Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 2017 Alabama Deer/Hog hunt

Should be fresh tracks in the white stuff in the morning, good time to play Larry Benoit 😀

Well, it was cold. 14F this morning. At least all the snow stayed South of us. As of this morning, no deer taken. Great bunch of campers though. I really enjoyed meeting so many 'fire members. The Bankhead NF is one beautiful place.

I had a great time. Matt, the food was great!! I’m proud of the memories and new friendships that we all made. Damn that’s a ruff place to hunt. You are either on a road or in a deep hollow. Didn’t see a single deer. I plan on trying to spend more time learning the place so maybe next year we can do it again.

2017 Alabama 24hourcampfire Deer Hunt.....


What can I say, no deer were harmed in the execution of this event. lol

The weather was harsh, temps at night dipping into the low teens and the terrain was tough to hunt. Other than a few does no deer were seen by our members. Lots of sign, just not in the right place at the right time.


Getting to meet everyone in person was outstanding! Sharing a camp with Jay, Sam, Mark, Tom, Chris, and Randy was an absolute blast. Many laughs, fine food and drink and few tall stories were shared around the campfire. In my opinion that is the heart of what this group is about. Good people enjoying the great outdoors. I can't say thank you enough to every member that took time out of their life's to join me on the adventure. I got to try Sam's awesome hot sauces something I've wanted to do for a while. Mark introduced me to Black Rifle Coffee and I might just be hooked, it was good stuff and I'm not a regular coffee drinker.


Some locals that were more familiar with area had more success. A 11yr old girl shot a really nice 9pt Saturday evening and big bodied 4pt this morning. The smile on her face as pictures were being taken was priceless! I'll be adding pics to this post as I have time, members from the hunt please share your photos as well.

I may have missed this. What was the hunting pressure like?

Thursday and Friday very little. Saturday there were a good bit of folks but they were concentrated in a general area, there was still plenty of no pressure area to piddle around in.

Thanks for posting pics, looks like a nice area wish I could have made it. Were the bucks killed by the locals chasing does?

As far as pressure goes looked like to me all the locals that hunt there just park and hunt right off the roads. We found a spot at a dead end gate that was a huge oak flat. Tons of sign. Fresh rubs and scrapes all down a old logging road. I think the deeper you are willing to go the less the pressure is. No doubt if we had more time that spot would have produced a nice buck. Seen no evidence that any one had been there

Yes they were. Apparently the rut was over on the northern section of the WMA but further spun on the National Forest lands they were in full rut.

I'm glad to hear that you boys had a great time. I knew you would!!! I hope to joint you all on one of these some day. Did you see any hogs?

No hogs and no hog sign. It appears the trapping has been very successful in reducing the whole population in the area.

It was a good time and I enjoyed getting to sit around the fire with good folks. Want to say thanks to Matt for putting it together and especially for the BBQ and breakfast!

Another favorite for me from the get together was getting test out new gear of mine and play with stuff others brought. Got to try Black Rifle Coffee and loved it, finally got my hands on a Savage 99F and boy what a difference from the EG model I owned, and I got to handle Jay’s Barrett Fieldcraft and play with the Tract scope. Really impressed with the Tract’s glass and features.

Had a great time. Some I'd met before and some I hadn't. Great bunch of guys to sit around a campfire with, which we did a lot of. Strangely, though, for this type of gathering, not a lot of alcohol was consumed, so the political conversations lacked some of the emotional heat you sometimes get when like-minded people are discussing current events. Sober reflection, and lots of it.

Matt, thanks again for your organization, some fine eating, your generous contribution to the actual, not virtual, campfire that warmed our toes. Mark, you make a great cup of coffee!

The locals who shared our camping ground were fascinating with their personal and generational knowledge of every square foot of hunting ground in the area, not to mention the genetic history and regional peculiarities of deer behavior within a 30-mile radius. Personally, I can't tell the difference between a white oak and a red oak and I learned over the weekend that this would have been a useful thing for me to know.

Like the rest of the guys, I was humbled by an 11-year-old girl who looked even younger than that, who shot one of the biggest bucks for the area, with one round of .223 at what we were told was 85 yards. She then, with the help of a 9-year-old boy (her cousin?) muscled the field dressed buck on a game cart up a trail of unknown distance to get to the truck (her dad told us). She's being raised right.

Next year, I'd like to hire her dad to guide me, and leave her home. (grin)

Red oaks have leaves with pointy ends like an Indian arrow, white oak leaves have more rounded ends like a white man’s rounded bullet. I was told this as a kid and it stuck with me, not sure how accurate it is....

Man, that weather was brutal huh? That's the stuff memories are made of though.

Paul, 10 degrees warmer with the snow that fell further south would have been a lot more memorable.

Love that Eureka Timberline 4 I have one exactly like it; Lord willing one of these years I’ll bring it down that looks like a great time!