to own some property out there if I ever get the opportunity to move back to Bama.

It is such a small area and so private most have never heard of it. I've hunted as good as it gets in Jackson county and it doesn't hold a candle to Fitzpatrick. If someone held a gun to my head and said go kill a booner in Alabama, that is where I'd go. I've never been to Illinois but Fitzpatrick is close enough.

Numbers are about the same..... Where I hunted in Dallas we had few pine plantations and more hardwoods with lots of cedar flats. Genetics were great and numbers were great. Only reason I moved from there is the private land we leased was sold when the owner passed and was unable to find anything close. As for genetics, I can tell no difference. We have killed deer in the 150's here and in Dallas County. Like I said earlier, if I had to flip a coin to pick, I would be happy with either one as long a they are near the areas I have hunted in the past.

[quote=04
This deer was killed not to far from the lodge that we stayed in..



[/quote]

I scored this buck. He was a brute. 148 and change gross. I understand the young man that killed him lost the mount in a house fire. That is too bad.

And the hunter was a guest. His buddy put him in what I considered a "Gar Hole" and he killed a monster. Guess you just never know.

He was a brute. Was that killed in the PL area or Bullock?

At Portland Landing right behind the cabin.

The similarities in the area seems to be they had little pine trees, and were old pasture land with predominant hardwoods/cedar,etc. The soil for growing the bigger bucks seems to be also better for growing hardwoods as opposed to growing pine trees (not to say it couldn't grow pine trees). Also, the two areas seems to have more of a mature open canopy type of forest, allowing native browse to grow below the understory as opposed to pine plantation monoculture? Would you agree with this?

You guys quit posting about deer, this is a drug black cat smuggling post!

Holy sheeeut why did I never open this link before now.

Yea you been missing out

I'm going to Pine Barren Creek tomorrow evening. I will be sure to look out for monster bucks, black panthers, Mexican drug smugglers and marijuana bales dropping from the sky. If I see any of the above I will be sure to take pictures to add to this debate.

Seriously kids- you and polywaug- and some adults on here that know better... Why mock me? I can back up everything i have said- can yall? I hunted portland landing- south to camden years ago. I remember portland landing before the sign went up on 41...(before the road was improved abd public)

The majesty of trophy bucks was possible only by politics( to get correct genetics) abd private land ownership/stewardship.

The drug wars of the 70s threatened private ownership whether landowners approved of drug trade on their property or not. All rural land was subject to drug drops- rotating basis-

I saw tan cats/cougars on the bracken tract- saw same on big ralphs place about 1/2 mile from pine barren/ ala river mouth.(polywaug- not far from j&scompound of cabins abd where you shoot gators-)

Shot at a tan cat in big ralphs back pasture not far from what i just mentioned( it was several years before me and daddy shot the cat on bracken tract across 41 in 77-78 or so.

Anyway- i come not to offend or criticize, but to participate...
When ill informed or determined lowbrows attempt to discredit my voluntary memories of cutting my teeth with with a law enforcement daddy yes it is hurtful-

I have no incentive to lie- im no one's hero- neither was daddy... But i have a memory like an elephant- so did daddy and so does his journal.

TTT

Bluetic, after your millionth time of mentioning "daddy " I am now getting the image of Jackie Gleason, in smokey and the bandit, with his amoeba brained son.

Now that's funny.

Sorry to drag up an old thread, not sure how this will be received, so let me say this is my first post here. I am a regular contributor to the PFF forum and a search for PL info there, led me to a search here, and eventually to this thread.
I have purchased land & am in the process (almost complete) of building a lake house/cabin at PL. This is on CR225, on the White Oak Creek side, just before the boat ramp. I have one acre and it is part of a 14 acre development (hate to use that word) that runs right along the creek. I can see the passion that some of you have for the PL area, which is why I am a little apprehensive posting here. Hopefully, I wont be looked at like the rich guy that's ruining the hunting. Nothing could be farther from the truth - especially the rich part. Just a regular working guy that has spent his life savings on a beautiful place. The wife & I have fallen in love with the Oak & Hickory tree waterfront and hope to one day be able to retire there.... assuming we don't get devoured by a black panther first. For now fishing and relaxing are all that's planned but I love to hunt & would like to know what's going on with the land past the public boat ramp and across 225. I am familiar with the property that Mr. Cole hunts and know the landowner there, also have some friends who have a place on 403. I love hearing the stories from the area and would love to hear more especially about the history of the area. I live in Milton FL, but listed my location as Portland Landing, thanks for any replies
Kevin

Elkhunter and I could tell stories for days about that place... Barry, the land he bought is the land that I was talking about buying on the right hand side before the main gate but Dennis talked me out of. I PM'd you back on PFF too...

I grew up hunting on the place in the 80s. My father used to sell wood to Hammermill and we had a key to it. I killed my first buck on Crow's foot and until a couple of year's ago, my biggest came out of the Double Oak stand. I'll always have very special memories of that place!

Holy cow I just read all this and it is pure Aldeer gold. I think somebody may have stubled up on one of those cartel drops while he was out there fighting the vietcong insurgency and sampled the goods, leading to numerous hallucinations of large cats.

Sorry I dont have anything to add about the place but it sounds like a whitetail mecca, even with the large population of black mountain panther jaguars.

You are more than welcome to call me anytime. I will be glad to tell you about the history that I know. I told a couple guys in the club with me about some of the old meeting places on the property. They took their metal detectors and found some great stuff. Lots of history there. From Indians to share croppers.

Barry
334-301-0179

I've always wondered if blueticks daddy was BhamFred

Wow! Resurrected from the archives...

I figured he must be Big Jack's son.

I've hunted on Portland when it was the Hammermill Employee reserve and then I've also been a guest later after it changed hands. I've seen deer every time I've been. I've hunted many of the tracts in that area including the one's Dallas County mentioned earlier (thanks again Taylor). When I first moved to Alabama in the 70's, my uncle was in a club in Furman. He had no sons, so I was his hunting buddy. I still hunt in that area and have for 30+ years now. I would venture to say that very few people have spent as much time in the woods in that area as I have except those who do it for a living. I have no problem stating emphatically that every cat I've seen in my 30+ years in the area has been a feral housecat or bobcat. Believe me, if an elusive creature was going to be in the area, the land I hunt would be perfect. I am in law enforcement and have been for 30 years and have never been part of, or know of, any cats being released in the area. I am also familiar with the other stories referenced here about drug running. I know some of the truth, but not all of it, as I imagine there are very few people that do.

Anyways, it was nice to read about land and people I know. I even know about the baseball teams Bluetick played for as I was a product of that league also. I'd probably know him too if I knew a name.

that was way low and uncalled for jawbone.....

Idc what y'all kill up there just stay away from my crappie,!!!!!

jawbone,

Since you have hunted that area for such a long time, I have a serious question. Do you think the hunting is much better between highway 41 and the Alabama river as opposed to the east side of highway 41?

Thanks....

I hunted down that way back when mossy oak still had it. I believe its still one of the better areas of the state.

Jawbone what is the truth with the drugs down there? I'm assuming it's not VC punji pits and such.

I spent all weekend in Portland pig hunting and saw 8 rack bucks, 3 were giants. Not bad considering it was about 100 degrees.

WOW, this was hilarious. A MUST READ for sure, for all you low brow dim witted south necks. I mean this thread has it all.

24 carat stuff here! Wow.

Dr. B

Yes, I tend to think the hunting is better along the river due to swampland being harder to hunt, but it is all pretty decent and depends mostly on how the particular tracts are managed.

I'll pass on this since it involves a person who by all accounts turned his life around and has children who were not involved that are friends of my son.

It also involved a very good LEO who got in over his head with gambling and owed a debt. He did the right thing and paid the price, then went on to a stellar career until cancer took his life prematurely.

I do not personally know the man who is RUMORED to have crashed the plane and buried it, but I know the name. Not even sure if he is still alive.

I do know about the Bluebird Inn and can attest to its rowdiness back in 80's.

jawbone
did you participate or aware of others who hunted chinkypins or any other pokemons from a helicopter?

I've heard the buried airplane story ever since I worked at the M-B plant at Pine Hill in, as I recall, 1982. I've hunted near Pleasant Hill, on Hwy 85, for 30 years, and in the late '90s early '00s, we had 2 different people report 3 cat sightings. Nobody ever got a print or a pic, but the people were dependable. I was in the truck at one of the incidents, but looking the wrong way. Not 4 or 5 miles as the crow flies from the area you all are talking about. Our experience was the same on deer size - the big ones were a long time ago, when there were row crops in the area. Still a whole lot of deer, but we haven't killed the really big ones in a while, despite a lot more disciplined approach to management.

Any of you know current members/owners at Portland?

Still waiting on a picture of an Alabama cougar.......

Daddy was in Law Enforcement. Y'all don't f'king forget that.

I been hunting Portland for 8 years and I've never seen a cougar,mountain lion or chubby Capra but the landowner where I hunt was bush hogging in a swamp that is dried up and he found a freshly dead 8 point and he and another member said it looked like it was killed by a cougar. They are not on aldeer and have never heard anything about a cat down there but they are 2 trust worthy guys. This all happened about 3 weeks ago. I would have never thought there would be a world record gator down there but I saw that with my on 2 eyes when it was at Roland cooper. Freaking dinosaur!

Back around 2008-2009, the man and wife running the commercial operation down there swore they saw one several times.

It is a shame that most of that entire region is now planted in pines.

It was better as row crop land, better for the deer and other wildlife - -- and it provided the opportunity to funnel hunt Midwest style. Now all those positives are mostly gone because of all the pine trees that have been planted.

Land is so broken up there are lots of owners. I heard the landowner at the gate just passed the boat ramp is Tractor Supply. That's just a rumor. Club name is Portland landing preserve. Area around the hit or miss lodge is a group from Montgomery but Joe Champion is still the land manager. A couple guys from Milton own the old executive tract on 225 and 404. I live on 225 - still some big bucks in the area for sure

I saw a dead deer in a dried up swamp next to the road around that time. Eight point in full velvet and huge. I almost removed the head but figured not right. I assumed it was hit by a truck. I ride up to tell Joe about it but the gate was locked. I do have a picture of it if you can tell me how to send it. I will be glad to. It wasn't there about 3 days later

I stand corrected - Went back & looked at the picture, It was from July 1. I was shocked at how big the rack was for the time of year

Kevin it's Tractor Equipment Company, not tractor supply. Friend of mine is hunting it with them.

>A couple guys from Milton own the old executive tract on 225 and 404.

That is most likely Mel Burklow and sons. Mel was a member of the Hit n Miss. I was advised they purchased a parcel in an area that was referred to as the Cedarosa area when the Hit n Miss was still an active club.

I saw where someone in this thread asked about any game wardens input, I just retired after 30 years, I spent 10 years in Wilcox, and 18 in Dallas of those 30, I never saw a panther in any of the places mentioned, spent countless hours in these places during day and at night. Doesn't mean there aren't panthers, doesn't mean folks don't see them. Just means I never did.

congrats on the retirement!

Hunted it jan 2nd thru 5th. It was awesome. Killed several deer and hogs. Always action that weekend. Would love to go back but doubt I'll ever get the draw again.

Welcome to the party!

Thanks ,I'm enjoying it .

>spent 10 years in Wilcox, and 18 in Dallas of those 30, I never saw a panther in any of the places mentioned

In roughly 1977/1978 my Father and I saw a panther/cougar/mountain lion in NW Florida just South of Florala, AL. My Father had heard coon hunters had treed a big cat on that same property a year or two prior. I will never ever forget the image of that cat leaping from behind a spillway of a farm pond and bounding 20-25 yards in like 2-3 leaps over a fence and out of sight forever. About 5 years later on the same property my Mother watched a silhouette through breaks on another fence row late one afternoon, which she claimed could not have been a dog because the tail was too long. Supposedly big cats have a fairly wide range, but it interesting to note that the two confirmed sightings above and the possible third sighting by my Mom all occurred within 1 mile of each other. It was early AM when my Father and I saw cat, and the cat seemed dark grey, if not black. The Florida Fish & Game told me Father that Florida Panthers did not range as far North as NW Florida, and that there were other species of cats originating from Mexico which possibly migrated up through Texas and into the SE that were thought to have relocated in the SE. Once again, this was 40+ years ago. There were not as many records of sightings, and information did not circulate the way it does today.

Had a friend who had a few acres that border hit n miss club. This was back in the 80's and that place was full of big bucks. Saw lots of bobcats but no cougars. Had a spot on a funnel of high ground between two swamps and shot a big one in the morning and some guys from hit n miss come down there yelling and whistling. Guess they thought I was trespassing but i wasn't. Stayed in the tree and never saw them. Shot another big one the next year and same thing here they come yelling and stuff. Didn't realize it at the time but my stand was right behind one of their green fields and i was cutting the bucks off heading to it. Never entered their property but they would raise hell every time we would shoot. Did find a huge 10 pt. one of them had shot the previous year that ran off .So wide i could put the rack around my waist without touching any of it. Man it was huge. Let a buddy borrow it to show it around and never got it back. My buddy was one of the first guys back then to take up rattling bucks in. It was amazing how he could call the bucks in. Most times he would rattle them in off the neighbors place where they were bedding. We were hunting on the ground and most of the time we would spook them before getting a shot cause they could tell right where the rattling was coming from. One of the locals had a moonshine still way back on the adjoining property we think since we could hear them talking and smelled the smoke and shine.Good times back then. Haven't been back since around '86 or so. DId hunt Riverdale a few years later and shot some deer but nothing like portland area.

Two guys from Brewton own a combined 3500-4000 acres just east of the boat ramp @ Portland Landing, all the way across to the corps land on the river, then a finger of it reaches all the way across to Hwy 41 on the very east end.

One of those owners is the guy who killed the absolute monster typical buck in Saskatchewan around 2000-2001.

That is Dennis Adams. He purchased around 10,000 and then split it up.

Whoa. That's some serious cash outlay....Powerball?

Dr. B

Manufactured homes

If I remember correctly, there was a confirmed Florida panther killed around West Point lake just south of Lagrange

I wonder if polywaugs friend still has that land for sale?