Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Time For a Little Road Trip

The topography of the area is absolutely fascinating. Most of the region is undulating hills with pine tops and hardwood bottoms. His lease is a series of ridges with deep, steep gorges and some rocky bluffs and rock formations. It is in stark contrast to the surrounding area.

There were plenty of signs of deer and the rut. Some scrapes were still being maintained. Everyone in the immediate area said that the deer, and bucks in particular, has largely just stopped moving during the day, and nighttime movement was minimal. I did find two places that look like good future stand locations. I much prefer being in the woods to being on plots.





This is a major deer crossing that is ripe for covering with a stand.



I enjoy plot watching, but noting beats being in the woods, hearing a rustle in the leaves or a twig break and wonding if it's an approaching deer. The shooting houses take away the auditory experience that I so enjoy.



The Credo performed great. I left mys stand location at sunset on the last evening. It was overcast. I slowly walked back to the truck, constantly evaluating the scope's light gathering and the reticle elumination against a variety of backgrounds. It got me to 30 minutes after sunset. Up until the 25 minute after sunset mark, it would allow me to make out any antlers the deer had. The last 5 minutes against a dark background, I wouldn't have been able to assess a rack, but could have centered up on a chest.

A couple of pictures kinda capture the essence of the southern hunting experience.

I met Johnny, my buds friend. We went to his place. About a dozen motor vehicles graced the yard. Two dogs lived under the front porch. Chickens clucked and scratched and the rooster constantly sounded off. Inside his house, that he built of course, was a trophy wall that had some impressive hardware hung on it. This is the sign at the entrance to Johnny's drive.



As I sat in the shooting house, I looked down and softly chuckled. A propane heater sat at the ready for a rare cold day. Sunflower seed shells lined the floor, a few snack packages and drink bottles had been discarded. Of course there's the empty skoal can. Last, and perhaps most important, is the wasp spray. It's really art that tells a story. The same story that's told by shooting houses all over the deep south.



A southern hunting trip isn't complete without a mid-day visit to "town" to eat at the local restaurant. We walked into the restaurant a little after traditional lunch hours. We were greeted by Foxy, the owner/manager/host. Her voice had a high pitch, gravelly/raspy two pack of cigarettes a day character. She was sweet and playful. Juicy, the 15 year old boy who works at the hardware store, was the only other customer. We both ordered "Jo's burger" and tater tots. I became interested in the "Special Item" and asked Foxy quietly, because some new customer customers had come in, what DO DO was. She laughed and said that those were fish. A few minutes later she emerged from the kitchen with a slightly built older black woman who was the chef, and explained to her that I thought they were serving DO DO and a special item. The chef got a kick out of it. It was a good experience with plenty of "honeys" "babys" and "darlins" sprinkled into the conversation. We returned the second day of the hunt. Foxy was glad to see us and praised the experience she provided as so good that we had to come back for more. I quickly fired back that I was giving them a chance to redeem themselves. And so began another dining experience of good natured banter and and laughter.

We're actually 2 hours or so straight east of you. To paraphrase the SNL skit of Sarah Palin: I can see Georgia from my yard:





Great pics, and glad you had a good trip. That's what it's all about. I killed my last buck and a couple of does and am headed home to Idaho soon until Turkey season here.

This is what its all about^^^^
Great thread Paul, thanks for taking us along.

Just got another text from my bud. He's seen (cell camera) a total of 5 bucks and 6-7 does feeding during the day today. Has anyone ever studied the effect that post Mexican meal gas has on deer?

Only advise I can give........

Never trust a fart

Nope. But then I've never sat in a stand or "shooting house."

Paul, you are quite the sports writer! Enjoyed it. Do they let you use dogs on deer? Any pigs back there? Sorry for the news on your cat. I like cats. Looks like there could be squirrels back there. Alan

Did you forget to check the wind direction again?

With the exception of the roads and ATV trails, this property isn't walkable for hunting.

Dog hunting is legal in this area, but with only 360 acres, they'd be off the lease and pissing neighbors off really quickly. Some pigs, but not a lot. They aren't regulars. There are a lot of turkey on the lease. Plenty of dove as well. My bud says he sees quail regularly. Some fox and lots of coyotes. There are plenty of gray squirrel and some fox squirrel as well.

I wish I had been here to comfort Cat since I am the only human she loves. Cat had bad taste in humans.

Darn, man...too bad. That property looks tailor made for still hunting.

One of the biggest reasons we chose Alabama for our "fill in the winter gap" vacation place (after the obvious late rut/season discussed earlier is the vast amount (for the east) of public (WMA, State etc.) and semi-public (paper /mining/energy company) land available. It's a hidden gem!

This lease is unlike anything else I have ever seen. The pics of the bluff and the rock edge tell part of the story. The pic of the deer crossing shows how thick much of the other stuff is. Between the thick vegetation and the bluffs, it's hard to go far at all without encountering an obstacle.

Ummmm...ok? All the more reasons to not pay a lease and hunt public? Confused by your point...?


After you get your move and all settled out come down and we'll fish the lake and I'll show you some great free deer spots...

My point was that because of the character of the land, still hunting is simply not possible on this tract. There's not much for public land in Southwest AL, and what is available is largely river flood plain stuff. So, a lease is often the best way to go about it even if it's not perfect. There are BIG bucks in this area.

I appreciate the offer to fish and for you to show me your stomping grounds!

Oh....Kay. Whatever you say. Kinda looks like here 200 miles east. But we don't have "BIG bucks" on our free public/semi-public land.

I only researched for 4 years before dropping a few hundred K on this place.

We get three bucks a year.

One:

Two, referenced above from a couple weeks back:

Just now, again referenced above, with a couple does and a pig:

Life is good here. I'm ging to kill a couple more does for donation, then maybe a hog or two then I just got an invite to BLADE SHOW Texas so I'm headed over there in a couple weeks then back up to Idaho until Turkey season down here... I'll PM you when I come back down.