With turkey season around the corner, I like to reminisce about memorable hunts and experiences. What is your best or nicest lodge/land you have hunted in Alabama throughout your career?

Portland landing 20 years ago. Everywhere else I’ve done paid hunts in alabama was not good at all. I’ll stick with Texas for paid hunts now

Dollarhide

Dollarhide

I hunted a private lease in Wilcox and Coosa county that were awesome. That was in the 90's early 2000's. I grew up hunting in Clarke county on a private club that was really good. Also hunted in Pickens county in a club that Charlie Phillips was in,in the 80's that was really good.

I stayed at a holiday inn in jackson county once..zat count?..🤷🏻

I got to hunt at Portland Landing when it was really good, I was invited to hunt there with Cuz Strickland and his camera crew, didn't get to harvest a buck, but the opportunity and experience was very memorable. I lived in MS at the time and that was the best lodge I ever visited and got to hunt. I have since hunted some lodges out of state, non of them have been five star lodges, but the quality of deer that they produce has always been great......I don't need the five star lodge and accomodations, I just need to the opportunity to kill a nice buck no matter where I hunt these days.....

Enon plantation about 6 years ago was pretty awesome

Enon for me, in state. Went to a decent place in Ohio several years back.

Wyncreek Plantation

Deer:
I was guest of the group who held last private lease of Portland Landing. Never been anywhere like it.
Pilloncia Ranch is South Texas was best out of state so far.

Never been to a Bama guide - use to be in unbelievable spot in Marengo county in late 90s early 2000s - lot of birds - kill rate was high
N Missouri spot was pretty special - heard 20 plus gobble there a few mornings on diff years - most ever for me - quick tag outs - That lodge shut down

Illinois was awesome - lot of birds - lot of success. That lodge shut down

And the club in N FL was good - lot of birds - short seasons or early tag outs

SD - rosebud Indian reservation was nice - lot of birds - stupid birds

Never been to a decent lodge but hunted some land that adjoined portland landing and it was incredible scenery and bucks. Man I wish I could still hunt down there the rich guys done took over that area. I shot a big buck there one time and those guys were trying to find me I guess they thought I shot it on their property. I was still up in the tree and they came through and never saw me or the buck. They were actually trespassing on our property but I didn't say anything.

Portland Landing... unbelievable!

Hit and Miss hunting lodge in the seventies. It bordered Portland landing. 12,000 acres of hardwood bottoms, corn, and soy beans. I was there for opening weekend once and they killed 43 bucks. (And they had size limits back then)!

Westervelt Lodge-I think was the name and it was I think in Pickens County-was the sorriest excuse for a paid hunt I was ever on. There were about 30 hunters there for the weekend and 1 deer was killed. It was killed by the man I was with. Food and accommodations were good, but the hunting area and guides were terrible.

My dads old boss had a couple of thousand acres in Clarke county around Suggsville,had to go through a dr’s property to get to his,I went there in 99 or 2000 in January and saw 17 rack bucks that were 6 points or better in a day and a half and not telling how many does,I let a fine buck that looked to be a 10 point come in and wind me and didn’t get a shot in him,that place was unbelievable

Elm Bluff Hunting Club 22 miles South of Selma off Hwy. 41 on the Alabama River. Started in 1968.....10,000 acres on the River. BIG Deer and plenty of Turkeys.

I was one of only 3 or 4 people to have a permit to hunt the Cade place in Millers Ferry in the mid 70s. There were lots of soybeans back then and some huge deer, and lots of them. It wasn't unusual to see 30 or 40 deer on a hunt. And it also had a good herd of fallow deer on it. I was determined to kill a fallow one day and passed on several big whitetails; one of them was probably a 140 deer, which was way bigger than anything I'd killed at the time. I was regretting that decision until I spotted a big fallow buck and managed to get him. I went back to the same area a couple weeks later and killed a 152 whitetail. I got to hunt it 3 seasons and was grief stricken when we lost access.

Steve, I met a fellow at Aeromarine in Birmingham. He said he had a good place to hunt but his truck wouldn't;t make it there and back. I asked where it was...Millers Ferry, Frank Cades place. His Uncle. I told him I had a truck that would make it. I killed a couple of good whitetails, and a fallow buck. late 70's.

Roy Childers place just down river was another great place, as was Roy Bonners Dixon Creek property just down river side of Childers.

Good stories PCP & Fred

I got to hunt riverbend lodge in myrtlewood back in late 80s and 90s - it was nice. Hugo in the 80s n 90s had some special deer (between thomaston and Linden)

Assuming this is the same property (Mark Childers has it now) is an unbelievable place. Friend of mine and his dad have the lease on it. I’ve hog and turkey hunted it and the deer are everywhere. That place needs a drip torch extremely bad though. Can’t figure out why he won’t burn

Giles island is by far the best I think then Portland landing. I hunt Texas now and call it my second home

Holiday inn

I remembered you saying that you hunted it late 70s. I think 1976 was the last year that I got to hunt there. I never got to hunt on the other places. I don't understand why that guy needed a truck; I usually drove over there in a 65 Impala and brought several deer back in the trunk. But I had some long drags.

Those were surely the good ole days for me. You younger guys enjoy it while you can.

Turkey hunted the King Ranch in 2010. It was one of the most awesome hunting experiences I could have asked for. The amount of game they had on that place was crazy and them Rios wanted to die.

My FIL was a member of Childer's place (Sturdy Oak) in the late '80s early '90s. Neat place, and almost no pressure. I think there were about a dozen members.

Kidding, of course.

I believe there are 4 members now

The McMillan family in Brewton had two lodges I hunted in the early 90’s. One was a very old plantation style camp full of history. The other was more modern with a huge land mass (52,000 acres if memory serves me). Took a good customer with me who owned Odell’s archery in Boaz. Pretty impressive places.

The big one was probably WhyNot.

Others they own are Cedar Creek, the Dozier Place, and Jay Villa.

I hunt a couple of miles from Cedar Creek, with one of the family. He's had us up for dinner a couple of times. I think the lodge and out outbuildings sleep roughly 50 people.

Larry Odell?

From the I'm So Old category, I have been on drives at Portland when it was a Hammermill Paper Co. employees only property with my uncle when I was in high school. Saw more deer than I could count.

Macmillan Bloedell used to have a similar place a few miles up the river near the mouth of Cedar creek. We left a camper there for a couple of years, but the deer hunting really wasn't all that great. The duck hunting was good, and I enjoyed squirrel hunting in that big timber.

Why not and Dozier were the two we visited. Thanks for stimulating my memory!

Yes Larry Odell.

Back in the early 80's my buddy was a member of a club called Carpenter's Lodge down in Greene County. 16,000 acres with a big old hotel for the camphouse. It overlooked a big lake. Deer and turkey hunting was on par with anywhere I've ever hunted in Alabama. Mostly high rollers from Birmingham in it. My buddy's FIL sponsored his membership and I was able to hunt it with him quite a bit.

Any of you old timers like me ever hear about the place?

Not any kind of lodge or anything but I used to hunt a small 160 acre tract that a friend had given me permission to hunt. Best hunting I ever experienced. I nicknamed it the Promise Land. A really slow day was maybe seeing only six deer. Saw lots of bucks and killed some nice ones.