Hey I am sure this has been addressed before and I apologize in advance but I am new to the area and new hunting.... only been a couple times in total . I am active duty USN. I have a couple of boys that I want to get into hunting as well. Anyways I live in Elberta Alabama area I was looking at the local WMA’s and forever Wild properties. I was wondering if anyone would share little insight in which area would be best for a newbie to start scouting and when should I start scouting? I am not looking for your secret spot just want to know if anyone is willing to give some advice, what to look for, or anything that could help. The Mobile delta, Perdido WMA, Grand Bay, and Lillian are the closest to me I believe. Trying to figure out what would be the best use of my limited hunting time. I am kinda of a newbie but I don’t mind doing work to learn the ropes. I just don’t want waste the little time I have scouting areas that won’t be productive.

I’m not super familiar with the WMA’s down there but if you are trying to get your kids into hunting, check out the Florida thread that was posted about a week ago. There’s a youth hunt in Eglin AFB that seems like a good option for the young ones. I do know some guys that hunt in the panhandle area and they do pretty well in Blackwater WMA in Florida. It’s an out of state license for you but it may provide a better option than the ones in AL you are close to. I’ve heard unless you have a boat the delta area is tough hunting (could be wrong so any locals to that area feel free to chime in).

For any public land hunting I’d say put in as much time as you can scouting. Small game season in AL is a great time to do this prior to the deer season opening. Study ariel maps to get an idea of where you want to start scouting on a particular WMA. I prefer places you can get away from the main access points/roads. When you do scout an area take notes of places that look like a lot of people park there. You will want to find spots the other hunters overlook and/or can push deer to you. You don’t necessarily have to hike a long ways back in the woods but typically the further back you get away from roads the less pressure the deer get making them more apt to move during daylight hours. There is a lot to learn when it comes to public land, but don’t get discouraged because once you start seeing and killing deer it is a ton of fun!

If you are in the Pensacola area, look at Blackwater State Forest. It's 200,000 acres.

I would go with perdido river. The delta can be frustrating with all the water

The delta will have best chance of seeing deer and also has plenty of hogs. I would not waste time with any of the others mentioned, especially with kids. It's all tough hunting in this area though.

Perdido WMA is pretty big and I’ve seen some decent deer there. If you bow hunt there are lots of opportunities with a lot fewer people out there. If you go out during the gun hunts it’s gonna be like Black Friday at Walmart.

I’ll add that I would actually rather hunt the delta than perdido river. But the gate is locked by December most of the time so you really can’t count on it unless you have a boat.

I wouldn't mind blackwater but its confusing to me with the quotas and what areas require them. When I looked at FWC it listed 3 different units and some with quota restrictions and some with it.



Ya I would mind my trying delta as long as the gate is open. Is it pretty much public knowledge when the open and close the gate? Also is the gate depicted on the WMA map?

Thanks for all the feedback

Be glad to show you and your boys some places in the delta. Shoot me a PM, and thanks for your service

Awesome thank you sir! I really appreciate it