Originally Posted by abolt300
Originally Posted by BoudinNbucks225
I looked into a few of the school hunts. I have some family that does the Wilcox Academy hunt every year but they have a waiting list.

I’ve looked at hunts in Texas and for a management buck and accommodations, most places start around $3k. The Alabama lodges include room and meals for half that price so that’s what caught my attention. I understand it probably isn’t a sure thing like Texas hunts.
It’s a classic “you get what you pay for scenario”. If you really want to kill a 125-135” buck, go to Texas. On the good ranches out there, it’s pretty much a guaranteed hunt. If you just want to shoot a deer with horns, for as cheap as possible, go to Alabama. I’d rate your chances of killing a 125-135 at one of these commercial lodges in AL on a 2 or 3 day hunt at less than 10%. If you do, it’s basically pure luck. 90-100” buck is probably 30-35% at the better commercial lodges in AL. A lot of the commercial lodges in AL have just as much pressure as hunting clubs. Some have more. At most big acreage commercial lodges, there will be a few good deer a year killed and most people that do kill, paid their money to hunt and go home with a doe, hog, or if they are lucky, a marginal buck. A lot go home without releasing an arrow or firing a shot. I certainly wouldn’t look at any commercial operation in AL without at least 3000-4000 acres.
Abolt speaks the truth on this subject.