ilander

I have been an avid hunter in the black belt for the last 50 years and this is My observations. The chance of killing a real trophey buck in Alabama is probley better now than ever. There are 10 times more deer now than there was 25 years ago and probley 50 times more hunters. 25 years ago most deer died of old age due to the fact that hardly anyone hunted planted plots and oat patches like they do now which basicly gives You a look at every deer on Your property. Most deer then were killed hunting with dogs, on deer drives or killed over natural food sources like acorns or in some cases planted crops like corn or beans. The deer now usually don't get old enough to reach there full protential and a lot of land is so over populated that full nutrition is just not available. I think that if you numbers are kept in check [kill the crap out of does] plant year round food plots and let you bucks live to 5 1/2 years old you will grow the same size bucks We were killing 25 years ago. And that's My story and I'm sticking to it.

Grassflatsfisher

</DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=left>HOD...I agree with the atricle for the most part. But the title of the thread says "Alabama" not just the "black belt". I'm referring to the state as a whole. There are more big bucks taken in the state of Alabama now than ever has been. The guy writing the artcle even said most trophy bucks are coming from throughout the state now not just from the black belt.As for why I think it's a combination of a lot of things. Mostly education and theslow down offarming. I'm stillscratching my head over the caption above that I pulledfrom the article. To me it contradicts.It looks like the trend has been going up not down. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong though.</DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV><DIV align=center></DIV>

TUBBLAWNS

also remember, this is only on collected data, not everyone reports their "studs" to the Dept. I know that in the last 4 years I have witnessed 5 bucks scoring over 140 inches being shot, and not a one of those guys reported the kill to the Dept. Then, think about all that get killed by night hunters that never get found, hit by cars, and other ways of dying, hell, just plain old age. Back then, not as many people hunted so it was more of "news" when bucks like that get killed, and it got around to the Dept. for recognition a lot easier. I still think it is getting better not worse, some people have also relied on plot hunting to kill their deer. A lot of people abandon the woods to plot hunt, and I think they miss out on a lot of deer activity doing this, I know guys who do nothing but plot and road hunt, and they kill deer, nota whole lot of good ones though. Just my .02 cents worth.

Garbo

Good Thread.

I think we are headed south of where the Black Belt once was.

Anyone hunted Central Alabama for enough years to be able to tell the difference?

Brant Peacher

One thing I have noticed from my 15 years of hunting experience in AL is that Alabama bucks have the most screwed up horns of any deer I have seen. We now hunt in FL and hardly ever kill a deer that isn't perfectly symetrical. It is hard to find a buck in AL who's rack isn't messed up on one side.

xl883lo

Garbo.

I grew up in and hunt North Alabama(Madison County). When I was a kid it was a big deal if we found a deer track on our farm(I hunted or fished and was in the woods almost everyday from 5-17). We moved there when I was five and until I was 21 (when I moved to Texas)we only actually saw deer once on our farm and there wasn't an open season for deer. When I went hunting growing up I went to Skyline/Paint Rock Valley or to a club down by Demopolis. Now parts of our farm look like a cattle feed lot from the deer tracks. The deer population has explodedall overAlabama which helps previously unpopulated/underpopulated areas like my farm but has caused overpopulation and driven down the size of animals in previously well populated areas.

I read an article some years agoabout howdeer in North Alabama were genetically different. The deer in South are primarily indiginous Southern Whitetails while the deer in North Alabama are a mixture of Southern Whitetails and Northern Whitetails (from Pennsylvania and Illinois I believe)that were transplanted in Northern Alabama and Southern Tennessee during the 30's 40's and 50's. The same article discussed how that the Northern part of the state did not produce the pure number of trophy bucks but on a percentage basis it was more productive. It has been my experience that the deer in North Alabama are bigger. I never see the "unspotted fawns" I have seen hunting South Alabama.

Matt Mcleod

Does anyone think supplimental feeding (corn, or whatever) would help? It seems to work just fine in Texas.

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user285

Matt, I would think that the places that are taking the managment of there deer herd seriously would already be using suppliments like soy beans/corn/etc. the ones who do not are really only want to kill something not wanting to grow a better herd (buck to doe ratio,body size or antler size) they just want to show up and hunt. I can tell you that i hunted the black belt for 15+years and when we first started there the land owner planted soy beans and had been for decades. Well about 3 years later he quit the soy beans and started with cotton, the body size was a true reflection of this within a year( i would say an average of 30#) we noticed this and started supplimenting soy beans in troughs through out the summer(in my 500acre section i was putting out 2400# about every month) the body weight did come back up a little(about half on average) but not to where they were originally. I think the black belt overall has lost its mojo, to many hunters in the area now with less natural resources(hard woods) and row crops. there are still a few great leases in the black belt that have been properly managing, but the average tract of land that use to hold several studs now only has a couple average deer.IMO