Aldeer.com Forums Alabama Deer Talk Serious Deer Talk Forum Absolute giant killed near Evergreen...

Yep. I know a bunch of properties that could produce deer like this every single year but…..

Respectfully, Matt - If I have to go multiple years without shooting a buck on my hunting land in hopes of an older deer living through neighbors, poachers, log trucks, disease, and coyotes, then I ain't interested in holding out for a 5-6-7 year old buck. We had a couple of older bucks on camera early this season, and never saw them in daylight. We did put two younger bucks in the freezer, because they were the ones who showed up. We watched at least 4 more young deer multiple times without shooting, as we had meat in the freezer.

If I controlled thousands of acres, sign me up. If I'm only hunting a few hundred acres (or less), or public land, then I'm shooting legal bucks when I see them and have freezer space. Part of hunting for me is putting deer in the freezer. I don't believe I have ever shot an illegal buck, or one that violated rules at a club/property where I was a guest, but I have shot some that folks said "he would have been a good one next year". Yeah, if he didn't trot off this 1200 acres with his 195 lb self and die somewhere else.

I have been fortunate to take some great deer, both low/no fence as well as high fence. I still try to shoot at least one legal buck every year for the freezer, and I am not personally willing to have 1+ dry years on purpose in the hope that a decent buck gets better and doesn't die for some other reason.

Yes

This is a Madison Co. buck killed by that airport north of Huntsville.

Sincere question, do you prefer buck meat over doe meat?
Or is killing a doe for meat just not the same?

That’s my point. Why I had the “but” in there. AL is plenty capable of producing absolute giants, but so many variables prevent it from being a reality for most hunters. I don’t expect ppl to do what it takes to get them there because of the many variables you mentioned. However, it can be done on smaller acreages. It just takes cooperation from multiple landowners. I don’t give away locations for obvious reasons, but I know of one cooperative this year, that has taken 11 bucks from 4-7 years of age, as well as a couple younger bucks that kids took, and they still have quite a few left. It’s 2200 acres and includes several different landowners and families. Getting past the initial hurdle of “There’s no way that deer makes it to next year” was a challenge, but now they’re all seeing what can be achieved with cooperation and it’s incredible. They still lose a lot of bucks to neighbors. That’s going to happen. Unfortunately it’s often the best ones in the 2-3 yo age class, but they’re still producing about as high a percentage of mature bucks as anybody around on free range deer.

With that said, yes sometimes you gotta fill the freezer and ppl hunt for different reasons. Everybody isn’t interested in mature deer. They’ve got the same rights, privileges and opportunities as anyone, and should enjoy their hunting.

We have very limited doe days where I hunt, and the season starts when the fawns are still showing evidence of spots. Almost gone, but still visible.

You want to see what sound management can do? I got 4 words: Portland Landing. Cedar Creek.

We try to only shoot 3.5yo old and older at my lease in bullock. I just need to kill more does. I had 6 on 1 cam and 5 on another and 3 on another yesterday afternoon. 250 acres.

Until we all digest the info provided by analytics and stop making excuses to shot young bucks it's not going to get better, I'm not slamming anyone if it's legal.

I have a good friend in a club in Fayette County. They have a bunch of land 3.5k acres and about 8 members. They ONLY shoot a deer after it has reached 5 years of age. They share game cam photos and keep up with their bucks age really good. They meet and form a hit list of bucks every season and do not shoot anything thats not on that list. They consistently kill 3 deer a year over 150, usually with a 160 in there. Biggest this year is 162. They do that year after year. If its 5 its fair game. Definitely not every deer they shoot at 5 is in the 150 range but most are at least 130. They do the things required to successfully kill those deer.

1. They have big acreage and low members.
2. Highly disciplined on their 5 yr old rule. You get one mistake and if you violate the rule again you are gone. No exceptions.
3. They share info with each other on their deer.
4. The members are seasoned hunters that have killed enough good deer that they are willing to wait on a exceptional deer. They don’t feel the need to kill a deer every season.
5.They feed protein in the spring and summer.
6. Limited guess policy and if a guest kills a deer it better be 5 years old.

This club is definitely not for most hunters including myself. The 4 yr olds on this club can be quite big and tempting for most hunters, myself included. I went one time as a guest and was really concerned about shooting a 4yr old on accident that I really didn’t enjoy myself.

No doubt that Alabama can produce really nice bucks if they make it to 5 years or older. The truth is that most hunters in Alabama just are not gonna wait that long and be that disciplined to wait that long and thats perfectly fine.

Don't think this was from Why Not if that's what you're thinking. Maybe a big timber lease?

^^^
Thats good stuff - awesome

Were not KS or Iowa but if done right and let age - can kill good deer some and i think some properties better than others

I understand, makes sense now.

Not from WhyNot, nor any of the other "heavily managed" properties.