Is the east side of the state any better than the west side of the state for the natural ability to produce trophy white tails? I know a lot depends on a host of other factors (e.g. genetics, forage, size property, neighbors, etc), but aside from that, could you grow as big of deer in the black belt soils of eastern al as you could in western AL, or vice versa and why? Any biologists here manage property in both areas, and anybody have any experience hunting both?

Between Bullock county and Dallas or Greene, I doubt there's much difference. They're both awesome.

I agree with Rem270, but throw half of Bullock county out and the east side loses in a landslide. The western side of the black belt also contains more river bottoms which are naturally more fertile than upland soil.

That's true, and there are also parts of Greene county that are really not very good hunting at all, even by my standards which are low.

It seems like you hear of more trophy deer being harvested on a more consistent basis in the west Alabama blackbelt over the east Alabama blackbelt. I know there are various types of soil classifications within the blackbelt, but are the soils just that much more fertile on average in west Alabama? Lowndes county has a decent amount of river frontage and black prairie type soil, but I don't see the quantity of bucks taken out of there as say Portland landing, Fitzpatrick, or etc. Is the soil that much better in these areas?

I've seen some really nice deer come out of Lowndes county here recently. I think it's like any other county in the blackbelt, some areas are just better than others. There's areas in Bullock, Macon, and Montgomery that are just as good as the western blackbelt counties. Most of the really big deer that are killed just aren't talked about.

I've hunted both pretty extensively, Imo they are pretty equal, east is just less talked about. As far as producing big bucks, Montgomery, Macon, bullock, Barbour, Russell, and lee are just as good as anywhere in Alabama if you're on the right tract of land.

I used to hunt the big swamp creek area of Lowndes county. Good deer killed there at times, but there was not a whole lot of good bedding cover or diversity in the low swampy areas. I've seen some good deer killed in Lowndes county. There were several studs killed in south Montgomery county this year, but it just seems like on average west Alabama kills them on a more consistent basis than east Alabama, and I was just curious if that was because there are a higher percentage of the top quality soils in the black belt of west Alabama compared to east Alabama or not?

Is either side still heavy agriculture? Could that have anything to do with it?

I've hunted both ends and have seen B&C bucks from both. I can't tell a difference.

The blackbelt in Ms has some phenomenal hunting. The whole land type is good, but throw in row crop, and or bottomland and that makes all the difference.

South Montgomery county has better genetics than most of what I've seen in, Wilcox, perry, Greene, and Marengo, but a little less density. As far as having good genetics and a ton of deer, Russell and Barbour counties within 3 or 4 miles of the hooch. I've been in 3 different clubs in that area, and it's nothing to see 20+ deer in one sit, with 1 or 2 115"+ deer thrown in.

Both sides still have small pockets of agriculture, but don't know if one is a lot heavier in ag than the other. I wonder if the west side black belt has a higher average soil index than the east side?

It does not answer your question but each property is going to be different. If you break the BB down into its own ecoregion you probably will not see a statistical difference in the east vs. the west as a whole but as you narrow your field of view to smaller areas, some will out perform others. The BB is not out performing other parts of the state anymore. Yes, there is FANTASTIC hunting in SOME areas of the BB but some other areas are consistently pumping out as big if not bigger deer.

trophy whitetails being 150"+, I will put one very small pocket in Marengo Co. as the best area in the BB. Then again, Fitzpatrick is probably a close second, so I don't think either side has an advantage over the other. However, there are some areas with in the BB that aren't that great anymore as far as producing a health number of trophy deer. Still a lot of nice bucks, but just very few "trophy bucks".

What do you think makes the small pocket in Marengo county and Fitzpatrick better at producing trophy whitetails than other areas?

soil, I guess... especially the area in Marengo Co. You can drive just a few miles in any direction and be in a completely different soil type. Maybe genetics is also better for some reason.

What characteristics do you think make some areas of the BB out perform the other areas? Soil?