I guess it's all in the way you look at things. To somebody who grew up hunting central Fl public land, Alabama hunting (even if it ain't what it used to be), seems pretty good.

The wife and I went in halves with my brother on 80 acres in south Alabama with plans to enjoy it recreationally for 20 years or so, then build a house and retire on it. The land prices in Fl are outrageous a 10 acre tract will cost you 10-15 thousand an acre plus. The city is gobbling up the country so fast its unbelievable. Traffic, even in the country, gets worse every year. Places that used to grow oranges and cows now grow houses like weeds. Leases in south Fl are 7-10 K per person, to kill bucks most of yall would let walk.. Leases in north Fl are usually 12-25 hundred to shoot "legal" deer.

I keep hearing how tough Al public land is to hunt and I keep thinking that it can't be tougher than the swamps and flat woods I'm used to. I plan to try out some of it next year.

My advice (for what its worth) is sure, do all you can to make your hunting better, but in the end don't stress about it too much. It will take the fun out of it. Make the most out of what yall have and know it could surely be worse.

And yes it could be worse. I am just to the point I'm not gonna pay much for sub standard deer hunting here. I can set my sights low and land in cheap clubs and or public hunting. And coming off the hip thinking it's gonna get you to the land flowing in milk and honey can be naive. And yes there are a few milk and honey spots. As said there is more to our experience than just the hunt. And those things can be accomplished without spending a lot. At core here is dropping large amounts of money. When I get in my pocket book heavy things have to pick up in the hunting department. Someone mentioned my group and our harvests. I was in no way involved in taking those scrubs. And everyone that did it boldly professed to not be those kind of hunters prior to the opening of season. Lesson there is actions speak louder than words.

I hope my comments only add perspective and don't sound too negative about AL hunting. However, being a military family, I've had the privilege of hunting a lot of states (and overseas). I've killed deer in NC, VA, GA, IL, WY, SD, CO, NE, AL, and NJ. (Yes NJ LoL). The only state I've lived in for any considerable amount of time and didn't kill a deer was FL. (That's mainly because I had a bang up place in Georgia to hunt near my work.) In AL, I have hunted Chambers, Randolph, Bullock, Coffee, and Crenshaw counties. All private leases or timber company leases. Mainly pine plantation, but some hardwoods/SMZs. Being not from AL and not growing up here; there aint no family/friends land these days. So mostly what's been available is pine plantation with thick understory (less than desirable habitat, and it's tough hunting). I think folks hold onto their leases whether the hunting is good, it's close to home, etc. Not a lot of turnover on good hunting ground. I'm sure there are some vacancies out there in some quality clubs, but I like doing my own thing, planting my own plots, and missing out on the drama.

Based on my 40+ years of hunting experience, with the last 6 being here, AL is at the bottom of my list for quality and quantity of deer sightings. I realize we have a lot of factors to consider. Weather, trickle rut, rut in hot weather that wears bucks down (possibly increasing mortality each year), but I firmly believe pressure is the biggest factor. We have a lot of "house" dogs and collared hunting dogs push deer year round. Not to mention the amount of coyotes and bobcats we get on camera too. Seems to be quite a bit of trespassing/poaching, night hunting, road hunting, and less than desirable activity. Not to mention there's scent in the woods from 15 October to 10 February each year. Thats the longest season I know of.

For whatever reasons, a 3+ year old AL buck is a whiley creature. If you kill him, you have done a much larger feat than if you kill a midwest deer of the same age. Even then, he's lucky to sport 100" of horn. There's just no way I'd pay what I'm paying for a lease anywhere else in the US for the quality of hunting I've experienced here...but if I don't, somebody else will. Either it's a guy down in FL who don't have much chance at good hunting close to home, or it's somebody local looking for greener pastures because it seems not many are satisfied these days.

Again, just my perspective. If you have a better experience, good. Be thankful. I'm hopeful mine will get better...somehow.

I don't get it....whats your point....Your upset because you pay a ton of money and dont shoot much...Or your buddies are paying a ton and you don't feel they are getting their moneys worth....What is the point of this thread... You mad bro.... Cost vs return on Deer Hunting never adds up...

When you start hunting for you and your enjoyment and not worry about crap you cant control youll prolly start killing better Deer and have a more enjoyable experience...02

Personally, I think the biggest problem is lack of trigger control and the I've got to get my money's worth attitude. I'm fortunate to live and hunt in black belt territory. If you give them time to get to 4 or 5 there's a good chance a buck will grow 120-140"+ and 150-160 are possible but those bucks don't max out until 6 or 7 yrs old. Regardless of genetics a 2 yr old buck will rarely get to 120. Most land around here is leased or privately hunted and leases go for $10-15/acre. Fortunately most folks around here are going for quality and not hunting for meat. Let em go, let em grow.
We probably don't kill as many does as we should but the coyotes do work on the fawns

Here is the bottom line. We all know its gonna cost something to hunt. As I've stated I don't mind paying. But a lot of folks are getting rooked . Simply put paying big money for leases in Bama is a dice roll. Prices are way too high for land, generally speaking. Especially for what you get. If you are okay with dropping big money and seeing a few 100 inchers then someone will definitely oblige you. I personally have not dropped what I would call big money in this State. Don't really have to. Our 450 acre Illinois farm has deer that will push 200 inches. Even though Alabama can't hold a candle to that caliber hunting, I really enjoy the hunting here. Just we need to our lease prices in proper perspective. And most of the people who hunt quite a bit know this. I think I'm accurate in saying that a lot you guys don't do that well in terms of quality and sometimes even quantity. I'm calling BS on it. Again we have some good spots but we got a lot of substandard ones. I can just hear Billy Bob Buck Teeth now. "Oh we got some Giants on our place "And just on and on with a bunch of talk. And this poor soul hasn't shot a decent deer in 10 years. And then he will go to Facebook and see a few snapshot's from a pool of a half million hunters and say "Told ya we had em" . And that's the point. Stop getting sucked in to a bunch of hype and get land prices their proper perspective.

What do you call big money? I would say that is different to who you are asking too

Our leases are 3-4 times what your leases are, a rich mans game now. In turn that hurts hunting by just taking bucks soon wont be any big bucks cause middle tier bucks all gone. It all goes back to hunter taking responsibility for managing what deer they have irrelevant of what neighbor does. Management starts with you.

Probably won’t kill better deer,but the more enjoyable experience.....yes

Yes Noble you are 100 % right. It starts with us. And someone has to take a stand or you will fall for anything. These same people who ask what's my point and won't oppose price gouging would raise hell if when they went to the grocery store checkout and started to pay and was told "Hey Bud we decided we are gonna charge you double and go put back half your cart". Don't be someone who says nothing or defends the way things are. Be like Donald Trump. Whether you like him or not he says Washington is a damn mess and needs to be fixed !
Well he is right ! Have to admire someone who don't just give us some smooth talk.

As far as the state of our State’s hunting at least in my area it is a shadow of what it once was and if / when my current hunting property in Alabama that I lease sells it will be the last property I lease in Alabama. I will hunt my 96 acres if I feel the urge , but I will not buy another Alabama hunting license to support a Department that has done so little to manage the deer herd across the State as a whole.

I'm not sure you understand how supply and demand works.................

Sorry for the slap of reality......high lease prices are here to stay. Lots of people with $$$$ in and out of this state willing to pay to hunt here. Prices only going up. Just the law of supply and demand.

I agree racksrus I told someone on lease forum other day I'd be more proud of 120 inch deer from my county than 150 inch deer from Illinois and they said they quit hunting lol...i reckon it's how u compare a trophy? I can guarantee that mine would be harder to kill where I hunt tho..etowah co don't have as many as some..and if cwd takes over theys plenty squirrel frogs and fish to get...hell I may take up trapping if that happens

Racksrus, first of all, if you hunt in a club where the attitude of: "I've got to kill a buck to get my money's worth!", is acceptable to the rest of your group or your board or president, I'd pack my stuff and find somewhere else to hunt. My club kills bucks based on bucks' age and not so much antler score. But like anything else, hunting is like this... the more disciplined, educated (abt your hobby), unselfish, work done, restrained on the trigger finger, etc... you and your hunting partners are, the better off you'll all be. I will NOT hunt in a club where 2 yr olds are shot!.

My club lets, for the most part, 3 yr old bucks and younger walk. Yes, there are some 3 yr olds that do get shot because they have an exceptional rack on their head and we're trying to address not shooting these potential monsters at 3 yrs old. Yes, we allow fist time hunters to shoot the buck of his/her choice. We have almost zero turn-over in members but if a new member joins, and he has a first time hunter, we tell the new member to not let his first time hunter shoot a two year old buck. I mean if he wants to, that's fine HOWVER, with only a few hours put in, that young hunter is guaranteed to see a 3 yr old with a decent rack within 100 yds.

I had a great year! Wanna know how many bucks I killed? ZERO, but I saw tons of immature bucks( this includes a lot of 3 yr old bucks I elected not to shoot) and I just couldn't make it happen on the mature bucks I did see. Granted, I hunt woods more then food plots and I bow hunt more than gun hunt.

Each year, my club's property (3000+ ac) has an age class that carries over to the next year. Because we shoot zero 2 yr old bucks or younger and very few 3 yr old bucks, we have a good crop of bucks entering the 3, 4, 5+ age class each year. It stands to reason that we kill some decent bucks. Our tops bucks are mid 130's but if he's a 4 yr old, hey, that's a trophy no matter what's on his head!

If someone makes a mistake and shoots an immature buck, it's not hell, fire and damnation if it's truly a mistake. Shooting an immature buck because you haven't killed a buck all year, will get your ass thrown out of the club as that's blatant disregard for our rules.

So, I hunt with like-minded hunters. None of us is greedy. We ALL want to shoot 4 yr old bucks. And, it's not that hard ageing a buck on the hoof. Esp in a food plot! In the woods, it's harder, certainly. Shooting 2 and 3 yr old bucks is not that hard to do... IF YOU HAVE THEM. They're like 16 or 17 yr old boys in heat... they don't think! When they turn 4, they're a different animal.

Anyway, if killing a 2 yr old buck is not against your rules or there are no consequence$ of shooting such, that's not good. But NTL, you have to hunt with hunters that understand the basic biology of whitetail deer and they better be willing to understand that you don't HAVE to kill a buck to have a successful season.

I enjoyed my year. Saw lots of bucks and had fun. The hardest thing is finding a club that manages based off whitetail deer biology and not coffee shop talk. If your club thinks that it can manage its buck pop based off genetics and killing undesirable "cull" bucks (IN A FREE RANGE), your club or club management isn't doing its homework and doesn't know deer biology.

If you ever hunt in a club where 80% of bucks shot are 4 yrs old, you'll NEVER go back to the level where your current club is now. The difference is night and day in hunter satisfaction.

If any club management starts talking about shooting culls, I'd look for a different club as that club hasn't done what it needs to do to manage a deer herd. Genetics is the LAST "hole in the bucket" you try to plug. Age and nutrition are what you really need to concentrate on! Try waiting until they're 4 yrs old before you shoot a buck. If they're not what you want in a rack at 4 yrs old, then shoot him as he's not ever (usually) going to be a great rack. And if he's a pretty good buck, you may consider shooting him anyway as you may not ever see that buck again! At some point, ya gotta pick the fruit! However, at 4 yrs old, that buck is a trophy. Maybe not in antler size, but a 4 yr old Bama Buck is hard to kill.

I pay $312 for out of state all game for what feels like the longest deer season ever, drive 787 miles one way and I’m in my stand before dark the same day, give my arteries a workout with nasty Conecuh sausage, kill some deer, small game, and predators, sit by the creek in the morn, watch the sunset from the hill in the evening, visit kin folk...

Thats my trophy and anyone that puts a score on a set of deer antlers needs their head examined.

Rinse & Repeat

Meh.

What does that mean? Practically?