Once again our deer season has closed and I and many other Alabamians we reflection on our past season, look at our mistakes, tweak what can be tweaked and for some it might mean a whole new shift in direction. But we all have some reasons for concern as far as where we are headed into the future as you well know times do change. There is much to do about CWD. We are all a little nervous about how Alabama will approach this subject. Then there are the rising costs of land leases and hunting in general. There are issues that have to do with our phone in reporting system, and high fence hunting issues. And of course that doesn't cover em all. I really enjoy hunting this State and I travel abroad to some other States as well. That being said, I have to say I am prouder of a 120 inch Alabama buck than a 150 from the Corn Belt. Why ? That 120 from Bama is a very different animal than from the Corn Belt. Not that shooting deer up North is like falling off a log. But if you have hunter there I think you can relate.Something that troubles me though in our State is the cost of our deer hunting. Let me restate that. Cost vs.return. And we all know that our money is not strictly tied to a harvest. I enjoy the fellowship of other hunters, being in nature, away from everything,etc. And I really don't have to spend a fortune to do that. Heck a $600-$1000 club can accommodate that. But prices are rising. And in many places the hunting is marginal for both quality or quantity. I know someone will say. Well that's not my case ! I have just an awesome place that I shoot a 130+ every season and see all kinds of deer and yada yada. I too have been fortunate enough to have hunter some very good Alabama properties. Now I am a realist. Yes. There are some very good places to hunt but from my experience of 40+ years of hunting from top to bottom of this State I have to say in 2019 they are very few. And you have to remember I came through the "Golden Age" of Alabama deer hunting. If you got to hunt in the 70's, 80's and early 90's in some of our better areas you got to be in on some fine deer hunting ! So your definition of quality deer hunting may vary. But if you call quality deer hunting seeing 20-30 deer per season and a couple of 90-100 inch bucks ;we come from different worlds. And I am perfectly fine with lowering some of my expectations. Let me give you an example of some of my friends experience. You may can even relate. 2 of them leased a 750 acre plot at $8000 in Monroe county. They are very well accomplished hunters. Pulled 1 buck that might, maybe would bust 100 inches. Have another buddy who has invested $8000 in a few years in clubs and had yet to pull the trigger on a 120 +. That is his criteria. I do have a friend who got it done on his place in 2 years that cost him $5000 per year. It scored 125. That to me is a pretty poor return for a lot of investment. And I thought that lease prices might slow down if the quality of the hunting slipped. Boy was I wrong ! I firmly believe some of these guys will keep paying more and more for less and less. A few year ago I was given the assignment of helping a buddy lease some of his properties out for hunting. It was okay property but he wanted to lease it because it was a disappointment for his expectations. When these guys rolled up,it was a cinch. Showed them a few deer tracts and s couple of rubs and they about P'd themselves. If my buddy had the mind to he could have socked it to em on price and they would have had no objections. I'm saying: Wake up Folks. I know lots of you feel like, well if I don't pay it someone will. Let them. You can hunt public land and fare better in some cases. I think all of us can make a difference if we have cut-offs on what we will pay.

You hit the nail on the head with that post.

You are correct. I use the phraseology "hunting experience". It's just generally lousy nowadays, especially on public land. Seriously, we Alabama guys foam at the mouth to go to WMA's in other states, but our own WMA's are a joke. And the ONLY difference I see is the mentality of hunters. Bama boys think it's somehow "tough guy" stuff to act all badd@$$ against the DCNR (cue the "Chucky" jokes), we say some the stupidest crap about "any deer is a trophy blah blah blah". It's like the "lowest common denominator" hunting mentality on earth, and the experience here backs that up.

I’m blessed to hunt family land, so my cost is suppressed.

If I had to pay what some are paying (for return or the experience), I just wouldn’t do it.

Some folks down the road are paying 4 grand per person for a county that might produce a 150 every decade.

Same here having family land helps. It also allows me to trade hunts. I hunt private land all across the state every year and never pay a dime. Guess I just have good friends? The biggest deer I’ve ever killed (132”) was on 120 acres I hunted for free for 8 years. I lived across the street and noticed folks dumping trash and some shady drug activity going on in an abandoded building. Called the absentee land owner told them what was going on and that I’d stop it if I could hunt. Couple cable gate, no trespassing signs, and some gas and a match to the old building. Good deeds don’t go unoticed!

I've only been deer hunting for 12 years. The state of things now are all I've ever known.
I'm just happy with my 100" 7 point.

I would try to read that post if it had paragraphs...

From my perspective and it means nothing. We have had our place for 13 years now it was clear cut the year we bought it and replanted in pines. The first 6-7 years we saw and took several 200 lb+ 4-5 year old 140" bucks. Over the next several years the body weights of does and bucks have remained the same but the inches of antlers have decreased. Sighting have decreased, but that's understandable because you're not sitting on a 200 acre clearcut that you can see 1/2 mile. I 100% think the inches of antlers have decreased because the habitat will not support what the heard was 15 years ago. When you walk into the pines, there is simply nothing for them to eat. We have made the decision to start thinning the pines and start burning earlier than what most would just to get some sunlight to the ground and get the groceries back in the woods.

I think our situation is a lot like what is going on across the state. We have traded soybean fields in the 80's for pine plantations in the 2000's. Just last week my dad and I rode to some property that we both dog hunted when I was a teen in Talladega and drove past the fields that we actually put in beans and wheat. Now they are 15 year old pine plantations probably with the same issue of little to no food in the understory.

It is all about expectations, for the folks on here that have hunted what you would call expectional property in AL they have higher expectations than those that haven't. The vast majority of mature bucks in AL will score somewhere between 100-120 that is just the facts and if you are hunting in AL you should set your expectations accordingly. As far as numbers of deer like there was is parts of this state in the 70's-80's well the state took care of that and those numbers will probably never return on a large scale. If you are hunting in the Midwest the average mature buck will probably scores at least 120-140 and the numbers are good because recruitment is higher due to more available food and the deer are just easier to see. Everything is relative if you have only ever hunted poor ground in AL I could take you hunting in AL and you would think it was outstanding. If you hunted south AL 30 - 40 years ago or the Midwest you could hunt the same ground and think it was awful. For the most part hunting in AL is at best mediocre when compared to anywhere in the Midwest and always will be.

Truth is we as the hunting public have ruined the very sport we love. I too was fortunate enough to hunt in the 80's and 90's and during those times there were several key differences..

Well I'm glad some of you guys share the same sentiments. Thank you. You sometimes fell like a lone voice. But a lot of Alabama's hunters are getting smarter. And that's where it at. Some folks just need education. And this not all about 💰. I think many of us wouldn't oppose paying serious money for serious hunting. I am fortunate to hunt Family land in Illinois and as you know if you have done much hunting there it doesn't typically take very much land or an awful lot of time to close the deal on a nice deer. But I truly enjoy Alabama deer hunting and have taken some decent deer here. I don't have all the answers on how to move forward. If we could somehow convince some of our hunters to control their trigger finger it would make a huge difference. Me and 14 others shared 2500 acres this past season. We harvested 12 bucks and 5 does. Yes, we do need step up the doe harvest. But of the 12 bucks taken 11 were between 50 and 85 inches. That's beyond pathetic! One excuse after another. Didn't have much time to judge, wanted to get something for my money, bla, bla,bla ! And this goes on everywhere in our State. Yes there are some people doing better but there is still a lot of this kill em all mentality out there.

We used to be fortunate enough to hunt a nice family piece.... But that changed and we had to lease land. We do the best we can but i believe we spend too much for the return we get on the investment.

I would have to say when i spent zero on land we had more fun and the deer hunting was better.. Go figure.

complain about quality and your group does this? I guess these were all 4+ year olds

12 bucks off 2500 acres is WAY to many bucks to kill off that land!!! Clearly you should leave that club and find a club where you have like minded hunters who take trophy managing seriously. Those clubs are out there for sure.

In Alabama there are all different types of hunters. Many here have not evolved into the conservationist/land manager type. I think that is where you ultimately want to end up. When you get there, you really enjoy the herd management perspective almost as much as the hunt. The guys I hunt with do more planting and feeding of the herd than we do harvesting. All of us really get excited to watch bucks grow from year to year! A lot of the enjoyment we have is just pulling camera cards to see what we have on the property.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love slinging lead as much as the next guy. It’s just my perspective has changed in almost 50 years of doing this. I was in Auburn in the late 80s and early 90s and man there were deer everywhere and big bucks too!! I would wack em and stack em with everyone else! Once again, I have evolved and so have many others. I also think that lots of hunters did not get to experience those days so I do not judge a person for pulling the trigger.

I truly believe we should go to a tag system. That is the only system that works. This reporting stuff is crap and no one does it. How can they possibly think they are getting accurate data????? Go to a tag system like every other state and then increase the fines to painful levels if people don’t use it. Then we will have a true understanding of what is happening in our state.

Racksrus- This is a very loaded question and 1 that probably has no answer but what is a good return on investment. That is different for everyone I would assume. I passed on 3 deer for various reasons. Hunting for food is not a profitable option on feeding a family unless you live on the property you hunt, do nothing to supplement the game and process everything yourself. It's simply cheaper dollars ad cents wise to goto the grocery store.

Now if you factor into time that you spend getting outdoors and use that for determination of money spent. Taking your family if that's their thing. Just pure enjoyment, it's hard to put a price on that. My #1 passion is tractor time. I love playing on my dozier, skidsteer, mini -x and tractors. That's where I find my peace these days. I cannot put a dollar value on that.

So as long as I get to use my toys and see my friends and family at this point in my life every deer season is a success.

I put so much emphasis in deer hunting, I may be doing my kids a disservice. May need to hunt more small game. My hunting place is above average, but not superb by any means.

Been thinking hard about how to approach my future hunting....

X 2, good thread.

I have 2 boys. One is 6 and the other will be 12 next month. They could take to leave deer hunting, but they both love squirrel hunting. I bought and trained two treeing pups and let them help in the process. Several dads from church and their sons go with us all the time... and we always have the best time. Those two dogs have been the best outdoor/sporting investment I have ever made. Small game hunting is not taken too seriously these days, but it's what me and my boys look forward to the most.

I think I’m just going to:
* Hunt the 18 acre homestead.
* Hunt a little public ground.
* Take a trip every now and then, maybe one of those school hunts in January.

I’m not interested in the drama or expense of a club. I enjoyed hunting the Kentucky lease with outdoorobsession and chase last fall. But the way I work kinda hurt me on spending the kind of time I needed to spend up there.