There could be many factors as to why these people are looking at a new place to hunt. Bad relationship with a member(s), Cost, poor hunting and the list goes on. I think a lot of this search stems from the Quality of the hunting or better yet , unreasonable expectations. A lot of people need educated on Alabama Deer Hunting. After hunting all over the State for 40 plus years I sure don't know everything, but I've learned a lot. Alabama Deer hunting for both Quality and Quantity can be best described as Spotty. There are some good areas for sure. But there are plenty of places, I wouldn't hunt if you paid my gas to get there. I have Leases in Lowndes and Crenshaw counties and we have good populations of Deer. You usually see 2-15 deer per day on about any day. We have what I call Realistic Quality. We shoot Deer that score between 115 & 130 inches. Now do we have deer that are 150 on our properties ? Sure do. Not many, and the chances of you killing one is slim to none. Now I know that a lot of these Alabama Boys talk a big talk but truth is You ,me and the people we know rarely shoot a 150 inch deer. And I'm talking about a guessed score, but an actual, genuine tape score. I do think our deer herd is doing better in places and is making a comeback. Our wonderful Game Officials told us for years to shoot a Buck and a Doe a Day for 100 days a season in much of our State. And trust me, it took a toll. But we are seeing some positive things happening in our State. Although not gone but a lot of this Shoot em All mentality is dying. There are a lot of disappointed hunters looking for greener pastures. And to a certain extent, I don't blame them. I just about refuse to hunt a place where I don't see deer on a regular basis and where there is not Reasonable Quality expectations.
Good point about not hunting somewhere you don't see deer. I'm amazed at the vast percentage of guys in Alabama who hunt land with incredibly low deer densities, and they're none the wiser. They don't know any better, and it's why I don't respect many of the opinions about hunting. It's very noticeable to me how many posts I see on this site, "Haven't seen but 2 deer all season", and I'm like what in the everloving crap???? This is kinda off topic, but something I've said for years and years is that what makes a good bowhunter, is good bowhunting land. You BETTER have a target rich environment if you're gonna bowhunt.
