Update on Alabama public: first ever out of state trip and Bama kicked my butt with it's hill country. Hiked 8-10 miles/day. Bought 3 day license did 2 days of bow hunting the last day being gun hunt. Literally didn't see a soul Wednesday/Thursday bow hunting. Friday- truck in every pull out!
Goal was to scout all day Wednesday to find a good bow set up for the evening hunt. Same goal Thursday. Friday gun hunt goal was to get way out and stalk remote ridges where I thought maybe all the added pressure would be pushing the deer.
Only encountered 4 deer the entire hunt and all of those were bumped while scouting as I walked transition lines between thick cutover type stuff and hardwoods. I found 2 spots with concentrated sign (scrapes still being worked and plenty of scat and fresh tracks) and I focused on those 2 areas.
I never actually saw a deer while I was set up. The deer could bed almost anywhere cuz there were plenty of thick areas, so my major issue was that I could not figure out what the deer were eating. No crops and no acorns I could find. Usually my go to in middle Tennessee would be the privet, honeysuckle and briar thickets that our deer bed and feed in. But I could find no such vegetation on this WMA. It seemed completely devoid of any of those invasive thicket plants. I definitely will need more time scouting to figure this out. Think I could've tracked one down if I had purchased the 10 day permit, just didn't have the time. Anyway, may try again next year.
Score: Bama 1, me zero. WMA may be coached by Saban?
Goal was to scout all day Wednesday to find a good bow set up for the evening hunt. Same goal Thursday. Friday gun hunt goal was to get way out and stalk remote ridges where I thought maybe all the added pressure would be pushing the deer.
Only encountered 4 deer the entire hunt and all of those were bumped while scouting as I walked transition lines between thick cutover type stuff and hardwoods. I found 2 spots with concentrated sign (scrapes still being worked and plenty of scat and fresh tracks) and I focused on those 2 areas.
I never actually saw a deer while I was set up. The deer could bed almost anywhere cuz there were plenty of thick areas, so my major issue was that I could not figure out what the deer were eating. No crops and no acorns I could find. Usually my go to in middle Tennessee would be the privet, honeysuckle and briar thickets that our deer bed and feed in. But I could find no such vegetation on this WMA. It seemed completely devoid of any of those invasive thicket plants. I definitely will need more time scouting to figure this out. Think I could've tracked one down if I had purchased the 10 day permit, just didn't have the time. Anyway, may try again next year.
Score: Bama 1, me zero. WMA may be coached by Saban?
