Whitetail harvest must be taken to the Check in Station, Bldg 5136, immediately after exiting the woods. Field dressing is encouraged but not necessary. As you are field dressing your doe, pay close attention to the milk sack because our surveys and data collection need to include lactation.
Instructions for weights, measures and jawbone removal are posted inside the building on the wall.
Stick to our management plan. Remember antler expression outside the ears when in the alert position or past the eyes on a sideways view should give you "15 inches somewhere" and likely a 3-year-old buck. If you cannot tell, we encourage you to let him walk. These are the responsible decisions we require our participants to observe.
Doe harvests are a necessity and expected from our conservation program participants. Compiled data and field study conducted through the 25/26 season indicates that our current doe to buck ratio have reached unacceptable levels. Lack of mature doe harvests (47 last season) and a buck harvest consisting of mostly 2-year-olds has forced us to put into place a restriction of only one buck per hunter for now. We will reassess before Christmas but rewarding the program with additional bucks will weigh heavily on how buck to doe harvest numbers look. Surveys show that there are bucks out there with antler expression that would make any trophy hunter proud. We encourage you to be patient and selective with the animals you choose to harvest because regret could be standing by your truck as you exit the woods. We are certain with your help we can balance the whitetail population and keep our 38k acres of sportsmans paradise responsibly managed.
A result of our late rut January/February is the fawns drop as late as October. This makes December through February the best time for hunters to work on increasing doe harvests. It gives the fawns the time to mature and become independent enough to survive until the bounty of spring. We are not saying to stay off harvesting doe, just informing you when it has the least negative impact on the herd. Herd management is a long-term never-ending responsibility that takes constant attention to keep things in balance. Our program participants are valuable and essential to helping keep our conservation responsibilities solvent. Over time we hope to see the doe to buck ratios return to levels that are sustainable. We have entered the Alabama DMAP program so this gives us the ability to harvest 2 doe and one buck per day. We are working on an incentive program to reward program participants with perhaps an additional buck next season, but it will take the outcome of this season for us to gauge our decision.
As per the 200-3 there is no recreational activities while iSportsman is down. There will be no recreational activities until the iSportsman issues are resolved.
Hunting Areas (weapons allowed)
All children under the age of 16: PER THE STATE: Hunter education is offered as early as 10 years of age but is not required until license buying age of 16. If your child does not need a hunting permit and is under the age of 16, hunters are required to notate on your dashplacard the childs name and age on the depenedents spot. (Youth will not need an account, only those over the age of 16 must have an account) anyone under the age of 16 may be considered youth.
Please keep your mobile phones with you while checked in for all activities. You may receive any important text messages sent from iSportsman or Game Wardens.