Yeah, i was just bullchiting

I have hunted in central Lowndes, on the same property, my whole life and so have my father and uncles. This property is all hardwoods and nowhere near black belt quality soil. It is mainly sandy loam.

With that being said, the bucks that I have killed and/or seen game pics of will never touch the size and mass of those deer 25+ years ago. The area gained popularity in the late 70s and 80s when there actually were monsters being drug out from there. This lead to a spike of hunters in the region. In this time frame, this particular area of the state grew this almost mythical perception that the deer here were far superior than anywhere else. If you are paying more a lease or club, it must have bigger deer, right? This was the way of thinking (and still is in certain areas). The combination of that, plus the additions of new hunters in general and recently, 2 does a day have decimated the quality of bucks in that area.

That's just my 2 cents.

Soybeans, soybeans and soybeans. That is the difference between now and 25 years ago.

I agree with you, but the area of the county that I am referring to has never yielded copious amounts of row crops. I find it hard to believe that deer were burning that much energy to go eat soybeans in the northern part of the county.

I remember also that the emergence of The Southern Sportsman Lodge and their affiliation with Buckmasters put Lowndes County on the national deer hunting map with their classic and all the celebrities showed up. It was the mecca for deer hunting in a lot of minds for awhile.

I like how jawbone and a few others have said that many folks say their property is in the Black Belt, but they are not in an area of Black Belt soil.......just the county. I hear it a lot as well.

There's about 10 different maps floating around..

If it doesn't have the "quickcrete" mud, as someone referred to it (a very appropriate description) and an abundance of cedar trees, it's not blackbelt soil.

It's also funny how many people think it is named that because of the substantial African-American population in these counties.

We're talking about soil James, not a socioeconomic region.

Of course some areas have great genetics that are better than others. Look at Bankhead. Some huge bucks are killed there. I personally scored a 177" clean 10 from there.

Unless I'm wrong, that area and it's soil isn't comparable to other areas of the state. Lord bless if those deer were born in Jackson co and allowed to get 5+

Now Matt, you can correct me if those soils are as good as other areas.

Dang my dumb butt is driving from central chilton county all the way through Dallas the true black belt to southern Wilcox county to hunt but there just aren't many leases come available in true black belt soil and current row crop land and if it does I can't afford it.

Southern Wilcox outshines many places in this state. I'd love to have hunting property there. Cou t your blessings!

Cletus I know where some is if your looking.

Gotta a baby taking up all my funds and time now! I appreciate it though. Maybe in a few years I will have recovered

I hunt a few miles from Gee's Bend, and it's not in the Black belt by the map (lol) but i ain't Going nowhere..Wilcox has some Good hunting

Im in the same shape. And to you James I have a friend That owns and hunts land in Safford and I don't feel sorry for you one bit.

It's all about the soil. We have 2 properties in our lease about 6 miles apart in S.Montgomery Co. One is poor sandy soil and the other, further north goes from sand to pretty black clay loam. The ph on the southern property is low and takes liming every few years to keep it productive.
The northern property goes from about 5.0 ph on the south end to high 6's ph on the north end.
You can plant identical plots on each end of the property and the difference in growth is amazing. The soil in the north holds way more moisture since it doesn't perk much at all. When it gets wet, it stays wet until the moisture evaporates.
I've got 2 big iron and clay pea patches in that pretty black soil that are a thing of beauty.
That soil is also high in p and k and all you have to add is n for fall plots

Interesting. When comparing the northern part of Lowndes county to Dallas county both have the same river bottom system that run through the county so is it fair to assume that both have the same potential? Or no even though they are both black belt area river bottom soils it's just a different type of river bottom soil in Dallas that is more fertile, etc. Or, is it genetics, average tract size and management differences. I see record book bucks killed all over the state every now and then, but I'm really interested in is what makes certain black belt areas today produce more book bucks than other black belt areas (on average). From what I here a lot is the soil difference, however, some areas are both black belt soils but some clearly produce more than the other. Some areas may be more prone to producing ten point frames while others are more prone to producing 8 points, while other have more messed up racks, while some have typical vs non typical.

If there is a difference in what comes from here and there it is due to management practices. They are essentially the same soil and are close enough that the genetics would have mingled and diluted themselves by now. Honestly, I've always thought of Lowndes as having great potential and as good as Dallas County, if not better. Greener grass theory. When I drive through Lowndes, I am envious of the hunting.

And parts of Lowndes remind me of Fitzpatrick which is another good area also in the black belt soil. I think it's management too with some other factors like genetics/herd restocking origin, soil quality differences, etc. And maybe there are more people managing larger tracts in Dallas as a whole than the others