You do have access. It's called public land, national forests, WMAs. Go for it.

I'm ready for the "AINNO WAY THAT SUCKER IS OVER 125!"

The two on the left were 3 year old deer. After drying for roughly 5-6 weeks (taxidermist time) he was 162+ gross 153+ net. I don't remember exacts and it takes ladder to get him down now, I wrote the measurements on the back of the mount.

Do you have to get on a ladder to turn the AC on too?

That's at my old house. Here he is now:

Nice room! Great deer all around

I think you will hear and see more 150's being taken each year for the simple fact deer hunters are letting them walk at 2 and 3 so they can reach their maximum of antler growth . Also more farming and crops being planted again in the state can only help with deer getting more protein . If a doe drops a fawn in these farming areas and he grows up eating protein for 5 years he has a great chance to be a 150 or greater .

The deer on the right is 162???

I have/had two goals that I wanted to accomplish. A 125" deer and a 150" deer. I thought the 125" deer would be the most difficult. Why? The property i wanted to kill him on is family property that I've hunted over 40 years and there has never been one killed that big here or on the surrounding properties in 40+ years. Done at 126" . The 150" is on another property where those deer are very rare but have been killed in the past as recent as last season. Still after that one.

I've killed several in the 140's but I just want certain deer on certain properties that I own now.

2 tines over 13", 2 more over 11". Not wide but the difference in score between a 20" buck and an 18" buck is 2". All main beam mass measurements were well over 4" if I remember correctly. It doesn't take long to get there with an exceptionally tall rack.

You sort of have 2 groups of people when it comes to this. A lot of people that regularly kill big deer don't get on the internet and tell everyone at every chance how big a badarse they are. They don't take it down to the deer show. They don't ride it around in the bed of their truck at the local Wal-Mart. They just take it home and go on about their business. Killing a big deer is not the pinnacle of accomplishment in their lives. They shoot one ever season or two. They are sort of the silent professional types. Lot of those people out there. Very few of them on ALDeer.

Other people troll the Internet and deer shows... they have only killed a couple really good deer and they like to post links to old AL deer posts they have made at any window of opportunity. That's the internet badarse types. They view themselves as having some sort of celebrity status. They usually have a few window lickers who like to be their internet buddies. Several of them on here.

couple hundred 150 class deer are killed every year in this state. It's kind of like being rich. No matter how rich you think you are someone out there has you beat. Just a fact of life.

Awesome deer!

Eh, I don't look at deer as an accomplishment, but I do like to show them off and I like seeing others kills. I like deer. I know some people work for their deer and plan and scheme, but most deer are killed out of coincidence. That hunter just happened to decide to be there when that deer decided to come by. I know some who never tell anyone anything, and I know some that you can't talk to without hearing about the deer from 15 years ago. But I think most here just like deer.

I like seeing anybody's deer, and you'll never hear me make a bad comment about someone else's buck. I figure at least some on here are like me, so I post pics when I tag one.

I like seeing trail camera pictures, too, even if they are from a property that I will never set foot on, much less hunt. I just like deer.

Personally I don't really care what anyone does in regards to their deer. That was never my point. BUT - I do think people do not realize the number of good deer killed in this state every year. I know someone that found one dead that green scored 174 last year near Birmingham. I also know a fella that has a 19 point deer in his shop behind his house and will not tell anyone he shot it about a 1/4 of a mile up the road from his house. He just tells everyone she shot it in Tennessee. I was there I know where he shot it and could walk to the spot today.

The only thing I might add would be that we have many naysayers that think there is no way on this earth if we as a group decided to start letting more deer walk that this would lead to more mature bucks with good racks walking around in general. They will claim we don't have the genetics among a slew of different arguments. Trophy hunting is not for everyone and I get that. However the reality is that we do have some really good racks in this State - the problem is it is very hard for them to make it to the appropriate age. I'm not talking scoring 150 every deer, rather just good solid deer in general whether that's 100 or 135. There are many hunters, more than enough granted there are few places that are not hunted in this state... and as a result we don't see our own potential. The deer get shot.

What I have found is that many people just dont care about antlers. They just want to shoot a deer..period. They just want to hunt. And good for them, whatever makes them happy.

I see that all around the country too. They get a 3 day season in Illinois for first gun...they go out and fill their buck tag with the first buck they see. Same in KY or Ohio, or even Kansas. Different strokes for different folks. But some folks there wait and only shoot good ones. Good for them too. Whatever "Hunting" means to them and makes them happy.

I agree that Alabama has some great genetics in some areas and if managed can grow great bucks. Ive been fortunate and have spent my time hunting managed lands here in Alabama. I own my own land, my neighbors also own all their lands and have over a thousand acres each. One group are farmers and lease even more. They also all only shoot mature bucks. We hunt 3 year olds or older, but basically try for 4 year olds or older.

We dont have any stupid rules or written agreements. We all just are at the same point and try to shoot the same type game. Just a bunch of neighbors all doing the same thing.

Because of that Ive been lucky enough to shoot one or two trophies every year. It just takes a group of guys with the same standards, some good cover, good food and low pressure, no trespassing and low amounts road hunting.

The good thing is all those things are controllable. Grow good food plots or hunt near great ag lands, dont go into your thickets except to recover one, prosecute all trespassers and road hunters, and DO NOT over hunt and pressure your land. It is literally that easy!

Squeaky and Hogwild just started a big club in South Bama where they are doing just that. Theyve already shot a couple good ones. In the next couple years Im sure the deer will be even bigger and theyll shoot more. Lots of good clubs here in Bama do the same thing. Just have to find the right club/land/group of guys IMO.

Nailed it!

Actually it is not that easy. I have my own place too. I lease most of the land I own. If you have less than about 2,000 acres your success is directly impacted by the hunters around you. If you have a bunch of people hunting within close proximity that blast everything they see your hunting will suffer significantly. I'm not saying you still can't kill a big deer but you are fighting a completely different battle than a guy that has 1000 acres and surrounding that are landowners with similar trigger habits. If you have that you have a paradise and you should enjoy it. But at the same time you should also recognize that many hunters in this State only have 50 acres. In my opinion there are a significant number of people out there that fit that category who can't effectively manage their property under our current guidelines. Those people get turned off to deer hunting the same as the guy that just feels the need to kill something every time he puts on his camo.

What do you do... I don't know. I'm not offering any solutions only a different point of view. Those of us that have a hunting paradise tend to think that everyone else has the same. And that could not be further from the truth. This is part of the mentality "it's all about me". I see and hear this first hand because people are in leasing smaller tracts of land from me in several parts of this State. When they say they had a good deer season but they sure wish Bo and Luke Duke up the highway would stop blasting every deer they see because they can't get anything with horns to grow. You hear that season after season out of more than one group and at some point you realize it's not just all about me. Everyone else deserves to have a good experience too because the vast majority of the hunters in this State don't hunt on a 2,000 acre tract. To me right now in this State the meter is reading in total favor of the people that want to blast something. Chew on it. That's all I ask. I'm not trying to be right or wrong.

Yep, I totally understand. You like to shoot good ones. I do too. We are fortunate in our places to be able to control things to a degree. I dont have a lot of land..I only manage around 160 acres, and my one neighbors 100 acres...so just 260 total, luckily all thicket that holds deer. But it is surrounded luckily by thousands of acres of big ag land where luckily my neighbors dont blast everything.

I also have friends that hunt else where in the state that dont hunt hard like you or I do. They go a few weekends a year and they just want to shoot a deer...any deer. I understand where they are coming from too.

And while there are many guys here who only shoot good ones, there are way more on THIS VERY SITE that just hunt and arent worried about size of antlers. Id say the majority of guys here to be honest. Dont get me wrong..they WANT to shoot a monster, but they realize that their chances where they hunt for a real good one is very limited.

When I was young I was taught "Dont try to hold people to YOUR own standards or youll be highly disappointed". And they were wise words and Ive tried to live by them.

Thats why I try to congratulateEVERY SINGLE GUY I can that posts their deer on here. While I might not of shot it, I get to hunt a lot and managed land. But they dont , and to them that is a trophy, and Im happy for them being successful. So I congratulate them.

KUDOS to them on accomplishing THEIR goal of getting a deer. It feeds their families and they are happy.

A lot of these guys here hunt state land , or clubs with lots of people. A lot struggle just to see deer, much less ANY buck. So to them just getting to harvest one is an accomplishment..

So what Ive seen is that if you want to hunt BIG BUCKS in Alabama, you need to have great neighbors and land and put a lot of time and MONEY into habitat. OR , you have to shell out BIG BUCKS to join a very well managed club like Squeaky and Hogwilds or others Ive been in.

The sad part is those type clubs are VERY VERY Expensive. So in the most part in Alabama you have to pay BIG BUCKS to shoot BIG BUCKS. There are still the outliers like people who go to Bankhead and get one, or some of the other public land opportunities that have big bucks but their chances for success are admittedly much less then the guy hunting great land.

Whats the answer? Thats the Million Dollar question!

Im typically a small Govt, low regulation conservative and hate laws that prohibit people from enjoying what they like. And while I like the idea of antler restrictions I feel that 75% of the people in the state..heck on this site , are against them. So I go back to what I was taught: "Dont try to have people live up to my standards" or in this case IMPOSE my standards on people through implementation of restrictive laws.

Let them go hunt, shoot a deer and be happy. I'll try to keep shooting good ones, but as I get older (almost 60 now) even my priorities have changed. Heck , right now Id rather be FISHING then hunting..LOL. Hunting takes work...fishing I just sit in my boat and relax. Im getting lazy in my old age I guess.

( I just bought that little bass bought in August and learning to fish...man its way more fun then i thought!)

Not many killed in S Alabama. We have 9k acres in Covington and there haven’t been any killed in 7 years on our place. We’ve killed three absolute bruisers for the area and they were all high 130s-low 140s. Kill a few in the 120s each year.

I bet most of our deer max out in the 120s no matter how old they get. Only a few have the genetics to get bigger. Our two biggest bucks were genetic freaks. One was a 10pt at 2 yo. He wasn’t ever making it to 150” I would imagine. In fact he would have scored about as much as a 3yo as he did when killed as a 5yo. He went down as a 4yo. The other was killed at 3 yo and was a big boy that may have made it to 150” if given another year or two. We had a buck on camera that we guessed was 3 yo that had the potential to get to 150”. He hasn’t been seen in 2 seasons as far as I know.

The number in my head down here that kinda says special is around 125” to me. If he makes it over 125” he’s a special buck where we hunt.

Most of the deer on our place won't get out of the 120s no matter how long they live. No agriculture and the soil just isn't that good. In over 50 years of hunting the same land we have probably killed 40 or more that scored 115 to 128, but have never gotten a 130. There has been a few on the place over the years that would exceed 130, but they have been very rare and we have never killed one of them.

Just think of how much better my life could have been if we had spent thousands of dollars and added 10 more points to the average score of the racks! Wouldn't that have been great?

Well, maybe not. Maybe when it gets down to it, really doesn't make any difference.