Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Oakmulgee WMA vs. Talladega Natl Forest

Hi gang,

I normally hunt at the Cahaba WMA because it is near my home. I have been thinking about trying out the Oakmulgee WMA as it isn't terribly far. As I began looking into it I realized that the WMA is right next to and possibly somewhat overlapping with a piece of the Talladega National Forest.

So for those familiar with that area I was wondering if you might help me to understand what are the advantages and disadvantages of one area over the other? I have never hunted on US forest land before.
The WMA of course has some additional licensing, but I will have paid for that already.
It seems like the WMA would have a lot of other restrictions that Talladega would not, as far what you can hunt and when.
Are there other considerations that you could help me to understand? Hunting pressure, game abundance, access, etc.?

There is just so much area between the two, and a 40 mile drive to get there, that I would love to narrow my scouting to one property or the other if possible.

Thank you for your insight.

My club borders the TNF and you can definitely kill deer on the TNF or the WMA. You can hunt with a rifle every day during the state gun season on the TNF, there are only a few rifle days allowed on Oakmulgee. In my experience the terrain and timber are pretty much the same. There are some real good spots on the TNF just outside my club that rarely get hunted and I'm talking about beautiful open hardwood bottoms. Just got to put boots on the ground and look.

Good luck on the forest it takes years to learn. Most is wide open and you will spend months waiting to see one deer. Other areas are covered up at times but will become deserts the rest of the year.

Hey thanks y'all. I know it's going to take an awful lot of work to be successful. That or a lot of luck, which I don't have. What y'all have said leads me to think that I should concentrate on the TNF. It seems like there may be more opportunities there than on the WFA as far as days available and things like that. I guess I'll just have to get a feel for it. It may be an eye opener when I get out there and there are 8700 folks fighting for the same area or something. Haha. Thanks again, I appreciate your responses.

Public land everywhere is getting more and more crowded. Ive been hunting public land for about 17 years and for whatever reason it was a lot more crowded last year than any year that Ive hunted it. Find you several spots because there is a good chance that someone will be parked where you want to hunt.

What’s funny in wma hunts are way down at oakmulgee. Use to it was normal for 5-600 people to be on a hunt. Now your lucky if there’s 3-400 but I think deer numbers are down there too compared to 8-10 years ago.

There's definitely been a movement the last 3 years towards more public land hunting. I attribute most of that to social media, folks being able to see some of the big deer that are taken on public land. Also YouTube warriors like the hunting public folks. This, with rising costs of leasing land every year.

Heck yea sounds like you got a plan. Go spend some hours walking through the woods scouting, find that perfect spot, plan your entry perfectly, and your golden. Just be ready to have a bunch of company when the fat lady sings. Public land sure is appealing during the off season, but don't fool yourself into thinking your are doing anything different than about 1,000 folks from your area. Just do the right thing and find another spot when yours inevitably gets taken. Don't be that guy.

Even when there are lots of peolpe hunting just stay put they may push a big one over you. Seen it a lot of times.

We used to hunt the Nat. Forest land every year, the day before the first gun hunt that Oakmulgee has around Thanksgiving. I have never seen anything on the Nat. forest land and just didn't like the feel of it for some reason, but I also didn't scout it like I would the Mgnt area. Between 2 to 3 of us we would almost always bring home a deer from the mgnt area. I have bow hunted Oakmulgee and if I was a better shot I should have killed a truck load of deer with a bow from there over the years. If it helps, I just find the small draws leading to hardwood bottoms and start looking for signs. Deer will most likely use the draws coming up and downhill.

I've hunted that part of national forest for years. It sounds exciting when looking at a map, and I hate to be bleak, but don't get your hopes up. I have had very little success

Thanks again everyone. I really do appreciate the advice both pro and con. I figured to try it out but to not get my hopes up. I figure it can't suck too much more than the Cahaba WMA anyhow.

So, I rode down there with my son on Monday to try and start getting my bearings a little bit. Interestingly I saw a grand total of 3 critters. One was a buck about 6-8 points about 30 yards off the road. I only saw him briefly as we drove by. The other two where a pair of bobwhite quail. I was driving along trail/road at about 2 miles per hour and literally almost ran over them before they ran about 8 feet in front of the car and just hung out with us for about 45 seconds.

It was fun to check out. I have to say that it was nice to not have mining operations and gas wells every ten feet.

Some locals won't even hunt Oakmulgee due to people shooting at anything that moves. So, be careful of your location and wear orange even when scouting when small game season comes in, it is required now. Be safe and walk little, hunt more.