Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum What folks REALLY want in a club

Off topic but I knew some folks from Tampa who had a club at the end of a dirt road behind a trailer park. They came up to plant their plots early that fall and someone had turned their whole camp into a brothel. I’m talking rooms sectioned off with sheets and mattresses on the floor nasty.

Only good club has no one else in it but you.

What does a typical club run these days in the less populated parts of the state? $1k-$1,500 seems to be what I've heard.

The biggest benefits I see to a club are:
(1) shooting houses and fields if you're older and unable to mobile hunt public land
(2) being able to hunt whenever you want while public has 3-4 day hunts periodically

Would be interesting for MBrock or someone to chime in but I've always heard that a "cull buck" doesn't really exist and 95/100 deer in AL will grow a serious rack if allowed to mature to 4.5 years once their skeleton develops. Obviously if you have some deer that the club has identified as 4 years old and it has antler deformities or something you'd make an exception and cull it.

If you have 12 guys hunting say 1700 acres, there are maybe 4 let's say stretch 5 fully developed mature deer on that property, depending on the habitat. So if each guy harvests a mature buck every 3ish years I don't see why its a bad policy to require it be mounted. That's assuming your target is managing for trophy bucks and not just having everyone shoot 2.5 year olds.

I guess it depends on what you consider a great rack. I’d say less than 20% of bucks in wild populations can hit 140”+ if they live to 6+. You drop that to 4+ and it’s likely less than 10%. Most mature bucks in AL are going to grow 120-130” racks at full maturity. The 140+ racks are an exception and not the rule. Improving habitat and providing habitat diversity, maintaining healthy sex ratios etc and limiting social stress can greatly improve what deer are capable of expressing.

On that property analogy you used, 1700 acres could easily hold 10-15 fully mature bucks if managed properly and neighbors are on board. 4-5 is more realistic given current season structures and regulations.

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Those are northern bama numbers - southern half you see way less 130. Years of pics of same deer never produce 130 here. I hav been very unlucky on my best deer disapearing at 4 though. I didnt shoot em

I got a 5 year old that the best deer on my place now - he blew up some from last year. Score - 115-120. Very typical here

My best deer n camden disappeared 2 years ago at 5 - he was a 10 amd my exceptional deer. He may hav hit mid 120s. If he got to 6 - maybe he hit 130 and he was my elite deer
Before i got there - my buddy did get one mid 130s in all years he had it and he never shoots - it got hit by car. I Hav not shot a buck there n 2 years

Makes sense to me. Yea - it's definitely subjective. I'd consider a 120-130 class buck a "great" deer in AL. I may just be easily impressed.

I hav seen a bunch make 5-7 and not score 115

Got a 7 year old n camden may not score 110 now. Killed a 7 year old there 2 years ago w several years of pics - would not score 110

I hav never got a 130 on cam amd a bunch hav made it to 5-7. Some of the deer actually went down 7-8 in age. My oldest in clarke kept going down. Last time i had him on cam was 2 years ago. Think he dead - he was steady declining

First year i had ckarke lease - had a beautiful 10 - absolute stud - he was Atleast 5. He would not hav passed high 120s. Never saw him after first year. Best deer i ever got on cam here or anywhere really. Had a few special i think may hav made one 130 if lived but those rare - and they disappear at 4. One could still b alive - he would b a giant but thinking he dead - never saw last season - caught a partial rack i thought may could be him this year - never got full pic - he may b dead

$1k-1500 won’t get you much nowadays. Lease prices are sky high and there’s more and more people with deep pockets getting into hunting now that all they gotta do is sit beside a feeder. My club is getting expensive but I like the property and we all get along and have a good time. So to me it’s worth the cost. I love deer hunting but I also love the atmosphere of a good club. Club hunting fits my lifestyle much better. I can go when I have time to go and I don’t have to worry about fighting public land hunters. It’s all in what you like I guess

That is a whole new level of burning mattresses.

This disconnect seems to muddy a lot of discussions on here. From what I can tell, there are pockets of Northern Alabama that produce much higher scoring bucks than the rest of the state. I can tell you from many years of hunting Southern Alabama that most mature bucks definitely DO NOT score 120 to 130. 100 to 115 is much closer to reality.

This is spot on.

For the last 10 years or so, I have held leases with just my dad. This year, we picked up an additional 400 acres and 2 friends. I'm the leaseholder and the defacto President, but we are still hunting this year the same as we did when it was just me & dad. All expenses & work are shared evenly. No private stands or cameras. Once it crosses the gate, it is club property and is to be shared as such. Unless someone starts getting selfish, I don't see any changes forthcoming.